Figure 1.--

What was different about World War II was new ideologies driving mass murder, even genocide. Here Soviet Communism was not the principal driver. The Soviets killed in the tens of millions during the 1920s and 30s, but ideologicl killing was relatively limited during World War II, limited mostly to the period when the Soviets were a NAZI ally (1939-41> This was the era tht the Soviets occupied neigboring countries in Eastern Europe (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, eastern Poland, and norther Romania. Mot only were there trgetted killings, but deaths as a result of arrests and banishment of people to Central Asia and Siberia. It was the NAZIs who were resonsible for much of the killing of civilians. Much of the civilkan killing. This was conduced largely on ethnic/racial grounds. Here we are talking about racial animus afainst Jews and democraphics. The NAZIs and the various nsationsal collaborators murdered some 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. All too mmny people think this was the major atrocity of World War II. It was not. The NAZIs murdered even more non-Jews Among the millions of others, including Slavs, Roma, gay people and people with disabilities. And hd there were plns kill far more people after they won the War aswell as subject others to perpetual slvery. These deaths were not the byproduct of combat, they resdulted not by battlefield combat or siege, but by a deliberate state organized murder project. The Holocaust was a major part of the killing, but obly a fraction of the mon combat killing. Here the NAZIs were concerned that the large Slavic population was a threat. But they also targeted smaller ethic groupos in Eastern Europe like the Balts. The NAZIs spelled this out in detail as part of Generalplan Ost. The Japanese were different. Their killing wasbasically to terorize the local population into accepting Japanese rule. Only in Manchuria was there a limited effort to replace the population and colonize the area. There was a range of methods that were used to kill civilians--all of which resulted in far greater deaths than the bombing. There were awide range of ways that military esionnel and civilians could be killed outside of combat operations.

Military Guidelines

Germany and Japan signed the 1929 Generva Comvnton dedaling with the huane treatment of POWs. NAZI Führer Adolf Hitler made it clear to the German generals when he announced his attention to invde the Soviet Union that Operation Barbarossa wuld not be a simple military operation, it would be a Vernichtungskrieg (war of annialtion). The German Army in Belgium executed 6,000 civilians ahd was acquired aeputation for brutality that lasted the entire war. British propaganda intensified actual incidents. Hitler and the NAZIs not only lived up to their World War I image, but far exceeded it with hirific acts from the first day of the War. The Whermact and paramilitary formations killed about 100,000 civilians in Poland (1939). Operation Barbarossa was to be something even more terrible. It woukd be unlike any other campaign in modern history. Hitler made it very clear that the campaign in the East would be conducted differently than any other modern campaign--it was to be a war of extermination. Mass executions of Jewish men, women, and children as well as Communists were carried out. Four SS Einsatzgruppen were responsible for most of the killings, together with local collaborators, but the numbers of Jews encountered was so large that regular Wehrmacht units also participate in the killing. It was not just the Jews that were killed, but also Communist Commisars in the army army and Communist officials. Eventually large numbers of Slavs were to be killed to clear land for German colonization. In the end this war of extinction may have doomed Operation Barbarossa because it precluded the effective utilization of anti-Communist Russians and Ukranians to fight the Red Army. The Japanese ignored the Geneva Convention in the Sino-Jpnse War. This is why they eferred to the conflict as an incident and not awar. They killed Chinese POWs, lthough some survived becaus theur commbdrs plit with the Nationlit Government. They also killed ome Wstern POWs, but did take POWs. They were trete terribly and subjected to slave labor. The only reason some Western POWs survived is that the atomic bomb forced the Japanese to surrender (Auguust 1945). Conditions were so bad that few would have survived if the War conyinued nuch longer.

Extra-judicial Killing

The NAZIs conducted extra-judicial killings on a limited basis in Germany before the War. This expnded when the Germans invaded Poland. Grman soldiers carried outbindiscriinate vattacks on Jews. Some vwre just to humiliatevJres. Others involved killinfs. oon Polish civilians saw hat bthy could attack or vsteal from Jews without any consequences. The resuklt bwas so bad that nany Jews atfirst daw the ghettoes as a haven of safety fron these attacks. It was not only Jews that were subject to extra-judicial viloence. The Germans sought to not bonly occupy Poland butbto ndestroy bthe very idea of Poland. And as part bof that they decided to murder the individuals that were the primary core og Polish nationalism--the A-B Aktion. The goal as to elininate Polish intelectuals. After the initial wave of killing, intellectuals were arrested and committed to concentration camps where conditions were so bad that they would die slowly.

Ghettos

Hitler and the NAZis seized power (1933). They immediuately began a policy of villifying Jews and separating Jews from German society. Their German citzenhip awas cancelled (935). The children were forced out of state schools. Adults lost thir jobs and homes. Jews found it very difficult to makje a living. Many though the NAZIs would pass, but Kristalancht showed that this was not going to hppen (1938). Actual killing, espcilly of women and children was not going to happen. Many Germans dislked Jews and this fellingh had internified because of relentless state porpaganda. But the public would not ccept killing. This wsould have to be done outside theReich away from publkic view. This became posible with the outbreak of World War II with the occuption of Poland. German Jews could be expelled to Polnd. Mist Germns had no mproblm with that. And to deal with the expelled Jews and the Jews in Poland, the NAZIs decided to fervive a medival institution--the Ghetto. Once seoarated, the Jews coulkd be trerated differently. Their property could be seized. And food rationms could be cut to starvation lebels. And authorities couild begin to use Jewish labor. When th Jews did not die fast cenough, NAZI authoritiues decided on murder.

Murder Squads

German Einsatzgruppen der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (Einsatzgruppen) were paramilitary formations, essentially death squads, following behind front-line combat units. Their assignment was to deal primarily with Jews, but also were used against other population groups the Germans identified as unreliable or undesirable. SS Einsatzgruppen had killed substantial numbers of Jews and non-Jews in Poland (1939-40), but the numbers were still in the thousands, not the hundreds of thousands. Most Polish Jews had been confined in Ghettos. When Britain refused to surrender after the fall of France, Einsatzgruppen were organized to deal with the British as part of Operation Sea Lion (fall 1940). The Einsatzgruppen were significantly expanded and ready for large-scale operations at the onset of Barbarossa (June 1941). They were used barbarically in the Soviet Union in the (summer and fall 1941). They reported killed about 0.7 million Jews in the territories seized by the Wehrmacht. Their methods were effective, but both public and messy. And often they failed to recover valuable possessions. NAZI officials concluded that a different more coordinated plan was needed in the more developed occupied countries in Poland Western Europe. The Einsatzgruppen murdered about 1.25 million Jews and thousands of other people the Germans considered a threat or undesirable (Spring 1943). By this time the Germans had killed most of the Jews in occupied areas of the Soviet Union and the Germans after Stalingrad were now on the defensive. The killing process had shifted to more efficent methods. Jews in Poland had largely been killed in the death camps which were by this time killing Jews from Western Europe as well.

Concentration Camps

A necessary step in both Hitler's consolidation of his hold on the German people and eventually and the Holocaust was the creation of concentration camps. Concentration camps were an integral part of the NAZI regime. The first camp, Dachau, near Munich was established within days of Hitler's appointments as Chancellor. Hitler had secured only a few ministerial post for his NAZI associates, but they included the Ministry of Interior giving him control over the police. The NAZIs began arresting Communists and other opponents and there just was not room for them in German jails and prisons. In addition, prisons when the NAZIs first seized power were much too open an environment for what Hitler and his close associates wanted to do. Dachau was only the first camp, but it became the blue print for subsequent camps of an enormous system that would eventually extend over much of Europe. Dachau was run by both the SA and SS, but the SS soon took over control of the camps. The camps at first were an instrument of political repression. Germany in 1933 had a wide range of political parties and a free and very vocal press. Within weeks the NAZIs effectively silenced both the political opposition and free press. Recalcitrant critics were arrested and interned in the camps where there was no limits on what the SA and SS could do to the prisoners. The camps were also a convenient place to dispose of political enemies without fear of embarrassing questions being asked. As the NAZI concentration camp system developed it came to serve other purposes as well. There were work camps which made valuable contributions to the war effort. The slave labor in these camps made everything from uniforms and pots and parts to V-2 ballistic missiles--one of the most complex weapons system of the War. Other camps once the War began were constructed as death camps, opened almost entirely in occupied Poland.. The death camps were intended primarily for the Jews, but many other people besides Jews were killed there. It is likely that these camps would have been used for killing Slavs and others who the NAZIs considered undesirable, but when the War turned against the NAZIs, the retreating NAZIs tried to dismantle the camps and destroy evidence of the killing. Some of the larger camps like Auschwitz had units with different purposes, both labor camps and death camps. One of the horrifying aspect of the concentration camps was that there was noplace for anyone who could not work. This included children. This meant Jewish children were killed. Non-Jewish children were abandoned whih could mean death. . There were also POW camps, but many of these camps were run by the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe rather than the SS. We are notsure how to describe the Soviet Gulag. We think forced/slave labor is a more apt classification. Individuals who openly opposed or criticised the state in the Stalinist era or the dommntion of the Japanese military were mpre likely to be executed than ommited to ny kind of confinemnt.

Forced/slave Labor

The NAZIs, Japanese, and Soviets extensively used forced labor. NAZI concntration camps made extenive use of slave labor. Before the War, prisoners were not subjected to statrvation wages. Concentration Camp labor wasa n important part of funancing the SS. As German milkitary successes gave the NAZIs control of much of Europe, forced labor camps poliferated throughout occupied areas, In addition, forignes were seized for Ausländer-Einsatz war work in the Reich. This became more and more importantbas German workers had to be draftedto reolace combat losses. The Japanese also used forced lanpr, but mostly foreigners. Wetern (but nithinese POWs wev sujected toforced lanot. Civilians ere also rounded up for dforced labor. We note vthis in Burma. We arent yet bsure about other ountries. POWs were transported to Japan for warwork. We do not note other foreign labor except for Koreans. The Soviet Gulag is another examole bof forced labior. This was not, however a World II phnomenon. The Soviets began building the Gulag with the vend of the Civlm War (1920s).

Internment Camps

Internment camps were established in several countries. Diplomats were interned and then exchnged. They generally were for foreignes caught up in counties at war. The Japanese interned Western natonals in the Western countries they overan. Adult males were subjected to forced labor. Conditions in these camps deteriotated s the War weny against Japan. The internees by the end of the Warwere starving.. The Atomic Bombs saved the internees as tthey were starving when Japan finally surrendered (August 1945). In America, Japanese nationals were interned, but in violation of Constitutional protctions, Japanese-American citizens on the West Coast were also interned. They were not, however, subjected to forced labor. Conditions were basic, but not harsh. The death rate did not change. Children went to local schools and were trrated correctly. There were even camps for Germans. Hitler ordered the Baltic Germans 'Home to the Reich' (1939). The NAZIs intended to use these ethnic Germans to colonize areas of Poland from which the Poles were being expelled. Many of the Baltic Germans spent long periods in rough camps with inadequate food and medical supplies. 【Overy, p. 595.】 .

POW Camps

The treatment of prisoners of war (POWs) varied widely from country to country. The Germans were the first country to acquire large numbers of POWs. German policy varied as to the nationality of the POWs. Here a primary factor in the German mind was race. The Germans treated French, British, and later American POWs relatively correctly. They did try to separate Jewish POWs from the general POW population. POWs were also used to some extent as forced labor. The German treatment of Polish and Soviet POWs, however, was barbaric and many died from starvation, exposure, and mistreatment. The German policy was in part a planned method of elimination and in part their inablity to deal with the massive numbers involved. German tretment improved somewhat as they began to use Soviet POWs for forced labor, but it was still brutal. British and American treatment of POWs was correct, although there were difficulty handling thelarge numbers in 1945. German POWs in camps located in America were amazed at their treatment and diet. Strangely German and Italian POWs were often treated more courtesly than Black U.S. servicemen. I'm unsure about Italian policies. Soviet tretment of German POWs was also brutal, but not as genocidal as German poliies. In fact German POWs fared better than domestic prisoners in the Soviet Gulag. It is unclear why. Some belive that Stlin wanted to influence POWs that were to be repatriated. The Japanese treatment of POWs was barbaric. POWs were starved, brutalized, and used for forced labor. Some were even used for mediucal experiments, including live vivisections and assessmrents of biological weapons. American combat soldiers were often brutal with Japanese soldiers, but once in camps the treatment was correct.

Death Camps

NAZI Germany established a huge net work of camps across first Germany and then occupied Europe. There were many different camps, set up for a variety of purposes. Many were used for forced labor. Five camps were created for the sole purpse of killing--primarily killing Jews. The five death camps were: Belzec, Chelmo, Maly Trostenets, Sorbibor, and Treblinka. The killing methods varied from camp to camp. The Polish camps were first used in Operation Heydrich, the destruction of Polish Jews. Large numbers of Jews and others were killed at the many other camps established throughout occupied Germany. Here the most notorious was Auschwitz. It was a huge camp originally created for slave labor, but a section of the camp at Birkenau was created to kill Jews. Some writers, including HBC, some times refer to these camps as the "Polish death camps". This is probably misleading. The camps other than the fact that the Germans built them in Poland (or in the Soviet Union in the case of Sorbibor), had nothing to do with Poland or the Polish people. A more correct desription, as Polish reader Jerzy Pankiewiczis points out, is German death camps in occupied Poland. Locating the camps in Poland was a conscious decission made by the NAZIs. The Germans were in total control in Poland and imposed harsh military rule. This it was easier to hide what they were doing than any where else in Europe. It also allowed them to keep the dirty details of the killing away from the German people. Many Germans did know about the killings and some did not want to know. Many Germans, however, did not know.

Expulsions/Displacements

There were many expusions/displacements during World War II. The War was in part about land and ethnicity so expelling and displacing people was the inevitable result. Hitler was at the heart of this. In Mein Kampf (1925) where he insisted that the German people needed Lebensraum (living room). This began on a small scale when the NAZIs sized power in Germany (1933). The NAZIs began expelling and driving Jews and Poles from the Reich. Kistalnacht occured when a dissdraught Jew in France shot a German diplomat. His prents were in limbo, expelled from the Reich, but not accepted by the Poles. Just before the War, Hitler ordered ethnic Germans in the Baltic states 'Home to the Reich'. Once the success of German asrms secured large occupied areas, the expulsions and displacement began on a massive level. After occupying Poland (1939), the NAZIS expelled Jews and Poles from the western German provinces annexed to the Reich. The NAZIs forced them into the General Government. NAZI authorities tried to promote German migration into the occupied areas, but with little success. There were also NAZI expulsions from Alsace-Loraine after the Fall of France (1940). One area where here were no explsions was South Tyrol--because Hitler wanted to maintain good relations wih Mussolini. The Soviets conducted major explsions/diplsacements. All part of an imperialm poiicy dating back to imperial times. The Soviets expelled groups seen as anti Soviet and moved in Russians to areas sized as a NAZI ally (Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuanaa, and Romania). After the War, the Soviets noced Poles from pre-War eastrer Poland to what became western Polamd. And then eastern European Government droce ethnic Germans from their country. Some Germans fled West with the retreating Wehrmact (1943-45). hers were driven out after the War. The expulsion of the Germans was one of the largest popultion movements in history. Expulsions and displacements were less of a factor in Asia. The Japanese did make efforts to expel Chinese and colonized from some of the best farmland in Manvchuria. This was limited by by difficulty recriting colonists. The Japanese also colonized some Pacific island, especially Saipan. Getting all of the colonists home fter he War was a lengthy process.

Famine

Famine is often not included as a major killer in World War II. A lot of attentiion is gien to the bombing which was a minor killer. Famine throughout history has been a majo killer in wsarfare. Bombing and other military means of killing is an expenice way of jilling, expnsive economically and with manpower. Famine is a very inexpensive way to kill. Civilians can find ways of attemting to avoid bombing and other military action. People in contrast have to eat and eat well and regularly. It is not something that can be avoided. Ehe Germans understood this, in part because of their World War I experience. As a result, NAZI officiaks preparung for war studied how to use food as a weapon even before the War. The result as the NAZI Hungerplan (Hunngr Plan). In World War II there were several deadly famines. This included famines vaused on purose and well as fanines caused out without any planned desire to kill. Famines are the most difficult mortalities to quantify bcause most the deaths occured in rural ares and not recorded statitically. Another fcor id poor nutrition weakned the body's immune system. And the immediate cause of death may have been disease.

Rationing

Sources

Overy, Richard. The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia (W.W. Norton: Newy York, 2004), 849p.

Created: 3:59 AM 5/24/2026
Last updated: 3:59 AM 5/24/2026