Besides Jews, other groups were also targeted by the Nazis, gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah’s witnesses, physically or mentally disabled people, and political opponents of the Nazis. A large precentage of those killed were non-Jewish Poles. Hitler issued the order to kill “without pity or mercy, all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space [lebensraum] we need". Also, Christians and Catholics were early targets to the Nazis. Non-Jewish people were being sent to extermination camps before Jews were, the first non-Jew was killed in 1940, and the first Jewish person was killed in 1942. The reason for this killing of non-Jewish people was that Hitler wanted to re-create the Aryan race. Gypsies, homosexuals, etc, were undesirable to the future of germany and thus had to be disposed of.
