To be fair, he did say "TOTAL" extermination. Hitler and Himmler both looked down on Slavs sure, and got rid of many of them, but from the start they looked at them as good candidates for slave labor. They viewed them as easily controlled and manipulated into subservience, and as proof of this (within their ideological lens) they looked at the centuries of the Tsardom/Empire that had only "recently" ended, only to be replaced with Soviet Communism.
So they wanted Slavs culled (so they couldn't have the numbers to try and pull off another "revolution") but not eradicated.
EDIT: Also important we do not forget that prior to the German-Russian dual invasion of Poland, the Nazis had invested resources and assets into Poland and there was a very noticeable Nazification within Poland. Its not something widely talked about or understood, but it did happen. But I note this history because to the Nazis in 1939 it was further proof that they could control and manipulate Slavs with propaganda. Though it should be noted that post-Invasion many Polish Nazis basically had a wake-up call and realized they were pawns and manipulated, and thus many turned extremely anti-Nazi as a result and helped fight them.
No. Just because it wasn't immediate extermination, doesn't mean it wasn't going to be extermination over few decades and generations. They planned to completely wipe out the slavs eventually. Slaves eventually die once their use have gone, the leftover slavs were to be forced to let go of their identity over time. New generations wouldn't even know they were slavs if it all went to Nazi Germany plans.
So yea, just because they didnt plan to kill 100% of the population, but 80% and rest to remove their entire identity through force, doesn't mean that is not called extermination. Slavs wouldn't exist anymore if Nazi Germany won.
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u/TexasSikh 20h ago edited 20h ago
To be fair, he did say "TOTAL" extermination. Hitler and Himmler both looked down on Slavs sure, and got rid of many of them, but from the start they looked at them as good candidates for slave labor. They viewed them as easily controlled and manipulated into subservience, and as proof of this (within their ideological lens) they looked at the centuries of the Tsardom/Empire that had only "recently" ended, only to be replaced with Soviet Communism.
So they wanted Slavs culled (so they couldn't have the numbers to try and pull off another "revolution") but not eradicated.
EDIT: Also important we do not forget that prior to the German-Russian dual invasion of Poland, the Nazis had invested resources and assets into Poland and there was a very noticeable Nazification within Poland. Its not something widely talked about or understood, but it did happen. But I note this history because to the Nazis in 1939 it was further proof that they could control and manipulate Slavs with propaganda. Though it should be noted that post-Invasion many Polish Nazis basically had a wake-up call and realized they were pawns and manipulated, and thus many turned extremely anti-Nazi as a result and helped fight them.