Why did the management of the “Jewish question” vary in the East and West? How did the invasion of Poland impact the international community?

1. What were the functions and roles of the SS?

2. How were the concentration camps organized?

3. What occurred when a prisoner or group of prisoners arrived at camp?

4. Which prisoners were the best-treated and why?

5. What comfort measures were available to prisoners early in concentration camp history?

Critical Thinking Questions

1. How did changes in the structure and function of concentration camps impact the eventual extermination camps?

2. How did the guards own prejudices impact residents of the camps?

3. What changes occurred as the number of concentration camp prisoners dramatically increased?

4. What did Eicke do and how did he impact the life of residents in the camps?

5. How was the asocial classification used in the camps?

Nazi Camps <- your first lab link

Concentration Camps, 1933-1939 <- your second lab link

Concentration Camps, 1939-1942 <- your third lab link

Concentration Camps, 1942-1945 <- your fourth lab link

Concentration Camp System <- your fifth lab link

1. Why were the camps commonly referred to as “concentration camps”?

2. Choose one of the concentration camps discussed in the articles and follow the links to learn more about this camp. Describe the camp, including where it was located and what the experience of those brought to the camp would have been.

3. What were the first concentration camps like? What were they used for?

4. How did the camps change after WWII broke out in 1939?

5. Choose one artifact from the Nazi Camps—Artifact/Document page and describe what you chose.

6. What might prisoners in the concentration camps have experienced

during the last year of WWII?

Consider and discuss how SS guards, who were apparently psychologically typical, could participate in the violence of the camps and einsatzgruppen.

Why was there so little resistance from the German people? 

1. What were the four stated goals of Operation Reinhard and how were these implemented?

2. How did Treblinka, Sobibor, and Belzec differ from other concentration camps built earlier?

3. How did the Nazi party maintain secrecy regarding the Final Solution?

4. Why was the Madagascar Plan not used?

5. Why were some individuals, including WWI veterans, to be spared the Final Solution?

Critical Thinking Questions

1. What factors led to the creation and implementation of Operation Reinhard?

2. How did the residents of the ghettos respond to mass deportations and what occurred when the residents realized what happened to those deported?

3. What did Rudolf Hoess’s testimony at the end of the war suggest about the Final Solution and planned deportation and resettlement?

4. How did Operation Reinhard differ from earlier Nazi actions and how was it similar?

5. Was resettlement seriously considered and why was it not used? 

1. Write a brief biography for Anne Frank in about two-three paragraphs.

2. What happens to the families once they are arrested?

3. What was life like for the families during the years that they lived in the annex. Why did they choose to go into hiding here?

4. We know Anne Frank from her diary. Imagine that you are hiding with Anne and her family. Write a diary entry for one day hiding in the annex. For example, you might describe the day that you go into hiding, an “ordinary” day during the two years of hiding, or the day of discovery. Write at least three paragraphs in your diary entry.

Propaganda 1933-1939 <- your second lab link
Propaganda 1939-1945 <- your third lab link
Examine some of the Nazi propaganda posters on these pages and answer the following questions:

1. How do the posters from the earlier period (1933-1939) compare to those in the later period (1939-1945)?

2. Choose one poster that you think is a good example of propaganda.

3. What are three themes that are used in the posters? Describe how these themes/topics/etc. are used.

4. Why do you think Germany used propaganda posters like the ones on these two pages? 

Discuss the progression of the Final Solution, from the invasion of the Soviet Union through the Wannsee Conference and Harvest Festival.  

Discuss intentionalism and functionalism. What do you think?