How to Identify Groups Persecuted in the Holocaust
Jewish persons in Germany were persecuted by Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party during the years 1933-1945. Some six-million Jews lost their lives in the Holocaust.
In addition to Jews, political enemies, Roma (Gypsies), Jehovah's Witnesses, "asocial elements," such as the mentally retarded, vagrants, prostitutes, criminals, homosexuals and foreign forced laborers, all shared a place in the concentration camps. Various groups were identifiable by a unique symbol sewn on their clothing.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Videos on the Holocaust
- Computer
- Books "Facing the Lion," and "Crucible of Terror"
- Visit to U.S. Holocaust Museum
- Visit to Dachau and Auschwitz concentration camps
Instructions
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Persecuted Groups During the Holocaust
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Study the U.S. Holocaust Museum pages to learn the history of the persecution of Jews in Germany and other parts of Europe during the Nazi regime. In 1933, the Jewish population in Europe was nine-million. Most of these Jews lived in countries that the Nazis would take over by the end of World War II. By 1945, two out of every three Jews in Europe had been killed. Jews were identified in the concentration camps by a yellow Star of David on the left side of the chest and on the back with the word "Jude" (German for Jew).
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Study "A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust" webpages concerning the Roma in the Holocaust to learn about the Roma (Gypsies) and their story during the years of Nazi terror. Roma wore a brown triangle in the concentration camps. There were about 300,000 Roma living in German Europe at the time of the Holocaust.
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Read the first person accounts by Simone and Maxwell Liebster to learn about Jehovah's Witnesses in the Holocaust. (Facing the Lion, by Simone Liebster; Crucible of Terror by Maxwell Liebster). Two videos on Jehovah's Witnesses in the Holocaust are "Stand Firm Against Nazi Assault," and "Purple Triangles." Jehovah's Witnesses wore a purple triangle in the concentration camps.
A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust and the U.S. Holocaust Museum webpages document this story. Some 10,000 Jehovah's Witnesses went to concentration camps and approximately 2,500 to 5,000 died there. Witnesses were persecuted because they refused to salute Hitler, the Nazi flag or join the military.
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Read the Jewish Virtual Library webpage to learn about the account of the Nazi persecution of the mentally and physically disabled. These and other "asocial elements" were required to wear a black triangle, and this group included conscientious objectors and others. A pink triangle was required for homosexuals.
Forced sterilizations of the mentally and physically incapacitated began in 1935 and in total, 300,000 to 400,000 were sterilized. A diagnosis of "feeble-mindedness" was the criteria for forced sterilizations. Between 200,000 and 250,000 of the mentally handicapped were murdered by Nazis during the Holocaust.
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Visit the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. and listen to the recorded experiences of those who suffered and were killed during the Holocaust. Watch the films recording moving first-person accounts of Jews and others during this time period.
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Visit the Dachau concentration camp and tour the remnants of this ideological camp which was designed to break the will of dissenters. Take time to study the photographic display in the visitor's center, which is a most serious and deeply emotional experience.
Visit Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, as Stay Poland states, "Auschwitz is a must-visit for every human being on earth. It has become one of the most powerful symbols of our civilization and 20th century history."
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Educate yourself, your students and your children about the history of the Holocaust.
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Tips & Warnings
Try to look at the Holocaust positively when you visit the U.S. Holocaust Museum. Stories of heroism and self-sacrifice are a tribute to human integrity and the triumph of the human spirit over evil.
References
Resources
- Modern History Sourcebook: Gypsies in the Holocaust
- A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust: Jehovah's Witnesses
- Crucible of Terror - A Survival Story from the Nazi Storm; Maxwell Liebster
- Facing the Lion: Memoirs of a Young Girl in Nazi Europe
- Austrian Information: Unbroken Will - The Extraordinary Courage of an Ordinary Man
- Photo Credit auschuritz concentration camp, poland image by Sammy from Fotolia.com
