Students are often unaware of the magnitude of the Nazis’ intent and their targeting of other groups for racial, ethnic, and political reasons. Dr. Meinecke emphasizing the primacy of the Jews as victims of Nazi terror, discusses Nazi intent and explains how and why additional groups were targeted.

William Frederick Meinecke, Jr., received his undergraduate degree in German and History from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in 1983. He attended the University of Bonn and the Free University in Berlin in Germany and received his M.A. (1988) and also his Ph.D. (1998) in history from the University of Maryland at College Park. In 1992, William joined the staff of the Wexner Learning Center of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. He was on the design team of the center’s multimedia program on the Holocaust, the Historical Atlas of the Holocaust (book and CD-ROM), and the Student Learning Site web presentation on the Holocaust. In June 2000, William joined the staff of Museum’s Education Division.