Hello, and thank you for joining me today.

I'm Mr. Marchant and I'll be your history teacher helping to guide you through all of our resources in today's lesson.

My top aim is to help you understand the content of this lesson and ensure that you can successfully meet today's learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on the Holocaust, where we've been asking ourselves what was the Holocaust? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain how Nazi persecution of Jews escalated after 1939.

There are five key words which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Three of those are ghetto, deportation, and forced labour.

A ghetto is an area of a city where people of a particular race or religion live.

Deportation means to force a person considered foreign, to leave a country.

And forced labour is the use of prisoners as unpaid workers.

Our other two key words for today are Final Solution and Einsatzgruppen.

The Final Solution was the name of the Nazis plan to murder all European Jews.

And the Einsatzgruppen were a mobile Nazi killing squad.

Today's lesson will be split into free parts and we'll begin by focusing on World War II and the Jewish Question.

In 1939, world War II began in Europe.

The beginning of the conflict was triggered by the aggressive expansion of Nazi Germany.

The war allowed the Nazis to extend their power significantly across Europe.

In 1938 and 1939, before the outbreak of World War II, Nazi rule was extended over Austria and Czechoslovakia.

In late 1939, Nazi Germany gained control over Western Poland.

Over the course of 1940, much of western Europe, including the Netherlands and France, fell under Nazi rule.

Further victories in 1941 left large areas of southeastern Europe and Eastern Europe, including considerable territory in the Soviet Union, also known as the USSR under German occupation.

So thinking about everything that we've just heard, what happened to the amount of territory under Nazi control between 1938 and 1941? Did it decrease significantly, remain the same or increase significantly? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

Between 1938 and 1941, the amount of territory under Nazi control increased significantly.

A lot of Nazi Germany's expansion occurred after the beginning of World War II in 1939, as territories in central, eastern, southeastern and western Europe all fell under occupation of Nazi Germany.

The Nazi's successes in expanding the territory under German control also created new complications for the Nazis, regarding the Jewish Question.

For Nazis, the Jewish Question referred to the belief that the existence of Jews in Germany threatened the state and needed to be resolved.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've just heard.

I want you to change one word to correct the following statement.

For Nazis, the Jewish Question referred to the belief that the lack of Jews in Germany threatened the state and needed to be resolved.

So consider which word appears to be incorrect in that sentence, and what should it be changed to.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the incorrect word was lack and that that should have been changed to existence.

For Nazis, the Jewish Question referred to the belief that the existence of Jews in Germany threatened the state and needed to be resolved.

Nazi persecution pressured many Jews into immigrating during the 1930s, reducing the Jewish population of Germany.

However, territorial expansion after 1938 brought new Jewish populations under German rule.

The invasion of Poland, for example, placed 2 million Jews under Nazi rule.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads, German expansion after 1938 made it harder for the Nazis to resolve the Jewish Question.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was true, but we need to be able to justify our response.

Why is the original statement true? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the original statement was true because it became harder for the Nazis to resolve the Jewish Question after 1938, as territorial expansion brought more Jewish people under Nazi rule, for example, the invasion of Poland alone placed 2 million Jews under Nazi rule.

Before 1939, Nazi Germany's persecution of Jews had mainly focused on encouraging immigration.

Facing a greater Jewish population across its newly conquered territories, Nazi Germany's aims and methods of persecution became more extreme.

After 1939, persecution developed to focus on forced deportations, the creation of ghettos and the Nazi's eventual commitment to kill all Jews.

So let's reflect on what we've just heard.

How did Nazi persecution of Jews change as Germany expanded before and during World War II? Was it that it became more extreme, that it became less extreme, or that it ended to win support for the war? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was A, during World War II, Nazi persecution of Jews became more extreme.

So we're now in a good position for all of our knowledge about World War II and the Jewish Question into practise.

We have a view from a historian who says that "The expansion of Nazi ruling Europe from 1938 to '41 made it harder for them to resolve the Jewish Question." I want you to do two things in response to this view.

Firstly, provide an example which the historian could use to support their view, and then secondly, explain why the example supports the historian's view.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So I asked you to provide an example which the historian could use to support their view, and your answer may have included, when Germany invaded Poland in 1939, an additional 2 million Jews fell under Nazi rule.

I then asked you to explain why the example supports the historian's view and your answer may have included the Nazis had aimed to resolve the Jewish Question by pressuring Jews to immigrate, but the conquest of new areas in Europe during World War II placed more Jews under Nazi Germany's control by 1941 than had been under their control in 1938.

So really well done If your own responses look something like those models, which we've just seen.

And so now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson for today where we're going to focus on ghettoization.

After the start of World War II, the Nazis began using ghettos as part of their attempts to resolve the Jewish Question.

Ghettoization, meaning the creation and use of ghettos became a more common feature of the Nazis and their collaborators persecution of Jews as the war developed.

Ghettos were a section of a town or city where Jews were forced to live by the Nazis and their collaborators.

Ghettos were virtually always established in the poorest sections of towns, and most ghettos were closed, meaning that they were surrounded by walls which separated them from the rest of a town or city.

Nazi Germany established the first ghetto in October, 1939 after the invasion of Poland.

Further ghettos were established in some, although not all, Polish cities and towns in early 1940.

Initially, officials planned on using ghettos to concentrate large numbers of Jews who could then be deported to other countries, thereby removing them from Nazi controlled territories.

However, as 1940 developed, it became clear that there were no countries the Nazis could realistically deport the Jews living unto their rule to.

Nevertheless, ghettoization became more common across German controlled areas in central and eastern Europe.

Although ghettos came to serve new purposes.

In a run-up to the German invasion of the USSR ghettos were used as a way of imprisoning Jews so that they could not sabotage the upcoming attack.

Ghettos also became locations of production as they provided the Nazis with large numbers of potential workers.

Finally, from mid 1941 through to the end of the war, ghettos were increasingly used by the Nazis only as temporary locations for holding Jews.

As Nazi Germany and their collaborators shifted the focus of persecution towards the murder of all European Jews ghettos were used as places to send large numbers of Jews before moving them on to be murdered locally or at dedicated sites.

So thinking about what we've just heard, I want you to write the missing word for the following sentence.

The Nazis and their collaborators almost always set up ghettos for Jews in the blank sections of town.

So what's the missing word? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was poorest.

The Nazis and their collaborators almost always set up ghettos for Jews in the poorest sections of towns.

Let's try another question.

Initially, why were ghettos set up by the Nazis? Was it to make it easier to murder Jews, to make it easier to deport Jews, or to make it easier to protect Jews? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

Initially, ghettos were set up by the Nazis to make it easier to deport Jews, although the purpose of ghettos began to change over time.

Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Nazis in Czechoslovakia in 1941.

Whilst initially only Czech Jews was sent there by 1943, it had also become a location where German, Austrian, Danish and Dutch Jews were sent to as well.

In total, roughly 144,000 Jews from across Europe were sent to Theresienstadt Ghetto between 1941 and 1945 of whom 33,000 died whilst being held there.

Even larger ghettos than Theresienstadt existed in other parts of Nazi occupied Europe.

The largest was the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland, roughly one third of Warsaw's population close to 400,000 people in 1940 was Jewish.

Yet the city's ghetto they were forced to live in covered just 2.

4% of the city's total area.

In Warsaw, as with many other ghettos, overcrowding and issues associated with it, were a serious problem.

In many ghettos, local officials also exploited Jews through forced labour.

In the Lodz ghetto in Poland, Nazi officials were determined to make the ghetto productive and established 96 factories, which Jews were forced to work in.

Lodz's factories produced goods for the German war effort, and in the thinking of its local officials helped to make the ghetto pay for the cost of keeping it supplied.

Nevertheless, in Lodz, officials provided only small amounts of poor quality food supplies.

Only factory workers in Lodz received occasional extra supplies from German officials whilst it was made illegal for Jews in the ghetto to obtain food in any other way.

So let's reflect on what we've just heard.

Which statistic best demonstrates that overcrowding was an issue in ghettos? Is it that 33,000 Jews died in Theresienstadt Ghetto, that Warsaw Ghetto was limited to 2.

4% of the city's area, or that 96 factories were set up in Lodz Ghetto? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

The fact that the Warsaw Ghetto was limited to 2.

4% of the city's area, shows that overcrowding was a problem because nearly a third of the city's population, 400,000 people who were Jewish, were forced to live in that very small space.

And let's try another question to ensure the ghetto was productive what were Jews in Lodz Ghetto required to perform? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was forced labour.

To ensure the ghetto was productive Jews in Lodz Ghetto were required to perform forced labour in the ghetto's 96 factories.

So we are now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about ghettoization into practise.

Frank Bright was a Czech Jew sent to Theresienstadt Ghetto as a teenager in 1943.

On the screen we have some of Frank's recollections of the ghetto where he says, "Into a space designed for 10 people, were now crammed between 50 and 70 people.

Disease spread rapidly, particularly typhus.

The Germans considered those too old or too weak to work as being useless mouths.

These people received only starvation rations with the result that they died only a few weeks after arrival." So based on those recollections, I want you to identify two difficulties of life for Jews in Theresienstadt which Frank Bright described.

You should provide quotes to support your answer, so pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that part of task B.

So I asked you to identify two difficulties of life for Jews in Theresienstadt Ghetto which Frank Bright described and your answer may have included, one difficulty of life for Jews in Theresienstadt Ghetto that Frank Bright described, was overcrowding.

For example, he said into a space designed for 10 people were now crammed between 50 and 70 people.

Another difficulty, which Frank described was the lack of food which many Jews in Theresienstadt Ghetto suffered from.

For example, he said that those unable to work received only starvation rations, with the result that they died only a few weeks after arrival.

So really well done if your own response looks something like those models there.

And so now we can move on to the second part of task B.

For this second part, I want you to study your answers to question one.

For each difficulty you identified, provide an example from your own knowledge, which shows that this difficulty was experienced by Jews in other ghettos as well.

You may wish to use the following sentence starter to help.

I can tell that, was not just a difficulty faced by Jews in Theresienstadt Ghetto because.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that part of task B.

So I asked you to provide an example from your own knowledge, which shows that the difficulties you identified in question one were also experienced by Jews in other ghettos, and your answer may have included, I can tell that overcrowding was not just a difficulty faced by Jews in Theresienstadt Ghetto because conditions were also poor in the Warsaw Ghetto where 400,000 Jews, a third of the city's population were forced to live in an area that made up just 2.

4% of the city.

I can tell that starvation was not just a difficulty faced by Jews in Theresienstadt Ghetto, for instance, in Lodz Ghetto, Nazi officials wanted to keep the ghetto productive and inexpensive to run, so provided small amounts of food and gave occasional extra supplies only to factory workers.

So really well done if your own responses look something like those models there.

And now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today where we're going to focus on the Final Solution.

From 1941 onwards, Nazi persecution became focused on the murder of all Jews in Europe.

The plan which the Nazis believed would resolve the Jewish Question was referred to as the Final Solution.

The deliberate murder of all Jews in Europe had not always been the policy of the Nazis, despite the fact that leaders like Adolf Hitler had used the language of annihilation when discussing Jews since 1939.

However, the mass murder of Jews did begin to occur more commonly as World War II developed.

For instance, when Germany invaded the USSR, special military units known as Einsatzgruppen were formed.

These units were killing squads who followed the initial invasion troops.

The Einsatzgruppen were instructed to kill any resistance fighters, but frequently chose to interpret this as an instruction to murder all Jews.

For instance, in September, 1941 at Babi Yar in Ukraine, the Einsatzgruppen carried out a massacre, of 33,771 Jews from Kyiv over just two days, the victims were told they were being relocated, but were actually shot by soldiers using machine guns.

So reflecting on what we've just heard, which group was responsible for perpetrating, that means carrying out the Babi Yar Massacre and other mass murders of Jews in the USSR? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was the Einsatzgruppen.

The Einsatzgruppen was responsible for perpetrating the Babi Yar Massacre, where over 33,000 Ukrainian Jews were shot and killed over just two days.

Most historians agree that massacres like those carried out by the Einsatzgruppen at at Babi Yar were often carried out due to the decision of local officials rather than due to deliberate policies which had to be followed in all areas.

However, by the end of 1941, a policy of murdering all Jews in Europe had been developed by the Nazis, which they called the Final Solution.

One part of the Final Solution was the construction of extermination camps, which were built with the explicit purpose of killing Jews.

From 1941 to 1942, six extermination camps were constructed, all of which were located in Poland for the purpose of murdering Jews.

For instance, in March, 1942, an extermination camp which used gas chambers to carry out the mass murder of Jews became operational at Belzec in Poland was most of the extermination camps set up by the Nazis were located in Eastern Europe and killed victims drawn from their local areas.

Jewish populations from across Nazi controlled Europe eventually became victims in these camps.

Nevertheless, extermination camps were not the only locations of genocide.

Around half of all Holocaust victims were murdered outside of gas chambers through methods such as mass shootings, deliberate starvation, or being worked to death in ghettos and forced labour camps.

So, let's make sure our understanding is really secure.

In which year did Nazi leaders commit to the aim of killing all Jews living under their control? Was it 1938, 1939, 1940, or 1941? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was D, 1941.

That was the year in which Nazi leaders committed to the aim of killing all Jews living under their control.

And let's try another question.

This time I want you to change one word to correct the following sentence.

Millions of Jews were murdered in gas chambers constructed in concentration camps as part of the Final Solution.

So think about which word appears to be incorrect and what should it be changed to.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the incorrect word was concentration and that it should have been changed to extermination.

Millions of Jews were murdered in gas chambers constructed in extermination camps as part of the Final Solution.

These extermination camps were specifically set up as sites for the deliberate murder of Jews.

So we're now ready to put all of our knowledge about the Final Solution into practise.

We have a historian's view who says, "The genocide of European Jews only occurred in specially created gas chambers in Nazi extermination camps." I want you to explain why the historian's view of the Holocaust is not correct, using evidence from this lesson to support your answer.

So, pause the video here and press play when you are ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So I asked you to explain why the historian's view of the Holocaust is not correct, and your answer may have included, the historian is right to suggest that the creation of extermination camps represented an important part of the Holocaust.

From 1941 onwards, as part of the Final Solution, the Nazis plan to exterminate all Jews in Europe.

Extermination camps like Belzec became operational.

The camps often used gas chambers to kill millions of Jews.

However, the historian's view that the genocide of European Jews depended only upon the use of extermination camps is incorrect.

As the mass murder of Jews during the Holocaust occurred in many locations and by a variety of methods, indeed, many Jews were murdered in their local areas in mass shootings.

For example, the Einsatzgruppen used machine guns to massacre 33,771 Ukrainian Jews in September, 1941.

Furthermore, around half of all Holocaust victims were murdered outside of gas chambers through methods such as deliberate starvation or being worked to death in ghettos and forced labour camps.

So really well done if your own response looks something like that model, which we've just seen.

And so now we've reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about ghettos and the Final Solution.

We've seen that as Nazi Germany expanded from 1938 to 1941, the number of Jews living under its control grew leading to more extreme persecution by the Nazis and their collaborators.

The purpose of ghettos varied over time.

They provided forced labour and were originally supposed to hold Jews for deportation, but this later became extermination.

By the end of 1941, the Nazis planned on killing all Jews in Europe, which they referred to as the Final Solution.

Millions of Jews were murdered in the gas chambers of extermination camps as a result of the Final Solution.

But the Holocaust also involved mass shootings and other forms of murder.

So really well done for all of your work during today's lesson.

The Holocaust can often be a really challenging and difficult subject to study.

So you've shown a lot of maturity to work through today's lesson.

I look forward to seeing you again in future as we think further about the Holocaust and continue to ask ourselves, what exactly was it?.