Case Study: The Holocaust
When Neville Chamberlain detailed the horrors that modern warfare would inflict on civilians, not even he knew how true his words would prove to be. Once the war erupted, one segment of the civilian population in particular was the target of Hitler's fury; Jews. The result was the Final Solution, a technologically and bureaucratically sophisticated system of camps for incarcerating or exterminating European Jews that the Germans put into place between 1941 and 1942. Either inmates were killed on their arrival or spared to endure a different kind of death; starvation, abuse, and overwork.
Guiding Question:
|
Using the documents and your knowledge of European history, analyze how Nazi Germany
escalated its persecution of European Jews throughout the 1930s until the end of the Second World War in 1945. |
Directions:
|
Use the following documents to complete a DBQ essay. Click on the link for detailed directions for writing the DBQ
DBQ Guidelines |
Historical Background:
|
Read the article linked below "Hitler's Willing Executioners" and watch the video History of European Antisemitism in preparation for writing the DBQ.
|
National Holocaust Museum - History of European Antisemitism
The following video details the long and unfortunate history of antisemitism in Europe. Information in the video may be used as historical background knowledge in your essay. |
|
Sources:
Source 1: Storm Troopers, a paramilitary organization of the Nazi party, wearing boycott signs, block the entrance to a Jewish-owned shop.
1 April 1933; Berlin, Germany |
*The signs read: “Germans, defend yourself against the Jewish atrocity propaganda, buy only at German shops!” and “Germans, defend yourselves, buy only at German shops!”
|
Source 2: Termination of employment letter to Fritz Wolff from employer Rudolf Karstadt, Inc. in Berlin, sent 18 April 1933.
|
We have tried until now to keep you in your position with us under the terms of your contract or, as
the case may be, according to the terms of the laws governing termination of employment. So far we have terminated your employment with the legally required period of notification, even though this move has placed our firm in a most difficult position, because of your Jewish descent. Unfortunately the current state of affairs forces us to take further action. It is no longer possible for us, under existing circumstances, to allow you to ever take up your position with us. To do otherwise, we would be placing our firm at serious risk. These grounds force us to the regrettable step of terminating our contractual relationship with you without notice. We understand that this action may leave you in an extraordinarily difficult position, but we have no other choice under the existing circumstances. You would certainly find this step reasonable, if you were in our situation and positions were reversed. In order to ease your situation, we are prepared to provide you the usual payment, under the terms of our contract, for the current month as well as for the month of May, payable at end of each month. Respectfully yours, Rudolf Karstadt Incorporated Berlin-Hermannstrasse In Representation [Signed illegible] |
Source 3: Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor, announced September 15, 1935 in Nuremberg.
|
Article 1
1. Marriages between Jews and subjects of the state of German or related blood are forbidden. Marriages nevertheless concluded are invalid, even if concluded abroad to circumvent this law. 2. Annulment proceedings can be initiated only by the state prosecutor. Article 2 Extramarital relations between Jews and subjects of the state of German or related blood are forbidden. Article 3 Jews may not employ in their households female subjects of the state of German or related blood who are under 45 years old. Article 4 1. Jews are forbidden to fly the Reich or national flag or display Reich colors. 2. They are, on the other hand, permitted to display the Jewish colors. The exercise of this right is protected by the state. Article 5 1. Any person who violates the prohibition under Article 1 will be punished with a prison sentence. 2. A male who violates the prohibition under Article 2 will be punished with a jail term or a prison sentence. 3. Any person violating the provisions under Articles 3 or 4 will be punished with a jail term of up to one year and a fine, or with one or the other of these penalties. Article 6 The Reich Minister of the Interior, in coordination with the Deputy of the Führer and the Reich Minister of Justice, will issue the legal and administrative regulations required to implement and complete this law. Article 7 The law takes effect on the day following promulgation, except for Article 3, which goes into force on January 1, 1936. Nuremberg, September 15, 1935 At the Reich Party Congress of Freedom The Führer and Reich Chancellor [signed] Adolf Hitler The Reich Minster of the Interior [signed] Frick The Reich Minister of Justice [signed] Dr. Gürtner The Deputy of the Führer [signed] R. Hess |
Source 5: Klaus Langer, age 14, German-Jewish boy; diary entry after Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass)
|
November 11, 1938 [Essen]
The past three days brought significant changes in our lives. On November 7 a German legation member [diplomat] was assassinated in Paris. He died two days later. The day following, on November [sic], came the consequences. At three o’clock the synagogue and the Jewish youth center were put on fire. Then they began to destroy Jewish businesses. During the morning, private homes also were being demolished. Fires were started at single homes belonging to Jews. At six-thirty in the morning the Gestapo came to our home and arrested Father and Mother [. . . ] Mother returned after about one and a half hours. Dad remained and was put in prison. [. . .] We [. . .] We returned to our neighborhood by two o’clock. Not far from us we saw a gang vandalizing a home, throwing things out of the window. When I went around the corner and looked up my street there was nothing to see. It looked peaceful. I, therefore, returned directly to our house. When I turned into the front yard I saw the house was damaged. I walked on glass splinters. [ . . . ] I ran into our apartment and found unbelievable destruction in every room. It was the same in the apartment of the caretaker below us. [. . . ] My parents instruments were destroyed, the dishes were broken, the windows were broken, furniture upturned, the desk was turned over, drawers and mirrors were broken, and the radio smashed. The kitchen and bathroom were untouched. The upstairs room was left alone, including my father’s cello. The cellar was also not disturbed. The apartment of the caretaker, Bachrach, was in much worse condition. In the evening, Mother brought gold and other valuables for safekeeping to Christian acquaintances. We wanted to spend the night at home, but the caretaker, Frau Bachrach, urged us to go to her relatives, the Herzfelds, where we spent the night. I read until late. In the middle of the night, at 2:30 am, the Storm Troopers [Sturmabteilung, or SA, also known as the Brownshirts] smashed windows and threw stones against the store shutters. After a few minutes they demanded to be let into the house. Allegedly they were looking for weapons. After they found no weapons they left. After that no one was able to go back to sleep. Everyone sat in one room. I tried but could not sleep. [. . . ] The time passed terribly slowly. Then we thought there was still another person in the house who was making a noise. Finally, at 5 a.m. I saw a policeman outside who walked back and forth. I shall never forget that night. [. . .] Books could be written about all that had happened and about which we now begin to learn more. But, I have to be careful. A new regulation was issued that the Jews in Germany had to pay one billion Reichsmarks for restitution. What for? For the damage the Nazis had done to the Jews in Germany. [. . . ] I now want to get to Ere[t]z Israel as quickly as possible, maybe with the first Youth Aliyah [immigration]. [. . .] |