CLIL History

M3 The Holocaust MATERIALS A New European Order Nazi ideology consisted of two key elements, racial purity and vital space (Lebensraum) for the German people . For Hitler the project of unifying all the German populations living in Europe meant rearranging the ethnic context in Eastern Europe by transferring the Slavic populations and finding a solution to the Jewish question . The first project to rid Europe of the Jewish people consisted in deporting them towards the East, beyond the Urals, or to the island of Madagascar, which was a French colony. These plans were unachievable because of technical difficulties. In 1941 Hermann G ring, a political and military leader of the Nazi party, was put in charge to organize a solution to the Jewish problem. When the German Army invaded Poland in 1939 and then attacked the Soviet Union in 1941 the Nazis found numerous Jewish communities, especially in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and the Ukraine. There, with the help of the local populations, the massacres began. Hundreds of thousands were killed, generally in shooting operations. On 20 January 1942, in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, a meeting of Nazi officials took place. It was a turning point in the Nazi policy towards the Jews. All the ministries and the state apparatuses needed to be involved in the final solution , that would have resulted in the planned deportation and murder of 11 million Jews. The transportation of Jews and other prisoners took place on cattle cars. The picture shows a group of Jewish Hungarian women and children upon arrival in Auschwitz. ACTIVITY 4.A Match the following words to their meanings. 1. unifying a. too difficult to be carried out 2. transferring b. killing with a gun 3. rid c. occurred 4. deporting d. moving 5. beyond e. state entities having specific functions 6. unachievable f. joining under one nation 7. shooting g. expelling 8. turning point h. past 9. took place i. the moment when the course of events is changed 10. apparatuses j. free ACTIVITY 4.B Read the text A New European Order and then select whether the sentences are true (T) or false (F). Correct the false ones. The two key elements of the Nazi ideology were racial purity and vital space for the German people . T F The first project to rid Europe of the Jewish people consisted in deporting them to the USSR and France. T F 3. In the Wannsee Conference shooting operations were planned by Hermann G ring. T F 4. In Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine the local populations helped the numerous Jewish communities. T F The final solution planned the extermination of 11 million Jews. T F 1. 2. 5. 27