WWII in Germany...

[Tiger]

Why did Hitler even want to kill Jews? Seriously.

Politics mostly. At the time, much of Germany's upper class consisted of Jews. Germany was ripe for the deceiving in this regard as the loss of WWI had left them broke and powerless. Hitler relied on this fact to help boost his popularity in the political arena, not to mention using theological rhetoric to justify it.

Scary.

Yeah, he also wanted to put the blame of the economic crisis in Germany (that happened right after WW1) on them. People usually don't like blaming themselves, so Hitler found them a scapegoat.

[i3670]

We must also remember that racism and antisemitism was widespread throughout the world before and during that time period.

[Alardem]

Why does any asshole want to do nasty things to a scapegoat? Because [insert reason here]

Sad thing is, we shouldn't think of the Holocaust as unique as that diminishes the value placed on current genocides. Hitler himself called back to the atrocities of the Ottoman Empire when he said "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" in preparing to slaughter the Poles.

[VaeVictis]

Why does any asshole want to do nasty things to a scapegoat? Because [insert reason here]

Sad thing is, we shouldn't think of the Holocaust as unique as that diminishes the value placed on current genocides. Hitler himself called back to the atrocities of the Ottoman Empire when he said "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" in preparing to slaughter the Poles.

Very true. Rwanda, the Native Americans, even the eugenics movement. Trod under history and forgotten for the most part.
While the German Holocaust wasn't unique, it was one the captured the attention of the world at large.