3.2.8

The Holocaust

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The Holocaust

The Holocaust was by far the worst occasion of violence against Jewish people. Under the Nazis, millions of Jewish people were murdered.

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The Holocaust

  • The word Holocaust means destruction and slaughter.
  • The Jewish people themselves often call this time the 'Shoah', which literally means 'catastrophe'.
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Devastation

  • It is estimated that 6 million Jews were murdered during this period.
    • This was about two-thirds of all Jews living in Europe at the time.
  • The Jewish population was rounded up and sent to Death Camps, where many were killed in gas chambers.
  • Others died because they were used as part of evil medical experiments.
  • Others were shot in huge numbers and buried in mass graves.
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Hitler and Anti-Semitism

  • After the First World War, Germany was in a very bad economic situation.
  • Germany had to make payments to other countries and the whole world was going through an economic depression.
  • Hitler made speeches saying that the situation was the result of a Jewish conspiracy.
  • He later made it clear he believed the solution to Germany's problems would be killing all Jews.
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Hitler as leader

  • In the 1930s Hitler was elected to lead Germany.
  • Soon after he abolished elections and ruled as a dictator until his suicide in 1945.
  • Because of the high rate of poverty and unemployment, many Germans were prepared to 'scapegoat' the Jewish people.
    • Scapegoating means laying all the blame for problems on one person or one group.
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Extremism

  • This is an example of two of the reasons for extremism.
  • Firstly, Hitler and his followers (who became the Nazi Party) fed lies to the German people about the reasons for their problems.
  • Joseph Goebbels was one of Hitler's most trusted followers.
    • Goebbels said 'If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it'.
  • Secondly, the German people were looking for simple solutions to what was a very complex problem.

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1Year 7

1.1Origins of Abrahamic Faith

1.2Judaism

1.3Christianity

1.4Buddhism

2Year 8

3Year 9

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