Editing Nazi Germany (section)

=== Generalplan Ost ===
{{Main|Generalplan Ost|Anti-Slavic sentiment|Hunger Plan}}

[[Eastern Front (World War II)|Germany's war in the East]] was based on Hitler's long-standing view that Jews were the great enemy of the German people and that ''Lebensraum'' was needed for Germany's expansion. Hitler focused his attention on Eastern Europe, aiming to conquer Poland and the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Bendersky|2007|p=161}}{{sfn|Gellately|1996|pp=270–274}} Hitler's belief in the racial inferiority of [[Russians]], as well as [[Slavs]] in general, had convinced him that a German conquest of Russia was inevitable.{{sfn|Weikart|2009|p=74}} After the occupation of Poland in 1939, all Jews living in the General Government were confined to [[Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe|ghettos]], and those who were physically fit were required to perform compulsory labour.{{sfn|Kershaw|2000a|p=111}} In 1941 Hitler decided to destroy the Polish nation completely; within 15 to 20 years the General Government was to be [[Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany|cleared of ethnic Poles]] and resettled by German colonists.{{sfn|Berghahn|1999|p=32}} About 3.8 to 4&nbsp;million Poles would remain as slaves,{{sfn|Powszechna PWN|2004|p=267}} part of a slave labour force of 14&nbsp;million the Nazis intended to create using citizens of conquered nations.{{sfn|Gellately|1996|pp=270–274}}{{sfn|Heinemann et al.|2006}}

To determine who should be killed, Himmler created the ''[[Volksliste]]'', a system of classification of people deemed to be of German blood.{{sfn|Overy|2005|p=544}} He ordered that those of Germanic descent who refused to be classified as ethnic Germans should be deported to concentration camps, have their children taken away, or be assigned to forced labour.{{sfn|Nicholas|2006|p=247}}{{sfn|Lukas|2001|p=113}} The plan also included the [[Kidnapping of children for forced Germanization by Nazi Germany|kidnapping of children]] deemed to have Aryan-[[Nordic race|Nordic]] traits, who were presumed to be of German descent.{{sfn|Sereny|1999}} The goal was to implement ''Generalplan Ost'' after the conquest of the Soviet Union, but when the invasion failed Hitler had to consider other options.{{sfn|Snyder|2010|p=416}}{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=683}} One suggestion was a mass forced deportation of Jews to Poland, Palestine, or Madagascar.{{sfn|Kershaw|2000a|p=111}}

In addition, the Nazis planned to reduce the population of the conquered territories by 30 million people through starvation in an action called the [[Hunger Plan]]. Food supplies would be diverted to the German army and German civilians. Cities would be razed and the land allowed to return to forest or resettled by German colonists.{{sfn|Snyder|2010|pp=162–163, 416}} Together, the Hunger Plan and ''Generalplan Ost'' would have led to the starvation of 80&nbsp;million people in the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Dorland|2009|p=6}} These partially fulfilled plans resulted in the [[democide|democidal]] deaths of an estimated 19.3&nbsp;million civilians and [[prisoners of war]] (POWs) throughout the USSR and elsewhere in Europe.{{sfn|Rummel|1994|loc=[http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NAZIS.TAB1.1.GIF table, p. 112]}} During the course of the war, the [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|Soviet Union lost a total of 27 million people]]; less than nine million of these were combat deaths.{{sfn|Hosking|2006|p=242}} One in four of the Soviet population were killed or wounded.{{sfn|Smith|1994|p=204}}