-
life in the ghetto
Jews in the Warsaw ghetto wait in line for food at a
soup kitchen.Ghettos were city districts,often enclosed,in which
the Germans concentrated the municipal and
Sometimes regionalJewishpopulationcontroland
segregate itfrom the non-Jewishpopulation.In November 1940,German authorities sealed the
Warsaw ghetto,severely restricting supplies for the
more than 300,000Jews living there.Survival was a daily challenge as inhabitantsstruggled
for the barenecessities offood,sanitation,shelter,and
clothing. -
takeover of power
In March 1933, Adolf Hitler addressed the first session
of the German Parliament (Reichstag) following his
appointment as chancellor. all political parties in
the Reichstag—with the exception of the Socialists and
Communists—passed the “Enabling Act” giving Hitler
the power to rule by emergency decree. -
the TERROR begins
A stormtrooper (SA) guards newly arrested members
of the German Communist Party in a basement jail
of the SA barracks in Berlin. Communists, Socialists, and other political opponents
of the Nazis were among the first to be rounded up and
imprisoned by the regime. -
from citizens to outcast
A woman reads a boycott sign
posted on the window of a
Jewish-owned department store.
The Nazis initiated a boycott of
Jewish shops and businesses on
April 1, 1933, across Germany. Many Germans continued to enter
the Jewish stores despite the
boycott, and it was called off after
24 hours. In the subsequent weeks
and months more discriminatory
measures against Jews followed
and remained in effect. -
nazl race laws
An instructional chart distinguishes individuals with
pure “German blood” (left column), “Mixed blood”
(second and third columns), and Jews (right two
columns), as defined in the Nuremberg Laws. Among other things, the laws issued in September
1935 restricted future German citizenship to those
of “German or kindred blood,” and excluded those
deemed to be “racially” Jewish or Roma (Gypsy).The laws prohibited marriage and sexual
relationships between Jews and non-Jews. -
the "science" of race
Members of the Hitler Youth receive instruction in
racial hygiene at a Hitler Youth training facility. The
Nazis divided the world’s population into superior and
inferior “races.” According to their ideology, the “Aryan race,” to which
the German people allegedly belonged, stood at the top
of this racial hierarchy. The Nazi ideal was the Nordic type, displaying blond
hair, blue eyes, and tall stature. -
night of broken glass
Residents of Rostock, Germany,
view a burning synagogue the
morning after Kristallnacht
(“Night of Broken Glass”). On
the night of November 9–10,
1938, the Nazi regime unleashed
orchestrated anti-Jewish violence
across greater Germany. Within 48 hours, synagogues
were vandalized and burned,
7,500 Jewish businesses were
damaged or destroyed, 96 Jews
were killed, and nearly 30,000
Jewish men were arrested and
sent to concentration camps. -
ENEMIES of the state
Within the concentration camp system,colored,tri-angular badges identified the various prisoner
categories, as seen in this image of a roll call at the
Buchenwald concentration camp. Although Jews were their primary targets,the Nazis
also persecuted Roma (Gypsies),persons with mental
and physical disabilities,and Poles for racial,ethnic,or
national reasons.Millions more,including homosexuals,Jehovah’s
Wit-nesses,Soviet prisoners of war,and political
dissidents also suffered oppression and death. -
search for refuge
Jews in Vienna wait in line at a
police station to obtain exit visas.
Following the incorporation of
Austria by Nazi Germany in
March 1938, and the unleashing
of a wave of humiliation, terror,
and confiscation, many Austrian
Jews attempted to leave the
country.Before being allowed to leave,
however, Jews were required to
get an exit visa, plus pay large
sums of money in taxes and
additional fees. -
AMERICAN responses
Governmentpolicies in the1930s madeitdifficult
forJews seeking refuge to settle in theUnited States.In May 1939 the passengershipSt.Louis—seen here
before departingHamburg-sailed from GermanytoCuba carried 937 passengers,most of them Jews.Unknown to the passengers,the Cubangovernmentbhad revoked their landing certificates.After the U.S.governmentdeniedpermission or the passengers enter the United States,St. Louis returned to Europe.Some 250 of the refugees would later be killed in the Holocaust. -
(final solution) THE WAR BEGINS
Sections of Warsaw lay in ruins following the invasion
and conquest of Poland by the German military begun
in September 1939 that propelled Europe into World
War II. For most of the next two years, German forces
occupied or controlled much of continental Europe. By the end of 1942, however, the Allies were on the
offensive and ultimately drove back the German forces. The war in Europe ended with the unconditional
surrender of Germany in May 1945. -
MOBILE KILLING SQUADS
About a quarter of all Jews
who perished in the Holocaust
were shot by SS mobile killing
squads and police battalions
following the German invasion
of the Soviet Union in June
1941. These units carried out the
mass murder of Jews, Roma,
and Communist government
officials. This man was
mur-dered in the presence of
mem-bers of the German
Army, the German Labor
Service, and the Hitler Youth. -
RESISTANCE
In fall 1939, Jewish activists in
Warsaw, around the historian
Emanuel Ringelblum, established
a secret archive to document
Jewish life and death in the ghetto
and the extreme conditions of
German occupation. In 1942–1943, they buried these
documents in metal containers,
such as this milk can, to preserve a
record of Nazi crimes for future
generations. This milk can is on
display at the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum in
Washington, D.C. -
Period: to
DEPORTATIONS
Between 1942and1944, trains carrying Jews
from German-controlled Europe rolled into one of
the six killing centers located along rail lines in
occupied Poland.Commonly between80and100 people were
crammed into railcars of this type.Deportation
trains usually carried1,000to2,000people.Many died during the extreme conditions of the
journey,and most survivors were murdered upon
arrival at the killing centers.This railcar is on display at the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington,D.C. -
DEATH MARCHES
a private home shows
prisoners being marched from one
concentration camp to another. In
response to the deteri-orating
military situation in late 1944,
German authorities ordered the
evacuation of concentration camp
prisoners away from advancing
Allied troops to the interior of
Germany. Evacuated by train, ship, or on
foot, prisoners suffered from
malnutrition, exhaustion, harsh
weather, and mistreatment. SS
guards followed strict orders to
shoot prisoners who could no
longer walk or travel. -
CONCENTRATION CAMP UNIVERSE
JewsfromHungarian-
assembledatthelargestofthekillingcenters,Auschwitz-Birkenau.The overwhelmingmajorityofJewswhoenteredtheNazikillingcenterswere murderedingaschambersusuallywithinhoursofarrivalandTheGermanaincludingtheirclothing,andcollectedthemforuseorsale. thetroopsdiscoveredtensofthousandsofshoeswhen theyliberatedtheMajdanekconcentrationcampThese confiscated shoes from
Majdanek and Auschwitz are on
display at the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum
in Washington,D.C. -
the courage to rescue
For several weeks in October 1943, Danish rescuers
ferried 7,220 Jews to safety across the narrow strait
to neutral Sweden. As a result of this national effort, more than 90
per-cent of the Jews in Denmark escaped deportation
to Nazi concentration camps. This boat, now on display at the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.,
was used by a group of rescuers code-named the
“Helsingør Sewing Club.” -
liberation
General Dwight D. Eisenhower and other
high-ranking U.S. Army officers view the bodies of
prisoners killed by German camp authorities during
the evacuation of the Ohrdruf concentration camp. Eisenhower visited the camp to witness personally the
evidence of atrocities. He publicly expressed his shock and revulsion, and he
urged others to see the camps firsthand lest “the
stories of Nazi brutality” be forgotten or dismissed as
merely “propaganda.” -
post war trials
Leading Nazi officials listen to proceedings at the
International Military Tribunal, the best known of the
postwar trials, in Nuremberg, Germany, before judges
representing the Allied powers. Beginning in October 1945, 22 major war criminals
were tried on charges of crimes against peace, war
crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to
commit such crimes. -
GENOCIDE DID NOT END WITH THE HOLOCAUST
In response to the Holocaust, the international
community worked to create safeguards to prevent
future genocides. The United Nations in 1948 voted to establish genocide
as an international crime, calling it an “odious scourge”
to be condemned by the civilized world. Despite this effort, genocide has continued, and it
continues to threaten parts of the world even today. Refugees from the 2003–2005 genocide in Darfur,
Sudan, above, struggle to survive after being
displaced from their villages.
