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Key Terms Aristides de Sousa Mendes Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a Portuguese diplomat who defied orders from his government to issue thousands of visas to Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis in 1940. Based in Bordeaux, France, Sousa Mendes helped over 10,000 people escape the Holocaust, issuing vi...

Key Terms Aristides de Sousa Mendes Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a Portuguese diplomat who defied orders from his government to issue thousands of visas to Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis in 1940. Based in Bordeaux, France, Sousa Mendes helped over 10,000 people escape the Holocaust, issuing visas in defiance of Portugal's fascist policies. For his actions, he was dismissed from the diplomatic corps and lived in poverty until his death in 1954. He was later honored as one of the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. Einsatzgruppen The Einsatzgruppen were mobile killing units composed of SS, police, and auxiliary forces. These squads followed the German Army into Eastern Europe and carried out mass shootings, primarily of Jews, Roma, and communists. They were responsible for the deaths of over 1 million people, with major massacres at sites like Babi Yar. Their methods inspired the development of extermination camps. Adolf Eichmann Eichmann was a key architect of the Holocaust. As head of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) Department IV-B4, he organized the logistics of mass deportations of Jews to ghettos and extermination camps. Captured in Argentina in 1960, Eichmann was tried and executed in Israel in 1962. Operation Reinhard Operation Reinhard was the Nazi plan to exterminate Polish Jews through the construction of three key extermination camps: Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka. Led by Odilo Globocnik, it resulted in the deaths of approximately 1.7 million Jews between 1942 and 1943. Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka These were extermination camps built under Operation Reinhard. They used gas chambers to murder victims almost immediately upon arrival. Only a few hundred survivors emerged from all three camps due to their systematic focus on annihilation rather than forced labor. Rudolf Kastner A Hungarian Jewish leader who negotiated with Adolf Eichmann to save 1,600 Jews in exchange for money and goods. Kastner’s actions remain controversial due to accusations that he failed to warn the broader Hungarian Jewish community of the impending deportations to Auschwitz. The War Refugee Board Established in 1944 by the U.S. government under pressure from Jewish activists like Henry Morgenthau Jr., the Board aimed to rescue Jews from Nazi-controlled Europe. It helped save tens of thousands of lives, including through supporting Raoul Wallenberg’s efforts in Hungary. Le Chambon A French village whose residents, led by Protestant pastor André Trocmé, sheltered and saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. Le Chambon remains a symbol of moral courage and collective resistance. Szmul Zygielbojm A Jewish member of the Polish government-in-exile, Zygielbojm tried to alert the world to the Holocaust. He committed suicide in 1943 to protest the inaction of the Allies in stopping the genocide. Zivia Lubetkin A leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and co-founder of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ŻOB). After the war, she was instrumental in the creation of kibbutzim in Israel and preserving the memory of Jewish resistance. Jacob Gens The leader of the Vilna Ghetto, Gens sought to save lives by cooperating with the Nazis and ensuring the ghetto’s productivity. His legacy remains controversial due to these moral compromises. Rabbi Moshe Betzalel letter Rabbi Moshe Betzalel, in his correspondence, often reflected on the ethical and spiritual challenges faced by Jews during the Holocaust, highlighting themes of resistance and faith. Displaced Persons (DPs) After WWII, millions of displaced persons, including Holocaust survivors, were left homeless. DP camps, especially in Allied-occupied Germany, became temporary homes for survivors awaiting emigration to Palestine, the U.S., or other countries. Chaplain Abraham Klausner An American Jewish chaplain who worked in DP camps to aid Holocaust survivors. Klausner was instrumental in compiling a registry of survivors, helping them reunite with family members. Warsaw Ghetto Uprising In April 1943, Jewish resistance fighters launched an armed revolt against Nazi forces attempting to liquidate the Warsaw Ghetto. Although the uprising was ultimately crushed, it symbolized Jewish defiance. Wannsee Conference Held on January 20, 1942, this meeting of high-ranking Nazi officials formalized the “Final Solution,” outlining plans for the systematic extermination of Europe’s Jews. Babi Yar A ravine near Kyiv, Ukraine, where Einsatzgruppen massacred over 33,000 Jews in September 1941. Babi Yar became a symbol of the Holocaust by bullets. Riegner Telegram A 1942 telegram from Gerhart Riegner, a World Jewish Congress official, which alerted the Allies to Nazi plans for the mass extermination of Jews. Abba Kovner A Jewish partisan leader and poet, Kovner led resistance efforts in Vilna and wrote stirring calls to arms, such as “Let’s not go like sheep to the slaughter.” Rivka Yoselewska A survivor of the Holocaust who testified about the atrocities she endured, giving voice to the experiences of women during the genocide. Shmerke Kaczerginski A poet, resistance fighter, and member of the Vilna Ghetto’s “Paper Brigade,” which sought to preserve Jewish cultural artifacts. Rakhele Pupko Krinski A teacher and member of the Vilna Ghetto’s intellectual community, Krinski worked to preserve Jewish identity during the Holocaust. Avraham Sutzkever A renowned Yiddish poet and member of the Vilna Ghetto’s cultural resistance. After the war, he documented Nazi atrocities. Odilo Globocnik A key SS officer who oversaw Operation Reinhard, Globocnik played a central role in the extermination of Polish Jews. Primo Levi An Italian Jewish writer and Auschwitz survivor, Levi’s memoir If This Is a Man is one of the most important accounts of Holocaust experiences. Dan Pagis A Holocaust survivor and poet whose works, like “Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway Car,” explore themes of memory and trauma. Christopher Browning vs. Daniel Goldhagen This debate contrasts Browning’s thesis in Ordinary Men, which attributes genocide to situational factors, with Goldhagen’s Hitler’s Willing Executioners, which emphasizes deep-rooted antisemitism. The Holocaust by Bullets Father Patrick Desbois’ term for the mass shootings of Jews by the Einsatzgruppen, documented through testimonies and site investigations. Christian Wirth A key figure in Operation Reinhard, Wirth was instrumental in developing gassing methods at camps like Belzec and Treblinka. Efraim Barasz A leader in the Białystok Ghetto who sought to balance survival with resistance, though he faced criticism for his compromises with the Nazis. Earl Harrison An American official who authored the Harrison Report, which criticized the poor conditions in DP camps and called for greater efforts to help Jewish survivors. Mordecai Anielewicz The charismatic leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Anielewicz became a symbol of Jewish resistance before his death in 1943. Post-War Holocaust Memorials Holocaust memorials worldwide honor victims and survivors, from Yad Vashem in Israel to the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. Bermuda Conference A 1943 Allied conference ostensibly to address the refugee crisis but widely criticized for failing to take meaningful action to rescue Jews. Jäger Report A detailed report by Karl Jäger documenting mass killings carried out by Einsatzgruppen in Lithuania, including the murder of nearly all the country’s Jews. Madagascar Plan A Nazi proposal to deport Jews to Madagascar, was abandoned due to logistical issues and the shift to systematic extermination. Rabbi Ephraim Oshry A rabbi in the Kovno Ghetto who answered ethical and halakhic questions posed during the Holocaust, later compiled in Responsa From the Holocaust.