Persecution of minorities

Question 1

Many groups of minorities were persecuted in Nazi Germany. What beliefs of Hitler and the Nazis prompted them to carry out this persecution?

Answer 1

• Hitler believed that the Ayran race (Herrenvolk = master race) was superior
• Racial hygiene
• Eugenics
• Other races were seen as subhuman. Jews + gypsies were “life unworthy of life”, or “Lebensunwertes Leben”

Question 2

What was the term for “master race”, i.e. Hilter’s Ayrans?

Answer 2

“Herrenvolk”

Question 3

What was the Nazis’ term for “life unworthy of life”?

Answer 3

“Lebensunwertes Leben”

Question 4

What was racial hygiene in Nazi Germany?

Answer 4

• The belief that Ayrans should breed with Ayrans, producing “pure” offspring.
• Was taught in schools, before being enforced in law.

Question 5

What were eugenics in Nazi Germany?

Answer 5

The belief that it was possible to breed a perfect human by artificial selection.

Question 6

Name 5 minorities specifically targeted in Nazi Germany.

Answer 6

• Homosexuals
• Slavs
• Gypsies
• Jews
• Disabled people

Question 7

Why did the Nazis persecute homosexuals?

Answer 7

The Nazis believed that they had lower moral standards.

Question 8

How did the Nazis persecute homosexuals?

Answer 8

• Encouraged voluntary castration of homosexuals
• 5000 homosexuals died in concentration camps
• There were stronger homophobic laws in 1935; over 8000 were imprisoned by 1938

Question 9

Who were Slavs?

Answer 9

Europeans who spoke Slavic languages.

Question 10

How did the Nazis persecute Slavs?

Answer 10

• Received less persecution than other minorities
• Schools taught that they were subhuman
• Nazis threatened to invade Eastern Europe (where they came from) for living space

Question 11

Who were gypsies in Nazi Germany?

Answer 11

Roma people who didn’t pay many taxes.

Question 12

Why did the Nazis persecute gypsies?

Answer 12

Nazies believed they were “Lebensunwertes Leben” who threatened racial purity.

Question 13

How did the Nazis persecute gypsies?

Answer 13

• After 1933, they were often sent to concentration camps
• From 1936, they were put in separate living areas
• In 1938, they were banned from travelling in groups
• In 1939, there was a mass deportation of gypsies

Question 14

Why did the Nazis persecute disabled people?

Answer 14

Nazis believed that they were a burden on society, weakening racial purity.

Question 15

Name the 2 Nazi programmes targeted at the disabled.

Answer 15

• 1933 law for prevention of hereditarily diseased offspring
• 1939 T4 programme

Question 16

How did the Nazis persecute disabled people?

Answer 16

• 1933: the law for prevention of hereditarily diseased offspring ordered the sterilisation of those who were physically disabled, mentally ill or alcoholic
• In 1939, the T4 programme adopted the practice of involuntary euthanasia. It ordered the killing of babies with severe mental or physical disabilities. Was expanded to include “children” up to 17.

Question 17

What is involuntary euthanasia?

Answer 17

Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering.

Involuntary euthanasia is the practice of performing euthanasia on someone, without their consent, when they would have been able to provide it.

Question 18

Why did the Nazis persecute Jews?

Answer 18

Nazis saw them as “Lebensunwertes Leben” and an impure race.

Question 19

What was Hitler’s personal view on Jews?

Answer 19

Hitler wanted to cleanse Germany of Jews, and saw this as his most important goal as Chancellor.

This was despite the fact that Jews made up less than 1% of the population.

Question 20

How did the Nazis persecute Jews up to 1935?

Answer 20

• 1933: Hitler ordered a boycott of Jewish shops, and Jews were banned from government jobs.
• 1935 Nuremberg Laws: Jew-Non-Jew marraige prohibited, women under 45 in Jewish households were not allowed to work, and Jews were made no longer citizens.

Question 21

How did the Nazis persecute Jews in the 2nd half of the 1930s?

Answer 21

• 1939: Jews banned from professional jobs
• 10th Nov 1938: Kristallnacht
• Nov 1938: Jewish children banned from attending schools, and Jews removed from economic life (forbidden to own shops and engage in trade)
• 1939: Jews subject to a curfew

Question 22

What happened during Kristallnacht?

Answer 22

On the 10th November 1938, Jewish houses, shops and synagogues were destroyed.

Question 23

How did the Nazis persecute Jews in the 1940s?

Answer 23

• 1941: special task forces were ordered to follow the German army during Operation Barbarossa, and kill Jewish communities along the way
• 1941: Jews over 6 had to wear the Star of David in public
• 1942 Final Solution of the Jewish Question: systematic genocide of Jews during WW2.