During and after World War Two, life got even worse for the Jews. Due to the war, there was an obvious loss of labour. So, Jews, irrespective of their status or job were forced into labour. The absence of restraints on Hitler’s fanatical hatred for Jews made his actions more extreme.
The invasion of Russia in 1942 meant that Hitler gained even more Jews. However, the ghettos were not in Russia and were therefore too spread out and too much trouble for these Jews to be transported to them. So killing squads, known as ‘Einsatzgruppen’, were designed to slaughter the Jews. They killed 1 million in their first year. Even local residents in Russia carried out massacres of Jews. The executions by mass shooting or one-bullet deaths removed the dignity of the Jews as they were made to undress. Gas vans were also introduced but were a very slow method of execution and were very cumbersome.
The failure of earlier methods changed the treatment inflicted on the Jews and directed Nazis more towards a final solution. Exile of Jews was a problem because Jews couldn’t afford to go and did no want to, so they just remained and were stamped with a red ‘J’ on their passports. The significance of the J was that, if the Jews tried to emigrate, other countries would know that they were Jews. The ghettos were not suitable as they were too spread out for Russia and because some rebellious Jews were revolting. During a violent uprising in the Warsaw ghetto, 7000 Jews were killed in the fighting. The Einsatzgruppen soon became inefficient and soldiers’ moral was affected. Shooting Jews coldly, with one bullet disrupted them psychologically. Soon, more efficient methods of killing were introduced such as ‘gas vans’ and ‘death camps.’ Gas vans did not kill enough Jews. The Death camps were the most efficient as gas vans took too long and were too cumbersome.
The Wansee conference of 1942 was organised by Heydrich, its purpose was, for the leading Nazis to gather and decide on a final solution of how to deal with the Jews. The Nazis confirmed death camps as the most efficient method of executing the Jews. They were set up in Poland so people would not know. Cheluno, Auschwitz and Belzec were locations of some death camps but there were many more. Jews were packed into railways without food or water and transported to death and concentration camps in Poland. Most Jews were sent to Auschwitz, where women were gassed almost immediately and the strong were forced to work. A German medical doctor, Mengele used Jews to conduct medical experiments to see racial differences. When Jews were told they were going to bathe, they were unknowingly sent to gas chambers. When they were dead, gold from teeth and hair from women was removed.
During the period of 1944 to 1945 the Nazis were facing impending defeat. They were worried about the discovery of camps and how to deal with the remaining Jews. A final peak of treatment was suggested, which was to send Jews to the most efficient death and concentration camps. Even though Germany was facing impending defeat in the war, Hitler continued to slaughter the Jews. Hungarian Jews were a large main group left. Eichmann was ordered to transport them to the remaining death camps. Death marches on foot to Germany became a ‘last gasp’ for Jews to be killed. Some camps were destroyed and death marches from the camps to Germany were carried out, in order to conceal the Jews from the approaching Allies.
The treatment towards the Jews changed in many ways from 1939 to 1945, as the Nazis ‘need’ for a ‘final solution’ grew stronger. These experiments led the Nazis to come to a final solution of how to ultimately deal with Jews during the Wansee conference of 1942 organised by Heydrich. World War Two, the invasion of Poland, the invasion of Russia, the failure of earlier methods and the fact that Germany was clearly losing the war were all causes of fluctuations in the treatment towards Jews.
