"The Final Solution"

The term, "The Final Solution" refers to the Nazi's plan to annihilate people of the Jewish Faith. Mass killings in Nazi Germany started after German invasion of the Soviet Union in June of 1941. In fall of 1941, The SS had already introduced mobile gassing units, these vans had their exaust pipes modified to vent the carbon dioxide into sealed spaces, which in turn would kill those trapped inside. German SS and police murdered nearly 2,700,000 Jews by gassing them.

After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, anti-Semitic policy was developed in a detailed plan to concentrate and eventually annihilate European Jews.

Details for The Final Solution were worked out at the Wannsee Conference. In 1940, The Nazi's had developed a plan to deport all Jews to Madagascar. Chelmno was the first site for the gassing of Jews. The first gassing occurred on December 8, 1941. The first step in The Final Solution was Deportation. Jews were usually told they were just being relocated to work.

The Wannsee Conference took place on January 20, 1942 in Berlin, Germany. It was orchestrated by Reinhard Heydrich, who was the head of the Reich Security Main Office.

Reinhard Heydrich was ordered by Hermann Goering to develop a plan for the 'Final solution to the Jewish question.' The people present at the conference were to discuss how to commit mass murder in an organised and methodical way.

By the beginning of 1942, There were close to 9 million Jews under German Rule. Close to 1.5 million Jews had been gunned-down by Einsatzgruppen killing squads. There were a total of 24 concentration camps. Auschwitz-Birkenau had the highest death count, nearly 1.5 million people. As many as 12,000 people could be murdered and cremated per day at Auschwitz.

At Auschwitz, Many Bizarre medical procedures were done. Some people were sewn together to make Siamese twins. They also submerged people into freezing water just to test human endurance.

There was no escaping Auschwitz, any attempts at escape were met with extreme brutality.

Jews were separated from the general German population. They were forced to live in dilapidated housing with inadequate supplies. Described by an inhabitant as "a prison without a roof." After staying in a ghetto for an extended amount of time, the Jews were sent to concentration camps.

-Claimed he could solve all Germany's Problems. -Felt Jews were to blame because Jews owned most of the banks shops and businesses -Saw the Jews as the problem as to why Germany was in the depression -Highly decorated Army Corporal -Committed Suicide

-"Angel of Death" -Performed medical experiments on Jewish children -Worked at Auschwitz

Hitler's perfect race -Pure German Blood -Blonde hair/ Blue eyes

15 of the Top officials Told what their roles were Talked about Mischlinge and transport No Jews were exempt

-killings become faster -More organised -More than 1/2 of the Jews that we're going the die, did -Could be argued it didn't do anything -More decisions were made afterwards

-mobile death squads -follow 4 groups of death squads (3-4,000 men) -made of SS, regular police& army men, many were doctors, university educated, one opera singer (ordinary men, NOT sadistic in regular life) -didn't have to participate, but hardly any backed out -Jews were robbed, stripped, & killed -killers were usually drunk (killed from morning-> night) -Jews eliminated in days

-hose w/gas (usually women& children) -suffocation-> distorted faces -Jews should unload trucks -trucks become unfavorable -become clear by winter of 1941 (shooting= not a decent weapon/ effective method) -thus, 6 fixed killing operations-> Nazis bring Jews to them -MAJOR change

-high population of Jews (70,000) -occupied by Nazi's within a week -Became capital of general Govt of Poland (led by Hans Frank) -Many factories outside and inside ghetto used forced labor from Jews to operate -Oscar Schindler's enamelware factory

Lodz Ghetto -Second largest ghetto and Jewish community in Poland (200,000) -occupied within a week -Guarded outside by Police Battalion 101, inside by Jewish Police -Industrial center;100 factories -most people have no running water or sewer system -ghetto currency requires Jews to trade remaining goods -Head of Judenrat (Chaim Rumkowski)

-Lithuania;occupied by Soviet Union -Lithuanians did mass killings beforehand (garage killings-bring men into garage and beat them to death) -Germans moved to Jews to the Kovno Ghetto -Einsatzgruppen killings at fort IX -Forced labor -underground groups -94% of Lithuanian Jews will perish -head of Judenrat (Elkhanan Elkes) organized archives, wrote letter to children -George Kiddish-secret photographer through buttonhole of coat -Abraham Tory-secret diary

-Transit camp for Czech. Jews to concentration, extermination or forced labor camps -Ghetto labor camp: older age, disability, past military experience, celebrities in the arts -Jacob Edelstein: Zionist, trips abroad for emigration, Judenrat, deceived Nazis and helped some Jews escape, Auschwitz with his family

A German term used in the Lodz ghetto referring to the factories that mostly manufactured materials for the Reich's war economy (from the German Arbeitsressorte—"work section").

A ravine on the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Kiev, where the Einsatzgruppe C murdered and buried close to 34,000 Jews over the course of two days (September 29-30, 1941).

The Treblinka death camp was built in a thinly populated area four kilometers from the village and train station of Treblinka, Poland. The camp was established as a part of Aktion Reinhard in 1942.

- By targeting Jews for the cause of Germany's failures - Some Germans blamed Jews for their country's defeat in World War I and for its economic problems that followed

- Some formed resistance organizations - Struggled to keep their traditions - Ghetto theaters produced plays and concerts - Teachers taught lessons in secret schools - Scholars kept records so that one day people would find out the truth