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The German “final solution”. The Holocaust. “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” ― Adolf Hitler. What does Holocaust mean?. The term Holocaust comes from the Greek word hólos meaning “whole”, and kaustós meaning “burnt” or sacrificial fire.
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The German “final solution” The Holocaust “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” ― Adolf Hitler
What does Holocaust mean? • The term Holocaust comes from the Greek word hólos meaning “whole”, and kaustós meaning “burnt” or sacrificial fire. • The word Holocaust had been used in English for hundreds of years to refer to huge massacres, but since the 1960s it’s come to usually just refer to the genocide of Jews in World War II.
German leaders • Rudolf Höss • Adolf Hitler • Heinrich Himmler • Erwin Rommel
Why the Jews? • World War I– still recovering from the results of the Treaty of Versailles & the economic depression • Jews were blamed for the divisions that existed in Germany which kept it from recovering • Not of the Aryan race, which was seen as superior to all others (extreme nationalism)
The Aryan race • The Nazis issued a Decree defining a non-Aryan as "anyone descended from non-Aryan, especially Jewish, parents or grandparents. One parent or grandparent classifies the descendant as non-Aryan...especially if one parent or grandparent was of the Jewish faith."
a member or descendant of the prehistoric people who spoke Indo-European. – dictionary.com former name given to a people who were said to speak an archaic Indo-European language and who were thought to have settled in prehistoric times in ancient Iran and the northern Indiansubcontinent –britannica.com The term fell into the hands of racists, and in Germany from 1845…Used in Nazi ideology to mean "member of a Caucasian Gentile race of Nordic type."
In the beginning • January 30, 1933- Adolf Hitler appointed chancellor (appointed prime minister) of Germany • March 22, 1933- Nazis begin to open concentration camps • August 2, 1934- Adolf Hitler becomes fuhrer • (dictator leader) • September 15, 1935- Nuremberg Laws established
Concentration and death camps Auschwitz-Birkenau*BelzecBergen-BelsenChelmnoDachau*FlössenbergGrossrosenMaidanekMauthausen Mittelbaudora NatzweillerNeuengammePlaszowRavensbrück*(women & children only)SachsenhausenSobiborStutthofTerezinTreblinka. * Most well known
Final Jewish Toll • About 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazi regime. • About 3 million victims were men, 2 million were women and 1 million were children. • Keep in mind there were only 9 million Jews living in Europe before the war began.
Others killed • Although the term “Holocaust” is often used to refer to the Jewish tragedy, over five million members of other minority groups were victims of Nazi genocide. • These included Polish, blacks, Romani and other “gypsy” groups, people with disabilities, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Freemasons, criminals, political prisoners and Soviet civilians and prisoners of war.
