A. Minority groups:
Jewish people, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the disabled, homosexual people,
black people (as well as trade unionists, political opponents, Poles and Soviet
prisoners of war)
a.
Targeted because they did not fit
into Nazi ideals of race or went against ideology: ‘undesirables’
i.
not be part of the new ‘racially
pure’ Germany
b.
Jews, Gypsies (immigrated from India
in 1400s), black people/jazz music
c.
the perfection of Aryans (the
mentally & physically disabled)
d.
Jehovah’s Witnesses refused to serve
in the army while homosexual people were seen as a hindrance to the expansion
of the Volk
B. Targeting
of these groups provided a common enemy for Nazis to rally against
a.
Jewish people were blamed in the
“stab in the back” theory
i.
view that German army had not really
lost WWI in 1918
1.
socialists & Jews undermined war
effort
2.
came about b/c of the humiliation of
Versailles treaty
b.
Blamed for weaknesses of Weimar
Republic
C. Classification system:
Different people were given
different identification in concentration camps (the Jewish were
also
required to wear their stars in public)
a.
yellow stars for Jewish (perversion
of star of David)
b.
purple triangles for Jehovah’s
Witnesses
c.
green triangles for criminals
d.
red triangles for political
prisoners
e.
pink triangles for homosexuals
f.
black triangles for Roma
This
system allowed for easier objectification and estrangement from society
●
Many of these groups faced
persecution many years before the Nazis came to power, Hitler just exploited
existing tensions
●
Classification system- different
colored stars in camps and in public- made it easier to objectify and estrange
them from society
D. Anti-Semitism:
a.
hatred of Jews
i.
dominant & consistent theme of
Hitler’s political career
ii.
ideas led to racial laws,
government-inspired violence & genocide policy Holocaust - extermination of
Jews
1.
genocide: extermination of a whole
race
iii.
long tradition of anti-Semitism in
European history: religious hostility
1.
Christians towards Jews (as
murderers of Jesus)
2.
traced back to medieval Europe
3.
Jews used as scapegoat for society’s
problems
iv.
more defined anti-Semitism based on
racism & national resentment
v.
1900 anti-Semitic volkisch political
parties winning seats in Reichstag success
shows anti-Semitic ideas becoming prevalent & respected
b.
Adolf Stocker: leader of right-wing
anti-Semitic parties
i.
Imperial Court Chaplain
c.
social factors:
i.
response to intellectual development
& changing social conditions
ii.
easy scapegoat as rapid
industrialization & urbanization took place
iii.
many immigrants from eastern Europe
= different traditions
iv.
Many Jews were impoverished but some
envied for being privileged
1.
1933 - 1% of German population, but
16% of lawyers, 10% doctors, 5% editors/writers
v.
Social Darwinism:
1.
nations were like animals & only
struggling & fighting leads to survival
2.
ex: pg. 89
vi.
In 1934, a survey of why people
joined the Nazis conveyed that 60% didn’t know about Hitler’s anti-Semitism
d.
Nazi approach to anti-Semitism was
gradual
e.
Discrimination:
i.
Party’s leadership worried immediate
measures against Jewish people could get out of hand
1.
April 1, 1933 - Jewish-owned shops,
cages & businesses picketed by SA - stood outside urging people not to
enter- this was not universally accepted by German people & was bad for
publicity abroad
f.
Nuremberg Laws (1935)- rights
removed, defined Jews, Aryans, and ‘mixed breeds,’ see page 92 of textbook
g.
Propaganda & indoctrination:
Goebbels was anti-Semitic
i.
used skills as Minister of
Propaganda & Popular Enlightenment to indoctrinate people
ii.
aspects of culture associated w/
Jews censored
iii.
for methods used see page 92 of
textbook
iv.
influencing German Youth
1.
put across by Hitler Youth &
schools revised textbooks & teaching materials
h. Violence against Jews:
i.
SA damage property, intimidation
& physical attacks
ii.
after Kight of Long Knives
anti-Semitic violence more sporadic
1.
1936 decline in anti-Semitic
campaigns due to Berlin Olympics & need to avoid international alienation
2.
conservative forces have restraining
influences
iii.
pogrom
against Jews 1938
1.
“Night of Crystal Glass” - Kristallnacht - smashed storefronts
a.
started in Berlin then spread
b.
destruction of numerous Jewish homes
& 100 deaths, attacks on 10,000 shops & businesses, burning down of 200
synagogues, deportation of 20,000 to concentration camps
i.
due to assassination of Ernst von
Rath - German diplomat in Paris by Herschel Grunspan (who was Jewish) on Nov. 7
iv.
Forced
emigration
1.
Jews started to leave Germany
voluntarily when Nazis came to power
a.
those w/ influence, high reputation,
sufficient wealth went to Palestine, Britain, USA (ex. Albert Einstein the
scientist & Kurt Weill - the composer)
b.
1938 - forced emigration
i.
Central Office for Jewish Emigration
established in Vienna by Adolf Eichmann
1.
Jews property confiscated to finance
emigration
v.
Extermination:
1.
Jewish ghettos created
a.
SS Einsatzgruppen - “Action Units” - rounded up local Jews &
murdered them by mass murders
i.
700,000 Jews killed in western
Russia
2.
“final solution” to Jewish question
- Holocaust (Shoah)
a.
Wannsee Conference on January 20,
1942
i.
chaired by Heydrich & organized
by Eichmann - outline details of plan to use gas to kill 11 million Jews
ii.
camps for mass exterminations in
Poland i.e Auschwitz, Sobibor, Treblinka
iii.
of original three million Polish
Jews only 4000 survived
iv.
estimated 6 million jews died
E. Gypsies
a.
Sinti & Roma - tribes with their
own distinct dialect and customs
b.
emigrated from India in 1400’s
c.
nomadic lifestyle w/ no regular
employment
d.
1929 - The Central Office for the
Fight against Gypsies was established
e.
1935 the Nazis began rounding up
Roma and holding them in camps
f.
after outbreak of war many were
deported to Poland
i.
Jan. 1940 - gassing of Gypsy
children at Buchenwald
ii.
first months of 1943 22,500-500,000 were sent to camps &
exterminated
F. Jehovah’s Witnesses
a.
allegiance only to God made it
impossible for them to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler
b.
refused to serve in the German army
because they were pacifists
c.
had the opportunity to renounce
their faith and/or convert to mainstream Christianity, which few did
d.
around 2,000 killed in camps
G. The Disabled
a.
did not fit into Nazi stereotype of
pure Aryan - not physically/mentally fit or able to serve the Reich
b.
viewed as a burden on society -
unable to work & drained resources from state
c.
early as July 1933, Nazis passed a
law allowing forced sterilisation of 350,000 men & women because they were
deemed likely to produce 'inferior' children
d.
1939-1941 a programme of euthanasia
(‘mercy killings’) were ordered by state
i.
~70,000 people killed either by
gassing, lethal injection, or starvation
e.
Protestant & Catholic Churches
in Germany protested against euthanasia programme- July 1941 a letter from
Catholic bishops was read out in all churches, declaring that it was wrong to
kill
f.
opposition to programme increased
amongst Catholic population of Germany
g.
fearing a public uprising across
Germany, Hitler ordered a stop to the killings
H. Homosexual people
a.
failed to meet the Nazi ideals to
create Aryan offspring- considered an affront to Nazi goal of encouraging
natural population growth & normal family life
b.
15,000 homosexual adults were
rounded up and sent to concentration camps
c.
many castrated as a form of control,
treatment, or punishment
I. Black people
a.
After 1933 almost 400 black Germans
were part of a compulsory sterilisation programme
b.
1939- 1945, under shadow of war many
disappeared w/o trace
bsp;F
�;p & Ю� �Ϝ p;
i.
~70,000 people killed either by
gassing, lethal injection, or starvation
e.
Protestant & Catholic Churches
in Germany protested against euthanasia programme- July 1941 a letter from
Catholic bishops was read out in all churches, declaring that it was wrong to
kill
f.
opposition to programme increased
amongst Catholic population of Germany
g.
fearing a public uprising across
Germany, Hitler ordered a stop to the killings
H. Homosexual people
a.
failed to meet the Nazi ideals to
create Aryan offspring- considered an affront to Nazi goal of encouraging
natural population growth & normal family life
b.
15,000 homosexual adults were
rounded up and sent to concentration camps
c.
many castrated as a form of control,
treatment, or punishment
I. Black people
a.
After 1933 almost 400 black Germans
were part of a compulsory sterilization program
b.
1939- 1945, under shadow of war many
disappeared w/o trace
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