The largest, most infamous part of the Nazi plan was their genetic engineering. The plot was referred to by the Nazi party as the "Final Solution", but it has since become known as the Holocaust. Adolf Hitler wanted the Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals, Blacks, and almost every other ethnic minority to be wiped out in favour of an Aryan super race. The plan began with an attempt to prove that other races were inferior, through propaganda and many of the aforementioned experiments that would take victims' measurements and tissue samples. For example, Nazis supposedly discovered that Gypsies were more inclined to criminal behaviour due to a different type of blood to other races. Huge killing operations began in 1941, with police units wiping out entire Jewish communities. Later, mobile gassing vans were introduced, which would pump poisonous gas into a small space that was locked with victims inside. Concentration camps were also set up, designed to not only contains and conduct experiments on the inhabitants, but also slaughter them en masse. By the end of World War II, it was estimated that a total of 17 million people were systematically murdered during the Holocaust. This included approximately 6 million Jews, 3 million Ukrainians, and 2.5 million Poles. Vast numbers from other ethnic groups also make up the 17 million figure, as well as people with mental disorders, the physically disabled, gay men, transgender people, and those with opposing political views to the Nazis. Have you been particularly affected by anything detailed in this article? Visit the Holocaust Educational Trustfor ways to support those that suffered as a result of the atrocities, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
