Persecution

‘The Aryan Race’

• Hitler believed that German people should constitute the Aryan race.

• He believed they were superior in intelligence, physique, and work ethic.

• Hitler argued that Germany’s failure in WWI was due to the Aryan race being undermined by Jews.

• Therefore, Hitler believed it was essential to separate different races in order to ‘preserve the purity of Aryans.’

The Efficiency Requirement

Hitler believed Germany was ‘overburdened’ by people who ‘refuse to pull their weight.’

• Many survived disabling illness due to modern medicine.

• Hitler thought they were draining resource.

1935 Nuremberg Law

• denied German citizenship to Jews.

• no sexual contact between Jews and non-Jews

1938 Kristallnacht (night of the broken glass)

• Jews suffered attacks on synagogues, shops, and private houses.

• attacks carried out by SA members posing as civilians.

Ghettos

Ghettos were established in Warsaw, Poland (occupied by Germany during the war), where Jews were forced to live separately from society.

1941 invasion of the USSR

• Operation Barbarosa

• SS tried to eradicate communism and use West Soviet Union to re-populate it with Germans.

• mass shootings.

How were Gypsies and the disabled treated?

• discrimination over marriage and citizenship

• 1938: all gypsies required to register with authorities.

• 700 000 people sterilized under the July 1933 Sterilization Law.

• 1939: Nazis murder the mentally ill in Euthanasia campaign (which is later stopped by the church)

• concentration camps