The Third Reich at War

Until 1939, most Germans still believed Europe would not be plunged into another all-out war. They believed Hitler would restore Germany’s glory while preserving peace through diplomacy. That last glimmer of hope vanished on September 1, when 1.5 million German troops invaded Poland. The Second World War had officially begun, and Germany started sweeping across the European continent with blitzkrieg. As the occupied territories expanded, the Third Reich imposed a new racial order and eugenics program, targeting Jews, Poles, Slavs, Roma, and eventually “antisocial” people, the mentally ill, and children with disabilities. From the “euthanasia” program to genocide, the Nazis carried out mass murder on an industrial scale, step by step.