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Nicholle Flores
Mr. Hawkins
Modern World History-P
Period-3
8 April 2016
Other Victims of Nazi Persecution (Non-Jewish)
The Jews may have been a primary victim of the Nazis but they persecuted many other
groups due to ideological and racial reasons. The Nazis persecuted around eleven million
people during their era. The Nazis primarily prosecuted Jewish people because that is who
Hitler disliked the most. So many other religions were prosecuted, starved and tortured.
Many different people were enemies to the Nazis. Of the 11 million people
killed during the Holocaust, six million were Polish citizens. Most of the remaining
victims were from other countries including Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, Russia,
Holland, France and even Germany (Evidence #3). The Nazis did not accept many
different people because they didnt agree with them. They had no justifiable reason to
other than the people they killed were a threat or they dont agree with their ideas.
Among the earliest victims of Nazi discrimination in Germany were political
opponents primarily Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats, and trade union
leaders (Document #1). German communists were among the first
imprisoned in concentration camps. The Nazi regime identified many
people as their enemies and that led to a systematic persecution and
murder of millions of people. Another large group of victims was composed of
German and foreign civilian activists across the political spectrum who opposed the

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Nazi regime, captured resistance fighters (many of whom were executed duringor
immediately aftertheir interrogation, particularly in occupied Poland and France) and,
sometimes, their families (Evidence #2).The Nazis also persecuted artists and authors
whose works they considered a threat, they placed economic restrictions, arrested them,
discriminated them and disciplined them in many ways. Anyone who did not agree
with the politics of the Nazi regime were known as a threat and needed to be dealt with.
These people were dealt with in many different ways.
The Nazis had different views toward different people. Hitler and
the Nazis went for easy or close targets such as Poland. Neighboring
Poland - The First Target: All Poles will disappear from the world.... It is essential that
the great German people should consider it as its major task to destroy all
Poles. Heinrich Himmler (Evidence #3). Poland was Germanys closest neighbor to
the east. Poland was an agricultural country with little military power. The Slavs were
one of the most widely persecuted groups during the war, with many Poles, Russians,
Ukrainians, Sorbs and others killed by the Nazis (Evidence #2).

The Nazis

viewed these people as inferior and forced them into labor and
eventually annihilated them. The Nazis annihilated many different
people through gas chambers, shooting them, and many other ways.
Every European nation had its courageous resisters. Polands Underground army made up of children, teenagers, men and women - was responsible for defending the
lives of thousands of its Jewish and non-Jewish citizens. Many were killed for their acts
of courage against the Nazis (Evidence #3). Occasionally there were those
people stood up. Unfortunately there were consequences for acting on

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things. Between 1939 and 1945, at least 1.5 million Polish citizens were deported to
German territory for forced labor. Hundreds of thousands were also imprisoned in
Nazi concentration camps. It is estimated that the Germans killed at least 1.9 million
non-Jewish Polish civilians during World War II (Evidence #1). Areas in Poland were
annexed by Nazi Germany and the prosecutions started. The Nazis progressed really
fast and didnt hesitate to destroy the people of many religions and races. Not only did
the Nazi regime target close countries but they targeted those with disabilities.
People with disabilities and homosexuals were targeted by the Nazi regime.
There are many reasons why they targeted the disabled and homosexuals and it had
to do with the Nazi ideology. Those with disabilities were among the first to be killed
by the Nazis; according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)
.(Evidence #2). Many of the disabled were sent to programs. According to
their eugenics policy, the Nazis believed that the disabled were a burden to society
because they needed care and were considered an affront to their notion of a society
composed of a perfect race. About 375,000 people were sterilized against their will due
to their disabilities(Evidence #2). Basically the Nazis didnt want to deal with the
disabled and wanted them out of their hair. They believed that the disabled were a waste
of money. A lot of the disabled were sent to cleansing programs. During Hitlers
cleansing program, thousands of people with various handicaps were deemed useless
and simply put to death like dogs and cats (Evidence #3). Hitler made it clear that the
disabled were a waste of his time and were in his way and to solve this he decided to kill
them. Not only were the disabled targeted but homosexuals were also
targeted. Non-heterosexual people were also targets of the Holocaust, since

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male homosexuality was deemed incompatible with Nazism (Evidence #2). People
were killed for their sexuality and disabilities which was ridiculous. Homosexuality
was also thought to be contagious by the Nazis (Evidence #2). This is the main reason
why homosexuals were targeted by the Nazi regime. The Nazis also persecuted
male homosexuals, whose behavior they considered a hindrance to
the preservation of the German nation(Evidence #1). Any males who
were a threat to Hitlers preservation of Germany were prosecuted.
Because Hitlers plan for a great Master Race had no room for any homosexuals, many
males from all nations, including Germany, were persecuted, tortured and
executed(Evidence #3). More than one million homosexual Germans were targeted
many of which were arrested and some were convicted and prosecuted. Others were
institutionalized in mental hospitals. Many of the homosexuals that were liberated from
concentration camps were killed in postwar Germany. In general the Nazi persecuted
many different people for reasons that werent really justifiable.
Many different people were prosecuted not only Jews. Many different religions
were attacked such as Jehovahs Witness, Catholic, and Christian. Many different
religious groups were considered to be subhuman. Gypsies and African Americans were
prosecuted as well. People who worked against the Nazi regime, people who were
involved with politics or groups that did not agree with the Nazi regime were also
prosecuted. The Nazis didnt have many reasons to prosecute millions of people. The
reasons that they had werent very justifiable but in their eyes it was. The reasons for
prosecuted millions were for political and ideological ideas, religious ideas. In simple

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terms whoever did not share the same political ideas, ideological ideas, those of which
were not of an Aryan race or were thought to be a threat were simply prosecuted.