Why were Poles targets of the Nazi's?

Answer 1

1. Roman Catholics were not persecuted for being Roman Catholics. However, some Roman Catholics drew political consequences from their faith and criticized the Nazi regime. Such people faced persecution as individuals or, in the case of the Poles, on racial grounds. 2. The Nazis became very anti-Polish in 1939. Previously, Hitler had admired them for their anti-Communism. The Polish government had been given the opportunity to make Poland a 'privileged' ally of Germany, rather like Slovakia and, later, Croatia - but they rejected this. Also, many Poles (about 3 million) were Jewish, so those Jewish-Poles would be targeted. Any Pole who helped a Jew would be targeted. Any Polish political leader would be targeted (unless they collaborate with the Nazi's). On the whole however, Hitler planned to destroy Poland as an entity, because Poland would not exist in the long-term. He was not going to kill all Poles, however he was going to destroy the cultural & national identity of Polish people. The plans were: Most of the ethnic Polish population would be removed from the Polish territories (either by extermination or migration). Those that remained would be there to supply cheap labor to German industry and agriculture. Hitler was only in the early stages of his plans for Poland by the time he was defeated. The longer the German occupation had lasted, then the more drastic and brutal the actions taken against ethnic Poles. In Germany, Catholics were only targeted if they opposed Hitler. Remember Austria, Bavaria and most of Batten-Wurtenburg are predominate catholic areas. Hitler needed German catholics to support his regime. He avoided conflict with the Churches (catholic & protestant), because he did not highlight his anti-religious views in Germany. He actually used the normally strong moral attitude of Germans, especially catholics, to target those people and nations that Hitler proclaimed as being "immoral". If he could convince the German people that a group of people, a race, a religion, a political party, or a nation was "immoral" then it was much easier to get Germans to support drastic measures to fight this "immorality". In the early part of the war, most Germans thought that they were justified and doing the right thing. Later the war would pose more moral conflicts for the average German.

Answer 2

Since Poland is an immediate neighbor of Germany, there was a certain amount of competition for territory, where both Poles and Germans lived. In order for Germans to achieve their ambition of racial dominance of Europe and the world, they had to target other ethnicities, and Poles were an obvious target, not only because of their proximity, but because they were not militarily prepared to deal with Germany, having completely failed to understand the threat, prior to WW II.

Answer 3

He had a bad life. He was treated badly. He just wanted to get back at the people who hurt him.

Answer 4

Bacause he belived all Slavic races including Poland and aspecially Poland needed to be wiped out to make room for germans. Poles were thought to be sub-human just like Jews or Gypsies.