sign in sign up
<<
Home , Helmut Krausnick, Israel Gutman, Kletsk, Lublin Ghetto, Minsk Ghetto, Rudolf Vrba

ClassroomFocus Social Education 59(6), 1995 ©1995 National Council for the Social Studies This month, Classroom Focus features two Holocaust-related lessons by Paul Wieser, on the U.S. Press and , and on Anti-Semitism in from 1933 to 1942. Also included are maps by George F. McCleary, Jr., Darin T. Grauberger, and Michael G. Noll, and a chronology of the Holocaust by Stephen Feinberg. The American Press and the Holocaust

Paul Wieser a result of planned annihilation was received some attention in U.S. placed at the bottom of page 6 of the newspapers. Until the second half of The treatment accorded by Chicago Tribune and given thirteen lines. 1942, the outside world knew little about the American press to the destruction The story was treated similarly by other the gas chambers and extermination of the Jews during World War II can be major papers. Many readers probably camps. There were no satellites to pro- best described as a “sidebar,” the name missed this story and similar ones pub- vide aerial photographs, no portable TV given by journalists to a story that is an- lished well inside the paper. Those read- cameras yet in existence. But there were cillary to the main story. The press cov- ers who did see it had cause to assume a few people willing to risk their lives to erage of the Nazi persecution of the that the editors did not really believe it; unveil the . Jews paralleled U.S. government policy had they believed it, a reader might have One person willing to take a risk was on refugee rescue, which was not treat- assumed, they would have accorded it Jan Karski, a courier from the Polish un- ed as an issue of primary importance. more prominent placement. derground to the Polish government-in- The behavior of the press reflected the From the beginning of the Nazi exile in London. Karski had been inside United States’ attitude of “rescue regime, the press in the U.S. generally the Ghetto in August 1942 in through victory.” It was relatively rare failed to take Hitler’s prewar and, in cer- the midst of the deportations, and in for more than the isolated paper to call tain cases, wartime threats against Jews September inside Belzec, one of the six for action to assist Jews. seriously. Unfortunately, after the out- death camps in Poland. Karski’s vivid Information about the “Final Solution” break of World War II, all too many report to the Polish government-in-exile and the systematic destruction of the people compared reports of the Nazi had some impact. On December 10, the Jews, was available from 1942, long be- treatment of Jews to stories about Ger- Polish government-in-exile issued a note fore the end of the war. In spite of Nazi ef- man atrocities in occupied Belgium and to the Allied governments describing in forts to carry out mass murder in isolated northern during World War I, detail the process of destruction being areas and to swear participants to secrecy, claims that turned out after the war to utilized by the Germans and of their in- executioners themselves talked, and occa- have been invented by Allied propagan- tent to exterminate all the Jews of sional witnesses to mass shootings even dists. As a result, there was much skep- Poland. On December 17, the United more so. Underground organizations, par- ticism about reports of Nazi mass States, Great Britain, and ten Allied gov- ticularly Jewish and Polish, made great ef- killings. Another factor was that a great ernments-in-exile issued a joint declara- forts to let the world know what was hap- many Europeans were suffering under tion denouncing Nazi implementation pening and what would occur if the Nazis brutal Nazi occupation, and it was not of “Hitler’s oft-repeated intention to ex- were not halted. The information was always easy to see that the Nazi had dif- terminate the Jewish people in Europe.” sometimes partial and even contradictory, ferent policies for different peoples. This statement was the first time the but there were enough stories from When Jews pressed outsiders to recog- United States government had made or enough sources that the outside world nize the growing tragedy for their peo- participated in a declaration about Nazi should have been able to discern a pattern ple, unsympathetic observers could per- mass killings of Jews. by 1942. The Nazi regime was doing ceive this as a request for special favors By the end of the year, the six exter- what Hitler had promised. from the Allies. mination camps had streamlined and ac- Practically no aspect of the Holocaust The stakes of the military conflict celerated the Final Solution to the point remained unknown by 1945. Some of were so high that many Allied govern- where it had already claimed perhaps the information about specific killings, ment officials and citizens felt com- more than three million Jews. Scattered and about hundreds of thousands of pelled to focus all efforts and concern Jewish resistance inside and outside the deaths, was published in the Western on that task. They paid little attention ghettos had begun, but resistance orga- press, although not in complete or dra- to anything else that might complicate nizers often had limited support from matic form in most of the major Ameri- winning the war as quickly as possible. the Jewish community, very few arms, can newspapers, with facts often under- Finally and perhaps most importantly, and limited or poor relations with non- stated or qualified by cautious editors. there was the psychological barrier: . And the governments Significant information was often buried what the Nazis were doing was not of the United States and Great Britain on the inside pages of newspapers. For only logical and unprecedented, but lit- were barely ready to recognize what instance, the June 1942 announcement erally inconceivable to many. was happening, and not prepared to do that two million Jews had been killed as As 1942 went on, the mass killings of much about it.

SE Reprinted from the October 1995 issue of Social Education C1 ClassroomFocus

By mid-1943 the news of the perse- groups. However this activity can easi- each group will report their findings to cution of the Jews was regarded as an ly be adapted for students working the class. A teacher-led discussion may “old story,” and therefore most newspa- independently. then focus on the following points: pers carried it on their inside pages. Students will be working with copies ■ Do you think the American people, of pages from newspapers. The news- from simply reading the daily news- Bibliography paper editions recommended for this paper, had enough information so as Breitman, Richard. “The Final Solution 1942”. In lesson are the editions of The New York to realize the Holocaust was actually Fifty Years Ago: In the Depths of Darkness. Wash- ington, DC: U.S. Holocaust Memorial Muse- Times, and in one case, the New York taking place? um 1992, 9-13. Herald Tribune. listed below. (Editions of ■ Why did news of the Holocaust sel- Breitman, Richard, and Alan M. Kraut. American the Times and Tribune are on microfilm dom appear on the front pages? Refugee Policy and European Jewry, 1933-1945. ■ Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, in most university libraries and many lo- How did local coverage differ from 1987. cal libraries. Teachers may, however, national coverage? Laqueur, Walter. The Terrible Secret: An Investiga- wish to adapt the lesson by using other tion into the Suppression of Information about Hitler’s “Final Solution.” Boston: Little, Brown, sources, including local newspapers.) All Student Instructions 1980. these editions contain Holocaust-relat- You have received copies of specific Lipstadt, Deborah E. Beyond Belief: The American ed news articles. Some appear on the pages from a 1942 edition of The New Press and the Coming of the Holocaust, 1933- 1945. New York: The Free Press, 1986. front pages, and some on inside pages. York Times and/or the New York Herald Wyman, D. The Abandonment of the Jews: America Once the teacher has identified the Tribune. All contain Holocaust-related and the Holocaust, 1941-1945. New York: Pan- makeup of the student groups, each news items. Follow the directions be- theon Books, 1984. group will be given a set of newspaper low and answer the questions as they articles. The recommended sources are appear. Lesson Plan the Times editions of July 2, 1942 (pp. 1 1. Read through the pages you have Title: The American Press and the & 6); July 23, 1942 (pp. 1 & 6); July 29, been given and locate any news Holocaust 1942 (pp. 1 & 7); and November 25, items that relate to the Holocaust. Goal: Through the reading and study 1942 (pp. 1 & 7). The article from the Briefly summarize these articles. of newspapers, students will come to a Tribune dates from the November 25, 2. On what pages did you find news of realization of the importance of primary 1942 edition, pages 1 & 10. These edi- the Holocaust? What other kinds of sources to historical research. Specifical- tions contain several items of interest. A articles appeared on that page? What ly, they will attempt to determine the front-page article in the Times (July 2), message does this convey to you extent of knowledge the American pub- for example, reported the governor of about how newspaper editors/pub- lic could have had about the destruc- New York giving up tennis and donating lishers perceived the Holocaust? tion of European Jewry from simply his playing shoes to the scrap rubber 3. For those dealing with the Times and reading the daily American newspapers. drive, while a story about the killing of Tribune editions of Nov. 25, 1942, Objectives: Upon completion of this 700,000 Jews appeared on page 6. A what differences in coverage did you unit of study the students will be able to story in the same newspaper (July 23) note? What do you think is responsi- do the following: on page 6 had a headline about 17,000 ble for such obvious differences? 1. Read and analyze newspaper ac- people being killed by the Nazis, while 4. Locate a copy of your local daily counts of Holocaust-related items. the text of the article referred not only newspaper that corresponds to the 2. Compare and contrast the physical to 17,000 persons being “murdered” date of the edition of The New York placement of Holocaust-related since the invasion of Austria,but also to Times or Tribune with which you are news items to other news items. 53,000 Jews reported to have died in working. Was there any news of the 3. Compare and evaluate, in terms of Poland “from starvation, exposure or Holocaust in your local newspaper? If importance, articles unrelated to the torture.” The November issues of both so, on what page did it appear? Briefly Holocaust to Holocaust-related items newspapers report a statement by Rabbi summarize the article. Compare and that appeared together on the same Stephen Wise, chairman of the World contrast the coverage in your local page of a particular daily newspaper. Jewish Congress, that he had learned newspaper(s) with that of The New 4. Compare and evaluate, in terms of from sources confirmed by the State De- York Times and Tribune. What do you importance, front page news articles partment that 2 million Jews in Europe make of the differences? to Holocaust-related articles not ap- had been killed in an extermination pearing on the front page. campaign. The Tribune carried the story Paul Wieser is the Social Studies Coordinator 5. Compare and analyze their local on page 1, the Times only on page 10. for the Pendergast School District in Phoenix, newspaper coverage of the Holo- Along with the articles the students AZ. He taught social studies at the junior high caust to national treatment of these will also receive a set of instructions (at- level for 16 years. He serves as chairman of the events, if materials are available at a tached) to guide them through the suc- education committee for the Phoenix Holocaust local newspaper office. cessful completion of the assignment. Survivors’ Association, and is a member of the Procedure: The following is written Upon completion of the assignment, Anti-Defamation League’s education committee specifically for a class working in which may take two class periods, in Arizona.

C2 Reprinted from the October 1995 issue of Social Education SE The Path of the GEORGE F. MCCLEARY, JR., DARIN T. G RAUBERGER, MICHAEL G. NOLL

04080 120 160 Talinnin Leningrad Kilometers Narva 0 50 100 Miles Parnu Tartu Staraia Russa Grodno Pskov Liepaja Riga Ostrow Kalinin

Velikiye Luki Siauliai Rzhev Daugavipils Moschaisk Raseiniai Moscow Kaunas Vitebsk Vyazma Vilna Nesvizh Gdansk Smolensk Orsha Tula Minsk Grodno Bobruysk Bryansk Slonim Kletsk Warsaw Rogachev Orel Klintsy Slutzk Gomel Sevsk Kursk Lodz Brest Chernirov Korosten' Kielce Lutsk Rovno Kiev Krakow Zhitomir Lvov Khar'kov Korsen Vinnitsa Kremenchug Kramatorskaya Stalingrad Uman Dnepropetrovsk Chernovtsy Debrecen Donetsk Pervomaysk Rostov Ananyev Nikopol' Fedorovka Cruj Kishinev Elista Szeged Piatra-Neamt Nikolayev Kherson Melitopol Odessa Pinsk Belgrade BrestKerch Sevastapol Krasnodar Bucharest Feodosiya Unspecified Size Headquarters Yalta Prokhadnaya 0 400 800 1200 Kilometers Grozny 0 400 800 Nalchik Miles 7000 5000 2500 1000 500 250 100 50 10

The Einsatzgruppen, mobile killing units of the SS, followed communities in the area south and west of Minsk. the army as the German military assault advanced eastward Useful sources include: Gary Mokotoff and Sallyann Amdur Sack, Where Once We Walked: A Guide to the Jewish Communities De- across the in 1941. From June 1941 to Decem- stroyed in the Holocaust (Teaneck, NJ: Avotaynu, 1991), which ber 1942, the Einsatzgruppen murdered more than 900,000 has been used to compile the destroyed communities map; Raul Jews and several hundred thousand non-Jewish Russians. Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews (New York: Holmes and Meier, 1985); and Helmut Krausnick and Hans-Heinrich The left-hand map traces the paths of the four mobile Wilhelm, Die Truppe des Weltanschaungskrieges: Die Einsatzgrup- killing squads as they established headquarters at different pen der und des SD, 1938-42 (: Deutsche sites and moved into the adjacent countryside eliminating Verlags-Anstatt, 1981), from which the data for the left-hand map have been obtained. Jewish communities. The map at the right shows destroyed The Death Camps This map shows the six extermination camps and the adjacent ghettos in GEORGE F. MCCLEARY, JR wartime Poland (the eastern portion is Poland- (1995) now in Belarus and Ukraine). Circles 0 40 80 120 160 Kilometers Treblinka representing the ghettos are proportional 0 50 100 Miles to their population size, from 3,500 in Bochnia to 205,000 in Lodz and 500,000

Brest in Warsaw. The earliest, Plotrkow Try- Chelmno Warsaw bunalski (population 18,000) was found- Lodz ed in (and liquidated in October 1942). The last of these ghettos Sobibor to be liquidated was Lodz, in May 1944. Piotrkow Trybunalski Data are from Gutman (editor-in-chief), Belchatow Kovel Encyclopedia of the Holocaust (New York: Majdanek Macmillan, 1990).

Kielce Czestochowa George F. McCleary, Jr. is Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Kansas, where he teaches cartography. Germany His maps and papers have appeared in many publications. Darin T. Grauberger is a freelance cartographer and a co- Belzec owner of Stellar Cartography. He earned his B.G.S. in Car- tography at the University of Kansas. Michael G. Noll is a Auschwitz Poland-Ukraine (1995) Ph.D. candidate in Cultural Geography at the University of Krakow Tarnow Rzeszow Kansas. He is studying indigenous people and conservation is- Bochnia Lvov sues in Central America.

SE Reprinted from the October 1995 issue of Social Education C3 ClassroomFocus Anti-Semitism: A Warrant for Genocide Paul Wieser ■ Is there any reason why the Ger- rious and why. Answers should be mans seemingly “took their time” in explained in detail. Goal of this lesson plan: Students will dealing with their Jewish neighbors? 2. After each list, students should study arrive at an understanding and appreci- Did not the Nazis have the authority the character of the measures, and ation of the breadth and scope of Ger- and wherewithal to quickly find a so- compare those in the second, third man anti-Semitic policy. Students will lution to the “?” and fourth lists with previous mea- develop an empathy for the situation ■ In 1938 what options, if any, were sures. Suggested questions include: German Jewry found itself in after the open to Jewish youth? 1933-37. As the years pass, what pat- rise of National Socialism in 1933. ■ The Jewish people have had a long terns do you see developing? Provide Hopefully, they will be able to identify history of persecution and suffering. several examples, and explain your with young Jews their own age, who Do you think this history and the answers. were forced to tiptoe their way through fact that they always seemed to sur- 1938. Compare the anti-Semitic mea- a minefield of restrictive regulations. vive had any effect on the way the sures on your first list (1933-37) German Jews viewed Nazi anti- Objectives: Upon completion of this Semitism and their responses to it? List 2: German Jewry & Nazi Anti-Semitic unit of study the students will be able Legislation, 1938 to do the following: Class Activities 1938 1. List the Nazi anti-Semitic regulations 1. After reading through each list, stu- Apr. 26: Jews must register all property from year-to-year. dents should indicate which of the valued over 500 Reichsmarks. 2. By developing a chart, categorize the measures (there could be more than Jun. 15: Any Jew who had ever been different types of anti-Semitic measures. one) they consider to be the most se- convicted of any offense, including 3. In writing, indicate and provide a ra- traffic violations, was arrested. tionale as to which measures would List 1: German Jewry & Nazi Anti-Semitic Jul. 23: All Jews over 15 had to carry a have had the greatest effect on Jew- Legislation, 1933-37 special ID card at all times. Jews must ish youth. 1933 state they are Jewish as well as show 4. List and analyze the reasons for such April 1: A one-day boycott of all Jewish the card in any dealings with the gov- an enormous body of anti-Semitic businesses. ernment . legislation. April 7: Most Jews holding civil service Jul. 25: Jewish doctors have their licens- 5. Identify and describe those anti-Semitic (government) jobs are forced to retire. es canceled. They can only treat Jew- measures that they feel would have April 25: The number of Jews that can at- ish patients. had the greatest negative impact on tend German high schools is limited. Jul. 27: Any street names in Germany their lives had they been a Jewish May 10: Books published by or about that are of Jewish origin are replaced. teenager growing up in Nazi Germany. Jews are burnt in public. Aug. 17: Effective Jan. 1, 1939, newly May: Jews are forced to leave the Ger- born Jewish children are to be named Procedure: The following can be used man Armed Forces. from an approved list of names. (A in group situations or with students Spring: Jewish professors are expelled few examples are: for boys, Feibisch working independently. Students will from the universities. and Faleg; for girls, Scheindel and be working with four lists which con- Summer: Jewish writers and artists are Scharne.) tain some of the anti-Semitic measures prohibited from practicing their pro- Nov. 9-10: : 200 synagogues implemented by the National Socialist fessions. destroyed; 7500 shops looted; 30,000 government. The lists are organized in Jews sent to concentration camps, and the following groupings: 1933-37, 1938, 1935 as many as 1000 Jews killed. 1939-1940, and 1941-1942. Students Sep. 6: Jewish newspapers cannot be sold Nov. 11: Jews cannot own or bear arms. will be working with one list at a time on the street. Nov. 12: Jews cannot own retail stores or beginning with 1933-37 and moving Sep. 15: passed: Jews mail order firms. Jews cannot attend chronologically through 1942. After are no longer German citizens; Jews plays, movies, concerts or exhibitions. completing each list, the students re- cannot display the German flag; Jews Jews must pay 1.25 million Reichsmarks spond to the questions and complete a cannot employ Germans in their for damages caused on Kristallnacht. chart activity. At the end of each list in homes under the age of 45; marriages Nov. 15: Jews are expelled from German the assignment, before moving on to and relations between Jews and Ger- schools, and must now attend Jewish the next list, the teacher may choose mans are forbidden. schools. to hold a class discussion. At the time Dec. 3: Jews must hand in their drivers’ the students finish all four lists, a teach- 1937 licenses and car registrations. er-led discussion should take place. Nov. 16: Jews can obtain passports to Dec. 8: Jews cannot attend German uni- Such a discussion might focus on the travel abroad only in special cases versities. following points:

C4 Reprinted from the October 1995 issue of Social Education SE ClassroomFocus

on the chart in the left-hand column. List 3: German Jewry & Nazi Anti-Semitic List 4: German Jewry & Nazi Anti-Semitic 1933-37. The left hand column should Legislation, 1939-40 Legislation, 1941-1942 be entitled, “Anti-Semitic Measures 1939 1941 1933-37.” Under this title you should Jan. 1: A law that all Jews must add Sep. 19: All Jews over the age of six must list all the measures that appear on “Sarah” or “Israel” to their names be- wear “a black, 6-pointed star on yel- your list for 1933-37. It is OK to ab- came effective. low material, as big as the palm of the breviate. For example: “1-day boy- Feb. 21: Jews must surrender all their hand, with the inscription ‘Jew’ sewn cott”; “Jews lose gov’t. jobs,” etc. gold, platinum, silver objects, precious above the heart.” 1938. The left hand column should be stones and pearls. Oct. 1: Jews are forbidden to emigrate entitled, “Anti-Semitic Measures Mar. 4: Jews leaving Germany cannot from Germany. 1938.” Under this title you should list take any possession they acquired Oct. 16: The general deportation of all all the measures that appear on your after Jan. 30, 1933. They can take Jews from German soil begins. These list for 1938. For example: “Jews over things acquired before this date ex- individuals are sent to Lodz, Poland. 15 must carry special ID”; Jews at- cept for gold, silver, jewels, pearls, etc. Oct. 31: Employers of Jews must make tend Jewish schools only,” etc. Wedding rings, silver watches and sure that Jews receive no sick pay, va- 1939-40. The left hand column should used silverware (two knifes, two forks, cations with pay, and no additional be entitled, “Anti-Semitic Measures two table spoons and two soup pay for overtime. 1939-40.” Under this title you spoons) are allowed. Dec. 26: Jews cannot use public phones. should list all the measures that ap- Sep. 3: A Jewish curfew is imposed at pear on your list for 1939-40. For 9:00pm in summer, 8:00pm in winter. 1942 example: “Jews add Sarah or Israel Sep. 23: Jews must hand in all their radios. Jan. 5: Jews must hand in any woolen to names”; “Jews must give up all Dec. 1: Jewish food rations reduced. No and fur clothing in their possession. precious metals and stones,” etc. more cocoa or rice are allowed, and Feb. 17: Jews cannot subscribe to maga- 1941-42. The left hand column should smaller amounts of meat and butter zines or newspapers. be entitled “Antisemitic Measures are allocated. Mar. 26: Jews must affix the “” to their doors. 1941-42.” Under this title you should list all the measures that ap- 1940 Apr. 17: Jews are prohibited from using pear on your list for 1941-42. For Feb. 6: Jews are not issued ration cards public transportation. example: “All Jews must wear star,” for clothes or shoes. May 15: Jews cannot have pets. “Deportation of Jews begins,” etc. Jul. 19: Jews cannot have phones. May 29: Jews cannot use non-Jewish c. After each list, use the columns to Jul: Beginning of the systematic murder hairdressers or barber shops. the right of the “Anti-Semitic Mea- of German Jewish patients (mentally Jun. 19: Jews must hand in all electric sures” column for the names of the ill and infirm) in Brandenburg, the first appliances, typewriters, and bicycles. different Jewish groups that were af- Jews murdered by gas in the euthana- Jun. 30: All Jewish schools are closed. fected by these measures. These sia program. Sep. 18: Jews will no longer receive meat, eggs, wheat products, milk, et al. should be listed next to the title in Oct. 9: Jews cannot buy books the left-hand column, with one with those for 1938. Are there any group per column. Groups might in- similarities? Is the situation about tempt to gauge the impact of the clude: men, women, businessmen, the same or worse? Explain your measures on different groups in the young people, adults, elderly, profes- answer by providing examples to Jewish population by assigning scores sionals, etc. It will be up to you to support your position. to the measures, as described in (d) decide which to include. You can 1939-40. Compare the anti-Semitic below. They will need to make have as many groups as you wish, measures on your first two lists charts for each of the four lists. Rela- but do not forget to make enough (1933-37, 1938) with those for tive to the chart activity, teachers columns. 1939-1940. What are the similari- might consider having the outline d. Once your columns have been labeled ties and differences? Please explain and headings on the charts drawn up and the legislation written in, you will your answers. in advance. This will certainly save a be ready to begin to rate how each 1941-42. Compare the anti-Semitic lot of time and allow students to get anti-Semitic measure affected a partic- measures on your first three lists right to labeling and filling in the ap- ular group of Jews in Germany. (1933-37, 1938, 1939-40) with those propriate information. Using a rating system of 1-5 (five be- for 1941-42. Are there any similari- ing the highest), determine the im- ties? What are they and how are Student Instructions pact you think a particular law had they similar? Do things appear to a. After each list, on a piece of paper by placing a number in the space di- be worsening? If so, specifically how make a chart that allows for at least rectly below the group’s name and are they worsening? six columns (more if you want). directly across from a particular law. 3. After each list, students should at- b. After each list, record the measures For example, in the 1933-37 list, if

SE Reprinted from the October 1995 issue of Social Education C5 ClassroomFocus

you think the burning of books had a bottom of each column. After you od? Overall which group scored greater affect on adults than have had the chance to read all four highest? Especially in this latter teenagers, then you should place a listings, which will take you through case, what reasons can you give higher number in the adult column 1942, you will be asked specific ques- why this group seems to be under and a lower one in the teenager’s col- tions based upon your ratings. attack more than others? Explain umn. In the 1938 list, if you think that 4. Now that you have completed all why you think this is so. Jewish doctors being limited to treat- four lists for the years 1933-42, com- c. Which time period was particular- ing Jewish patients had a greater af- pare them and answer the following ly hard for young German Jews? fect on adults than young people, questions: Which restrictions do you think then you should place a higher num- a. As the years pass, do you notice any were most difficult for them to ber in the adult column and a lower pattern developing? Provide several deal with? Explain your answers. one in the young people’s column. examples, and explain your answers. d. As a parent of Jewish children, Complete the entire chart in this b. Which group did you rate the which anti-Semitic measures would manner. Total the number of “points” highest (meaning receiving the have affected you the most? Ex- you have given each group at the most “points”) for each time peri- plain your answers. The Jewish Population of Europe Before and After World War II GEORGE F. MCCLEARY, JR.

Finland 10,000 The Holocaust devastated the PreWar Jewish Population 50,000 Norway Jewish population of Europe. 100,000 Estonia Sweden These maps tell the grim sto- 500,000 ry. The circles represent the Latvia Denmark Ireland 1,000,000 size of the Jewish communities in the different countries of Eu-

Great Britain rope before and after World Netherlands 3,000,000 War II. Looking just at coun- Belgium Germany Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Luxembourg tries that had prewar Jewish populations of more than Czechoslovakia Poland 100,000, in Austria, the Jew- Austria France Switzerland ish population was reduced Hungary

Romania from 250,000 to 20,000 (per- Yugoslavia haps as few as 5,000); in Italy Czechoslovakia, from 400,000 Spain Bulgaria Albania to 42,000; in France, from

Turkey Iran Greece 220,000 to 170,000; in Ger- many, from 564,000 before 0 500 1000 Miles 0 400 800 1200 1600 Kilometers Morocco Algeria Tunisia the war to 40,000 (perhaps as few as 6,000); in Hungary, Finland 10,000 Norway PostWar Jewish Population 50,000 from 476,000 to 174,000; in 100,000 Lithuania, from 155,000 to Estonia Sweden 500,000 20,000 (perhaps only 2- Latvia Denmark 3,000); in the Netherlands, Ireland 1,000,000 Lithuania from 150,000 to 28,000; in Poland, from 2,978,000 to less Great Britain Netherlands 3,000,000 than 100,000; in Romania, Poland Belgium Germany Union of Soviet from 900,000 to 300-320,000; Socialist Republics Luxembourg and, in the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia from 3,000,000 to 1,800,000. Austria Data have been taken from Abraham Switzerland France Hungary J. Edelheit and Hershel Edelheit, Romania History of the Holocaust; A Handbook Yugoslavia and Dictionary (Boulder, CO: West- view Press, 1994), and from the Portugal Bulgaria Spain Italy American Jewish Yearbook. For the Albania prewar statistics, an attempt has Turkey Iran Greece been made to use data from the early 1930s; the postwar map uses 0 500 1000 Miles 0 400 800 1200 1600 Kilometers the Yearbook’s volumes for 1949 Morocco Algeria Tunisia and 1950.

C6 Reprinted from the October 1995 issue of Social Education SE ClassroomFocus Holocaust Chronology

Stephen Feinberg Sep. 15 Nuremberg Laws announced; 1939 Jews deprived of citizenship. Mar. 15 Nazis invade Czechoslovakia; 1933 no immediate response from other Jan. 30 Hitler appointed Chancellor of 1936 powers. Germany. Mar. 3 Jewish doctors no longer permit- May 15 Ravensbruck concentration Feb. 27 Reichstag fire. ted to practice in government institu- camp for women established. Feb. 28 Hitler given emergency powers tions in Germany. Jun. Jewish refugees aboard the S.S. St. by presidential decree. Mar. 7 Nazi army enters Rhineland in Louis denied entry to the United States Mar. 5 Reichstag elections; Nazis win violation of Treaty of Versailles; no and Cuba; forced to return to Europe. 44% of the vote. response from other powers. Aug. 23 Hitler-Stalin Pact signed. Mar. 20 First concentration camp opens Jul. 12 First arrest of German Gypsies; Sep. 1 Germany invades Poland; World at Dachau. sent to Dachau. War II begins. Mar. 24 “Enabling Law” passed by Re- Aug. 1 In anticipation of 1936 Olympic Sep. 2 Stutthof concentration camp es- ichstag; used to establish dictatorship. Games in , anti-Semitic signs tablished in Poland. Apr. 1 Nationwide boycott of Jewish- removed from most public places. Sep. 3 Britain and France declare war owned businesses. Oct. 25 -Berlin Axis agreement signed. on Germany. Apr. Jews excluded from government Sep. 21 (SS) orders employment; includes teachers and 1937 establishment of Judenrate and con- university professors. Jul. 16 Establishment of Buchenwald centration of Polish Jews. Apr. 26 Formation of the concentration camp. Sep. 28 Partition of Poland between (Geheime Staatspolizei). Sep. 7 Hitler repudiates Treaty of Versailles. Germany and USSR. May 10 Public burning of books by Jews Nov. 25 Political and military pact Oct. Hitler authorizes “euthanasia pro- and opponents of Nazis. signed by Germany and Japan. gram” (T-4) in Germany; doctors to Jul. 20 Concordat signed in Rome be- kill institutionalized mentally and tween the Vatican and the Third Reich. 1938 physically disabled. Oct. 14 German withdrawal from the Mar. 13 : Austria is annexed Oct. 8 First Polish ghetto established in League of Nations. by Germany. Piotrkow Trybunalski. Nov. 12 Reichstag elections; Nazis “win” Jul. 6-15 Thirty-two countries at Evian 93% of the vote. Conference discuss refugee policies; 1940 Dec. 1 Legal unity of German state and most countries refuse to let in more Feb. 8 Establishment of Lodz Ghetto. Nazi Party declared. Jewish refugees. Apr. 27 (SS) orders Aug. 17 All Jewish men in Germany will be establishment of Auschwitz concen- 1934 required to add “Israel” to their names; tration camp; first prisoners, mostly Jan. 26 Ten-year nonaggression pact all Jewish women will be required to Poles, arrive in early June. signed with Poland. add “Sarah.” Apr. 30 Lodz Ghetto is sealed. Jun. 30 “ of the Long Knives”; Sep. 29 Munich Agreement is signed by Spring Nazis conquer Denmark, Nor- Ernst Roehm, head of the SA, is Germany, France, Italy and Great way, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland, murdered; SA purged. Britain; Czechoslovakia loses Sude- and France. Aug. 2 Death of President von Hinden- tenland to Germany. Sep. 27 Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis established. burg; Hitler declares himself Fuehrer Oct. 28 First deportation of Polish Jews Oct. 3 Anti-Jewish laws passed by Vichy of the German state; armed forces from Germany. government in France. are required to take a personal oath Nov. 7 Shooting of Ernst vom Rath, a Oct. 12 Establishment of . of loyalty to Hitler. low-level Nazi functionary, in Paris Nov. 15 Warsaw Ghetto is sealed. Oct.-Nov. First major arrests of homo- by Herschel Grynszpan, a Polish Jew. Nov. 20 Hungary, Rumania, and Slo- sexuals throughout Germany. Nov. 9 “Kristallnacht,” a nationwide vakia join the Nazis and Italians. ; 30,000 Jews sent to concen- 1935 tration camps. 1941 Mar. 16 In violation of Treaty of Versailles, Nov. 12 Fine of 1 billion reichsmarks Mar. 1 Himmler orders construction of military conscription introduced; no re- levied on Jews of Germany. camp at Birkenau (Auschwitz II); sponse from other powers. Nov. 15 All Jewish children expelled construction begins in October 1941 Apr. Jehovah Witnesses banned from from public schools. and continues until March 1942. civil service jobs; many arrested Dec. 2-3 Gypsies in Germany required Mar. 3 - 20 Krakow Ghetto established throughout Germany. to register with police. and sealed.

SE Reprinted from the October 1995 issue of Social Education C7 Mar. 24 Nazis invade North Africa. . Jul. 24 Soviet army liberates Majdanek Apr. 6 Nazis invade Yugoslavia and Jun. 7 Jews in occupied France ordered . Greece. to wear yellow badge. Aug. 2 Gypsy camp at Auschwitz de- Apr. 24 is sealed. Jul. 22 Treblinka extermination camp stroyed by Nazis; 3,000 Gypsies gassed. Jun. 22 Operation “Barbarossa,” the completed; by August 1943, 870,000 Oct. 7 Prisoners blow up one of the gas Nazi invasion of the USSR. Jews murdered at Treblinka. chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau ex- Jun. 23 Einsatzgruppen begin their mass Jul. 22-Sep. 12 Mass deportations from termination camp. murder of Jews, Gypsies, and Com- Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka. munist leaders in the USSR. Jul. 28 Jewish fighting organization set 1945 Jul. 20 established. up in Warsaw Ghetto. Jan. 17 Nazis evacuate Auschwitz; “death Jul. 21 Hermann Goering gives Rein- Aug. 13-20 Majority of Croatian Jews marches” toward Germany. hard Heydrich the authority to pre- sent to Auschwitz. Jan. 27 Soviet army liberates Auschwitz. pare a “total solution” to the “Jewish Oct. 16 Over 1,000 Roman Jews are de- Apr. 11 American army liberates Buchen- question” in Europe. ported to Auschwitz. wald concentration camp. Aug. 1 Bialystok Ghetto established. Nov. 24 Knowledge of the extermination of Apr. 15 British army liberates Bergen- Sep. 1 “Euthanasia program” (T-4) in the Jews of Europe publicly announced Belsen concentration camp. Germany ended; between 70,000 and in U.S. by Rabbi Stephen S. Wise. Apr. 28 Mussolini executed by Italian 93,000 people had been murdered in partisans. Germany during the course of this 1943 Apr. 29 American army liberates Dachau program. Jan. 18-22 First concentration camp. Sep. 3 The first experimental gassing of breaks out. Apr. 29-30 Ravensbruck concentration Soviet prisoners of war at Auschwitz. Feb. 2 Nazis defeated at Battle of Stalingrad. camp liberated. Sep. 3-6 Two ghettos established at Vilna. Feb. 26 First transport of Gypsies arrive at Apr. 30 Hitler commits suicide in Berlin. Sep. 19 German Jews required to wear Auschwitz; Gypsy Camp established. May 2 Soviet troops capture Berlin. yellow badge in public. Apr. 19-May 16 Warsaw Ghetto upris- May 3 Nazis hand over Theresienstadt Sep. 29-30 At Babi Yar, 33,771 Kiev Jews ing; Jews resist Nazis’ effort to deport to the International Red Cross. murdered. them to death camps. May 5 American army liberates Mau- Oct-Nov. First deportation of German Jul. 21 Himmler orders the liquidation thausen concentration camp. and Austrian Jews to ghettos in East- of all ghettos in Poland and USSR. May 7 Nazi Germany surrenders; end ern Europe. Aug. 2 Inmate uprising at Treblinka ex- of World War II in Europe. Oct. Construction of Majdanek-Lublin termination camp. Aug. 14 Japan surrenders; end of World extermination camp. Aug. 16 Revolt in Bialystok Ghetto. War II. Nov. 1 Construction of Belzec extermi- Oct. 2 Nazis attempt round-up of Dan- Nov. 20 First major Nuremberg War nation camp begins. ish Jews; Danish people use boats to Crimes Trials begin. Nov. 24 Theresienstadt (Terezin) con- smuggle most Danish Jews (7,200) to centration camp established. neutral Sweden. 1946 Dec. 7 Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. Oct. 14 Inmate revolt at Sobibor exter- Oct. 1 Conclusion of first major Nurem- Dec. 8 Gassing operations begin at mination camp. berg Trials; twelve Nazis to be exe- Chelmo extermination camp. Oct. 20 United Nations War Crimes cuted, three sentenced to life impris- Dec. 11 Germany and Italy declare war Commission established. onment, four receive various prison on the United States. terms, and three are acquitted. 1944 Oct. 16 Execution of Nazi war criminals. 1942 Mar. 19 Nazis occupy Hungary. Jan. 20 (coordina- Apr. 5 Hungarian Jews ordered to wear 1948 tion of the “Final Solution” planned). yellow badge. May 14 State of Israel established. Feb. 8 First Jews from Salonika, Greece Apr. 7 Alfred Wetzler and sent to Auschwitz. escape from Auschwitz with detailed Sources Mar. 1 Construction of Sobibor exter- information about the extermination Bachrach, Susan D. Tell Them We Remember: The Story of the Holocaust. Boston: Little Brown and mination camp begins; Jews first of the Jews; their report, from Slo- Company, 1994. killed there in May 1942. vakia, reaches the free world in June. Gutman, Israel (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. Mar. 17 Killings begin at Belzec extermi- May 2 First transport of Hungarian Jews New York: Macmillan, 1990. Hilberg, Raul. The Destruction of the European nation camp. reach Auschwitz; by July 9, over Jews. New York: Holmes and Meier, 1985. Mar. 28 First Jews from France sent to 437,000 Hungarian Jews are sent to Reitlinger, Gerald. The Final Solution: The Attempt Auschwitz. Auschwitz; most of them are gassed. to Exterminate the Jews of Europe 1939-1945. New York: Beechhurst Press, 1953. Apr. 29 Dutch Jews ordered to wear yel- Jun. 6 Allied invasion of Normandy. low badge. Jul. 20 Unsuccessful attempt made to May 27 Belgium Jews ordered to wear assassinate Hitler.

C8 Reprinted from the October 1995 issue of Social Education SE SocialEducation The Official Journal of National Council for the Social Studies

For information on membership in NCSS, please contact:

National Council for the Social Studies 3501 Newark Street, NW Washington, DC 20016 (202) 966-7840

©1995 National Council for the Social Studies All Rights Reserved