Persecution Under Nazi Rule

The Range of Nazi Persecution

The Nazis are best known for their persecution of Jewish people, who were their central and largest target. But they were not the only victims. One worldview reached many groups. Nazi persecution flowed from a belief in a pure national community, ranking people by race and so-called fitness. That belief reached far beyond Jewish people. ⚠️ This module looks at the breadth. The persecution of Jewish people is studied in depth elsewhere. Here you see the wider range of people the Nazis persecuted, and why they all became targets of the same regime.

The worldview, and how persecution worked

Nazi persecution did not come from many separate hatreds. It came from one worldview, and it advanced through recognisable stages. Hold both.

Order how the persecution widened

Put these into an order that shows how Nazi persecution widened from its worldview outwards.

• The Nazis proclaim a pure national community, ranking people by race and so-called fitness
• Jewish people are made the central target of persecution
• Others seen as racial outsiders, such as the Roma, are persecuted too
• People who refuse to conform, such as Jehovahs Witnesses and gay men, are persecuted
• Eugenics policies target disabled people, first with force and later with murder

Who the Nazis persecuted

Who did Nazi persecution target?

• Jewish people above all, but also a wide range of other groups deemed to fall outside the national community, such as the Roma, Jehovahs Witnesses, gay men and disabled people
• Jewish people, and no other group
• Only people from foreign countries
• Only people convicted of ordinary crimes

Words for the persecution

Five words that let you explain the breadth of the persecution, rather than just describe it.

Spot the persecuted groups

Besides Jewish people, three of these groups were persecuted by the Nazis. Choose the three.

• The Roma
• Jehovahs Witnesses
• Disabled people, through eugenics
• Loyal members of the Nazi Party
• Members of the Hitler Youth

Many victims, one worldview

The sharpest answers show that Nazi persecution was not a set of separate hatreds but a wide assault flowing from a single worldview. Jewish people were the central target, and their persecution was the largest and is studied in depth elsewhere. But the same worldview reached further. Because the Nazis believed in a pure national community ranked by race and so-called fitness, anyone outside that ideal became a target: the Roma as racial outsiders, Jehovahs Witnesses and gay men as people who would not conform, and disabled people through eugenics. Seeing the breadth, and its single source, is the grade 9 move.

Match each persecution term to its meaning

Find the sentence that shows the breadth

A student writes about Nazi persecution. Select the ONE sentence that shows its breadth flowing from a single worldview.

• Nazi persecution targeted Jewish people above all, but the same racial and eugenic worldview also reached the Roma, Jehovahs Witnesses, gay men and disabled people.
• The Nazis persecuted only Jewish people and no one else.
• Nazi persecution had no cause and followed no pattern.
• Eugenics was a harmless scientific project.

Why the circle of the persecuted grows

Historians pay close attention to how persecution spreads, because it rarely stays fixed on one group. Once a society is taught that there is a single ideal type of person, and that others are a danger to it, the line around who belongs can be drawn again and again. Each new group cast out can make the next seem a smaller step than it truly is. Understanding this helps explain how a regime moved from targeting one people to targeting many. It is why the full range of victims, and the shared belief behind it, is worth studying with care.

Complete the account of the persecution

Harsh, systematic mistreatment of a group is _____. The Nazi ranking of people by race was their _____. The false idea of improving a population by excluding the so-called unfit was _____. A people persecuted as racial outsiders were the _____. A religious group persecuted for refusing to conform were the _____.

Judge the persecution

Which is the soundest understanding of Nazi persecution?

• A wide assault flowing from a single racial and eugenic worldview, targeting many groups, with Jewish people above all but also the Roma, Jehovahs Witnesses, gay men and disabled people
• A single policy aimed at one group alone
• A series of unconnected acts with no shared cause
• A mild set of rules with no serious effect

One worldview, many victims

The strongest answers hold both together: the single belief, and the range of people it harmed.

Judge the persecution like an examiner

You are marking three claims about Nazi persecution. For each, choose the soundest judgement.

• An essay says the Nazis persecuted only Jewish people. Is that safe?
• An essay says the persecution had no common cause. Is that safe?
• An essay says eugenics was harmless. Is that safe?

Write: the groups the Nazis persecuted, and why

Which groups did the Nazis persecute, and why did the persecution reach so many? Explain the range of victims, tie them to the Nazi worldview, and reach a judgement. This is written in English and is not auto-marked.

• Name the central target and the wider range of victims
• Explain the Roma, Jehovahs Witnesses and gay men as targets
• Explain the persecution of disabled people through eugenics
• Tie the breadth to the single racial and eugenic worldview
• Reach a supported judgement on why persecution reached so many