Lesson Monday 3rd December
Spent 40 mins revising before receving the following question for the hours test:
Test on Diplomatic Situation 1935-37:
"In 1934 Mussolini had threatened to confront Hitler over Nazi interference in Austria. By 1937 the dictators had aligned themselves firmly alongside eachother"
How far did ideological factors play a part in the change of this attitude?
Those away on Oxbridge interviews are to complete the essay at home ready for next Mondays lesson.
Saturday 8 December 2007
Sunday 2 December 2007
The Holocaust and the German People
The lesson began with the reading of a passage about the ongoings of an extermination camp. The article showed some key points, to how the destination of these camps were 'most secret' as the destination was unknown. The article included the method of transportation of people. For example, Belzec, the road/railway line that could carry 15,000 people a day. It shows the efficient transport of the jews to these camps. The goal of making the process quicker and efficient is mentioned also.
The article describes how many victims were dead upon arrival due to the harsh conditions of the journey, and all thier valuables and possessions were taken from them, along with the collection of their hair and clothes, which were all taken back to Germany. The efficient use of space is shown, as the article mentions how about 700-800 people were fit in an area of 25 square metres, only taking 32 minutes of gas to kill them all.
We then watched a video on the holocaust, that showed the effects of a German propeganda film released at the time that promoted family while many Germans were unaware of the operations of the extermination camps.
The video showed how the Germans had achived successful experiments with gas and it was distributed to camps all located around Poland initially. There were no extermination camps located in Germany. It could be argued that the onset of WW2 allowed the holocaust, as camps would not have been able to be set up in Germany, as seemed to be too horrific for many people. The video mentions how it was not only jews taken to these camps, but also other groups that the Nazi's considered a threat, such as gypsies. The example of Trablinka Station is used, as it was made to look as normal as possible to avoid suspicion, and passengers/victims were told it was a hygiene stop.
In 1943, all the camps were destroyed, to remove any trace of the Holocaust operation, not because of shame, but as Germany were losing the war at current, to the enemy they most feared - Russia.
This raises the question of How far were the German people responsible for the Holocaust?
Historian, Goldenhagen argues how the German people were to blame, as 100,000 German people were involved of the operations of the Holocaust. (This however showes to be relatively few compared to the overall population of Germany)
Other historians argue how the whole operation was kept secret. The ones involved were made to believe they were ridding Germany of a scruge, helping future Generations. This was important, as the killing of these victims were physcologically affecting the executioners, even Himmler himself could not view the mass murder for too long. A passion was needed to believe that the victims were truly in need of extermination. They were also perhaps influenced by the grip of terror by their leaders, to make them think that what they were doing was good. The victims were made to be dehumanised, as they were put in trams, in rage and bad hygiene conditions. They were treated as a plague, which was projected via. propeganda in Germany. Many of the German people were argued to know about the ongoings in the east of the mass murder, but knowing and complying are 2 different things.
(Page 351 in H&H offers reasons for why the German people didn't know, and did not object.)
One important point to make about the people invloved in the Holocaust, was that the victims aswell as the perpetraitors were multinational. This gives an insight into human nature, not just the nature of the German people.
It shows appropiate to subtract Germany from the question, and aruge to why did people let it happen? - Many willing executioners were influenced by anti-semitism.
(Sources on page 352 provides views upon the relationship between the treatment of the jews and the German people)
Another question is also posed here...
How did the war contribute to the Holocaust?
Read page 353 of H&H, which provides an overview on how the war did affect the operations of the Holocaust. These include...
The article describes how many victims were dead upon arrival due to the harsh conditions of the journey, and all thier valuables and possessions were taken from them, along with the collection of their hair and clothes, which were all taken back to Germany. The efficient use of space is shown, as the article mentions how about 700-800 people were fit in an area of 25 square metres, only taking 32 minutes of gas to kill them all.
We then watched a video on the holocaust, that showed the effects of a German propeganda film released at the time that promoted family while many Germans were unaware of the operations of the extermination camps.
The video showed how the Germans had achived successful experiments with gas and it was distributed to camps all located around Poland initially. There were no extermination camps located in Germany. It could be argued that the onset of WW2 allowed the holocaust, as camps would not have been able to be set up in Germany, as seemed to be too horrific for many people. The video mentions how it was not only jews taken to these camps, but also other groups that the Nazi's considered a threat, such as gypsies. The example of Trablinka Station is used, as it was made to look as normal as possible to avoid suspicion, and passengers/victims were told it was a hygiene stop.
In 1943, all the camps were destroyed, to remove any trace of the Holocaust operation, not because of shame, but as Germany were losing the war at current, to the enemy they most feared - Russia.
This raises the question of How far were the German people responsible for the Holocaust?
Historian, Goldenhagen argues how the German people were to blame, as 100,000 German people were involved of the operations of the Holocaust. (This however showes to be relatively few compared to the overall population of Germany)
Other historians argue how the whole operation was kept secret. The ones involved were made to believe they were ridding Germany of a scruge, helping future Generations. This was important, as the killing of these victims were physcologically affecting the executioners, even Himmler himself could not view the mass murder for too long. A passion was needed to believe that the victims were truly in need of extermination. They were also perhaps influenced by the grip of terror by their leaders, to make them think that what they were doing was good. The victims were made to be dehumanised, as they were put in trams, in rage and bad hygiene conditions. They were treated as a plague, which was projected via. propeganda in Germany. Many of the German people were argued to know about the ongoings in the east of the mass murder, but knowing and complying are 2 different things.
(Page 351 in H&H offers reasons for why the German people didn't know, and did not object.)
One important point to make about the people invloved in the Holocaust, was that the victims aswell as the perpetraitors were multinational. This gives an insight into human nature, not just the nature of the German people.
It shows appropiate to subtract Germany from the question, and aruge to why did people let it happen? - Many willing executioners were influenced by anti-semitism.
(Sources on page 352 provides views upon the relationship between the treatment of the jews and the German people)
Another question is also posed here...
How did the war contribute to the Holocaust?
Read page 353 of H&H, which provides an overview on how the war did affect the operations of the Holocaust. These include...
- The war disrupted the Nazi government plans for mas jewish emigration.
- It meant Germany gained control of millions more Jews at a time, when Germany was trying to remove them from their own territory.
- It brutalised people, accustoming them to killing
- Since Germans were dying in the war, many felt killing their enemies was justified.
- Intensified paranoia about enemy within - encourage extremism.
- Removed any concern about international opinion.
This shows how the war produced opportunities for the Germans to carry out their plans of mass extermination, otherwise the jews wouldn't have been emigrated, so it is a important factor in the cause of the Holocaust. However, it could be argued that the breakout of war was inevitable, as it was planned by Hitler.
A.Brown
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