In our consciousness, the Holocaust is majorly related to Jewish history. A lot of focus is on the Jewish victims and history has singled out Jews as the main victims of holocaust in Germany during Nazi regime. However, it is understandably right to say that the holocaust was not all about the Nazi and Jews (Bergen, 2009). There are thousands of other non-Jew victims who are not captured exhaustively in history. Thus, it is equally right to say that groups targeted by the Nazi or their accomplices, killed or treated in ways that catapulted their deaths are the victims (Bergen, 2009). To name a few of these groups, there were Homosexuals, Jehovah witness, mentally and physically handicapped, Gypsies, prisons of war and trade unionists. This paper provides an elaborate information on the similarities and differences in treatment of these groups by the Nazi (Bergen, 2009).
Nazi treated all groups as sub-humans. It devalued the existence of the other groups and viewed themselves as superiors and perfect beings (Bergen, 2009). Opponents of Nazi regime were thrown into concentration camps. Homosexuals were always harassed and arrested while being considered congenitally diseased. Jews and Gypsies were persecuted and killed since their lives were deemed unworthy (Bergen, 2009).
All strategies and policies were objectively used to invoke psychological torture. For instance prisons of war were subjected to hunger, inadequate housing and murder. Some of them died on their way to prisons and malnutrition due to lack of food (Bergen, 2009).
All the actions of the soldiers were as a result of orders from Hitler. They never executed their ruthless actions without his orders. In any case, the soldiers usually denied being responsible for mass murder (Bergen, 2009).
The difference comes as a result of making the Jews the central threat. Nazi viewed all countries invaded and captured by the Jews inferior and the people sub humans. From this basis, Nazi spread its hatred to Gypsies and other groups that did not conform to ‘German Volksgemeinschaft’ for instance the homosexuals.
In all cases, comprehending the differences between Jews, Gypsies and Russians and how the Nazi viewed is difficult since all groups were treated similar (Bergen, 2009). The Nazi treated all groups the same because they believed that they had limited intellect, uncontrollable dispositions and obscenity. However, each group is different based on history.
Reference
References
Bergen, D. L. (2009). War and genocide: A concise history of the Holocaust. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
