Why Did The Status And Position Of The Jews In Occupied Europe Worsen In The Years 1939-1945?
History Coursework Why Did The Status And Position Of The Jews In Occupied Europe Worsen In The Years 1939-1945? From when Hitler took over Germany in 1933, Anti-Semitism in Germany grew. Hitler created new laws (such as Jews were banned from civil services), and also organised boycotts on Jewish shops, and also Kristallnacht. In 1935, the Nuremburg Laws came into force. The Jews were made social outcasts. The underlying cause for all of this was the Nazi Racial theory, with Germans at the top and Jews at the bottom.From 1933 to 1939, there were a lot of pogroms on the Jews, one of the most famous being Kristallnacht. This was on the 9th and 10th on November in 1938, and during this period 8,000 Jewish shops were ransacked along with 1,700 synagogues, 270 of which were set on fire. The motives were set by Hitler and other Nazis, who were following the Nazi Racial Theory. The consequences of the attacks and boycotts meant that the Jews suffered economically, as well as mentally (via the attacks in newspapers, speeches etc.). First, Hitler just wanted for all the Jews to leave Germany and migrate to another country. However,
they refused – German was their homeland, and had been for their ancestors. So, in 1942, Nazi officials met at a conference and decided on a solution of how to finally get rid of the Jews – extermination camps. Before they came up with the idea, Hitler had started trying to take over Europe – invading Poland in 1939, and invading Norway, Denmark, Holland and Belgium in 1940. These attacks consequently made the status and position of Jews in Occupied Europe worsen a lot as the Jews were rounded up to be taken to the camps. However, some countries tried ...
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they refused – German was their homeland, and had been for their ancestors. So, in 1942, Nazi officials met at a conference and decided on a solution of how to finally get rid of the Jews – extermination camps. Before they came up with the idea, Hitler had started trying to take over Europe – invading Poland in 1939, and invading Norway, Denmark, Holland and Belgium in 1940. These attacks consequently made the status and position of Jews in Occupied Europe worsen a lot as the Jews were rounded up to be taken to the camps. However, some countries tried not to – in Denmark, for example, the King of Denmark himself wore a yellow Star of David to show that he wouldn’t hand over any Jews. In Romania, they didn’t hand over any Romanian Jews; however they still handed over Jews form other countries such as Greece. Occupied Europe between 1939 and 1945 meant countries in Europe annexed (invaded and controlled) by the Nazis.When Germany invaded the Soviet Union (Russia/USSR), they planned to deport all the Jews to Madagascar. However, the plans went wrong. So, the Einsatzgruppen went to the Rabbis/Jewish Leaders of Russian towns, and got them to give them a list of all the Jewish people in that town/area. Then, Jews would be told to go to the Synagogue, being told that if they did not go, all their family would be shot dead. Then, when all the Jews were inside the Synagogues, they would be burnt down.In Poland, Jews soon found themselves living apart from the rest of the population, in sectioned-off areas called ghettos, the most famous of which (and largest) was the Warsaw Ghetto. In September 1939, the Gestapo (The secret police of the Nazi’s) rounded up the Jewish people and put them into the Ghettos. In the Warsaw Ghetto, there was an uprising from April 19 to May 16, 1943. Some Jewish people decided to try and escape from the ghetto – the German military stepped in and fought against the Jewish and Polish Resistance. At the end, 7,000 Jewish residents had been killed, an extra 6,000 being burnt alive or were gassed in bunkers. The German military had won. The Jews in Europe could not resist properly for a couple of reasons: 1) The Jews knew that the Nazis were far too powerful (they had already taken over a lot of countries in Europe) so any resistance would just cause more destruction among the Jews of Europe by the Nazis. 2) They were unarmed so any attempted resistance would be weak and possibly worthless. The Gestapo played an important role in the worsening status and position of Jews in Occupied Europe between 1939 and 1945. They would hide as spies and arrest or shoot down Jews on sight. They would torture Jews, and would also report back to Hitler, so that he could keep a close eye on the Jews of other countries while not physically being there. He would make announcements and speeches based on what he heard – most of them anti-Semitic in some shape or form – influencing people, and making the status and position of the Jews worsen.A major factor in the progression of the Nazis plans were the railways – technology had advanced with railways so much that it was possible to connect to virtually anywhere you wanted to. This was part of the “final solution”; trains would take Jews to the camps, where they would then be sorted into groups – men to be slaves, and women, children, and the elderly to be killed automatically in the gas chambers/ acid showers. The SS (Hitler’s Private Army) would round up all the Jews or Europe, and send them by train to the camps, which were also run by the SS.Adolf Eichmann (a Lieutenant colonel in the SS) was put in charge by Hitler as the person in charge of rounding up the Jews in Eastern Europe and putting them into the ghettos and camps. There was a variety of treatment of Jews across Europe – some countries gave their Jews to the Nazis, some countries (like Romania) didn’t give away their Jews but gave away foreign Jews (i.e. Greek Jews), and some countries (e.g. Denmark) looked after their Jews, and the King of Denmark wore the Star of David himself as a protest to the Nazis.In conclusion, the status and position of the Jews in Occupied Europe worsened between 1939 and 1945 because the Nazis had mistreated them and put them into places such as Ghettos and camps. Some people could say that the Jews had NO status or position during that period as thew Nazis had influenced so many people to be Anti-Semitic. The status ad position fell also because the Nazis occupied most of Western Europ so could spread their anti-semitic and racil view easily and quickly. The underlying cause for the exterminations was due to the Nazi Racial Theories. The attacks were planned – and ended up killing 11 million people – 6 million were Jews, and the other 5 million were people such as gypsies, homosexuals, and disabled people. Of the 11 million people that died, 1.5 million were children.