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An online entry about the treatment of Jews from 1930s to 1940s in Germany

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After 1919, Jewish people in Germany were free and legally equal and often felt more German than Jewish. Many were wealthy and successful.

But there was an undercurrent of anti-Jewish racism, called ' ', in Germany. Hitler appealed to this anti-Semitism by blaming the Jewish people for Germany's defeat in the First World War. Nazi race-scientists incorrectly claimed that the Jewish people were sub-human.

As soon as Hitler came to power he introduced a programme of . The Nuremberg Laws (1935) deprived Jewish people of many of their civil rights. On 9 November 1938, Kristallnacht or the 'Night of Broken Glass' took place. Jewish businesses, synagogues and homes were attacked and destroyed. This was a response to the assassination of a German diplomat by a Polish Jewish man in Paris.

After the outbreak of World War Two in 1939, the Nazis stepped up the persecution of the Jewish people:

After 1941, following the invasion of the Soviet Union, Nazi death-squads, called 'einsatzgruppen', murdered more than a million Jewish people in eastern Europe.

In 1942, a Nazi conference at Wannsee decided on the 'Final Solution' - the Jewish people were to be systematically taken to camps such as Auschwitz and gassed.

Nobody knows how many Jewish people died during the Holocaust, but the usual figure given is 6 million.

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A summary of the Holocaust - The Holocaust - KS3 History Revision - BBC Bitesize

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After 1919, Jewish people in Germany were free and legally equal and often felt more German than Jewish. Many were wealthy and successful. But there was an undercurrent of anti-Jewish racism, called ' ', in Germany. Hitler appealed to this anti-Semitism by blaming the Jewish people for Germany's defeat in the First World War.

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A resource page on what happened to the Handicapped in Germany

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The Murder of People with Disabilities Many Germans did not want to be reminded of individuals who did not measure up to their concept of a "master race" and were considered "unfit" or "handicapped." People with physical and mental disabilities were viewed as "useless" to society, a threat to Aryan genetic purity, and, ultimately, "unworthy of life." At the beginning of World War II, individuals with mental or physical disabilities were targeted for murder in what the Nazis called the "T-4," or "euthanasia," program.

The Euthanasia Program required the cooperation of many German doctors, who reviewed the medical files of patients in institutions to determine which individuals with disabilities should be killed. The doctors also supervised the actual killings. Doomed patients were transferred to six institutions in Germany and Austria, where they were killed in specially constructed gas chambers. Infants and small children with disabilities were also killed by injection with a deadly dose of drugs or by starvation. The bodies of the victims were burned in large ovens called crematoria.

Despite public protests in 1941, the Nazi leadership continued this program in secret throughout the war. About 200,000 people with disabilities were murdered between 1940 and 1945.

The T-4 program became the model for the mass murder of Jews, Roma (Gypsies), and others in camps equipped with gas chambers that the Nazis would open in 1941 and 1942. The program also served as a training ground for SS members who manned these camps.

Key Dates

October 1939
Hitler authorizes killing of the impaired
Adolf Hitler authorizes the beginning of the Euthanasia Program-the systematic killing of those Germans whom the Nazis deem "unworthy of life." The order is backdated to the beginning of the war (September 1, 1939). At first, doctors and staff in hospitals are encouraged to neglect patients. Thus, patients die of starvation and diseases. Later, groups of "consultants" visit hospitals and decide who will die. Those patients are sent to various "euthanasia" killing centers in Greater Germany and killed by lethal injection or in gas chambers.

August 3, 1941
Catholic bishop denounces Euthanasia Program
By 1941, the supposedly secret Euthanasia Program is generally known about in Germany. Bishop Clemens August Graf von Galen of Muenster denounces the killings in a public sermon on August 3, 1941. Other public figures and clergy will also raise objections to the killings.

August 24, 1941
Hitler officially orders end to "euthanasia" killings
Mounting public criticism of the "euthanasia" killings prompts Adolf Hitler to order the end of the program. Gas chambers in the various "euthanasia" killing centers are dismantled. By this time, about 70,000 German and Austrian physically or mentally impaired patients have been killed. Although the Euthanasia Program is officially ended, the killing of physically or mentally impaired people continues in secret in individual cases.

Thank you for supporting our work

We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. View the list of all donors.

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The Murder of People with Disabilities Many Germans did not want to be reminded of individuals who did not measure up to their concept of a "master race" and were considered "unfit" or "handicapped." People with physical and mental disabilities were viewed as "useless" to society, a threat to Aryan genetic purity, and, ultimately, "unworthy of life."

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An encyclopedia entry about Women under Hitler's rule.

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Hitler promoted the importance of a stable, traditional family. Men were to be in charge and protect their family. Women were to serve and nurture their family.

Hitler said this was "the natural order".

Hitler wanted to use families to increase the size of the population and to ensure it was pure .

Nazi views on the role of women

In public, Hitler said women were "equal but different from men", but he actually thought women were inferior.

He believed women's lives should revolve around the three 'Ks': Kinder, Küche, Kirche (Children, Kitchen, Church).

The Nazis expected women to stay at home, look after the family and produce children in order to secure the future of the Aryan race.

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Nazi views on the role of the family - Life for women and the family in Nazi Germany - CCEA - GCSE History Revision - CCEA - BBC Bitesize

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Revise the role of women under the Nazi regime regarding their appearance, employment, marriage and children. Test your knowledge with the topic quiz.

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A history webpage on Hitler's youth
(Explore pages 1 to 4)

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Adolf Hitler and Nazi Youth leader Baldur von Schirach on their arrival in the stadium for the Hitler Youth rally
Young people were very important to the Nazis. To this end, Hitler set about influencing children both inside and outside school.

His main ways of indoctrinating and controlling young people were:

education;

youth movements;

propaganda and censorship.

He used perks and promises as well as threats and fear.

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Life for young people in Nazi Germany - Life for young people in Nazi Germany - CCEA - GCSE History Revision - CCEA - BBC Bitesize

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1 2 3 4 Page 1of 4 Adolf Hitler and Nazi Youth leader Baldur von Schirach on their arrival in the stadium for the Hitler Youth rally Young people were very important to the Nazis. To this end, Hitler set about influencing children both inside and outside school.