Persecution

Persecution: Laws and Ghettos

Lisa PenningtonSocial Studies Instructional Specialist

Portsmouth Public Schools

Before the War

• In the 1930’s, there were millions of Jews living throughout Europe. Poland had an especially high population, as they were historically more tolerant of other religions than some European countries.

Before the War

What was the Jewish population in Poland compared to the rest of Europe? Which part of Europe had the highest Jewish population?

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Before the War

• Anti-semitism (discrimination against, hostility, or prejudice towards Jews) existed in Europe long before World War II. Hitler pushed these anti-semitic ideas once he came to power and began to pass laws that took away rights from the Jewish population.

Hitler’s Rise to Power

• The Holocaust took place in stages, beginning with the Nazi Party’s rise to power in 1933. Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933. In 1934, he declared himself the Fuhrer of Germany. Legislation and propaganda against “non-aryans” was soon to follow. In 1935, Hitler passed the Nuremberg laws, which denied Jews their civil rights, separating them from Germans. Jews were defined as a separate race.

Boycotts

• In 1936, a boycott of Jewish run stores and businesses began. Many people lost their businesses. Some moved away because they could no longer earn a living.

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Kristallnacht

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What do you think happened during Kristallnacht?

Kristallnacht

• Kristallnacht occurred on Nov. 9, 1938. The “night of broken glass” saw 1000 synagogues set on fire, looting of 7000 Jewish businesses and homes, and the deaths of 91 Jews. 30,000 more were deported to concentration camps such as Buchenwald, Dachau, and Sachsenhausen.

http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/kristallnacht/frame.htm

Jews arrested during Kristallnacht line upfor roll call at Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

War in Europe

• Germany invaded Poland in 1939, setting off war in Europe.

https://owlspace-ccm.rice.edu/access/content/user/mab3/1939invasion.png

Identification

• On November 23, 1939, an ordinance is passed requiring all Jewish people age 10 or older to wear a Star of David. This would identify them to everyone as Jewish.

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The Ghettos

• Not long after Germany’s invasion of Poland, ghettos were established in Poland to house the Jewish people of Europe. Poland had 5 major ghettos. The largest ghetto, in Warsaw, housed 400,000 people in an area covering 1.3 square miles. Hundreds of ghettos will be established. They are often closed off with brick or stone walls. There were guards at the entranceways.

The Ghettos• By October of 1941, mass deportations from Germany to

the ghettos began. Jews from all over Western Europe and transported to the ghettos.

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The Ghettos

• There were three types of ghettos: closed ghettos, open ghettos, and destruction ghettos. In closed ghettos, there were walls or barbed wire fences. Open ghettos had no enclosures, but did have restrictions on entering and leaving. Destruction ghettos were tightly sealed and existed for only a few weeks, until the people inside were all shot or deported to a concentration camp.

The Ghettos

Remains of the ghetto wall in Krakow, Poland.

The Ghettos

• Life in the ghettos was difficult. The identifying Star of David had to be worn at all times. Those housed in the ghettos were often forced to do manual labor for the German Reich. http://www.chs.chicousd.org/teachers/DanielWebb/album/Chapter_16/ghetto.jpg

The Ghettos

• The ghettos were unsanitary. Food was scarce, and disease spread easily. German officials did not hesitate to kill Jewish people inside the ghetto.

The Ghettos

• Ghettos were extremely overcrowded (think about the Warsaw Ghetto) and many people were forced to share rooms. Adequate winter clothing and heating fuel was in short supply. http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/survivor/images/Jews%20moving%20into%20the

%20Warsaw%20Ghetto.jpg

Thousands of people move into theWarsaw Ghetto.

The Ghettos

• People did try to live as normally as possible in many cases. Parents would school their children secretly, and hold secret religious services.

The Ghettos

• There were also some resistance movements that would stage armed rebellions against the Germans. (There was a large uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto.) People would also resist by smuggling food and medicines into the ghettos, and participating in “illegal” activities, such as religious services.

Wannsee Conference

• On January 20, 1942, high ranking Nazi and German government officials met in Wannsee, a suburb of Berlin. Hitler had already decided the “final solution to the Jewish question” would be annihilation of the Jewish people. These officials met to coordinate the extermination effort. http://www.ushmm.org/lcmedia/photo/lc/image/79/79810.jpg

Deportation

• From 1942-1944, many ghettos were closed as the Germans transported the people inside to concentration camps. This was called “liquidation” of the ghettos.

http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ghettos/krakow/krakowliquidation.jpg