His hatred of Jews, or anti-Semitism, was a key part of Nazi ideology and had a long, unfortunate tradition in Europe. So-called “scientific” racism, which focused on the belief that Jews were inferior to the Aryan race, both mentally and physically, emerged in Germany in the 19th century, notably among Social Darwinists. Although Jews were less than 1 percent of the population, the Nazis used them as scapegoats for all of Germany’s troubles since the war. This led to a wave of anti-Semitism across Germany. Beginning in 1933, the Nazis passed laws depriving Jews of most of their rights. Violence against Jews mounted. On the night of November 9, 1938, Nazi mobs attacked Jews in their homes and on the streets and destroyed thousands of Jewish-owned buildings. This rampage, called Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass), signaled the real start of the process of eliminating the Jews from German life. Hitler’s “Final Solution” plan was to eliminate and exterminate the Jewish population in Europe, which later became known as the Holocaust Eventually, six million Jews perished during the Holocaust.
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