Handicapped In The Holocaust

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The Forgotten Ones What comes to your mind when someone says Holocaust? The word that comes to most peoples minds is Jews. However the Jews were not the only minority to face the terrorism of the Nazis. Other groups subjected to the reign of the Nazis include homosexuals, handicapped, and gypsies. Throughout the Holocaust, most homosexuals were treated poorly, just like the Jews. Heinrich Himmler, a member of the Nazi party, referred to homosexuals as weeds in a garden. Himmler took it upon himself to begin “the weeding process.” Himmler also blamed the low birth rates in Germany after WWI on homosexuals. Himmler says in a speech on bringing homosexuality under Nazi racial policy, “In the SS, today, we still have about one case of homosexuality…show more content…
Hitler signed an order allowing physicians to kill those people, in his eyes, unfit to live. Hitler signed this order in September 1939. The euthanasia program followed Hitler’s order. The euthanasia program basically was when men, women, and children that were mentally or physically handicapped in any way were methodically killed. It was ordered that surveys be taken at all institutions, hospitals, and homes specialized for the handicapped. There were 3 medical experts that never did any patient examinations and were supposed to be reviewing patients. However they never read patient medical records. These experts that knew nothing about the people they were reviewing had the power to say who lives and who dies. The patients that would be killed were sent to six killing centers: Hartheim, Sonnenstein, Grafereck, Bernburg, Hadamar, and…show more content…
Jackson J. Spielvogel, author of Hitler and Nazi Germany: A History, says, “About 40% of Europe’s 1 million Gypsies were gassed and burned.” Most people think of the Jews being the only people being wiped out in large numbers, but obviously that was not the case. A camp was opened up in Auschwitz-Birkenau sector Blle know as Zigeunerlager or Gypsy camp. In this gypsy family camp the prisoners were forced to wear black triangles. They were given tattoos that stated with the letter ‘z’ followed by camp numbers. For example ‘z2∙9881’ was someone’s number. The Gypsies did not go through any selection upon camp arrival. Also families were not broken up. All of this doesn’t sound all that bad, but I promise it gets worse. In Zigeunerlager there was much suffering. There was very insufficient food and extreme over crowding. This all led to the drastic decline in hygienic and sanitary conditions. The lack of hygiene and sanitation led to very frequent epidemics, including typhus and diarrhea caused by starvation. The end result of these illnesses was a high death rate among

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