In the world history and figure in

The Holocaust was one of the most brutal episodes in world history. Steve Paulsson explores the Nazi racial policies that culminated in the extermination of millions of men, women and children.


The Holocaust was the ***' assault on the Jews between 1933 and 1945. It culminated in what the *** called the 'Final Solution of the Jewish Question in Europe', in which six million Jews were murdered.

'The Jews figured in Nazi ideology as the arch-enemy of the Aryan race, and were targeted not merely for terror and repression but for complete extinction. The *** failed in this aim because they ran out of time, but they pursued it fanatically until their defeat in 1945.

The Jews were not the only victims of Nazism. It is estimated that as many as 15 million civilians were killed by this murderous and racist regime, including millions of Slavs and 'asiatics', 200,000 Gypsies and members of various other groups. Thousands of people, including Germans of African descent, were forcibly sterilised.
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The first sentence is flawed. Shouldn't it be 'episodes in the world history' ?

The other question is on the words ' The Jews figured in Nazi idelogy as ..........
What is the meaning of 'figure in' ?

I know the meaning of the words 'figure out' . For example, I can't figure Mr Micawber out.