The persecution of minorities Flashcards
What were Nazi racial beliefs and policies?
In Mein Kampf, in 1925, Hitler set out his own views on Race. He claimed that the Aryan Race was superior (Herrenvolk) and that other races, such as Slavs were sub-human. He also said Jews and gypsies were Lebensunwertes - which means unworthy of life.
Eugenics and racial hygiene was a belief central to the German / Nazi psychology of understanding Race
How were Slavs, ‘gypsies’, homosexuals and the disabled persecuted?
School children were taught that Slavs and Gypsies were sub-human. Increasingly they were imprisoned in Concentration Camps after 1933.
In 1935 there were stronger laws against being gay which led to over 8000 gay people in prison by 1938. 5000 homosexuals died in Concentration Camps. Laws encouraged the voluntary castration of homosexuals.
How were Jewish people persecuted?
The persecution of Jewish people gradually increased between 1933 and 1939. What began as a social persecution, became legal and eventually physical extermination.
What was the effect of the boycott of Jewish shops (1933)?
It was the start of Jewish people being removed from the economy.
What was the effect of the Nuremberg Laws?
Jews lost their citizenship and marriage rights.
What was the significance of Kristallnacht?
It represented the start of the physical extermination of Jewish people from German life. It legitimised the killing of the Jewish people.
