Hitler and Nazi Germany - treatment of other minority groups

1. Hitler and Nazi Germany
Treatment of
minority
groups in Nazi
Germany

2. In today’s class, I am learning to:
• Explain why the Nazis disliked certain
groups
• Describe the negative ways that these
groups were treated by the Nazis
Treatment of minority groups

3. Hitler believed that Germans were part of a pure
‘master race’ – meaning that the Nazis wanted to
remove from Germany anyone they deemed impure.
Treatment of minority groups

4. Treatment of minority groups
In order to maintain this
‘master race’, the Nazis tried
to remove from society
minority groups , including:
• Jews
• Disabled people
• Roma and Sinti (gypsies)
• ‘Asocials’
• Gay people

5. Treatment of minority groups
Many of these people were
targeted because the Nazis
claimed they ‘infected’
German society.
The Nazis wanted to stop
this from happening. At first
this involved discrimination
against the groups, but
soon led to imprisonment
or even death.

6. Treatment of minority groups
Minority groups
Disabled people

7. Treatment of minority groups
The Nazis also had a hatred
of people who had physical
or mental disabilities.
They believed that these
people hurt the idea that
Germans were a master
race. As such the Nazis acted
to at first isolate and then
completely remove them
from society.

8. Treatment of minority groups
In July 1933, the Nazis
introduced the Law for the
Prevention of Hereditarily
Diseased Offspring.
This introduced forced
sterilisation for people
suffering from problems
such as epilepsy, depression
and alcoholism. 350,000
people were sterilised.
“Sterilisation is liberation, not
punishment”

9. Treatment of minority groups
The Nazis then started
euthanasia. From 1939,
doctors and nurses had to
report children affected by
conditions such as Down’s
Syndrome.
These children were then
killed under the Aktion T4
programme, with parents
being threatened too.
1938 poster saying that this
person costs Germany
60,000RM over his life.

10. Treatment of minority groups
Minority groups
Roma and Sinti
people (gypsies)

11. Treatment of minority groups
The Roma and Sinti faced
prejudice in Germany but at
first they were not a major
target for the Nazis.
During the 1936 Olympics,
the Nazis forced them to
leave their camps and live in
certain areas. They were
also forced to work in
armaments camps.

12. Treatment of minority groups
Other members of the Roma
and Sinti were sterilised,
and had their German
citizenship removed.
By 1939 both groups started
to be sent to prison camps,
where large numbers were
eventually gassed to death.
Around 500,000 died under
Nazi rule.

13. Treatment of minority groups
Minority groups
Asocials

14. Treatment of minority groups
Asocials were people
that were seen as being
not ‘normal’. This
included people who
refused to work, or
prostitutes or beggars.
The police often had days
where they carried out
arrests of large number
of homeless people.

15. Treatment of minority groups
Asocials were sent to
labour camps and forced
to wear a Black Triangle
on their uniform.
Many asocials were
sterilised when they
were under arrest, and
others were killed,
especially as part of the
Holocaust.

16. Treatment of minority groups
Minority groups
Gay people

17. Treatment of minority groups
Even before the Nazis took
power, it was illegal for men
to be gay in Germany.
Scientific books about
homosexuality were burned
by the Nazis.
The police also closed down
pubs and clubs where gay
people went, and kept lists
of gay men.

18. Treatment of minority groups
Homosexuals were seen as
asocial. Large numbers were
sent to prison camps and
forced to wear a uniform
with a Pink Triangle.
Many homosexual men
were castrated or forced to
undergo experiments to
‘cure’ them. Gay members
of the SS could be shot.