Holocaust: Non-Jewish Victims
Gypsies
Hitler Was the Ultimate Racist
Non-Jewish Victims of the Holocaust · Five Milion Forgotten · Rom Gypsies
Five Million Often Forgotten
The Holocaust is usually taught as the mass genocide of almost six million Jews in Europe during World War II. But, more than five million others were also persecuted, tortured, tattooed and killed. These five million included innocent citizens - men women and children. The survivors and the families of these five million often feel left out -- overshadowed by the Jewish casualties. Nonetheless, these people need to be recognized and memorialized. Many of these died for their race or their beliefs. Many of these died while helping their Jewish neighbors. They too deserve their place in history.
Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 when Germany was experiencing severe economic hardship. Hitler promised the Germans that he would bring them prosperity and power. Hitler had a vision of a Master Race of Aryans that would control Europe. He used powerful propaganda techniques to convince not only the German people, but countless others, that if they eliminated the people who stood in their way and the degenerates and racially inferior, they - "the great Germans" would prosper.
Gypsies: Executed for Their Race
Like the Jews, the Rom Gypsies were chosen for total annihilation just because of their race. Even though Jews are defined by religion, Hitler saw the Jewish people as a race that he believed needed to be completely annihilated. The Rom Gypsies also were a nomadic people that were persecuted throughout history. Both groups were denied certain privileges in many European countries. The Nazis believed that both the Jews and Gypsies were racially inferior and degenerate and therefore worthless. Like the Jews, the Gypsies were also moved into special areas set up by the Nazis. Half a million Gypsies, almost the entire Eastern European Gypsy population, was wiped out during the Holocaust.
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The
Nazi Persecution of the Gypsies
by Guenter
Lewy A frightening account of Germany's extermination of Gypsies. This is an absorbing, well-written and quite readable book by a noted 20th century historian, Guenter Lewy. It is a disturbing, graphic and poignant overview of the Nazi campaign against the Gypsy population of central Europe. This persecution has not been widely publized because of the nature of the Gypsy population, i.e. due to their own lack of social and political visibility, no one has paid a lot of attention to their plight...Nazis. July 11, 2000 Reviewer: Barron Laycock (Labradorman) from New Hampshire. |
This newsletter is published by the Holocaust Forgotten Memorial, 4607 Lakeview Canyon Rd., Ste. 367, Westlake Village, California 91361. E-mail: Terese Pencak Schwartz. Information for this newsletter was taken from various sources, including The Other Victims : First-Person Stories of Non-Jews Persecuted by the Nazis by Ina R. Friedman. Houghton Mifflin Company