Antisemitism in the Nazi state 1933-39

why was antisemitism already about

it took root in religious hostility from christians due to the murder of jesus, this hostility can be traced back through medieval europe however in 20th century germany it took a more racist and nationalist form

what social factors caused an increase in antisemitism

Jewish people became an easy target as rapid industrialisation and urbanisation took place, they were more easily identifiable due to them being immigrants having different features and traditions, they were also viewed as overly privileged as 16% of lawyers and 10% of doctors were Jewish so lower classes were more easily turned against them despite the majority of Jewish people being impoverished

what is the “science” behind antisemitism in Germany

social Darwinism, which created a concept of white supremacy where certain races ranked higher than others, this gave credibility and respectability to those who claimed Jewish people to be a parasitic and inferior race who would be the downfall of Germany

who were some famous antisemites who weren’t in politics

composer Richard Wagner who glorified German mythology and portrayed Jewish people as evil and Heinrich von Treitschke a leading historian who publicly claimed “the jews are our misfortune”

where did antisemitism begin in the Nazi party

Hitler was purely the product of an already hostile environment towards jewish people however he transcended regular antisemitism as he was obsessed with his hatred of the jewish people, going so far as to shape his political philosophy, antisemitism was the foundations of the NSDAP in hitler’s eyes however the poeple did not see it this way as although they supported the very vocal antisemite they voted for him due to the economy

what approach did the nazi party take to their antisemitic policies and what is this

they took a gradualist approach progressing slowly and changing legislation by degrees as to not cause backlash especially at the beginning as they wanted to leave no trace of antisemitism

what made the nazis realise they needed to take a legal route with their antisemitic opposition

on april 1st 1933 there was an unsuccessful 1 day boycott of jewish businesses where a member of the SA would prevent people from entering jewish owned shops, it received backlash and bad publicity making the nazis switch to a more subtle form of discrimination

what were the 4 big years for anti jewish legislation

1933, 1935, 1938 and 1939

what was the nazis first legal antisemitic action

on april 7th 1933 1 week after the boycott the law for the restoration of the professional civil service was introduced excluding jewish people from the government and civil service, later that year on october 4th jewish people were banned from being journalists

what was the largest antisemitic antisemitic piece of legislation that came into force

the 1935 Nuremberg race laws

what laws were included in the Nuremburg race laws and what did they do

the Reich citizenship act stated that a citizen of the Reich is a subject who is only of German blood which stripped Jewish Germans of their nationality and the law for protection of German blood and German honour prevented marriages and extramarital relations between a Jewish person and a German citizen

what antisemitic laws were introduced in 1938

4 laws were introduced starting on July 5th with a decree preventing Jewish people from working in medicine, following this on October 28th 17,000 polish Jews were expelled from Germany, on November 15th Jewish pupils were expelled from schools and universities and finally on December 3rd all Jewish businesses were forced to shut down

what antisemitic law was introduced in 1939

a curfew for Jewish people was introduced

how did the nazis cultivate the message of antisemitism

through propaganda and indoctrination led by propaganda minister Josef Goebbels, they censored every aspect of culture ‘associated with Jewish people, as well as this there was a range of antisemitic censorship released such as posters and signs saying “ jews are not wanted here”, newspapers such as der angriff der sturmer were released with a dedication to overly antisemitic articles including pornography and violence, as well as this many antisemitic films were released in cinemas such as the eternal jew and jud suss, there was also a large aspect of indoctrination surrounding the message to the youth which was taught in Hitler youth and schools were also to teach race theory

what were the nazis other tactics for jewish oppression

violence and terror and forced emigration

when did jewish violence and discrimination decrease

in 1936 due to the olympics in berlin Germany needed to avoid international alienation, as well as thus conservative forces still had a restraining influence as Schact expressed worries on the implications of antisemitic action on the economy, however violence promptly returned in 1938

what violence occurred in april 1938

the month prior Germany and Austria created a union which resulted in thousands of attacks on the 200,000 Jewish people living in Vienna

what violence occurred in November 1938

on november 9th and 10th there was a sudden violent attack against jewish people in germany, starting in berlin but s\[reading throughout the country many homes were destroyed, 100 died, 10,000 shops were destroyed, 200 synagogues were burnt, and 20,000 were transported to concentration camps, this night was dubbed kristallnacht or night of broken glass due to the shattered glass that covered the streets which the jews were forced to clean the next day by the SA

what was the excuse given for the night of broken glass

the assasination of earnst von rath, a german diplomat who had been killed by a jewish man herschel grunspan in paris on november 7th, goebbles also wanted to win hitlers favour back after having an affair with a czech actress and thought antisemitic violence was the way to do this

what was forced emigration

many jewish people decided to leave germany by their own choice once the dictatorship took power however in 1938 a new dimension to antisemitism developed in the form of forced emigration due to events in austria the central office for jewish property was established in vienna, jewish property was confiscated to finance the emigration of poor jews and within six months Adolf Eichmann head of the office had forced the emigration of 45,000 jews, its success then caught on in january 1939 with germany as goring was promoted to create the reich central office for jewish emigration run by eichmann

how many jewish people emigrated from germany due to forced emigration in 1933 and 1939

38,000 fled in 1933 and 78,000 fled in 1939 however the cumulative figure for Jewish emigrants was 257,000