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We know that the Nazi ideology explicitly singled out Jews as the main reason to all Germany's problems. An thus there were exterminated. Nazis also persecuted gypsies, polish people, and many POW. But had Nazis any further plans to exterminate other races / ethnicities once their Third Reich is complete. Were there any indications for that in their writings, propaganda, letters, secret documents? For example, anything against black people? Arabs? Asians? etc?

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It was Anne Applebaum, I believe, who defined totalitarian regime by the following characteristic loop: pick a minority from your population based on whatever factor, classify them as non-humans, persecute, repeat for another minority. That factor in this case was ethnicity, would be, for her, purely accidental. Next factor could be "people who owned cats". – kubanczyk Jan 21 at 9:56
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@kubanczyk, even in totalitarian theory, which in fact is an agenda rather than a proper theory, much more reasonable criteria has been proposed (and proven useless). The politics of the nazi party adapted pre-existing antisemitism, which was constitutive of german identity decades before the nsdap was founded. Eliminatory antisemitism had been the motivation to found parties even in the end of the 19th century. Declaring the nazi movement could have picked any other group apart from the jewish, like "people who owned cats", is just irresponsibly wrong. – J. Katzwinkel Jan 21 at 17:13
@J.Katzwinkel its remarkable then the rapidity with which general German racialism assimilated anti-Slavic exterminationalist racialism between 1939 (when mass executions of ethnic Poles was atypical) and 1941 (when mass executions of people of Slavic ethnicities became typical). I'll agree that there are performative elements of anti-semitism that differ from anti-slavic racialism—torturing the imaginary Slav with pointless work-to-death didn't occur (to my memory). But anti-slavic extermination policies sprang up across administrative boundaries within the German state rapidly. – Samuel Russell Jan 21 at 21:16
@J. Katzwinkel OK, I retract "purely accidental". I've really meant: the ethnicity wasn't a criterion of Anne's definition at all. Also, I've misused the quotes for cats - cats are my own paraphrase. – kubanczyk Jan 21 at 22:08

2 Answers

"Intentionalism"—the view that Hitler was responsible for German racial policy (as supposed by this question's very title, "did Hitler had a final solution plan")—is not favoured amongst scholars. Therefore, the idea of a coherent plan of racial extermination needs to be done away with. German racial extermination policy evolved situationally and in response to local conditions. German bureaucratic schisms encouraged such creativity. However, repeated refrains of racialist and exterminationist policy appear again and again. This answer considers the Slavic example.

German and NSDAP racial policy was generally quite local in nature, though following similar themes. The Commissar order of 1941 was used as part of a generalised extermination programme relating to Slavic civillians, enacted as part of the pogrom and action programmes of 1941.

Additionally, some of the occupying authorities considered the winter 1941 food problems of Slavic civillians as not needing to be addressed due to the plan to generally starve Slavs to death West of the stop lines. The actual food extraction policies of this period did produce significant starvation as a side effect, however, the idea of extracting the planned levels of food was ludicrous and unachievable. (These plans were based on the idea that German standards of living ought rightly to be maintained at or near pre-war levels through mass starvation of other "racial" groups.)

Much of this culminated in the POW situation in 1941, where encamped soldiers—predominantly Slavic—were systematically neglected in a manner not undertaken in the West by the German Army.

We can be reasonably confident that with more puissance, German racial policies would have resulted in a fuller attempted genocide of people identified by Germans as Slavic.

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Firstly, I have said nothing of Hitler being responsible of German racial policy. The anti-semtic feelings and hate for the Jews began before there was a Nazi Party. In fact, the DAP party, well before Hitler joined it and converted it into the Nazi party, already perpetuated anti-semtic feelings and hate of Jews. This was also shared by many Germans and other parties too in the 1920's. Secondly, are you suggesting that the extermination process arose while there was need for it? Like to solve food shortages allow people to die? – The Byzantine Jan 21 at 2:59
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"Aside from the Jews, did Hitler had a final solution plan for other ethnicities / races in the Third Reich?" Regarding points other than intentionalism, I've expanded my answer. – Samuel Russell Jan 21 at 3:03
True. Though the anti-semtic feelings were prevalent before and during Nazism, yet no extermination plans were in anyone's agenda. Only Hitler openly spoke of extermination. I meant, Hitler is not responsible for the racial hatred, he endorsed it as many other Germans at the time, and took it to higher levels with extermination agenda. – The Byzantine Jan 21 at 3:07
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Interesting. I have just been reading "The Third Reich: The rise and fall of the Nazis". It quotes Hitler saying that the Jews must be exterminated even well before the NSDAP was in power. – The Byzantine Jan 21 at 3:10
I strongly suggest you read about the Intentionalist / Functionalist debates in the historiography of the holocaust. – Samuel Russell Jan 21 at 6:39

For the Eastern Europe the Nazis had the Genaralplan Ost - the General Plan "East". According to this plan the large areas of Eastern Europe should be gradually Germanized, with the native inhabitants reduced in number, resettled and/or assimilated.

According to the plan,

Ethnic group    Percentage subject to removal
Poles           80-85%
Russians        50-60% to be physically eliminated and another 15% to be sent to Western Siberia.
Belorusians     75%
Ukrainians      65%
Lithuanians     85%
Latvians        50%
Estonians       50%
Czechs          50%
Latgalians      100%

You can notice that the Latgalians, a Baltic ethnic group in Latvia were especially disliked by the Nazis due to their historically pro-Russian attitude. The Nazis even undertook special efforts to prove their racial impurity and inferiority

As to the further plans, you should note that Hitler's attitude towards the Blacks, Asians and other peoples was much better than that towards the Slavs, the Jews and other Eastern Europeans.

In general it seems the Reich would consider it their natural right to genocide any nationalities when the area is needed for Germans.

Judging from the pattern which the Nazis established in their dealings with different ethnic groups, it is reasonable to assume that the Nazis would attempt

  • To divide large peoples into smaller ethnic groups and by other criteria (religion, language dialect, region etc)

  • To put a "fuehrer" in head of each ethnic group, personally responsible for carrying out the Nazi orders.

  • To allow a considerable autonomy of each ethnic group in their internal affairs as long as German orders are carried out.

  • To give expressly different rights in small and in large things to different groups, even closely related so to create envy, hubris and competition for Germans' favor.

  • To restrict movement of each group to their native homeland. Thus the steppe nomadic peoples would be put in steppe reservations, the mountaineers restricted to their home mountains etc. Only Germans would be allowed the right for free movement.

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Thanks. But could you please back your numbers and points with solid references? – The Byzantine Feb 1 at 14:06

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