Historical Background

to World War II & the

Holocaust
Church History

Causes of WWII & the

Holocaust

Resolution of World War I Treaty of

Versailles 1919 - peace settlement

Required Germany to make numerous

concessions & reparations

Military restrictions

Economic reparations - pay $ to the victors

Shaming Germany - blamed for the war

Economic crisis in Germany!

Extreme inflation, high

unemployment

Hunger & economic

stagnation

Economic depression of 1929

Hitlers rise to power

appointed chancellor in 1933

Naziism & Extreme, race-based

Nationalism!

Social Darwinism - struggle between

distinct races; race is based on fixed
characteristics; some races are inferior to
others

Need for expansion (land & population)

and purification (elimination of all
enemies within the German state & its
territories

Each race had a natural & biological

inclination to expand territorially

Need to purify the German state & its

territories of:!

Criminals, asocials homosexuals, physically

& mentally disabled

Political opponents pacifists, Catholic clergy,

Jehovahs Witnesses

Marxists Communists, Labor Unions

Jews seen as racially inferior and an alien

threat to the so-called purity of the German
people

Christian Anti-Semitism!

LONG history of anti-Semitism in

the Catholic Church and
Protestant denominations, esp
Lutheranism

Charge of Deicide false belief

that Jews as a people are
collectively responsible for the
death of Jesus & are to be
condemned for their rejection of
the Messiah

Christian Anti-Semitism continued!

Jews seen as sneaky, mischievous, and

not to be trusted

Black Plague; Spanish Inquisition

General feelings of contempt and/or

indifference towards the Jewish people on
the part of Christians as a whole

So why didnt the Jews just leave?

Many did leave between 1933-1939

Hitler quickly enacted laws that made life for

Jews very economically, politically, and
socially difficult

Jews had little power or influence

Emigration and immigration laws prohibited

Jews from leaving

Hitlers expansion into new territories trapped

Jews

Ghettos Jews resettled in ghettos which

isolated them as a community; forced them to
live in poverty; all property seized

Very vibrant Jewish communities in Europe

until WWII

WWII largely decimated the Jewish populations

of Western, Central, and Eastern Europe

Homework

Write a 3-paragraph response (5-7 sentences per

paragraph) to the following prompt:

Do people have a moral responsibility to act/speak out

during times of violence, oppression, and/or genocide?
Why or why not?
1st paragraph: Responsibility of average global citizens?
2nd paragraph: Responsibility of political leaders?
3rd paragraph: Responsibility of members of religious
groups? Do we have a greater responsibility to speak out? As
a Catholic Church, what should our response be? Why?