Hitler's Path to the "Final Solution"
INTRODUCTION:
"The word “Holocaust,” from the Greek words “holos” (whole) and “kaustos” (burned), was historically used to describe a sacrificial offering burned on an altar. Since 1945, the word has taken on a new and horrible meaning: the mass murder of some 6 million European Jews (as well as members of some other persecuted groups, such as Gypsies and homosexuals) by the German Nazi regime during the Second World War. To the anti-Semitic Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, Jews were an inferior race, an alien threat to German racial purity and community. After years of Nazi rule in Germany, during which Jews were consistently persecuted, Hitler’s “final solution”–now known as the Holocaust–came to fruition under the cover of world war, with mass killing centers constructed in the concentration camps of occupied Poland."
"The word “Holocaust,” from the Greek words “holos” (whole) and “kaustos” (burned), was historically used to describe a sacrificial offering burned on an altar. Since 1945, the word has taken on a new and horrible meaning: the mass murder of some 6 million European Jews (as well as members of some other persecuted groups, such as Gypsies and homosexuals) by the German Nazi regime during the Second World War. To the anti-Semitic Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, Jews were an inferior race, an alien threat to German racial purity and community. After years of Nazi rule in Germany, during which Jews were consistently persecuted, Hitler’s “final solution”–now known as the Holocaust–came to fruition under the cover of world war, with mass killing centers constructed in the concentration camps of occupied Poland."
SOURCE: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/the-holocaust
GOAL FOR TODAY: The Holocaust did not happen all at once or suddenly. The gradual progress of Nazi domination and anti-Semitic violence was built up through persecutions, violent acts, and even legislation that culminated in several events we want to study today. For this webquest, we want to examine the final steps that led to one of history's greatest tragedies.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
(1) How did social and political conditions in Nazi Germany culminate (result in) in events like Kristallnacht and the Holocaust?
(2) What were some of the experiences of European Jews during WW2?
Keep these questions in mind as you go through each tab and examine the sources.
(1) How did social and political conditions in Nazi Germany culminate (result in) in events like Kristallnacht and the Holocaust?
(2) What were some of the experiences of European Jews during WW2?
Keep these questions in mind as you go through each tab and examine the sources.