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Groups Targeted in the Holocaust
After taking power in 1933, the Nazis had concentrated on silencing thier political opponents; communists, socialists, liberals, and anyone else who spoke out against the government. Also, they turned against other groups in Germany. These groups included: Gypsies (whom the Nazis believed to be an inferior race), Freemasons (whom the Nazis charged as supporters of the Jewish Conspiracy to rule the world), and Jehovah's Witnesses (who refused to joing the army or salute Hitler). -
The Holocaust
Shortly after Hitler took power in Germany, he ordered all "non-Aryans" to be removed from government jobs. -
Nuremburg Laws
In 1935, the Nuremburg Laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship, jobs, and property. In addition, they were mandated to where a yellow Star of David to help the Nazis ID them. -
Kristallnacht-Nazis riot, destroying Jewish neighborhood
November 9-10, 1938, became know as Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass. Nazi storm troopers killed around 100 Jews; injured hundreds more; arrested 30,000 Jews; and hundreds of synagogues were burned along with the destruction of homes and businesses. -
The Plight of The St. Louis
The St. Louis had 1,000 Jews that was turned away from the United States in 1939. Almost half of them later died in the Holocaust. -
The Final Solution
The Final Solution was Hitler's policy to deliberetaly and systematically kill all of an entire population, or genocide. This plan focused mainly on the mass execution of: Jews(primarily), Gypsies, Freemasons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Homosexuals, Mentally Deficient & Ill, Physically Disabled & Incurably Ill. Jews not reached by killing squads were shipped into labor camps, called concentration camps, which were wooden barracks with poor conditions. -
Death Camps
The rate of death from starvation, overwork, beatings, and bullets was not fast enough for the Nazis. The Germans build 6 death camps in Poland. The 1st was Chelmno; the largest was Auschwitz. Each camp had several huge gas chambers in which 12,000 people could be killed a day. -
The Final Stage
To mass slaughter and starvation the Nazis added a third method of killing--murder by poison gas.
