The persecution of minorities in Nazi Germany

• What was the Nazi view on race?


  They believed certain groups were inferior and threatened the purity of the Aryan race.
• Which groups were targeted for persecution by the Nazis?

  Slavs, gypsies, homosexuals, the disabled, and Jews.
• How were Black people treated in Nazi Germany?


  They suffered forced sterilization, medical experimentation, and brutality, but no systematic elimination program.
• What did Nazi racial philosophy teach about Aryans?


  Aryans were considered the master race, while other races were deemed 'untermensch' (sub-human).
• What is eugenics in the context of Nazi beliefs?


  Eugenics is the idea that people with disabilities or social problems were degenerates whose genes needed elimination.
• What were the main policies of persecution under the Nazis?


  • Sterilization of the mentally and physically disabled.
  • Murder of people with disabilities through a state-sponsored program.
  • Concentration camps for various targeted groups.
• What was the purpose of sterilization under Nazi policies?


  To keep the Aryan race pure by preventing certain groups from reproducing.
• What was the Nazi euthanasia program?


  It was the systematic and state-sponsored murder of people with disabilities.
• How many people with disabilities were murdered by the Nazi regime?

  At least 200,000 people.
• Who were commonly sent to concentration camps during the Nazi regime?

  Homosexuals, prostitutes, Jehovah's Witnesses, gypsies, alcoholics, pacifists, beggars, hooligans, and criminals.
• What percentage of Germany's gypsies died in concentration camps during World War Two?


  85 percent.
• Who were the most heavily targeted group for persecution by the Nazis?

  The Jews of Germany.
• What events marked the increase in persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany?

  • 1933: Boycott of Jewish businesses, public burning of Jewish books, and sacking of Jewish civil servants.
  • 1935: Nuremberg Laws formalized anti-Semitism.
  • 1938: Jews faced restrictions on professions and education, culminating in Kristallnacht.
• What were the Nuremberg Laws?


  They formalized anti-Semitism by stripping Jews of citizenship and outlawing marriages between Jews and Germans.
• What happened during Kristallnacht?


  The SS organized attacks on Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues.
• Why did many Jews see Kristallnacht as a turning point?


  It marked the transition from erosion of rights to physical attacks on their community.
• What restrictions were placed on Jews by 1939?


  Jews were forbidden to own a business or a radio.