‭News Report Script‬

‭ elcome to WW2 Insights, I’m your host Jess. In today’s report, we are diving into a dark and‬
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‭lonely chapter about the isolation of Jewish people throughout the Holocaust, using evidence‬
‭like the Star of David's badges as proof of the prejudice and representation of persecution,‬
‭resiliency, and identity. Follow along as we honour the memory of those impacted by the‬
‭Holocaust and learn the tales behind this 6 pointed symbol.‬

‭ he premeditated mass murder of six million European Jews by Adolf Hitler's Nazi authority‬
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‭during World War II between 1941 and 1945 remains one of the most horrible and memorable‬
‭atrocities in modern times. In the whole of WW2, 70 to 85 million people died, which was 3.7%‬
‭of the total, 2.3 billion people that lived at the time. It is estimated around 25 million soldiers and‬
‭55 million civilians died altogether. Antisemitism is prejudice specifically against Jewish people.‬
‭Throughout history, Jews have been discriminated against due to stereotypes, religious views‬
‭and propaganda.‬

‭ ilification is a public act that could incite hatred towards a person or group. Using relentless‬
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‭propaganda, the Nazis persuaded people that Jews were a threat to society and therefore were‬
‭dangerous. They aimed to turn public sentiment against Jews. The Germans dehumanised‬
‭Jews by referring to them as “Untermenschen” which means subhumans or lower status, and‬
‭the effect of those words was to strip away the humanity and basic rights of Jewish individuals.‬
‭This laid the groundwork for the following steps of the Final Solution, vilification, discrimination,‬
‭separation and finally extermination.‬

‭ t the start, the Nazis issued an order mandating all Jews in Poland to wear identifying badges,‬
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‭marking yet another step in their discriminatory tactics against the Jewish population. The order,‬
‭which came into effect in November 1939, requires Jews to prominently display a yellow‬
‭six-pointed star, four inches high, on the left side of the chest and the back of their clothing or‬
‭worn as an armband. Jewish people were held responsible for buying, distributing and wearing‬
‭it whenever they appeared in public.‬
‭This star was called the Star of David and looks like two equilateral triangles placed over one‬
‭another creating a hexagram. It has been associated with Judaism for centuries and is on their‬
‭ritual objects, tombstones, and synagogues. It was created after King David, the biblical figure‬
‭and legendary king of Israel and is a symbol of divine protection for Jews. So it was cruelly‬
‭ironic that it was switched up to be a symbol of vulnerability, oppression and fear.‬

‭ hen Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Jews there were also forced to wear Jewish badges‬
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‭and this happened again with Slovakia, parts of Romania and Hungary. But despite the‬
‭German's best efforts, they had a much harder time convincing countries in Western Europe to‬
‭implement the badge as well. France argued that the anti-Jewish measures they had already‬
‭were enough and that a distinguishing mark would "shock" the French people. But eventually, it‬
‭did get accepted in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.‬
‭ risoners wore triangular badges in concentration camps to identify them according to their‬
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‭arrest category and sometimes, other opponents of the Nazis that were imprisoned were also‬
‭forced to wear them showing that they were against Germany.‬
‭Numerous symbols also display the wearer's race or nationality. Political prisoners represented‬
‭red triangles, immigrants represented blue, criminals represented green, Roma and "asocials"‬
‭represented black, Jews represented yellow triangles, and Jehovah's Witnesses represented‬
‭pink. The lettering was chosen to represent Hebrew and in Germany and Western Europe, the‬
‭badge was compulsory for all Jews six years and older.‬
‭Over to Jess for the reactions to the badge.‬

‭ his decree sparked significant reactions from both Jews and non-Jews. Fearing harsh‬
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‭punishment, almost all Polish Jews cooperated with the law; yet, diaries from that era speak‬
‭openly of their resentment at having to wear the badge. After the badge was introduced in‬
‭Germany, there was a known spike in suicides.‬
‭Many French Jews declined to wear the emblem, while some French non-Jews showed their‬
‭support for the Jewish community by wearing stars of their own. The decree was not even‬
‭enforced by the French police. An underground publication in Holland printed 300,000 stars‬
‭bearing the slogan "Jews and non-Jews are the same" as a show of support for the Jewish‬
‭people.‬

‭ his move, advised by high-ranking Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich, aims to segregate Jews‬
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‭from the general population, making it easier for the Nazis to target, capture, and ultimately‬
‭exterminate Jewish communities across Europe. Helmut Knochen, head of Security Service &‬
‭Security Police in France and Belgium, warns that this badge system is the start of the Nazis'‬
‭ultimate goal, known as the "final solution," which entails the mass murder of every Jew.‬

I‭n a horrible reminder of the atrocities of the Holocaust, Jews were forced to wear the Star of‬
‭David as a mark of their identity. This was once a highly respected representation of Jewish‬
‭heritage, but the Nazis turned it into a tool used to promote persecution and discrimination. It‬
‭just served as a constant reminder of the campaign to destroy the Jewish culture and to‬
‭introduce fear of power.‬
‭The Star of David serves as a sad reminder of the Jewish people's resilience and spirit in the‬
‭face of unimaginable misfortune. It just shows what a horrible thing the holocaust was. The‬
‭evidence of these badges was a way to strip individuals of basic human rights and dignity. I‬
‭can’t imagine just having a constant reminder pinned to myself like a target that I was born into‬
‭a race that it feels like everyone hates.‬
‭The badges are valuable evidence for any historian to study the holocaust. They serve as visual‬
‭documentation, a symbol of oppression and evidence of Nazi persecution, discrimination and‬
‭the attempt at isolation.‬

‭Bibliography:‬
‭ hotographs and Overview of Jewish Badges in the Holocaust. [online] Available at:‬
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‭ ncylopedia Britannica. [online] Available at:‬

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‭ ewish badge during the Nazi era. Holocaust Encyclopedia: [online] Available at:‬
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‭ ewish Museum. New York, CULTURE AND CONTINUITY: THE JEWISH JOURNEY [online]‬
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‭Available at‬‭: The Jewish Museum, New York, CULTURE‬‭AND CONTINUITY: THE JEWISH‬
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‭ adge, Jewish [online] Available at:‬

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‭The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (ushmm.org)‬‭[Accessed‬‭17/3/24].‬

‭ ational WW2 Museum [online]Available at:‬

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‭The National WWII Museum (nationalww2museum.org)‬‭[Accessed‬‭17/3/24].‬

‭ ews dancing the Hora in Munkcs video [online] YouTube. Available at:‬
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‭https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtqdqTlvXUQ‬‭[13/3/24]‬

‭ ydney Jewish Museums Moving and Sound Archive [online] Available at:‬
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‭https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qM3mRRk2gk‬‭[17/3/34]‬

‭ einstock Mashbaum, Yael ‘A Yellow Star of David Button’ The International School for‬
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‭Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem [Online]. Available at:‬
‭http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/artifacts/star.asp‬‭(Accessed 17/3/24).‬