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How where other groups in nazi Germany oppressed?

We all know what happened to the Jews in nazi Germany and how they where treated, but I want to know about the other groups that where not apart of the aryan race. Like the Catholics, homosexuals, cripples, and others that I either can't remember or don't know about. How where they treated in nazi Germany?

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  • ?
    Lv 6
    7 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Explanation divided into groups that were persecuted in Nazi Germany:

    Jehovah's Witnesses:

    Every European country, even Germany, had those who did not believe in the Nazi ideology and who were willing to die for their beliefs. Perhaps no other group stood so firmly in their beliefs as the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Hitler felt particularly threatened by this strong group of Christians because they, from the very beginning, refused to recognize any God other than Jehovah.

    When asked to sign documents of loyalty to the Nazi ideology, they refused. Jehovah’s Witnesses were forced to wear purple armbands and thousands were imprisoned as “dangerous” traitors because they refused to take a pledge of loyalty to the Third Reich.

    Roma Gypsies:

    Like the Jews, the Roma Gypsies were chosen for total annihilation solely because of their race.

    Even though Jews are defined by religion, Hitler saw the Jewish people as a race that he believed needed to be completely annihilated. Likewise, the Roma Gypsies were a nomadic people that were persecuted throughout history. Both groups were denied certain privileges in many European countries. The Germans believed both the Jews and the Gypsies were racially inferior and degenerate and therefore worthless.

    The Gypsies were also moved into special areas set up by the Nazis and half a million of them - representing almost the entire Eastern European Gypsy population - was wiped out during the Holocaust.

    Courageous Resisters:

    Every European nation had its courageous resisters. Poland’s 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.

    Even though most German citizens were supportive of Hitler’s plan to control Europe, there were German citizens who died because they refused to go along with Hitler’s plan.

    Priests and Pastors Died for Their Beliefs:

    Hitler wanted not only to conquer all of Europe, but Hitler also wanted t:o create a new religion and to replace Jesus Christ as a person to be worshipped. Hitler expected his followers to worship the Nazi ideology. Since Catholic priests and Christian pastors were often influential leaders in their community, they were sought out by the Nazis very early. Thousands of Catholic priests and Christian pastors were forced into concentration camps. A special barracks was set up at Dachau, the camp near Munich, Germany, for clergymen. A few survived; some were executed, but most were allowed to die slowly of starvation or disease.

    Pink Triangles for Homosexuals:

    Because Hitler’s plan for a great Master Race had no room for any homosexuals, many males from all nations, including Germany, were persecuted, tortured and executed. Hitler even searched his own men and found suspected homosexuals that were sent to concentration camps wearing their SS uniforms and medals. The homosexual inmates were forced to wear pink triangles on their clothes so they could be easily recognized and further humiliated inside the camps. Between 5,000 to 15,000 homosexuals died in concentration camps during the Holocaust.

    No Place for the Disabled:

    The Nazis decided that it was a waste of time and money to support the disabled. During Hitler’s “cleansing program”, thousands of people with various handicaps were deemed useless and simply put to death like dogs and cats.

    Sterilization for Black Children:

    Prior to World War I, there were very few dark-skinned people of African descent in Germany. But, during World War I, black African soldiers were brought in by the French during the Allied occupation. Most of the Germans, who were very race conscious, despised the dark-skinned “invasion”. Some of these black soldiers married white German women that bore children referred to as “Rhineland Bastards” or the “Black Disgrace”. In Mein Kampf, Hitler said he would eliminate all the children born of African-German descent because he considered them an “insult” to the German nation.

    “The mulatto children came about through rape or the white mother was a whore,” Hitler wrote. “In both cases, there is not the slightest moral duty regarding these offspring of a foreign race.” The Nazis set up a secret group, Commission Number 3, to organize the sterilization of these “Rhineland Bastards” to keep intact the purity of the Aryan race. In 1937, all local authorities in Germany were to submit a list of all the mulattos. Then, these children were taken from their homes or schools without parental permission and put before the commission. Once a child was decided to be of black descent, the child was taken immediately to a hospital and sterilized. About 400 children were medically sterilized -- many times without their parents’ knowledge.

    Death or Divorce - A Choice for Many

    Many husbands and wives of Jews in Germany were forced to choose between divorce or concentration camps. Hitler would not allow “interracial” marriages. Those that chose to remain married were punished by imprisonment in camps where many died.

  • ?
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

    Oppressed Groups

  • Feivel
    Lv 7
    7 years ago

    Same as the Jews. They were murdered in massive numbers, some died in concentration camps, some in ghettos, some in regular prisons.

    The only deviation was the group of special needs individuals. They tended to be walked to a gas chamber in the hospital they were in or transferred to and were gassed to death there. Jews, Romani and gays had the lowest survival rates although I think they don't count the disabled population in that category for some reason. Institutional residents didn't live through the war. Some disabled people (alcoholics, manic depressives, previous suicide attempts, etc) were sometimes not killed if they could still work. They were rendered unable to reproduce but were expected to keep working and supporting the 3rd reich.

    Source(s): I tutor holocaust studies
  • 7 years ago

    catholics werent oppressed in Germany, unless they went against the third reich, Hitler himself was a roman catholic. homosexuals because the birth rate had dropped drastically were put in prisons. I dont think he bothered with the cripples, but he did experiments on some Jewish people to see how much pain they could stand and other horrible experiments.

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