One Survivor Remembers

The 1930s saw the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany which culminated in the genocide of more than six million Jews and other groups between 1940-45

In 1919, the end of WWI was designated by the signing of Treaty of Versailles.  The humiliation of Germany's position in 1919 had an impact on the events that led to the rise of Nazi party and WWII.  Germany was forced to accept full responsibility for starting WWI and Germany's territory was reduced. Germany lost significant military power and had to pay heavy reparations. The German economy suffered severe inflation, which worsened with the worldwide depression. 

By 1930, unemployment rose to twenty two percent and political demonstration frequently turned violent attacking opponents and intimidating voters.  Adolf Hitler had been the head of the Nazi Party since 1921. He had been imprisoned in 1923 for trying to overthrow the government. While in jail he wrote the book, Mein Kompf (My Struggle), in which he stated his goals:1. Territorial expansion 2. Racial pure state 3. Elimination of European Jews. The Nazi party spread its message through newspapers, recruitment and organization offering simple solutions to people's problems.  They exploited people's fears and the Nazi party gained broad support, even among the middle class.

In January 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg invited Hitler to serve as Chancellor of Germany in a coalition government. The conservatives did not like Hitler, but they saw the leftist party as a bigger threat and they thought they could control him. One month later, a fire gutted the Parliament building, Hitler blamed the Communists, seizing on the popular fears.  Overnight, all basic civil rights and constitutional protections were suspended. Leftist and trade union leaders were rounded up and transferred to concentration camps. In August 1934, upon Hindenburg's death, Adolf Hitler became Fuhrer.  The military and all civil servants, swore an oath of loyalty to Hitler, not to the constitution.

September 15, 1935: Nuremberg Race laws introduced: These laws defined legal definitions for "real Germans" and set up rules for identifying Jews. The law stripped Jewish Germans of their citizenship and any basic rights. They were aimed to create a pure Aryan race ideally suited to rule the European continent. Racist ideas were taught in schools. Jews, Slavs, Blacks, Gypsies were considered racially inferior.  People with mental or physical disabilities were considered not worthy to live.

After 1933, the German Government slowly aimed to eliminate the rights of Jews. Between 1933 and 1939, the government enacted hundreds of laws to define, segregate and impoverish its Jewish population. The goal of Nazi propaganda was to demonize Jews and see Jews as dangerous outsiders. After 1935, public displays of antisemitism reinforced a climate of hostility or indifference to their treatment.

November 9, 1938 was the "Night of Broken Glass" Violence across Germany broke out ostensibly due to the assassination of a German official in Paris by a German teenager.  However, it is widely known that it was a pre-planned attack by the propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Over 7,000 Jewish owned business were vandalized and more than 250 Synagogues were damaged or destroyed. Jewish cemeteries, hospital and schools were looted, and scores of people were killed.  The following day, 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and deported to concentration camps.

Further restrictions on Jews by the government continued as the government froze Jewish assets and made changes to identifications papers.  Jews who were trying to leave Germany were faced with restrictive visas and restrictive immigration policies of other countries.

In September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland and WWII began. Through the next few months, Hitler and the German army continued their advance throughout Europe. In July 1941 Hermann Göring, Hitler's second in command, ordered preparations for "the final solution for the Jewish question in the European territory…" under German control. Mobile killing squads were formed consisting of German military, German SS, German Police Units and local collaborators that took active roles in authorized mass murders of two million Jews.

Germany also set up ghettos to separate and concentrate Jews.  Initially, the ghettos were set up to separate the Jews from the outside population.  In 1942, they became staging areas for deportation to concentration camps. The Germans and their collaborators deported about 2.7 million Jews and others to killing centers in Poland. The largest of the camps was Auschwitz.  Prisoners arrived from all over Europe and were judged on fitness to work upon arrival. Those judged unfit were killed within two to three hours of arrival. The Germans had developed efficient human killing systems on an industrial scale. They developed and tested Zyklon B gas which they used in gas chambers to kill children, women and men.

April 1945: the war ended, and the world learned the true extent of the Nazi atrocities.

Statistics of Nazi genocide: (Estimated)

Jews: up to 6 million

Soviet Civilian: 7 million (including 1.3 Jewish civilians included in Jewish figure)

Soviet Prisoner of war: 3 million (including 50,000 Jewish soldiers)

Polish Civilians: 1.8 million

Serb Civilians: 312,000

People with disabilities living in institutions: 250,000

Gypsies: up to 220,000

Jehovah's Witness: up to 2000

Homosexuals: 70,000

German political opponents/activists: undetermined

“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

― Elie Wiesel (Nobel Prize winning Author, Activist, Holocaust Survivor)

Sources:

“The Path to Nazi Genocide.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, www.ushmm.org/learn/introduction-to-the-holocaust/path-to-nazi-genocide/the-path-to-nazi-genocide/full-film.

“Encyclopedia.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, www.ushmm.org/learn.