"Enemies of the State"

Although Jews were the main target of Nazi hatred, they were not the only group persecuted. Other individuals and groups were considered "undesirable" and "enemies of the state." Once the voices of political opponents were silenced, the Nazis stepped up their terror against other "outsiders."

Like Jews, Roma (Gypsies) were targeted by the Nazis as "non-Aryans" and racial "inferiors." Roma had been in Germany since the 1400s and had faced prejudice there for centuries. They had also been victims of official discrimination long before 1933. Under the Nazis, Romani (Gypsy) families in major cities were rounded up, fingerprinted and photographed, and forced to live in special camps under police guard.

Jehovah's Witnesses, members of a small Christian group, were victimized not for reasons of race but because of their beliefs. Witnesses' beliefs prohibited them from entering the army or showing obedience to any government by saluting the flag or, in Nazi Germany, raising their arms in the "Heil Hitler" salute. Soon after Hitler took power, Witnesses were sent to concentration camps. Those who remained at large lost their jobs, unemployment and social welfare benefits, and all civil rights. The Witnesses, nevertheless, continued to meet, to preach, and to distribute religious pamphlets.

Homosexuals were victimized by the Nazis for reasons of behavior. The Nazis viewed homosexual relations as "abnormal" and "unmanly" behavior which, by not producing offspring, threatened Nazi policies encouraging the reproduction of "Aryans." Soon after Hitler took office, the Storm Troopers (SA) began raids against homosexual clubs. Many homosexuals were arrested and imprisoned in concentration camps. Dozens of teenagers were in this group.

For more information, see "Mosaic of Victims" in the Holocaust Encyclopedia.