HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE

Holocaust Q/A

By:Lugmaan Muuse

(Source: jpost,chicago tribune,tribstar)

Last month was Holocaust remembrance month,And the 8th grade class learned about the Holocaust and these are the most commonly asked questions about the Holocaust.

1.When speaking about the "Holocaust," what time period are we referring to?

January 30, 1933 – May 8, 1945

2. How many Jews were murdered during the Holocaust?

1. Which Jewish communities suffered losses during the Holocaust?

Austria,Italy,Belgium,Latvia,Bohemia/Moravia,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Netherlands, Estonia,Norway,Finland,poland,France,Romania,Germany,Slovakia,Greece,Soviet union,Hungary,Yugoslavia

2. What is a death camp? How many were there? Where were they located?        

A death (or mass murder) camp is a concentration camp with special apparatus specifically designed for systematic murder. Six such camps existed: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, Treblinka. All were located in Poland.

3. What does the term "Final Solution" mean and what is its origin?               

The term "Final Solution" (Endlosung) refers to Germany's plan to murder all the Jews of Europe. The term was used at the Wannsee Conference (Berlin; January 20,1942) where German officials discussed its implementation.

4. When did the "Final Solution" actually begin?

While thousands of Jews were murdered by the Nazis or died as a direct result of discriminatory measures instituted against Jews during the initial years of the Third Reich, the systematic murder of Jews did not begin until the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.

5. How did the Germans define who was Jewish?

On November 14, 1935, the Nazis issued the following definition of a Jew: Anyone with three Jewish grandparents; someone with two Jewish grandparents who belonged to the Jewish community on September 15, 1935, or joined thereafter; was married to a Jew or Jewess on September 15, 1935, or married one thereafter; was the offspring of a marriage or extramarital liaison with a Jew on or after September 15, 1935.

6. How did the Germans treat those who had some Jewish blood but were not classified as Jews?

Those who were not classified as Jews but who had some Jewish blood were categorized as Mischlinge (hybrids)and were divided into two groups:

Mischlinge of the first degree--those with two Jewish grandparents;

Mischlinge of the second degree--those with one Jewish grandparent.

The Mischlinge were officially excluded from membership in the Nazi Party and all Party organizations (e.g. SA, SS, etc.). Although they were drafted into the German Army, they could not attain the rank of officers. They were also barred from the civil service and from certain professions. (Individual Mischlinge were, however, granted exemptions under certain circumstances.) Nazi officials considered plans to sterilize Mischlinge, but this was never done. During World War II, first-degree Mischlinge, incarcerated in concentration camps, were deported to death camps.