Hst 425 The Holocaust In Its History

Front 1

Describe Non-German Auxilliaries

Back 1

Waffen SS, Hiwis
Locals were enthusiastic to volunteer - Most appear to accept persecution as part of their jobs

e. Germans recruit non-Jews
i. 20 of the 30 groups of the Waffen SS were non-German
1. Waffen SS was a “central component” in the Nazi killing machine
HIWIS – Ukranian and Lithuanian auxiliaries controlled by the Germans. Hiwis participated in massacres and often given assignment of scouring ghettos making sure no Jews escaped 2:48 mins

Many auxiliaries operating under different names – as german manpower became scarce in the war - groups performing best were allowed to work with the Einzatzgruppen – in deporting or massacring Jews. Others were incorporated into the Waffen SS

Front 2

Describe the Death Camps in Croatia (Jasenovac)

Back 2

a. Many death camps generally staffed partly by non-germans with a reputation for brutality harsher than the SS.

b. Camps throughout Nazi occupied Europe

c. Croatia state created by the Germans and heavily influenced by Germany- scene of brutal massacres and persecution of Jews

i. Croatian military units massacred Jews – gassed, shot, beheaded

ii. Croatian concentration camps – 20K killed in largest facility- Jasenovac

iii. Croatia- Germans install nationalists pro Nazi party called Ustasa – 76K men wreaked havoc on Jews as well as Gypsies and Serbs and other ethnic groups

Front 3

Describe the incident in the Summer of 1941 in Lithuania

Back 3

In regions where anti-Semitism was wide spread, the Germans led local mobs or Militia tend to the Jews –
Summer 1941- officer commanding a Lithuanian Einzatzgruppen – Lithuanian partisans exterminated 1500 Jews…on the following nights 300 Jews liquidated

Front 4

Describe killing of Jews by Non-Germans

Back 4

Throughout Nazi occupied Europe Rewards offered for Jews who were in hiding to be turned in or even murdered.

In countries the Nazis considered to be good Allies or run by puppet regimes- relied on native govt. agencies to round up and kill Jews

Many killings perpetrated by non-Germans took place late in the war when the Germans were in retreat.

Front 5

What were the non-German Groups formed in Romania and Hungary and what did they do?

Back 5

Romania – Iron guard pro Nazi – massacred Jews thousands
Hungary the Arrow Cross became more active in 1944—in chaotic weeks before the Red army moved into Budapest they terrorized Jews of the city torturing and murdering thousands.

Front 6

Describe Hitler's attitude toward the the Churches:

Back 6

i. German churches rarely challenged the Nazis on policy or philosophy or persecution of the Jews

ii. Pacivity came from the fact that Hitler would not tolerate ANY opposition

iii. Hitler Tolerated Christianity but was not openly accepting of it.

iv. July 1944 – commented that “the hardest blow that Humanity has had to bear is Christianity, Bolshevism is the illegitimate son of Christianity, both were born of the Jews.”
Church leadership is imbued with Anti-Semitism

B. Hitler was revered almost as a God by German Christians

Front 7

Discuss Ludwig Muller (1932 - Prior to Hitler) with regards to religion

Back 7

Ludwig Muller 1932 (prior to Hitler) organized German Christians – Jesus as a fighter against Judaism – subscribed to the notion of an Aryan Jesus. Muller – Reichs Bishop of the Protestant Church.
Spokesman of The Confessing Church questioned Mullers credentials as a scholar and Nazi protrusion into religious matters.

Front 8

Discuss Paul Althaus with regards to religion

Back 8

Paul Althaus – President of the Martin Luther Society “We Christians of Germany accept the rise of Adolf Hitler as a gift and miracle from God.”
Promoted purifying the faith by eliminating Jewish element

Front 9

Discuss Houston Stewart Chamberlain with regards to religion

Back 9

Houston Stewart Chamberlain – Jesus made to look white.
Members of the SS and Nazi party were coerced into the joining the Reichs church.

Front 10

Discuss Martin Niemoller with regards to religion

Back 10

Martin Niemoller – persecuted. Many did not believe that Jews were a distinct race. Wanted to baptize Jews but were otherwise against them. Niemoller did not like Jews even after baptism. “The Jews killed Christ.” Niemoller claimed his 8 years spent in Nazi prisons and camps changed him and made him more tolerant.

Front 11

Discuss Deitrich Bonhoeffer with regards to religion

Back 11

BenHoeffer – Evangelist and theologian – Deitrich Bonhoeffer – his brother in law was a baptized Jew – critical of Jewish persecution. Participated in a network that smuggled Jews into Switzerland. Anti-Nazi- involved in a plot against Hitler. The regime retaliated and he was hanged just before the close of the war.

Front 12

What was the position of the Roman Catholic Church regarding the Jews during the Holocaust? Name the presiding Pope.

Back 12

D. Roman Catholic Church
Did not speak out against the persecution of the Jews.
Pope Pius XII – did not publically challenge the persecution of the Jews and would not denounce the activities. He may have believed if he took a stand on behalf of the Jews, the Church would suffer retribution at the hands of Nazis and their allies.

Front 13

What was the name of the man, later a Pope, who was an altruist?

Back 13

Angelo Roncalli –later Pope John XXIII – helped 25 Thousand Jews escape in SE Europe and encouraged Bulgarian leaders to stand up against deportations. As Pope he led a movement of reconciliation with the Jews.

Front 14

Name a member of the Clergy who condemned hatred of the Jews:

Back 14

French Catholic Prelate – Jules Gerar Salige – Archbishop of Toulous – Spoke out heavily against the treatment of the Jews and their deportation. “The Jews are our brothers.” Ordered the clergy to hide Jews. Yad Vashem recognized among righteous.

Front 15

Name the one church that openly opposed Nazi policies:

Back 15

Greek Orthodox ChurchFall 1943- had deported already most Greek Jews – required the rest to register –step toward deportation
Chief Rabbi approached the head of the Greek orthodox church ArchBishop Damaskinos recommended the Jews to flee and not register – a letter of protest against Nazis in Greece. In retaliation the Nazis threatened to have the Arch Bishop shot to which Damaskinos replied, “according to the traditions of the greek orthodox church, our prelates are hung and not shot. Please respect our traditions!” 1943 (22:06 mins). He also did many other things to help – Helped Greek and Romanian Jews to escape to Palestine and Turkey. Unfortunately German control of Greece was very strong. Only 1/8th of Greek Jews survived the Holocaust.

Front 16

Discuss the interaction that took place between the Solvakian Rabbi and Carol Kmetko in 1942

Back 16

3. 1942 Slovakian Rabbai went to meet with Carol Kmetko – bishop of Nitra – populous politician and ardent nationalist. Slovakia a Nazi puppet state ran by a Catholic prelate – Rabbi pleaded with Kmetko to protest deportations. The Rabbi was unaware of the death camps at the time and thought only that Jews would be poorly provided for. Kmetko corrected the Rabbi, “It is not just a matter of deportation. You will not die there of hunger and disease. They will slaughter all of you there, old and young alike, women and children, at once… It is the punishment that you deserve for the death of our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Come over to our religion and I will work to annul this decree.” (Kmetko) 26:05mins.

Front 17

Why were German Christians able to justify their treatment of the Jews as described to Mayer? Who was Mayer?

Back 17

1. “But the Jews were the enemies of the Christian religion. Others might have other reasons for destroying them, but we Christians had the Christian duty to. Herr Professor, you know how the Jews betrayed our Lord.”

Mayer was an American Jewish Journalist wanting to know why and how Germans could have put Hitler in power as Christians.

Front 18

What was the problem or issue with Jewish Emigration to other countries? What was the International Conference held and what was the outcome and purpose?

Back 18

i. How to handle refugees – the U.S. had tightened quotas through laws – in U.S. between 1921-1924 Restricting annual immigration from any country to 2% actively discriminated against many groups- Asians and Jews.
ii. Many countries refused to change policies help the Jews.
iii. International Conference to deal with the problem Evian-Les-Bains
1. Only the Dominican Republic agreed to set aside place for refugees—U.S. only agreed to work to fill quota- Roosevelt, who called the meeting did tweak the law where possible to add a bit more leeway to admit Jew refugees- U.S. 37:58mins U.S. State department opposed any liberalization of immigration policy.

Front 19

Name some of the groups that tried to get Jews out of harm's way before and during the war.

Back 19

i. Youth Aliya –Zionist group – Got 14K children to Palestine and Britain throughout the war
ii. British society – movement for the care of children brought out 10K german and Austrian children on the famous Kindertransport
iii. French agencies brought thousands of children to France
1. After fall of France in 1940 these children were at risk
a. Underground groups led children to Switzerland and Spain 41:01mins

Front 20

Refuge to Palestine

Back 20

iv. During the 1930s and Holocaust period itself- Jews tried to escape to Palestine – now Israel which was under British mandate
v. Between 1933-1939 Palestine provided refuge to 215K Jews including more than ½ of all Jew Immigrants from Germany
1. May 1939 The British bowing to pressure- sharply curtailed Jewish immigration in Palestine – The “White Paper” The British were willing to drive away ships arriving in Palestine carrying refugees
2. Romanian ship- Struma – chartered by Zionist group- engine trouble – retained in Istanbul- Turks refused refuge- British authorities called in – Jews were refused entry to Palestine – Struma was towed out into the black sea by the Turks and left it there unable to move until it was torpedoed and sunk by a Soviet sub who misidentified it. 700 refugees died—only one known survivor
vi. Jewish organizations and the Relief Effort; Jewish agency
1. Jewish agency for Palestine founded in 1923
a. Facilitate Jewish immigration – mostly illegal after the “White Paper”

Front 21

Describe the American efforts of private organizations to help Jews

Back 21

2. U.S. private organizations helped not the government however Roosevelt cooperating with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee 45:05 Mins- 1940 brought 30K Jews to the U.S. Growing pressure on the govt. finally prompted an official govt. effort.
a. Jan. 1944 – Roosevelt est. war refugee board with limited staff and small budget
i. Ira A. Hirschmann helped thousands of Jews escape from Nazi occupied Europe

Front 22

Name some Countries that served as safe havens for Jews during the war:

Back 22

Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Bulgaria, Finland

Front 23

In Bulgaria, home to 50,000 Jews, most survived the war. This can be credited to a small group of people. Name and discuss them:

Back 23

a. Demo Kazasa – member of parliament and newspaper editor. Prime minister 1940 endorsed Law for Protection of the Nation – Kazasa wrote open letter to him. “…Now you attack the Jewish minority in your own country. You are attacking a minority which has sacrificed itself for this country.” Afterward he was arrested. Although freed he was warned not to contest govt. policies. Instead he hid the Jews and wrote pamphlets condemning treatment of Jews in Bulgaria
b. Jews forced to wear badges, relocate, property confiscated – Key issue was whether they would be deported to death camps
c. Some foreign Jews were deported but the majority of Bulgarian citizens were not thanks to:
i. Dimitar Peshev – 48:50mins – fervent nationalist and Vice Chairman of Bulgarian parliament- when he heard 8K jews were to be deported, he browbeated the Minister of the Interior into rescinding the order and convinced members of Parliament to sign a petition to stop deportation. Govt. policies regarding Jews moderated afterward. Peshev was demoted.

Front 24

No government agency outside of Central Europe was more eager to help than the:
Name the man responsible for deportation of thousands of Jews:

Back 24

Fascists Regime in Vichy France
ii. Pierre Laval cooperated in deportation in thousands of Jews who sought refuge in France. HE insisted Germans arrange to take Children although the German authorities were not ready.