When someone says the word Nazi or Holocaust, the first thing that comes to mind for most people is the catastrophic mass murder of millions of Jewish men and women. This of course is true, but what most people don’t know is that over 5 million people who were killed were not Jewish. This mainly consisted of Polish people or people who did not meet the Nazis standard they set for what they believed to be a “perfect human”. So they too were forced into concentration camps and brutally murdered. Even though the Nazis singled out the Jewish community in their genocide, five million out of the eleven million killed by the Nazis, were non-Jewish people. Nazis labeled and isolated Gypsies, Slavs, Romani’s, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, political
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Political Dissidents soon became Political prisoners after the Holocaust began and was a very large portion of the concentration camp inmates being held under protective custody for over twelve years. At the end of July 1933, about 27,000 political prisoners were being held in concentration camps, soon to be murdered. Dachau was a very popular camp for political prisoners and in fact, it “was the first of the Nazi concentration camps opened in Germany, intended to hold political prisoners” (“Jewish Virtual …show more content…
In 1933 there were about 20,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany and the Nazis also disagreed with this group. The Nazis were notorious for killing anyone who didn’t follow the same religion, so the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ religious beliefs were outlawed during the Nazis rise to power (“Victims”). But so many Jehovah’s Witnesses continued to practice their religion, infuriating Nazis. “In 1934, Jehovah 's Witnesses attempted to fend off Nazi attacks by having congregations send letters to the government explaining their beliefs and political neutrality”. “The Nazis did not tolerate the Jehovah 's Witnesses ' refusal, which was based on their religious principles, to salute flags, to raise their arms to "Heil Hitler,” or to serve in the German army” (“Victims”). Because of their refusal, this religion was banned in Germany in 1935 by law and anyone who continued to practice those religious activities was sent straight to concentration camps. By the end of the Holocaust, about 10,000 Jehovah 's Witnesses were sent to concentration camps and 5,000 were
Political Dissidents soon became Political prisoners after the Holocaust began and was a very large portion of the concentration camp inmates being held under protective custody for over twelve years. At the end of July 1933, about 27,000 political prisoners were being held in concentration camps, soon to be murdered. Dachau was a very popular camp for political prisoners and in fact, it “was the first of the Nazi concentration camps opened in Germany, intended to hold political prisoners” (“Jewish Virtual …show more content…
In 1933 there were about 20,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany and the Nazis also disagreed with this group. The Nazis were notorious for killing anyone who didn’t follow the same religion, so the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ religious beliefs were outlawed during the Nazis rise to power (“Victims”). But so many Jehovah’s Witnesses continued to practice their religion, infuriating Nazis. “In 1934, Jehovah 's Witnesses attempted to fend off Nazi attacks by having congregations send letters to the government explaining their beliefs and political neutrality”. “The Nazis did not tolerate the Jehovah 's Witnesses ' refusal, which was based on their religious principles, to salute flags, to raise their arms to "Heil Hitler,” or to serve in the German army” (“Victims”). Because of their refusal, this religion was banned in Germany in 1935 by law and anyone who continued to practice those religious activities was sent straight to concentration camps. By the end of the Holocaust, about 10,000 Jehovah 's Witnesses were sent to concentration camps and 5,000 were