Holocaust

An Introduction

Antisemitism

• Prejudice against or hatred of Jews

Jewish Life in Europe Before WWII•60% of the world’s Jewish population lived in Europe

Aftermath of WWI

•Germany was in a social and economic upheaval.

Nazi Rise to Power

Stage I

• 1933-1939

– Nazi rise to power begins Third Reich

– Early stages of persecution

– First concentration camps

Stage II• 1939-1945

– World War II in Europe

– Euthanasia Program– Persecution and

murder of Jews– Ghettos– Mobile killing squads– Expansion of

concentration camp system

– Killing centers– Additional victims of

Nazi persecution– Jewish resistance– Rescue– United States– Death marches– Liberation

Stage III

• Post 1945– Postwar trials– Displaced persons

camps– Emigration

Books to Read

• Presents the writings and drawings of teenager, Petr Ginz, who died in 1944 at Auschwitz, recording his life under Nazi occupation, his transport to and life at Thereisenstadt concentration camp at fourteen, ending just prior to his transport to Auschwitz.

Books to Read

• The author tells the story of her family's experiences as Jews in Hitler's Germany, tracing their horrifying journey from their home country to Holland and back again, living in refugee, transit, and prison camps, including Bergen-Belson.

Books to Read

• Recounts how Frans Braal, a resistance worker in Holland, and his family risked their own lives to protect Dutch Jews from Nazi troops during World War II, using the story of a fictional child to tell the true story of the family's bravery.

Books to Read

• A recounting drawn from historic source material of the many individual acts of heroism performed by righteous gentiles who sought to thwart the extermination of the Jews during the Holocaust.

Books to Read

• Bored and lonely after his family moves from Berlin to a place called "Out-With" in 1942, Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, befriends a boy in striped pajamas who lives behind a wire fence.

Books to Read

• A novel based on the experiences of Suzanne David Hall, who, as a teenager in Nazi-occupied France, worked as a spy for the French Resistance while training to be an opera singer.

Books to Read

• Presents the life and exploits of a Nazi-hunter, including the stories of how he caught and brought to justice such infamous war criminals as Adolph Eichmann.

Sources

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum http://www.ushmm.org

• Gruener, Ruth. Destined to Live: A True Story of a Child in the Holocaust. New York : Scholastic, © 2007.

• Sherwood, Ben. The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life. New York : Grand Central Publishing, © 2009