1 Why study the Holocaust?

2 “Names pile up like pebbles on tombstones“Names pile up like pebbles on tombstones. To forget you is to let you die twice.” ~Emily Borenstein

3 Between 1933 and 1945, the German government led by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party carried out the systematic persecution and murder of Europe’s Jews.

4 Modern state politics and technology combined to produce an event of unparalleled horror.

5 What caused it? Sinister nature of prejudice Outright discrimination Racism anti-Semitism

6 Targets politically racially socially unfit

7 Germany was… Civilized Advanced Well educated DemocracyYet it descended into social collapse causing a world war and mass murder

8 It won’t happen again… It couldn’t happen again… Will itIt won’t happen again… It couldn’t happen again… Will it? This is not some barbaric notion of days gone by.

9 Middle East –ISIL- 2014 to present ???Worldwide the use of poisonous gas against civilian populations by Iraq: – 800,000 Deaths Sudan Darfur: ,000 Deaths Rwanda: ,000 Deaths Bosnia-Herzegovina: ,000 Deaths Iran Kurdistan ,000 Deaths Pol Pot in Cambodia: ,000,000 Deathh Nazi Holocaust: ,000,000 Deaths Rape of Nanking: ,000 Deaths Stalin's Forced Famine: ,000,000 Deaths Armenians in Turkey: ,500,000 Deaths

10 Genocide: the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group

11 Conspiracy: a scheme or plan that requires a concerted (determined) plan of action

12 holocaust literally means “massive destruction by fire”Holocaust refers to the destruction of European Jews in WWII

13 9 million Jews were living in continental Europe at the beginning of the War6 million perished as a result of Nazi occupation

14 It is generally believed that 11 million people were murdered by the Nazi regime including political opponents, Gypsies (Sinti), the mentally ill, and other undesirables.

15 Anti-Semitism Coined by Wilhelm Marr in 1879 to mean “opposed to Jews” Misuse of the word Semitic refers not to race but to a group of languages These languages include Ethiopic, Arabic, and Syrian. Marr’s inaccurate definition has remained ever since.

16 “dislike of the unlike”Anti-Jewish feelings have persisted over 2,000 years Ancient times Jews were exiled from their homeland in Palestine and scattered far and wide Settled in many lands among peoples whose customs and beliefs were different

17 Religious Anti-SemitismMonotheism was considered suspicious in Ancient times Always a minority religious group Roman and Greek pagans, Christians, and Muslims all frowned on Judaism’s “strange and different” beliefs All tried to persuade, then to force Jews to accept their God, or gods and goddesses

18 Medieval Ages Excluded from citizenship, trade and craft guilds Only allowed in unregulated occupations money lending medicine wholesale trading Small numbers kept them targets for abuse

19 Religious persecution kept them on the move for centuriesDiaspora (Jewish settlements in countries other than Palestine) Western Europe- Germany, France, and Spain Harsh persecutions -11th and 15th centuries forced most to migrate to Eastern Europe Eastern Europe remained the heartland well into the 20th Century

20 “What should we do with the Jewish minority among us?”

21 Political Anti-SemitismDespite increasing religious tolerance in the modern world, anti-Semitism has not disappeared Ambitious and unscrupulous politicians still beat the drums of anti-Jewish prejudice to gain votes, power, and wealth

22 Racism: The belief that there are superior and inferior races of people based on their physical, mental, moral, and cultural characteristics.

23 Racist Anti-Semitism According to Hitler, Germans belonged to a superior “Aryan or Nordic race’ while all non-Aryans- especially Jews- were inferior Jews were labeled “Subhumans” None of these Nazi racial theories had any scientific basis whatsoever

24 The Jews were made Scapegoats.

25 Scapegoat Leviticus 16:21-22 The Day of Atonement Two GoatsThe first goat was sacrificed, while the scapegoat was taken out into the wilderness and released taking the sins of the village away Scapegoat

26 For your benefit, learn from our tragedyFor your benefit, learn from our tragedy. It is not a written law that the next victims must be Jews. It can also be other people. We saw it begin in Germany with Jews, but other people from more than twenty other nations were also murdered. When I started this work, I said to myself, ‘I will look for the murderers of all the victims, not only the Jewish victims. I will fight for justice’. -Simon Wiesenthal

27 "Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in  jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.  Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment – become the center of the universe.“ ~Elie Wiesel Nobel Peace Laureate                       

28 “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”-George Santayana

29 What are the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and community?

30 Steps to Organized Genocide