Definition

• The Definition of Genocide written by the Geneva Convention in 1948 said that genocide was the intent to destroy in whole or part, a national, ethnic, religious or racial group. They wrote this definition specifically because of the Holocaust and what the Germans did to the Jews during that time.
• This definition is very broad and that is because by the end of the war the Germans were targeting almost anybody that they could find and killing them.
• By the end of the war the Germans were targeting not only the Jews but also handicapped people, children, Soviets and Poles.  These different groups are the reason that there are different groups included in the definition.
• Intent is included in the Definition because so that people like Hitler who want to commit genocide but don't have the same power   can still get punished for their thoughts, ideas and plans.

History                                                                                              

Post WWI

• The real beginning of the Holocaust started when the Germans were forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles after WWI.

  • The Treaty forced the Germans to give up multiple territories that they had gained through the war.

  • They were also forced to cut down their military and pay back war reparations to the allied powers.

• These penalties angered a young Hitler and he denounced the treaty and called for its rejection.
•   He blamed Communists and Jews by saying that Germany could have been victorious in the war if they had not been betrayed by these groups on the home front.
• With these speaches he seized on Germanys discontent and promised to return Germany to greatness.
• At this point the German Workers Party that Hitler was a part of changed their name to the National Socialist German Workers Party or the Nazis.
• Hitler quickly rose up the ranks of the party and chose the swastika as the party symbol.
• As the German government defaulted on their war payments the French sent troops to the Industrial Ruhr region of Germany.
• Many people starved and struggled to survive these harsh times.

First attempt to take control

• On November 8th 1923 Hitler and other Nazis went into a Beer Hall and said that the Nazi revolution had begun.
  • This event is known as the "Beer Hall Putsch"
• The next day Hitler and his soilders known as "Storm Troopers" marched on Munich but were met by police and 16 men were killed. 
• Hitler was sentenced to five years in jail for treason.
• While in Jail he began dictating his book Mein Kampf  or "My Struggle"
• In this book he wrote about his plans for the future of Germany and his ideas about politics and race.
  • He believed that the Aryan race of German men with fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes were the supreme race and were better than all others.
  • He wrote about a struggle for world domination between Aryans and Jews and blamed the Jews for all of the Evils of the World.
  • It also stated the the Germans needed more territory and that they could take what they needed for the Soviets and Poland.
• After only nine months Hitler was released from jail.
• During his time in jail the economy had improved and Hitler had lost almost all of his popular support.
• in the 1930's the Great Depression hit Germany and with it came a rise in unemployment and hunger.

The rise of Hitler and the Nazi party

• The national elections in 1930 was Hitlers platform to gain support by telling people he could fix everything.
• With Anti-Semitism being a big thing in Europe at this time Hitler fed on that and sid that the Jews were the downfall of Germany in WWI and were also the cause of the current economic crisis.
• Hitler was able to use National Prejudices to encourage th Germans to feel superior to all others.
• The 1930 elections made the Nazi party the second largest party in Germany but Hitler still couldnt beat Paul von Hindenburg in the 1932 presidential election.
• After alot of bribing and many closed door deals Hiler was appointed chancellor of Germany in 1933
• Almost a month after becoming Chancellor the German Parliment buliding was destroyed by a fire.
  • This fire was most likely caused by the Nazis but they quickly blamed th Communists
• The Nazis used this fire to get President Hindenburg to sign an emergency decree stripping the German citizens of many of their rights and giving unlimited power to the Government.
  •      Nazi storm tropers used this power to arrest thousands of communists and other political rivals.  Many of these people were beaten and later murdered.
• Hitler needed to secure two-thirds of the parliment for the Nazi party to have complete power so he scheduled new parliamentary elections.
• The Nazis used tons of propaganda and terror to influence the election and still were not able to obtain  the majority.
• Even without the tow-thirds majority the Nazis started replacing local government officials aroud Germany  with members of their own party.
• During this same time Hitlers SS agents were arresting communists, socialists and all others who were thought to be a threat and sending them to forced labor camps and other holding areas. 
  •      These were the first concentration camps and in their early years they were used to house political rivals and enemys to the state.
• The first permanent Nazi concentration camp was built in 1933 near the German town of Dachau

Total Control is attained

• Once the Communists were out of the way, Hitler wrote a law that would give him all the parliments power and on March 23, 1933 parliment passsed the Enabling Acts, which ended democracy in Germany.
• President Hindenburgs Death in 1934 gave hitler total power and he took the title of "Fuehrer" or leader.
• Under Hitler, hunger and unemployment fell adn indusrty picked up.  THe germans were thrilled with the rise in the economy.
• With total control hitler was able to turn his personal anti-Semitism into the national policy.
  • Jews were basically forced out of society by Hitler adn in 1935 he passed the Nuremburg Laws which stripped all rights from the Jews.
• Many Jews fled Germany and emigrated to other countries but few thought that Hitler would last long in his place of power.
• In late 1938 a German Jew protested his famlies removal from Germany by shooting a German diplomat in Paris.  As retaliation the Nazis set up violet riots against the Jews. 
  • These riots were known as "Kristallnacht" which means "crystal night" becouse of all teh windows that got broken around the country.
  • During the raids between 20,000 and 30,000 jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps     
• Hitler then started rebuilding the Military even though it was a violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
  • Hitler established a national draft and sent troops to the Rhineland.
  • then in 1938 he sent troops to Austria and just like with the Rhineland the allies did not protest
  • That summer Hitler demanded that Britin and France return the Sudetenland to German power.  They agree under the condition that Hitler not invade the rest of Czechoslovakia.
• Appeasing Hitler turns out to be a very bad idea and Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939
• Gernamy signed a non-agression pact with the Soviets to manke sure that trades remained open and to ensure that the Soviets would not interfere in Hitlers conquest of Europe
• on September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland and on September 3rd France and Britain declared war on Germany thus starting WWII

Actors and victims of the Holocaust

• Most people think the Jews were the only victims of the Holocaust, but that is not the case. 
  • 5.9 Million Jews were killed.
  • 2-3 million Soviet POWs
  • 1.8-2 million Poles
  • 220,000 to 1.5 million Romani
  • 220,000-250,000 Disabled.
  • 80,000-200,000 Freemasons.
  • 5,000-15,000 Homosexuals
  • 2,500-5,000 Jehovah's Witnesses
    • In some counts they would also add the deaths of 6 million Soviet citizens 
• There is a wide range of opinions on the exact number of people killed during the Holocaust with the low number being 11 million and the High number being 21 million people killed.
• While this genocide targeted multiple groups there was one driving force behind it.  The Nazi party led by Adolf Hitler were the ones doing all the killing.
• Adolf Hitler was the mind behind the madness but he personally carried out very little of the work.  Here are some of the people who did:
  • Heinrich Himmler was an SS commander 
  • Ernst Kaltenbrunner was the chief of the RSHA and president of interpol
  • Reinhard Heydrich was the chief gestapo and Hitler thought of him as a possible successor.  He facilitated and managed the logistics of mass deportation of Jews to ghettos and extermination camps. 
  •   Adolf Eichmann was refered to as the architect of the Holocaust becouse orgizational skills and idealogical reliabilities. He was a driving force in the starting of the concentration camps.
  • Josef Mengele was a German SS officer and the head physician at Auschwitz Birkenan.  He oversaw the the selection process adn determined who lived and who died.  He also proformed many tests on Jews in the camp that were horribe and torturious

International/Regional Response 

• In Germany very few cared or knew the full extent of the crimes that Hitler and the other Nazis were committing.
• In many other European countries the governments for a long time in the lead up to WWII tried to appease Hitler and avoid war all together.
• The countries like Poland and Austria could do little to defend themselves when the Nazis invaded.
• WHen the Nazis did invade Poland the British and French decided enough is enough and they declared war and thus started WWII

The USA response

• The United States did nothing in the beginning portion of WWII.  They wanted to keep trade open and with the economy still struggling it did not seem like a good idea to get into another war.
  • As it turns out Americas entrance into WWII is what gets us out of the depression.
• The USA finally entered the war when Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and four days later Germany declared war on the United States  
• President Roosevelt immediately asked congress to hugely expand the armed forces. Unfortunately the last twenty years of turning the other cheek could not be over turned in a couple days.
• As American bases continued to fall in the South Pacific the joint chiefs on capital hill tried to figure out a plan.
• The Americans decided that they could help Britain with there war effort without getting into the war themselves. 
• America started into the war by going into North Africa with the British and French.  This was the first time that America got there hands dirty and was the just the beginning.
• Even once the United States entered the war the government did very little to actually help the soldiers learn ways to cope with the horrible things that they would witness as they liberated camps and marched through Europe.
• They also didnt tell the public anything about the concentration camps and so when people saw pictures of these crimes they were amazed about what had happened and wondered how the United States could let it happen.

The Aftermath

• The Aftermath of the Holocaust could be seen all over the world. It impacted all parts of life from paintings to political and world decisions.
• The biggest problem with the Aftermath was what to do with all the survivors.  These people were in horrible physical and mental condition and usuall had no homes and families to go back to.
• Many countries made it hard for Jews and other people who had been discriminated against by the Nazis. 
• This problem was addressed by the creation of the State of Israel
• This helped but Jews also went ot countries like Canada and South Africa

Affect on Culture

• The holocaust had a profound affect on many parts of world culture
• Many of the times thinkers began to relook at how god worked in the world and wondered how he would let somthing like this happen to  his "choosen people."  Many wondered how you could believe in God after seeing what had happened.
• Books from survivors have been bestsellers all over the world and tons of movies have been made dictating what happened in those dark days.
• The UN decided that January 27th would be "International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust"
• Many people said after the Holocaust that it never happened and to this day people still think that it never happened even though it has been very well documented. 

Lessons Learned

• The world learned many lessons after WWII and the holocaust that happened.
  • They learned the warning signs of Genocide and that you must stop it early because once the ball really starts rolling it is tough to stop.
  • It made people wonder what other people might be able to do in the world.
  • It also opened peoples eyes to the horrors that go unnoticed in the world.

Controversy today

• Nobody can deny what happened during the Holocaust but some deny it that it was Genocide and that it was just random killing.
• Some also argue that Hitler was Mentally Insane so the Holocaust can not be considered Genocide.
• Most commonly though the Holocaust is considered genocide. 

Sources

http://www.worldwariihistory.info/WWII/United-States.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_2

http://www.ushmm.org/ 

http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaust/tp/holocaust.htm

 Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1982. Print.