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by Anonymous on June 1st, 2007
Well, basically yes. They believed in the 'master Aryan race', which was the whole blond hair, blue eyed thing. Anything that didn't fit the mould of what they saw to be a healthy, pure family was persecuted. Homosexuals were viewed as against this, were against the Christian belief and at the time they were persecuted in most places in the world. The Nazis just took it to an extreme. Gypsies were not Aryan, nor were they German citizens, so they were treated the same (ironic really, that Hitler wasn't German). Jahovnah witness's were targeted also as 'oddballs'. The physically and mentally disabled were also persecuted as they were not healthy and therefore seen as inferior. Political rivals also were persecuted. Really anything that didn't fit with the Nazis was persecuted.
by unknown on June 1st, 2007
There was a disturbing view at that time, called Eugenics, that some "races" of people were inferior to others. These races were called "sub-human." It was a distortion of evolutionary theory, but it was quite popular; even among the well educated and famous people at that time. Gypsies, Jews, homosexuals and other groups were thought to be in the "sub-human race." Hitler and his ilk thought that inter breeding of the races would "muddy" the purity of the superior race i.e. the white race. So, his solution was the annihilation of the sub-human races. It did not matter what their lifestyle or contribution to society was because they were just considered inferior.
by Arisztid on June 21st, 2007
The Jews were persecuted to galvanize Germany and to "save" a flagging economy. They bled the Jews dry of every penny (deutchmark?) before sending them to the Camps. I fully believe that the main reasons for the Jews getting it was because their destruction freed much financial resources and they were already hated by the populace. Good scapegoat material.
Gypsies got it because we were deemed genetically predisposed for thievery and other unsavory activities. We were, according to Nazi ideology, incapable of being other than habitual criminals. We were deemed so flawed as a race that we had to be eliminated. We also got it because we have always been hated, just like the Jews.
The Jews and the Gypsies were the ones targeted for the Final Solution.
The mentally handicapped were deigned "unworthy of life" and their extermination was explained that it was doing them a "favor" to kill them.
The rest... the homosexuals (already despised), the Jehovah's Witnesses, the political dissidents, and whatnot were deemed undesirable and dangerous to the new Aryan race.
If you look at the categories of individuals targetted for murder in the camps, you can fit just about anyone you want into one of the categories. I would have to look them up but there are a good 18 or so separate categories listed for slaughter in the Camps.
If a person the Nazi's did not like did not fit the label exactly, it was most easy to shoehorn that person in.
Another group of people to be sent to the camps were the thinkers, the scientists, the doctors who did not agree with the Nazi views. They got rid of these people early, by shoehorning them in with such as political dissidents. That way, the only scientists and doctors left concurred with the Nazi model of racial purity. Or... they lied and said they did.
Who knows?
by Penny The Wise on June 1st, 2007
Hitler and his Nazis had this idea that everyone who wasn't blonde haired and blue eyed, and straight- basically in his opinion, "perfect", he wanted them all dead. Jews, gays, gypsies, people who weren't perfectyl white- you name it, he wanted them dead. As for why, he thought he was purifying the world. He, in his mind, throught he was doing a good thing. He in fact, was not.
by Sheriff Raff -Answerhag on June 6th, 2007
Don't forget the Jews and the Jehovah's Witnesses.
by Blar on June 6th, 2007
Everyone around Hitler, his parents and neighbours and teachers, would have agreed with the dominant viewpoint of the time in that area - part of that was hatred against certain groups - gypsies, gays, and Jews have been pretty universally hated, as a general rule, in Europe, for a very long time.
It's like a kid following their parents' religion - usually they haven't done tons of soul-searching, they just follow whatever's around them and model their behaviour on those before them.
The NAZIs weren't unique in saying "these people are bad", they didn't one day come up with it - "Oh, lets hate homosexuals!" They already hated homosexuals. They just included that in their policies.
It was only that they took their hatred to such extremes that is remarkable.
by Victoria_G on January 10th, 2011
why, how, did the naxis persecute the mentally and physically ill???
by Magenta on June 6th, 2007
It's not "disagreement". That suggests there was a topic under discussion and they had different conclusions.
The Nazis hated any imperfection, and considered anyone who was different from them to be imperfect, thus should be killed.
by Roger Kovaciny on June 6th, 2007
May 28 Michael Medved show--you can download it at townhall.com--said that the Nazis did NOT single out homosexuals for arrest, though when they were arrested for something else, such as sex with a minor or in a public place, and went into the camps, they were singled out for special and highly unwelcome attention. I don't know any more about this than what Medved said, but the program--"Myths and Lies about World War II"--was truly fascinating and you can listen to it for free.
by Jean on October 9th, 2010
I apologize for putting this in twice, but in case people reading through this don't check the comment on the May 28. . . above,
Michael Medved is blinded by his own Judeo-Christian discrimination against homosexuals. It is a fact that known homosexuals were forced to wear a patch just as the other groups were. Thereare thousands, possibly millions of people worldwide that believe the jewish holocaust didn't happen. This man needs to join their ranks on behalf of homosexuals. Christ said judge not, lest ye be judged. We (yes, I am a christian who is uncomfortable w/the existence of homosexuality)---WE need to focus more on living our lives as Christ lived and FAR FAR FAR less on what other people should not be doing. We Christians also need to separate pedophilia from homosexuality. They are no more likely to happen concurrently than heterosexuality. Singling any group out, when their actions are not hurting anyone, is what allows people like Hitler to gain power, and abominations like the Holocaust to start.
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Comments
Lol Not only was Hitler not German, but he also had brown hair and brown eyes...
by Penny The Wise on June 1st, 2007
Many commented that he 'looked like a Jew' too. Oh the hypocrisy of it all. Then again, someone who killed millions in camps really isn't someone to be worrying about the slight hypocrisies of their campaign when harldy anyone else seemed to notice this anyway.
by Anonymous on June 1st, 2007
Agreed.
by Penny The Wise on June 1st, 2007
Seems like you're only looking at the bad things here... they did make the trains run on time!
by Stableboy on June 1st, 2007
... Stableboy... *shakes head* I don't... I don't even know how to respond to that...
*rolls eyes*
There. I'll just roll my eyes at you.
by Penny The Wise on June 1st, 2007
Just doing a little positive thinking, dear. :)
by Stableboy on June 1st, 2007
And the Nazis were brilliant at organisation, and really knew how to make a good uniform. Hitler was a vegetarian and an excellent public speaker. There you go, some nice things for you. I am so sorry I didn't look at what is regarded by many to be the most evil, cruel man that ever lived on a more positive note. My bad.
by Anonymous on June 2nd, 2007
AND, he still didn't kill as many people as Stalin. People are so narrow-minded! :)
by Stableboy on June 2nd, 2007
*rolls eyes at the BOTH of you*
Oi vey. :)
by Penny The Wise on June 2nd, 2007
So you try to justify one despot by sighting another, but regardless of who killed more or less, many thousands of people ended up suffering through the actions of these two maniacs.
by James Blonde on June 6th, 2007
James: everyone on this thread knows that and agrees with you, nobody is justifying anything. This is what is known as "dark humor". Don't worry, Answerbag has not been taken over by idiots... yet. :)
by Stableboy on June 6th, 2007
They just found a previously unknown mass grave in the Ukraine, it was announced today. It looks like there are up to 5 000 people in it, probably Ukrainian and Moldovan Jews, gypsies and others viewed as threats.
by singwell-is off researching a lot on June 6th, 2007
OMG. That had to have been horrible to discover. I think I would jsut cry for a really long time had I been there. It's still very sad to think about- especially since we all said "Never again", but it's happening. Just not to the same people.
by Penny The Wise on June 6th, 2007
Learn about the "Aryan race(white race" before you say anything about it.
The "master Aryan race" wasn't about having blond hair and blue eyes. The majority of Germans and other white people doesn't have blond hair or blue eyes! Does that make them non-white? The three major sub groupings of the "Aryan Race" are known to academics as Nordic(TALL, SLIM, LIGHT EYES AND HAIR), Alpine("SOLID" BODY, ROUND HEAD, BROWN EYES) and Mediterranean(MIXTURE OF BODY TYPES). There are also other sub groupings like dinarics and east baltics. The majority of white people are a mix of Alpine and Mediterranean.
Gypsies and Jews doesn't fit to any of these groups and were considered inferior.
by Exenter on August 17th, 2007
What I'm saying is that Hitler WANTED that, and CALLED that the master Aryan race.
by Penny The Wise on August 17th, 2007
They were offended by the Gypsy presence on another level. The Gypsies are technically an Aryan race. The language they spoke which is evident in phonetic analysis is Indo-Aryan. However the Gypsies over time had mixed with other groups which meant they were not "pure" in the Nazi mind so the mongrel Aryans needed to be exterminated rather risk contamination.
The Nazis marred the meaning of Aryan. The Iranian people are Aryan but they don't use the term the same way the Nazis did. The Swastika has a different meaning in India.
by Anonymous on September 3rd, 2009