Adolf Hitler aimed to eliminate groups of people.
Adolf Hitler . Hitler aimed to eliminate Jews from Germany and establish a New Order to counter what he saw as the injustice of the post-World War I international order dominated by Britain and France . Under Hitler 's leadership and racially motivated ideology , the Nazi regime was responsible for the genocide of at least 5.5 million Jews and millions of other victims whom he and his followers deemed Untermenschen ( `` sub-humans '' ) and socially undesirable . Hitler and the Nazi regime were also responsible for the killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war . The number of civilians killed during the Second World War was unprecedented in warfare , and constitutes the deadliest conflict in human history .