Envy finds its ultimate expression in such virulent social movements as the anti-Semitism that accompanied the rise of Nazism in Germany. Through thrifty capitalistic practices over the centuries, many of the Jews in central Europe had achieved a level of affluence, while the irrational beliefs prevalent in other groups (in particular, the belief that charging interest was sinful ) had bound them to relative poverty. Consequently, Jewish people became a prime target for the envious and disgruntled. Very similar causes led to the slaughter of millions of kulaks in the Soviet Union.