Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is the holocaust?

Adoloph Hitler and the Nazi’s( Germans) discriminated against Jewish people even before the start of World War 2. They blamed them for several things including the defeat in World War 1, the Depression and the fall of the Czar of Russia. People were looking for someone to blame during this time period and Hitler encouraged Germans to believe that Jewish people had caused all of their misfortunes. With the support of hundreds of thousands of people, Hitler rose into power after the beginning of World War 2. In 1933, Jews were removed from their homes and sent to concentration camps and ghettoes. After Jews, homosexuals and Gypsies arrived at camps, some of them were sent to the gas chambers immediately. Hitler and the Nazi’s attempted to make the world ‘perfect’ by exterminating Jewish people. This process grew into what is referred to as the Holocaust.

Q. What is an extermination camp?

An extermination camp is a death camp which was designed for mass murder. These camps contained equipment such as gas chambers which resembled showers and large crematoriums to dispose of corpses. There were six extermination camps in total: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor , Beland Temblinka. All six camps were located in Poland. 

Q. How many Jews died during the Holocaust?

It is impossible to gain the exact number of Jewish people who died during the Holocaust, however, six million is the rounded figure used by most authorities. 

Q. What is ‘The Final Solution’?

The Final Solution is the term which refers to the German’s plans to exterminate all Jewish people. 

Q. What were some of Hitler’s restrictions against the Jews between 1933 and 1935?

1933

·         Jewish lawyers were forbidden to work as lawyers in Berlin

·         Jewish judges were suspended from office

·         Jewish teachers were banned from teaching in state schools

·         Aryan and non-Aryan children were forbidden to play with each other

·         Jewish civil servants were dismissed from public office

·         Jews were excluded from sports and gymnastic clubs

1935

·         Jewish writers were not allowed to carry out any form of literary work in Germany

·         Jewish musicians were not allowed to work in state orchestras

·         Jews were only permitted to sit on benches marked ‘For Jews’

·         Jewish art and antique dealers were not permitted to carry out their trade

The Nuremberg Laws

·         All Jews had their German citizenship removed

·         Marriage ceremonies and extramarital sex, between Germans and Jews were punishable by imprisonment

·         Marriages that had already taken place were declared invalid. 

Q. What are the Nuremberg laws?
After Hitler and the Nazi's took power in 1933, antisemitic rules were created which restricted the movements of Jewish people. The laws are listed above. There were severe punsihments for those who did not abide by the laws.