Racism comes from a belief by people of one race that they are superior to the people of another race. This belief has provided the justification for centuries of discrimination, slavery, colonialism, and mass murder. The racism of the Nazis was so extreme that they not only considered themselves superior, they viewed all other races as potential contaminants to Aryan “racial purity.” Many Germans considered the extermination of non-Aryan groups such as Jews and Gypsies to be an act of self-preservation, essential to the survival of their nation.
