All 4 Uses

persecution
in
The Silver Music Box
(Auto-generated)

Our people have always been persecuted, have they not?†
p. 106.2

persecuted = treated very badly and unfairly
I'm sorry, but you must understand: the disturbance Emma was creating would have been terribly disruptive for the other children, especially since they would themselves have been feeling abandoned—they were far too young to understand that their parents had saved them from persecution and even death by their sacrifice.†
p. 198.5

persecution = very bad and unfair treatment
We dreamed of our new life in Cape Town, sure the years of deprivation and persecution would finally be behind us.†
p. 241.3 *
On November 23, I heard on the radio that the British government had agreed to take in ten thousand persecuted children.†
p. 242.6

persecuted = treated very badly and unfairly

Definitions:

(1) (persecution)
very bad and unfair treatment of others -- often because of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or political beliefs
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)