Why were Jewish people persecuted by Hitler's regime?

Hitler and the Nazis were responsible for what later came to be called the "Holocaust" (a term not in common use when the mass murders were taking place). During the Holocaust, there was mass extermination of Jews (as well as, to a lesser but still important degree, Gypsies, people with disabilities, and political dissenters). This was what Hitler called the "Final Solution," since he believed (and many Germans went along with his belief) that all of Germany's problems should be blamed on the Jews, who only made up perhaps 5% of Germany. Among the places where Jews were murdered were gas chambers and concentration camps. These included Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka. Six million Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis: men, women, children, infants--just because they were Jews.

While many of us find it is amazing that such a question could be asked today, it is sad to note that in some parts of the world (especially in some Muslim countries), it is typically taught that the Holocaust never happened, even though there is a massive amount of documentation for what the Nazis did. There are also some Americans who persist in believing the Holocaust never happened. Such people are called "Revisionists" or "Holocaust Deniers."