In all occupied lands, the Nazis carried out large-scale reprisals against completely innocent and unarmed civilians, whenever a single German soldier was killed by partisans, or even when German property was attacked. In mass-murder actions against non-Jews, they also massacred 4 million unarmed Soviet prisoners-of-war, 1 million Polish civilians, and 1.5 million Yugoslav civilians. In May 1940, at two villages near Dunkirk, a total of 170 disarmed British prisoners-of-war were murdered in cold blood. In June 1944, at three villages near Caen, 70 disarmed Canadian prisoners-of-war were likewise murdered, by German SS troops.

An estimated 32 000 German civilians were executed between 1933 and 1945 for so-called "political" offences. Those killed included Conservatives, Socialists, Communists, Catholics, Protestants, writers, journalists and teachers. All over Europe, non-Jews who were discovered sheltering Jews were also shot. In each of the actions shown here, unarmed men,women and children, almost all non-Jews, were chosen as the victims of Nazi hatred and vengeance. Many of those killed were beaten to death by blows of rifle butts, burned to death after petrol had been poured over them and ignited while they were still alive, or stripped naked and then shot.

Those murdered at Klissura included 50 children under ten years of age. At Mikulino, all those killed were women patients in a mental hospital. In the Ardeatine caves in Rome, 253 Catholics and 70 Jews were murdered, among them many shopkeepers, students, lawyers and peddlers.