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Poland and the Holocaust > Poland Holocaust > Flashcards

Poland Holocaust Flashcards

(95 cards)

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1
Q

When did Germany invade Poland?

A

September 1, 1939

Start of World War II.

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2
Q

What agreement allowed Germany and the USSR to divide Poland?

A

The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (August 1939)

Secret clause to split Poland.

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3
Q

What happened after Poland was invaded?

A

Germany took the west and centre; USSR took the east; Division formalised on September 28, 1939.

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4
Q

What was the General Government?

A

Nazi-controlled area in central Poland ruled by Hans Frank

Used to hold Jews and Poles not fit for Germanisation.

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5
Q

Why did Germany annex western Polish territories?

A

Claimed they were historically German

Included Lodz, Danzig, Silesia, and Pomerania.

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6
Q

What was the Nazi plan for Poles?

A

Remove or enslave them; Expel them from annexed areas; Use them for forced labour.

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7
Q

How were Polish leaders treated?

A

Thousands killed in the A-B Aktion; Teachers, priests, and politicians targeted

Aim: destroy Polish national identity.

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8
Q

What were daily conditions like for Poles?

A

Discrimination in food, jobs, and services; Germans had more rights; Poles faced curfews, arrests, and forced labour.

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9
Q

How was the Polish economy affected?

A

Industry dismantled or taken over by Germans; Widespread unemployment; Black markets became common.

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10
Q

How did the Nazis use Polish forced labour?

A

At first, Poles volunteered due to poverty; Later, they were kidnapped from streets; Families were separated.

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11
Q

How did Nazi racial beliefs shape their actions in Poland?

A

Believed Germans were the master race; Poles seen as inferior; Poles were to be ruled or removed.

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12
Q

How many Jews lived in Poland before WWII?

A

About 3.3 million

Largest Jewish population in Europe.

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13
Q

What was Jewish life like before the war?

A

Jews lived in towns and cities; Strong religious and cultural traditions; Faced rising antisemitism in the 1930s.

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14
Q

How did Polish politics change after 1935?

A

Government moved to the far right; Allowed antisemitic parties and violence.

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15
Q

What happened to Jewish students in the 1930s?

A

Segregated at universities; Often attacked and humiliated.

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16
Q

What were pogroms?

A

Violent attacks on Jewish communities

Between 1935–1937, 16 pogroms occurred.

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17
Q

How many were hurt or killed in pogroms?

A

118 Jews killed; 1,350 injured.

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18
Q

What caused the rise of antisemitism?

A

Economic crisis; Blame on Jews for job loss and poverty; Nationalist propaganda.

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19
Q

How did antisemitism make Jews more vulnerable?

A

They had fewer allies; Many Poles supported or ignored Nazi actions; Some helped, but they were a minority.

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20
Q

What was the purpose of ghettos?

A

Concentrate Jews in specific areas; Separate them from the general population; Prepare for deportation.

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21
Q

Why were ghettos placed near rail lines?

A

Easier to transport Jews to camps later; Allowed fast removal.

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22
Q

What were conditions like in the ghettos?

A

Overcrowded and dirty; Very little food or medicine; Disease and hunger were common.

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23
Q

What happened in the Warsaw Ghetto?

A

Contained over 400,000 people; Food rationed to starvation levels; Thousands died from typhus and hunger.

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24
Q

What happened in the Lodz Ghetto?

A

Jews forced to work for German factories; Very isolated with tight Nazi control; Many died from starvation and overwork.

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25
What was the Judenrat?
Jewish council appointed by Nazis; Managed housing, food, and labour quotas; Forced to follow German orders.
26
How did some view the Judenrat?
Some saw them as collaborators; Others saw them as trying to help their people survive.
27
How did disease spread in the ghettos?
Overcrowding and poor sanitation; Typhus outbreaks killed thousands; Nazis blamed Jews for the disease they caused.
28
What were 'disinfection actions'?
Nazi raids claiming to fight disease; Humiliated Jews and destroyed their clothes; Left people sick and exposed.
29
How did Jews get food in ghettos?
Many smuggled it in secretly; Children crawled through holes in the wall; Black market was essential for survival.
30
What was the calorie ration for Jews?
Around 220 calories per day in Warsaw ## Footnote Far below the amount needed to live.
31
Who were the 'house committees'?
Volunteers who helped in apartment buildings; Shared food and gave support; Helped organise underground aid.
32
What role did charities play?
JDC, CENTOS, and others helped with food and education; Often the only support for orphans and the sick.
33
How did youth help others in ghettos?
Ran soup kitchens and secret schools; Formed networks to warn about Nazi actions; Kept up morale.
34
Why did the Nazis allow some aid groups at first?
To make ghettos look self-sufficient; To avoid international criticism before 1941.
35
What changed in 1941 after Germany invaded the USSR?
Jews in Soviet areas were mass-murdered; Nazi focus shifted from removal to extermination.
36
Who were the Einsatzgruppen?
Mobile killing squads; Followed the German army into the USSR; Shot over 1.4 million Jews.
37
How were people killed by the Einsatzgruppen?
Taken to forests or ravines; Shot in large groups; Buried in mass graves.
38
What happened at Babi Yar?
In Kyiv, Ukraine, Sept 1941; 33,000 Jews killed in two days.
39
Why did the Nazis move from shooting to gas?
Shooting was slow and stressful for killers; Gas allowed faster, secret killing; Could murder many people at once.
40
What was the first death camp?
Chelmno, opened Dec 1941 ## Footnote Used gas vans to kill Jews.
41
What was Aktion Reinhard?
Nazi plan to murder Polish Jews; Camps included Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka; Over 1.7 million Jews killed.
42
Why were the camps in Poland?
Most Jews lived in Poland; Remote and easy to hide; Rail system already built.
43
How did death camps kill people?
Victims told they were taking a shower; Gas chambers used carbon monoxide or Zyklon B; Bodies buried or burned.
44
What happened at Treblinka?
Opened July 1942; 840,000 Jews murdered; Most from Warsaw Ghetto.
45
What was Sobibor known for?
Around 250,000 Jews killed; Site of a famous uprising in 1943.
46
What was Belzec?
First camp of Aktion Reinhard; 500,000 Jews killed.
47
What was Chelmno’s method of killing?
Gas vans with exhaust piped into a sealed box; Victims killed while being driven to burial pits.
48
What was Majdanek?
Near Lublin, Poland; Both labour and extermination camp; Over 200,000 died.
49
What was the Wannsee Conference?
January 1942 meeting of Nazi officials; Organised the Final Solution; Used coded language to hide genocide.
50
Who was Reinhard Heydrich?
Chaired the Wannsee Conference; Planned Jewish extermination.
51
Who was Adolf Eichmann?
Organised train transports to camps; Played a key role in carrying out the Final Solution.
52
Why did Nazis use euphemisms like 'resettlement'?
To hide their crimes; To avoid protest from the German public and other nations.
53
How did Nazi offices cooperate in genocide?
Ministries of transport, justice, and foreign affairs all helped ## Footnote Showed widespread involvement in Holocaust.
54
What kinds of resistance happened in ghettos?
Secret schools and cultural groups; Smuggling food and supplies; Organising underground warnings and records.
55
Who was Emmanuel Ringelblum?
Jewish historian in the Warsaw Ghetto; Created secret archive to record events; Buried documents in milk cans for future generations.
56
Why was spiritual resistance important?
Helped Jews hold on to identity; Maintained hope and dignity ## Footnote Included prayer, music, writing, and teaching.
57
How did children help their families survive?
Smuggled food through cracks in the ghetto walls; Sold goods in secret; Took great risks despite their age.
58
What happened to those who hid Jews?
Faced execution if caught; Some Poles helped despite the danger; Others betrayed Jews to the Nazis.
59
What were underground schools in the ghettos?
Secret classes run by teachers and youth groups; Helped children keep learning under Nazi ban; Preserved Jewish identity and future hope.
60
What was the Oyneg Shabes archive?
Underground record of life in the Warsaw Ghetto; Collected by Emmanuel Ringelblum’s team; Buried in milk cans to preserve Jewish voices.
61
What was spiritual resistance?
Keeping culture and religion alive; Included prayer, study, music, and theatre; Defied Nazi attempts to erase identity.
62
Why did Nazis tolerate some culture at first?
Thought it would keep Jews passive; Let Jews distract themselves while being controlled.
63
How did youth groups resist Nazis?
Formed warning systems and mutual aid groups; Created secret publications and resistance networks; Prepared for uprisings in some ghettos.
64
What happened to those who tried to escape ghettos?
Many were caught and killed; Others hid in forests or with sympathetic Poles; Escape was very dangerous but sometimes successful.
65
Why was hiding so difficult for Jews?
Needed food, shelter, and silence; Constant risk of betrayal or exposure; Entire families depended on Polish helpers.
66
How were Jews betrayed in hiding?
Sometimes for money or food rewards; Antisemitism or fear of Nazi punishment; Some Poles even hunted Jews.
67
What penalties did Poles face for helping Jews?
Execution of entire families if caught; Harsh punishment made helping extremely dangerous.
68
Who carried out the Holocaust besides the SS?
Police, railway workers, bureaucrats, and soldiers ## Footnote Many 'ordinary people' helped without directly killing.
69
How did train workers help the Holocaust?
Scheduled and drove trains to death camps; Packed people into cattle cars; Knew they were sending people to death.
70
How did German companies benefit from the Holocaust?
Used Jewish forced labour; Took over Jewish homes and factories; Profited from plundered goods.
71
How were local collaborators involved?
Helped identify and round up Jews; Took part in pogroms and shootings; Often motivated by antisemitism or gain.
72
Why did some perpetrators claim they were 'just following orders'?
Tried to avoid responsibility; Claimed fear of punishment; Many actually had a choice and supported Nazi goals.
73
What was Adolf Eichmann’s role?
Organised train deportations of Jews; Helped coordinate the Final Solution.
74
What did Britain know in 1941–42?
Decrypted German reports about mass killings; Churchill publicly condemned Nazi crimes; No military action was taken to stop it.
75
How did the Vatican respond to the Holocaust?
Knew early on about Jewish persecution; Spoke in vague terms about suffering; Did not directly condemn the killing of Jews.
76
What was the reaction of the U.S. at first?
Reports reached Jewish groups by 1942; Government slow to act; Public protests held, but immigration limits stayed.
77
Why didn’t more Jews escape Europe?
Immigration barriers in U.S., Britain, and elsewhere; Many countries refused Jewish refugees; War made travel very difficult.
78
What did the Allies do in response to the camps?
Focused on defeating Germany militarily; Did not bomb train lines or death camps; Believed it was too difficult or risky.
79
What did survivors do after the war?
Lived in Displaced Persons (DP) camps; Emigrated to Israel, the U.S., or elsewhere; Faced trauma, loss, and antisemitism.
80
How many Polish Jews survived the Holocaust?
About 300,000 of 3.3 million ## Footnote Most survived by hiding or joining partisans.
81
Why is Poland central to Holocaust history?
All six major death camps were in Poland; Largest Jewish population in Europe; Epicentre of Nazi racial genocide.
82
What does the Holocaust in Poland reveal about Nazi policy?
Racial ideology drove decisions; Shift from segregation to extermination was planned; Combined modern systems with extreme hatred.
83
Why was the Holocaust not inevitable?
Grew step-by-step: antisemitism → laws → ghettos → killings; Required cooperation and silence; Could have been resisted earlier.
84
What was unique about Nazi genocide?
Industrialised, systematic, and global; Used modern transport, bureaucracy, and science; Aimed to kill every single Jew.
85
What can we learn from Polish Jewish resistance?
Resistance was possible, even under extreme conditions; Jews resisted through culture, care, and uprisings; Dignity and community endured.
86
Why is remembering the Holocaust important?
Prevents denial and distortion; Teaches about racism, silence, and complicity; Honours the memory of victims.
87
Who was Hans Frank?
Governor of the General Government; Helped plan Jewish deportations; Hanged at Nuremberg Trials.
88
Who was Odilo Globocnik?
Led Aktion Reinhard; Oversaw camps like Sobibor and Treblinka; Responsible for 1.5 million deaths.
89
Who was Kurt Gerstein?
SS officer who witnessed gassing at Belzec; Tried to warn the world; His reports were ignored.
90
What was the role of Majdanek?
Death and labour camp near Lublin; Used Zyklon B and had gas chambers; Over 200,000 killed.
91
What happened during the Sobibor uprising?
Prisoners killed SS guards and escaped; About 300 fled; 50 survived.
92
What happened during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising?
April 1943: Jews resisted Nazi liquidation; Fought for nearly a month with homemade weapons; Most were killed, but it became a symbol of courage.
93
What was the purpose of gas vans?
Used before gas chambers; Victims suffocated by engine exhaust; First used in Chelmno.
94
What was the Nisko Plan?
Early Nazi idea to dump Jews in eastern Poland; Failed due to harsh winter and logistical issues; Showed Nazis were already thinking of mass removal in 1939.
95
What does the Holocaust teach about bureaucracy?
Genocide can be organised with ordinary tools; Trains, records, and offices enabled mass murder; Many killers never held a weapon.

Poland and the Holocaust (1 decks)

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