Hello and thank you for joining me for today's history lesson.

I'm Mr. Marchant and it'll be my responsibility to help guide you through all of our resources today.

My top aim is to make sure that by the end of the lesson you can meet our 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 assess different experiences of and responses to the Holocaust.

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

Those are collaborator, perpetrator, and bystander.

A collaborator is a person or group who works together with others for a particular purpose.

A perpetrator is someone who has committed a crime or a violent or harmful act.

And a bystander in the context of the Holocaust is a person who did not intervene to help Jews or resist their persecution.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts, and we'll begin by focusing on victims of the Holocaust.

Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust.

The victims of the Holocaust came from a wide range of backgrounds, meaning there were many differences between them, including their nationality, their age, and their personal identities, so we'll think about some of these differences.

So let's start by considering nationality.

Most Holocaust victims came from Eastern and Central Europe where a majority of European Jews lived, especially from Poland and the USSR.

The Nazis aimed to exterminate all of Europe's Jews, though, and this meant that victims came from across the entire continent.

In fact, even Jews in France's North African colonies were targeted by the Nazis.

265 Jews living in Tunisia were murdered in forced labour camps as part of the Holocaust.

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

Identify three countries where Jews were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust.

So you have to choose from Belgium, Poland, Tunisia, and the USA.

Remember, you're looking for three countries to answer this question, so pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answers were Belgium, Poland, and Tunisia.

Almost all of the victims of the Holocaust came from Europe as the Nazis extended their power across the continent.

This also led to the Holocaust affecting some European colonies such as France's colonies in North Africa, like Tunisia, where 265 Jews were murdered in forced labour camps.

Jews living in the USA were not murdered as part of the Holocaust because they were too far from the centres of Nazi power.

So now we can think about age.

Jews of all ages were targeted for murder during the Holocaust, and this included children.

Amongst the Jews imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto were 200 orphaned children living in Janusz Korczak's orphanage.

In 1942, Korczak, who by that point was age 63, and his orphans, who he referred to as his children, were sent to Treblinka extermination camp together where they were all gassed regardless of the differences in their ages.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding.

We have a statement on the screen that says, "Jewish children were forcibly removed from their parents but not murdered during the Holocaust." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false.

But we need to be able to justify our answers, so why is it that that original statement was false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the Nazis intended to exterminate all Jews and therefore murdered children as well as adults during the Holocaust.

That proves that our original statement was false.

And so now we can think about personal identity of some of the victims of the Holocaust.

The Nazis identified Jews in ways that did not always conform, that means to follow, with individuals' own complex sense of identity.

For example, Edith Stein, a picture of who is shown on the screen, was born into a Jewish family.

In 1922, Edith converted from Judaism to Catholicism.

Edith remained proud of her Jewish heritage but committed to her new faith by becoming a nun.

In 1942, despite Edith's Catholic religion, she was sent to Auschwitz where she was murdered.

So this shows how the Holocaust affected people of very diverse identities.

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

Why might it be considered surprising that Edith Stein was sent to be murdered at Auschwitz? Is it because she was a woman? Because she had converted to Catholicism? Or because she lived in the Netherlands? Pauses 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, it may be considered surprising that Edith Stein was murdered at Auschwitz because although she had been born into a Jewish family, she converted to Catholicism in 1922, two decades before she was murdered.

Despite this, the Jewish blood that the Nazis claimed Edith had was enough for them to classify her as a Jew regardless of what her religion was, and therefore she was murdered.

So we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about the victims of the Holocaust into practise.

I want you to describe two reasons why victims of the Holocaust could be considered diverse.

You may consider victims' nationality, age, or personal identity as part of your answer.

So pause 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 describe two reasons why victims of the Holocaust could be considered diverse, and your answer may have included, "One way in which victims of the Holocaust were diverse was in terms of their nationality.

Most victims came from Eastern and Central Europe, but many others came from countries in Western Europe, and even some Jews living in European colonies like Tunisia in Africa were murdered.

Another way in which Holocaust victims could be considered diverse was in terms of their ages.

Because Nazi beliefs identified all Jews as enemies, victims came from all age groups.

For instance, Janusz Korczak, who was in his 60s, was sent to the gas chambers alongside the orphaned Jewish children who he cared for." So really well done if your own responses look something like those models which we've just seen.

And now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson for today where we're going to focus on German perpetrators and bystanders.

The immense scale of the Holocaust meant that there were many different people involved as perpetrators.

There were many different ways in which individuals in Nazi Germany helped to perpetrate the Holocaust and many differences between those perpetrators themselves.

Auschwitz-Birkenau, which is often referred to just as Auschwitz, was one of the extermination camps established by the Nazis in Poland for the purpose of murdering Jews.

Its commandant, or its officer in charge, of the camp for most of the time between its construction and the end of World War II was Rudolf Hoss.

Hoss lived at Auschwitz alongside his wife and five children.

He was described by prisoners at Auschwitz after the war as calm and collected, and when put on trial for his actions was described by his American interrogator as normal.

This was despite the fact that Hoss oversaw the construction and improvement of gas chambers which established Auschwitz as one of the most lethal extermination camps used by the Nazis.

Hoss firmly accepted the Nazi belief that Jews were part of an international conspiracy and that there was a need to murder them.

In fact, Hoss even celebrated how easy gas chambers made murdering large numbers of Jews.

There is little evidence that Hoss or any other official directly involved in perpetrating the Holocaust at Auschwitz did so for fear punishment.

Indeed, Hoss felt secure enough to question some of his specific orders from Nazi leaders, yet he never challenged the actual murder of Jews.

Similarly, there is not one recorded case of a guard at Auschwitz being punished for refusing to take part in the killings and little evidence to suggest that guards at the camp even requested a transfer to duties not directly involved in the killing process.

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

I want you to write the missing word for the following sentence.

"Some former prisoners of Auschwitz described its commandant, Rudolf Hoss, as a blank and collected person." 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 calm.

"Some former prisoners of Auschwitz described its commandant, Rudolph Hoss, as a calm and collected person." This was despite the fact that Hoss oversaw the genocide of so many Jews at Auschwitz, which became the most lethal of the Nazi's extermination camps.

And let's try another question.

Which statement is most accurate? Officials at Auschwitz frequently refused orders to murder Jews.

Officials at Auschwitz were punished harshly if they refused orders to murder Jews.

Or officials at Auschwitz rarely objected to orders to murder Jews and were not punished if they did.

So which one of those is correct? 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, officials at Auschwitz rarely objected to orders to murder Jews and were not punished if they did, so it can't be claimed that the officials at Auschwitz only murdered Jews out of fear of punishment.

Not all perpetrators were directly or physically involved in murdering Jews during the Holocaust, and many were not even Nazis themselves.

One term developed to reflect the different roles which some perpetrators played is the German word Schreibtischtater, meaning desk murderer.

These were people who may have been remote from any violence but whose action and work inflicted suffering on others.

For example, in 1948, leaders of IG Farben were found guilty of participating in and supporting crimes against humanity.

IG Farben was a German chemical company which had manufactured the poison gas used at Auschwitz and built a factory there which was constructed by forced labourers from the camp.

Whilst none of the men found guilty had directly participated in the murder of Jews, the poison gas their company manufactured and the use of slave labour, which they approved, facilitated many Jewish deaths.

Furthermore, many Germans have been considered bystanders during the Holocaust.

Knowledge of the persecution and genocide of Jews became widespread in Germany.

By some estimates, Hitler made public speeches a dozen times during the war which referred to exterminating Jews.

Meanwhile, Germans gained knowledge of the Holocaust by witnessing deportations, receiving letters from direct participants, and pervasive, really common rumours.

In November 1942, one German diarist recorded that "every child knows in the smallest detail that men, women, and children have been slaughtered in large numbers by poison gas or machine guns." While some ordinary Germans did choose to resist the Holocaust and support Jews, this was not a common response.

Some historians have suggested that the willingness of many Germans to become bystanders were simply due to self-interest.

For example, in one single city, Hamburg, over 100,000 people were able to buy discounted property between 1941 and 1945 as it had been confiscated from the Jews.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, what does Schreibtischtater mean? 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 word Schreibtischtater, which comes from the German, means desk murderer and is used to refer to those who are said to have inflicted harm or been responsible for the deaths of some Jews during the Holocaust, even if they didn't directly carry out the murders themselves.

And let's try another question.

This time we have a statement which reads, "Ordinary Germans were able to benefit from the Holocaust." 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, so why is it that that original statement was true? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done to everybody who said ordinary Germans were able to benefit from the Holocaust as, in Hamburg alone, over 100,000 people were able to buy discounted property as it had been confiscated from Jews.

So we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about German perpetrators and bystanders into practise.

I want you to study the following statements.

They say, "Knowledge of the Holocaust was quite widespread in Germany." "Some perpetrators were not directly or physically involved in the murder of Jews." "Fear of punishment was rarely a motive for perpetrators." And, "Perpetrators at Auschwitz were not often considered to be monsters." For each one of those statements, I want you to provide an example which demonstrates that it is correct.

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

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

So I asked you for each one of our statements to provide an example which demonstrated that it was correct, and your answers may have included, "Knowledge of the Holocaust was quite widespread in Germany.

For example, in November 1942, one German diarist recorded that 'every child knows in the smallest detail that men, women, and children have been slaughtered in large numbers by poison gas or machine guns.

'" "Some perpetrators were not directly or physically involved in the murder of Jews.

For example, bosses at the chemical company IG Farben were considered Schreibtischtater, desk murderers, as their company supplied the poison gas used to murder Jews at Auschwitz." "Fear of punishment was rarely a motive for perpetrators.

For example, there is not one recorded case of a guard at Auschwitz being punished for refusing to take part in the killings.

And the camp's commandant, Rudolph Hoss, accepted the Nazi belief that there was an international Jewish conspiracy which had to be defeated." And finally, "Perpetrators at Auschwitz were not often considered to be monsters.

For example, Hoss had a family and was described by an American interrogator after the end of World War II as normal and as calm and collected by some Jews who'd been imprisoned at Auschwitz." So really well done if your own responses look something like those models which we've just seen 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 think about non-German responses to the Holocaust.

As the Holocaust occurred across Europe, there were also many non-Germans involved as victims, perpetrators, collaborators, and bystanders.

This included in France, which had been left under partial occupation after Nazi Germany's military victory in the 1940 Battle of France.

At the start of 1940, France had a Jewish population of roughly 330,000 people.

From this population, less than half held French citizenship.

Many Jews had only recently arrived in France as refugees fleeing persecution in other parts of Europe.

After its defeat in 1940, France was partially occupied by Germany and its government sought to cooperate with the Nazis.

Cooperation between France and Germany after 1940 included the extension of Jewish persecution to France.

By 1942, this cooperation included helping Germany to implement the Final Solution.

That was the German plan to murder all European Jews.

In July 1942, the Germans ordered a more vigorous roundup of Jews living in France leading to what has become known as the Vel' d'Hiv Raid.

During the raid, 13,000 Jews, 4,000 of whom were children, from across Paris were rounded up by the French police.

Records already collected by French authorities allowed the Jews to be identified, located, and sent to temporary holding locations.

These locations included the Velodrome d'Hiver, an indoor cycle racing track and stadium colloquially known as the Vel' d'Hiv, where 7,000 Jews were forced to remain for five days without proper arrangements for food, water, or sanitation.

By the end of the month, children and their parents had been separated from one another by French police before they were all put onto transport trains which took them to the Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz.

French leaders, including politicians like Pierre Laval, and senior police authorities agreed to roundup Jews but restricted the raid to a focus on foreign Jews rather than those who held French citizenship.

In fact, this followed a similar trend over the course of World War II where most Jews deported from France to Nazi extermination camps were foreign.

Some individuals made their own choice to assist Jews at the time of the Vel' d'Hiv Raid.

For instance, Theophile Larue, a policeman, warned his Jewish neighbours, the Lictensztajns, about the upcoming raid, obtained false documents for them, and helped them to escape to the South of France.

However, many other Jews were not fortunate enough to benefit from such assistance.

French deportations of Jews continued until August 1944.

In total, 77,000 Jews living on French territory were murdered in Nazi camps, the overwhelming majority of them being killed at Auschwitz.

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

How many Jews were rounded up in the Vel' d'Hiv Raid in 1942? 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 13,000.

13,000 Jews were rounded up in the Vel' d'Hiv Raid in 1942, including 4,000 Jewish children living in Paris.

And who carried out the Vel' d'Hiv Raid? Was it the French police, German soldiers, or Jewish prisoners? 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, the Vel' d'Hiv Raid was carried out by French police, which is really important for reminding us that the Holocaust was not always just perpetrated by Germans, that people from other countries played important roles as perpetrators and collaborators in the Holocaust.

And let's try another question.

Based on the Vel' d'Hiv Raid, which two statements are accurate? French leaders sabotaged Nazi plans for the Final Solution.

French leaders tried to protect French Jews.

French leaders tried to exterminate all Jews in France.

And French leaders were willing Nazi collaborators.

So remember, you're looking for two of those statements which are accurate, so pause video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answers were B and D.

French leaders did try to protect French Jews during the Vel' d'Hiv Raid.

For example, leaders like Pierre Laval managed to restrict the roundup to Jews who were foreigners in France.

And French leaders were willing Nazi collaborators.

Ultimately, the raid was carried out by French police on French soil.

The French authorities never refused the roundup, they just restricted some of the Jews who were to be targeted in it.

Let's try one final question.

Which statement best describes Theophile Larue's actions during the Vel' d'Hiv Raid? Is it that he collaborated in the murder of Jews? That he perpetrated the murder of Jews? Or that he resisted the murder of 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 C.

Theophile Larue's actions during the Vel' d'Hiv Raid demonstrate that he was someone who resisted the murder of Jews as he provided assistance to his neighbours, warned them about the raid, and helped them to escape to the South of France.

So we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge of non-German responses to the Holocaust into practise.

Historian 1 and Historian 2 disagree about the significance of the Vel' d'Hiv Raid.

Historian 1 says that the raid shows that French resistance to the Holocaust was widespread but collaboration was limited.

Whereas Historian 2 says that the raid suggests French resistance to the Holocaust was limited whilst collaboration was significant.

Who do you agree with more, Historian 1 or Historian 2? Explain your answer using evidence from this lesson to support your view.

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

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

So I asked, who do you agree with more, Historian 1 or Historian 2? And your answer may have included, "I agree with Historian 2's view of the Vel' d'Hiv Raid more than Historian 1's view.

The raid shows that there was significant French collaboration in the Holocaust because French leaders and police agreed to round up 13,000 Jews in places like the Velodrome d'Hiver and deported them to Auschwitz to be murdered.

The raid was carried out by French police officers and relied upon information collected by the French state in order to locate the victims. Although French authorities excluded French Jews from the raid, they did not protect those born abroad who represented more than half of France's Jews, showing that resistance was limited.

Furthermore, while some French individuals chose to help Jews, like Theophile Larue who warned his Jewish neighbours of the upcoming raid, there were few French people overall who acted in a similar way.

Therefore, Historian 2's view is more accurate, as the raid suggests that there were more French collaborators and bystanders than resistors." So really well done if your own answer looks something like that model which we've just seen.

And that means we've reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning.

We've seen that Jews from all across Europe were murdered by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during the Holocaust.

Many people were involved in carrying out the Holocaust, including traditional perpetrators like Rudolph Hoss, and Schreibtischtater, like the bosses at IG Farben.

Many people were bystanders to the Holocaust as they were aware of what was happening to Jews but chose to do nothing, often out of self-interest.

And there were Holocaust perpetrators and collaborators beyond Germany, such as in France during the Vel' d'Hiv Raid in 1942.

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

It's been a privilege to help guide you through these resources, and I look forward to seeing you again in the future as we continue to think about the Holocaust and its events.