Bellringer:

•Pick up a note sheet from my stool.

•Honors Classes: Turn in your Pride and Prejudice essay rough draft to the basket.

Essential Question:

How can historical background

information aide in comprehension of nonfiction pieces?

Holocaust History

WWI, WWII, Hitler, and the Holocaust

World War I•1914- 1919

•At the start of the war, these were the major players (more countries joined the war later):

▫Allied Forces (a.k.a. the Allies): France, the United Kingdom, Russia

▫Central Powers: Germany and Austria-Hungary

World War I•The Allies needed help and they were hoping

that the United States would join their side.

•On April 6, 1917, the United States officially declared war on Germany for two reasons:

1. Germany sunk the British passenger boat RMS Lusitania.

2. In early 1917, Germany sent Mexico a coded message promising portions of U.S. land in return for Mexico joining World War I against the United States.

World War I- Aftermath• By the end of the war, an estimated 10

million soldiers were killed. That averages to about 6,500 deaths a day, every day. Plus, millions of civilians were also killed. World War I is especially remembered for its slaughter for it was one of the bloodiest wars in history.

Hitler’s Rise to Power

• In the early 1930s, Germany was poor and desperate after their embarrassing loss in WWI, and they were not confident in their current government.

• These conditions provided the chance for the rise of a new leader, Adolf Hitler, and his party, the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi party for short.

• In January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor, the head of the German government, and many Germans believed they had found a savior for their nation.

Hitler’s Ideas• Hitler believed that the Aryan people and Germany

were destined to rule the world. He also felt that democracy and workers’ rights would disrupt society.

• He thought Germans should have enough ‘living space’ and that only people of German or Aryan blood should live in Germany. He believed that non-Germans should have no say in Germany.

• He did not believe that Jews could be Germans. Hitler believed that communism was a huge threat to Germany and should be destroyed. He thought that communism was a Jewish invention and that was another reason why he hated the Jews.

• He also wanted to rid Germany of the mentally and physically disabled, because they were seen as imperfect and also a drain on the resources of the master race.

• Hitler wanted to create a generation of young Aryans who were physically fit and totally obedient. They would create a new Germany that would rule the world for a thousand years.

The Holocaust• Holocaust: Jewish term meaning “burnt offering” or “burnt sacrifice.”

• After several years of terror, prejudice, and persecution, Hitler’s Germany came up with the ‘Final Solution’ for their Jewish problem.

• Laws at Nuremberg

▫ September 1935- deprived Jews of political rights and defined who was a Jew.

• Kristallnacht- November 9-10, 1938

▫ Organized violence against Jews throughout Germany and the invaded Austria.

• Ghettos

▫ 1939-1945; small areas of cities where Jews were isolated before being transported.

▫ Largest: Warsaw Ghetto had 400,000 Jews crammed into

1.3 square miles.

▫ Forced labor; all Jews had to wear Identification Armbands.

Concentration Camps• A camp in which people are detained or confined, usually under

harsh conditions and without regard to legal norms of arrest and imprisonment.

• Nazi concentration camps were originally opened to hold “subversives”- people who opposed the government.

• The first camp was opened in Dachau in 1933.

Concentration Camps• Deportations and Killing Centers

▫ Jews were moved from ghettos to concentration and death camps by train.

▫ Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest death camp with 960,000 Jews murdered and about 135,000 others (including political prisoners, the mentally handicapped, the insane, and the “gypsies.”)

▫ “Selection” took place upon getting off of the train, where individuals were selected for work or death.

▫ A product called Zyklon-B was used in the gas chambers.

▫ Dr. Josef Mengele performed medical experiments on prisoners, specifically infants, twins, and dwarves.

Jews and other prisoners being transported to

Concentration and Death Camps.

Camp Prisoners

Gas Chambers

Crematorium

Liberation •January-May, 1945- Allied forces liberate

Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, and other concentration camps.

•April 30, 1945- Hitler commits suicide.

•May 7, 1945- Germany surrenders and WWII ends in Europe.

•November 1945-October 1946: Nuremberg Trials

▫Nazi leaders were tried for Crimes Against Humanity in Nuremberg, Germany.

▫Some were sentenced to death.

Night•Night has been translated. It was originally written

in Hebrew in 1954 and given the title Un di Velt Hot Geshvign (And the World Remained Silent).

• In 1958, Wiesel shortened the manuscript from over 800 pages to 178 pages, changed the title to Night and translated it into French.

• In 1960, it was shortened to 116 pages and translated into English by Stell Rodway.

• In 2006, Wiesel’s wife, Marion, completed a new English translation.

•What complications can arise from translations?

Martin Niemoeller• Martin Niemoeller was a Protestant pastor born January 14,

1892, in Lippstadt, Westphalia. He was a submarine commander in World War I.

• He was anti-communist and initially supported the Nazis until the church was made subordinate to state authority. In 1934, he started the Pastors’ Emergency League to defend the church.

• Hitler became angered by Niemoeller’s rebellious sermons and popularity and had him arrested on July 1, 1937. He was tried the following year and sentenced to seven months in prison and fined.

• After his release, Hitler ordered him arrested again. He spent the next seven years in concentration camps in “protective custody.”

• He was liberated in 1945 and was elected President of the Protestant church in Hesse and Nassau in 1947. He held the title until 1964. He was also a President of the World Council of Churches in the 1960’s.

Martin NiemoellerNiemoeller was a pacifist who spoke out against nuclear weapons. He is

best known for his powerful statement about the failure of Germans to speak out against the Nazis:

“First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Read the quote in bold and answer the following questions on a piece of paper. Be ready to share your answers.

1. What does the quote mean?

2. What effect does the parallelism have on the meaning?

3. What lesson is Niemoller trying to convey to readers?

4. How could you and your peers apply this lesson to everyday life?