Modern World Civilization

Handout Thirteen

Topic: The Holocaust

 OUTLINE:

 XIII. Hitler’s War Against the Jews

A. Introduction.

B. The Twisted Road to Auschwitz

C. Earlier Persecution

D. The Final Solution.

E. Jewish Resistance.

F. What Did The Allies Know?

G. Ordinary Men and the Holocaust.

H. Rescue of European Jewry.

I. The Ambiguity of Good: The Case of Kurt Gerstein.

 QUESTIONS:

1. What historical theories best explain why the Holocaust happened? Which one do you find most plausible?
2. Ordinary Germans after the war contended they never knew about Hitler’s crimes. They even argue that they did not hate Jews and were not Anti-Semitic. How then can you explain why the Holocaust happened?
3. What made some people rescue victims of the Holocaust while others cooperated with the Germans? What do you have to take into consideration in order to conduct successful rescue operations?
4. What did the Allies know about Hitler’s crimes? Could they have acted differently? Explain.

 TERMS:

 Intentionalists

Functionalists

Madagascar Solution

Wannsee Conference

Kurt Gerstein

St. Louis Affair

Kristallnacht

T4 Program

Destruction Process

Einsatzgruppen

Operation Reinhard

Rudolf Vrba

David Irving