The Holocaust
IT was not an accident
Purpose & Procedure (delete later)
• This activity aims to have students practice
observation skills in the context of learning
processes (using photographs)
• Students look at an image and the teacher
elicits ideas of what may be happening (the
teacher may choose to record ideas on the slide
with a tablet computer, or on the whiteboard)
• Students use a worksheet to record the
‘process’
• As a follow-up activity students can
summarize the event or process
What To Do
Look at the photo carefully and consider
what people are doing, what they are
wearing, the scene (where they are)
Make general notes and discuss ideas of the
possibilities
The Photos
The Holocaust was officially from 1940 to
1945, but was a slow progression of state-
sponsored genocide beginning in 1933
when the Nazi Party took power in
Germany.
Jews were forced to register with the
government, carry ID cards, and wear
symbols of all forms. Gypsies,
homosexuals, and other targeted groups
were forced to do the same.
The Photos
Jews were forced from their homes. These
were given to the state, which often gave
them to non-Jewish or non-minority
Germans.
The Map
Jewish emigration map, 1933-1940. This
demonstrates that Jews were feeing from
the growing oppression in Nazi Germany.
The Photos
Jews could be stopped anywhere, at
anytime, by military or police. They had to
produce identification or be jailed. (or
worse)
The Photos
Later, they were forced to move into
‘Jewish’ ghettos.
The Photos
Jews were then forced out of ghettos, and
into concentration camps. By this time,
anything a person ever owned was stolen
and they had nothing. To help the German
war effort and economy, Jews’ belongings
were taken: jewelry, watches, money,
property, etc.
The Photos
There were two kinds of camps – (forced)
labour camps and extermination (death)
camps. The healthy were forced to work,
often until they died of exhaustion. Dachau
is a well-known labour camp. Others were
simply sent to the death camps. Auschwitz
was a well-known extermination camp.
The Photo
Children were not spared. They were put
into camps, without proper health care, any
schooling, nor any opportunities to play and
grow.
The next two slides contain images that
may make you feel uncomfortable. Please
understand that these were real people,
not just photos. You may choose to turn
away from the screen.
The Photos
The Nazis carried out scientific experiments
on humans – usually painful – to learn abut
diseases and to test new weapons. Others
were sent to Nazi death camps, such as
Auschwitz. Murdered Jews were gassed,
burned, or shot. There were mass
executions in which Jews had to dig their
own graves before being killed. Many were
simply killed for minor reasons.
The Photos
One third of all Jews in the world were
murdered by the Nazis. Jews in Poland and
Russia, as well as Germany, were also at
risk after Hitler’s invasion of those
countries. In countries that were occupied
by Germany Jews were persecuted, hunted
down and/or murdered. This demonstrates
the level of anti-Semitism that existed in
Europe. (and in other parts of the world)
Why should this be important to
you?
By the end of World War Two, when
Germany had needed more resources, they
still used resources for the extermination
camps. Hitler’s policy of exterminating all
Jews was clear. The name of this plan was
The Final Solution. It was so profound and
horrible that many Jews left Europe for
Palestine – the Jewish homeland – to escape
its memory. Should humanity allow this to
happen again?
Why did this happen?
You Should Learn More About the Holocaust
Pictures:
http://history1900s.about.com/library/
holocaust/blpictures.htm
General:
http://history1900s.about.com/library/
holocaust/blpictures.htm