TheSixStagesThatLedtotheHolocaust:TalkingPoints*

1 * Hilberg ssixstagesoutlinehowtheNazissystematical lytriedto murdertheJewishpopulationof ,suchas Gypsies,homosexuals,andthephysicallydisa bled,encounteredmanyof thestepsdescribedbelowas well, ,Hilbergstructuredthesestagesbasedonhiss tudyof this,thestagesrepresenthowtheeventsof theHolocaustplayedoutin Germanyoccupiedothercountries,theyapplie dsim-ilarpoliciesto ,whilethesixstagesdefinedby Hilbergplayedoutoverthecourseof nearlyfifteenyearsin Germany(andmoreif youconsidertheimpactof NazipropagandaduringtheWeimarRepublic),t hestageswerecon-densedor skippedin ,mostJewsin Hungaryspenta veryshorttimein ghettos(weeksor a fewmonths)beforebeingdeportedto Auschwitzor sstages,readRaulHilberg,TheDestructionof EuropeanJews(NewYork:Holmes& Meier,1985).

2 Les so n 14 236Th e Si x Stage s That Led to the Ho lo cau st: Tal king Poi nts*Us ing thes e Tal king Points:Th is interactive le ct ureis divided in to sixparts,wit h eachpartre pre sen tingone ofHilberg s six stag es th at led to th e Holocaus t. Wesuggestyou be ginby pr ese ntin g stu-de nt s witha definitionof the stageandth en th e ke y questio n they sh ouldan sw er aboutwh at happeneddur in g thisstage. In the talkingpo int s, welis t res ourc es wh er e yourstu -de nt s canfindevid en ce thatwil l he lp th em answerth e ke y quest io ns. To help you evalu-atestu de nts re sponses , wehave alsolist ed possibleanswersto the key questio ns.

3 Youcanint roduceanyide as that st udents do not bring upth em selv es. Finally,we in cludejournalpromptsdes igned to hel p st udents proce ss important themes relevantto eac h st e youto giv e stu dents th e opportunity to writ e in the ir journals aft er they hav elea rn ed about eachof Hilberg s stages. Thesetalkingpo in ts arenot meant to be us ed as ascr e you to addmore inform ation based on your ow n ex pe rt ise andtheint er ests of your class. Sinceman y st udent s ar e visuallea rn ers, you mightwant to presentth e inf or mationan d questions in cluded in th e talking po int s in the formof a powerpoint presentationor on an overhead ag e 1. De finit io n: Jew s ar e definedas the other thro ugh leg ali zed discrim in atio que st ion s:Howdidthe Naz is de fin e Jews as differ entandin ferio r?

4 What ex amplesdo youknow aboutfro m the study of this history?Su gge st ed re sour ce:Notesfro m prio r le si ble ans we rs : Throug h rac ism: cat egoriz ingpe opleint o fix ed cate gor ies basedon (s upposed)bl oo dl ines. Throug h laws: Th e Nu rember g lawsde fined who was a Jewan d wh o was no t a Jew. Throug h propaganda:Cartoon s, bo oks, mov ies , andpo st erspo rtr aye d Jews as dif -fe rent from(an d inferiorto)the ir Aryanneighbo urn al prompt:What aresome re as onswh y manyGer man s labeledJewsas dif fer entandinferior? Whydo we sometimes label groupsas ot her or dif fer en t than our selves?St ag e 2. Isola ti on: On ce ind iv idu al s ar e label ed as Jew s, they are sep ar ated frommain -st rea m soci et que st ion :Howdidthe Nazisis olateJews?

5 Su gge st ed re sour ce:Notesfro m prio r le ronolog y of Nazi Occupation in Eu rope19 38:Austr ia, partsof Czechoslovakia19 39:Czec hoslovaki a, Poland19 40:Ne the rl an ds,De nmark, Norway,Be lgium,Luxembourg,France,Hungary,Romania1 9 41:Yugoslavi a, Greece , parts of th e Soviet Un ionSu gge st ed re sour ce:Notesfromprio r le ssons an d map of Europe .Pos sib le answers: Throug h discrim in atorylaws: Many Jews, es peciallyart ist s an d ac ademics, lef tGerm anywhen th ey werenolon gerallowed to work in the universities . Throug h ne w im migrationlaws: Jews wer e allowedto obtainex it visasso lo ng asthe y lef t be hind the ir val uablesan d property. Throug h fe ar: Kr istallnacht en co uraged man y Jews to leave the ar urn al prompt:What ar e some re aso ns wh y manyGerman s wan ted th eir Jew ishneigh-bo rs to leavetheco un try ?

6 Why do peoplesomet imesbelieve th at those wh o ar e differentdo notbe longin their com munity?St ag e 4. Ghe tt oiz ati on: Jew s ar e fo rc ib ly removedto segr eg ated sec tio ns of Ea ster nEu rop ea n ci tie s call ed ghe ttos .Key question s:What areghet tos?What wer e the co ndition s likein thesegh et to s?Pos si ble ans we rs : Throug h laws: Je ws wer e notallowed to at te nd German sch ools or un iversitie y could no t go to public parks or mov ie theat res. All Ger man yout h wereobl ig ed to jointh e HitlerYouth Mov em ent ; Jew is h yo ut h we re ex cludedfro mme mber ship . Throug h so cial practices:ManyGe rm an s st opped as so ciatin g or being frie nd s wit h Jew s.

7 Je ws andnon -Je wishGe rm answere no t allowed to join the sameclubs. Throug h th e economy: Je ws wer e exc luded fro m the civ il serv icean d Jewishbusi-ness es were tak en overby Ger mans. Jewish do cto rs an d lawye rs hadtheir licensestaken aw ay. Thismade it lesslik elyfo r German s to in ter ac t wit h Jew s in the ir dailylife .Jo urn al prompt:What aresome re as onswh y manyGer man s separated their Jewishne ig hbors frommain str eamsociety? Why do we sometim es segr egate or is olate groupsth at welabelas diffe rentfromourselve s?St ag e 3. Emig rat ion : Je ws ar e enco ura ged to leave Germany. Wi th the beg inn ing ofWor ld War II in 1939 , the Naz is app ly thei r ra ci al laws to the countri es they invadeand occupy.

8 Thus , Jew s in thes e terri to ri es al so tri ed to emi gra te ou tsi de of the ThirdRei que st ion :Howdidthe Nazisencourageth e Jewsto leave Ger many an d other occu-piedcountries?Le ss on14 237 Sugge st ed re sour ce:I m Sti ll Here, Y its kh ok (16:55 20:20) Inthis ex cerpt, we hearth e wor ds of 15-year -o ld Yitskhok Rudashevskias he desc ribes his ex pe rience liv in g in aghetto in Vil na,Lit huania. So th at st udent s can foc us on the id ea of res ide ntial se gr ega -tio n in ghe ttos,we sug ges t you sto p sh owing th is clipat 20 ter thispo in t, Yitskhokde scr ibe s th e ne xt st ag es onth e wayto genoc ide:deportat ion s an d ssible ans wers : Ghettoswe re walled-offareasof a cit y whe re Jew s we re force d to werenot all owed to le avetheirghe tt o with outper mis sio n fro m Nazioffic e,exc ept forNaziofficial s, non-Jews wer e no t allowedto ent er the gh et to.

9 Co nd itions in the ghet to s we re crowdedan d filthy. Man y familieswe re forc ed toshar e onesmall apartment . Th er e was limite d ac cess to properwast e to giv e up th eir propertyan d valuables. The re wer e veryfewjobsin a gh ettoan d sinceeve ry on e hadto giv e upthe ir propertyan d valuables, most of the res i-den ts we re extre mely d was scarce. Fo rc ed, unpaidlabor urn al prompt:What aresome re as onswh y manyGer man s allowed their Jewish neigh-bo rs to be forc ed to livein gh ett os? Why do wesomet imesallow those who wethinkare di ffe re nt to be tre at ed unfairl y?St ag e 5. De por tat io n: Jew s ar e trans po rted fromghettosto co nc entr ati on ca mps anddea th que st ion s:What is a co nc entrat io n camp?

10 What is a deat h cam p? Who wasaffectedby the se camps?Su gge st ed re sour ce:I m Sti ll Here, Petr andEvaGinz (26:52 32:46) Inthis ex cerpt,we hearthewords of a brother an d sist er fro m Czechoslovakiawh o wer e deporte d to theTe re zinconcentr at io n camp. They desc ribelifein thiscamp, se par at ed fro m their 1944,Pe tr wasdeported to Au sc hwitz-Birkenau,a death camp. Af ter st udents watchth is excerpt fro mI m Stil l He reyou can showth ema ma p of Nazicon centrat ioncampsanddeathcampsin Eu ropein 19 th is map, st udents can le arna gr eatde al aboutth e ex te nt of th e hu manliv es affected by deportatio ns , bo th in ter msof thevic timsse nt to the se campsandth e numberof bureaucratsan d so ldiers required to oper-ateth ese facilitie s.