The Holocaust

THE HOLOCAUSTAuschwitz Birkenau -(1940–1945)

Before the war...

The Jewish population were already beginning to be

persecuted, when the Nazi party came to power in

1933. From then on, laws and regulations were

regularly issued that systematically limited Jews’ civil

rights.

By the end of 1941, almost all the Jews in occupied

Poland were in ghettos or forced labour camps

The German population especially hated the Jews and

Hitler believed they were to blame for everything that

was going wrong in Germany including mass

unemployment.

In the ghettos

The Jewish population of Nazi Europe

were force into allocated ghettos and

then subsequently into the death camps

The Holocaust is mainly thought of as only

persecuting Jews , yet it also includes the Nazis'

genocide of millions of people in other groups,

including Romani (Gypsies), Soviet prisoners of

war, Polish and Soviet civilians, homosexuals,

people with disabilities, Jehovah's Witnesses

and other political and religious opponents.

In the years 1942- 1944 Jews from all over

Europe were deported to Auschwitz, through

major rail lines.

These people were herded into cattle trains,

over 100 people in each cart. Crammed in with

only room to stand. Journeys which could last

up to two weeks, without food and little water.

Liquidation

As the ghettos got more and more crowded, the

Nazis needed to develop

a more sufficient plan.

So the ‘final solution’ was decided!

This solution was to exterminate the Jewish race.

This was achieved through concentration or extermination camps.

The ghettos were liquidated (emptied) and people were hoarded onto cattle trucks.

The people believed they were going to a new place where they would all have houses to start a fresh life.

From spring 1942 until the fall of 1944, transport trains delivered

Jews to the camp's gas chambers from all over Nazi-occupied Europe.

Cattle trains would pass through the

towns and cities of Europe, stopping in main

Train station where members of the public

would see these trains. The people inside the

cars would scream for help,

yet no one did.

After many days of

travelling in the cattle

cars the prisoners

arrived at the gates

into Auschwitz, where

they had reached the

end of the line. Once

of the trains they

would face the

‘selection’ and be

organised into groups

of those who were

useful and those who

weren’t.

EXTERMINATION CAMPS

Many victims were instantly terminated, these included

babies, old or weak, and disabled people because they could

not work in theconcentration

camps and therefore of no use to the Nazis.

These people were sent straight to gas chambers.

The biggest Extermination camps included Auschwitz Birkenau,

Treblinka and Sobibor

The living conditions in the camps were horrendous.

The prisoners could only go to the toilet twice a day.

Many had dysentery and had to share a toilet between hundreds of

people.

The gates to Auschwitz 1 , have a sign which reads ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ which

means works sets you free... Nazis did this to fool the people into thinking they

would survive

MURDER

The Nazi’s started by shooting the Jews. They would be lined up and shot but this was too

expensive and also took too long.

The Nazi’s then designed and created chambers which they filled with gas.

These was a much more economical solution to mass murder.

Jews were told to take off all their clothes because they were going for a shower.

Once they were in, poison was let into the chamber, killing every Jew within 20 minutes. The

gas was often so strong that the bodies melted together.

The hair was removed (if it hadn't been already) and the gold teeth and anything of any value

was removed.

Nazis also kept ‘souvenirs’ of disabled victims body parts e.g. legs.

Corpses were then burnt in pits often by the Sonderkomando (Jewish workers)

The ashes were then dumped in a pond or even scatted on the ground as fertiliser.

The size of Auschwitz was 40

square kilometres or almost 25

square miles.

From the guards tower, as far as the eye can see the grounds

of Auschwitz Birkenau were completely covered in

accommodation blocks, each chimney of these blocks

represents 750 prisoners, each existing in appalling

conditions.

Members of the SS Helferinnen( female auxiliaries) and SS officer Karl Hoecker sit on a

fence railing in Solahutte eating bowls of blueberries accompanied by an accordionist

Karl Hocker and SS auxiliaries at a recreation lodge near the camp

SS officers who work in Auschwitz having a sing-song on their day

off.

Whilst the prisoners lived in terrible conditions, just

existing...

The Members of the SS Helferinnen (female

auxiliaries) and SS officers who worked at

Auschwitz, enjoyed their days off and live generally

normal lives, regardless of the fact that they were part

of this mass genocide.

AROUND 1.1 MILLION PRISONERS WERE EXECUTED BY THE

NAZIS AT AUSCHWITZ

Children were often used as experiments. They were put in cold water to see how long they could surviveThey were put in boiling water to see how long they could surviveThey would experiment on their brainsWe have liver and heart transplants because of the experiments on JewsAll these were done without anaesthetics

Children

LiberationOn January 27, 1945 Auschwitz was liberated.

Thousands of prisoners died after liberation due to

ill health but also over eating.

These prisoners also had no where to return.

Their houses had been taken over by other families.

They were met with great prejudice and got little help

from the government or people to re establish their

lives. Many fled to other countries such as Britain

and Israel.

If you would like further information please follow the

link below to my blog:

HTTPS://ITHINKTHEREFOREITEACH.

WORDPRESS.COM/