The Final Resolution

THE FINAL RESOLUTION- Nazi Regime
By: Sofía Pasarin
What was the Final Solution and how was it implemented?
Russian and Polish prisoners
The Final Solution was Nazi Germany's plan and execution of the systematic genocide of European Jews during the Second World War, resulting in the final and most deadly phase of the Holocaust. Heinrich Himmler was the chief architect of the plan, and theGerman Nazi leader Adolf Hitler termed it "the final solution of the Jewish question". This means that during the war, one of the biggest genocides in history took place. As we have already mentioned, at the Wansee Conference, Himmler, head of SS and the Gestapo, was put in charge of the systematic killing of:
JEWS
homosexuals
Jehovah’ witnesses
Political prisoners
European gypsies

Was theFinal Solution a result of a long-term plan of Hitler?
INTENTIONALISTS | STRUCTURALISTS |
The whole dreadful process was planned | There was no clear plan.The policy of mass murder evolved during the war years. |
Part of the problem is the lack of evidence. They kept it as secret as they could.
Hitler made speeches in which he talked about the annihilation of Jews but he never:
* signedany documents
* made any record directly retailing to an extermination
All historians agree that: Hitler was ultimately responsible.
It was implemented with the help of:

The Civil Service bureaucracy | They collected and stored information about Jews |
Police forces in Germany and the occupied lands | Many victims of the Nazis, such as Anne Frank, were taken by the police rather thanthe Gestapo or SS |
The SS | Adolf Eichmann devised a system of transporting Jews to collection points and then on to the death camps. He was also in charge of looting the possession of Jews. The SS Death Head’s battalions and Einsatzgruppen also carried out many of the killings. |
The Wehrmacht( German armed forces) | The army leaders were fully aware of events. |
Industry | Companies suchas Volkswagen and Mercedes had their own slave labour camps. The chemical giant IG Farben competed with other companies for the contract to make Cyclon B gas which was in the gas chambers. |
The German people | There was widespread support for anti-Semitism, even if these feelings did not include support for mass murder. Many Germans took part in some aspect of The Holocaust, but closed theireyes to the full reality of what was happening. |

Wedding rings taken from people killed at Buchenwald concentration camp.
5. What is the difference between a Concentration Camp or a Forced Labour Camp and a Death Camp?
Briefly:
Concentration Camp or Forced Labour Camp | A place where the inmates (such as prisoners of war, political prisoners, or refugees) are detained or confined isolatedfrom society. The inmates are forced to engage in some form of slavery, they have to work very hardly. |
Death Camp | A camp where large numbers of prisoners are systematically killed |

Extermination camps ( or death camps) were only constructed with one purpose: to mass murder Jews and other “unwanted”. Concentration camps, on the other hand, had a number of purposes, among these to workas reformatory facilities, “punishment camps”, POW camps, transit camps, etc.
Detailed Information:
CONCENTRATION CAMPS:
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps were greatly e xpanded in Germany after the Reichstag fire in 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime.
The Nazismade millions of people (both Jews and other victim groups) to do forced labor under brutal conditions. From the establishment of the first Nazi concentration camps and detention facilities in the winter of 1933, forced labor was often pointless and humiliating. Imposed without :
* proper equipment,
* clothing,
* nourishment,
* or rest
Even before the war began, the Nazis...