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Role of the Einsatzgruppen
As German forces overran the western territories of the USSR in June and July 1941 - the Einsatzgruppen were sent in to eliminate communist officials, Red Army commissars, partisans and the ‘Jewish-Bolshevist intelligentsia’
Activities of the Einsatzgruppen
Their activities went far beyond their original remit
They carried out numerous mass killings of Soviet Jews in the second half of 1941
Possibly half a million Soviet Jews were killed by the Einsatzgruppen in Jule and July 1941
Who made up the Einsatzgruppen
Were temporary units made up of police and regular troops commanded by men from the Gestapo, the SD and the Criminal Police under the overall direction of the SS
Einsatzgruppen had been in operation before 1941
Previous operations of the Einsatzgruppen
Heydrich and the RSHA organised Special Groups in 1938 and 1939 to secure government buildings and to seize official files at the time of the Anschluss (union) with Austria and when Germany occupied Prague
Were used in support of the 1939 invasion of Poland
Involved in ‘special actions’ against Jews and many Poles
Einsatzgruppen and the ethnic cleansing of western Poland
The Einsatzgruppen played an important role in the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the territories in western Poland that were incorporated into Greater Germany
Estimated that 7,000 Jews were killed in Poland in 1939
Believed that the Einsatzgruppen in Poland killed 15,000 people including Jews and ‘intelligentsia’ members
Einsatzgruppen in the USSR and surrounding states
Four Einsatzgruppen, of between 600 and 1,000 men followed the first wave of the Germany army as it swept into the USSR
Sent special groups A, B, C and D deeper into the USSR until it was overran
Supported by police reserve units - the total number of men involved in the mass killing of Jews and communist party officials now rose to 40,000 men
Jewish women and children were now being shot
Einsatzgruppen was also supported by auxiliary groups
Some groups restricted killings of Jews to the ‘intelligentsia’ and partisans
In other areas they were set on killing as many Jews as possible
In the Baltic States, Special Group A shot 250,000 groups in 1941 - in the same period, Special Group B shot 45,000
Setup of the Jewish ghettos
Nazis saw Jewish ghettos as the solution to huge Jewish populations that were displaced by military conquest
February 1940 - First ghetto was set up in Lodz, Poland - second biggest city in the country
Around 320,000 Jews living in the city
What the first ghettos were like
Ghetto in Lodz was set up in a single day with barricades
Later Jews had to build a surrounding wall
Remaining Jews formed into labour gangs and kept under guard
The Jewish Council of Elders was given responsibility for food, health, finance, security, accommodation and registration
Living conditions of the first ghettos
Jews sent there had their homes confiscated
Most sold their valuables to survive
Amount of food, medical survives and other goods that entered the ghettos was restricted
6 people shared an average room, 15 people lived in an average apartment
Few homes had running water - no economic links to outside world
Made food and fuel scarce
Lots of spreading of disease
Jewish organisations within the Ghettos
There was a black market for food smuggled into the ghettos from the outside
Jewish leaders organised prayers and religious festivals - despite being banned by the Nazis
Ghettos had illegal schools and printing presses
Most Jewish elders in authority positions acted responsibly, altohugh some were accused of corruption / collaborating with the Nazis
The Warsaw Ghetto
The largest ghetto established in Poland - in the capital city, Warsaw - Jews had to pay for its construction costs
November 1940 - the ghetto was completely sealed off from the rest of the city
More than 400,000 Jews were concentrated there and more Jews and Gypsies were forced out of the countryside and into the ghetto
Richer Jews were housed in the ‘small ghetto’, the rest in a ‘large ghetto’ which wasn’t large in reality + was overcrowded
Germans in occupied Poland were consuming 2,310 calories a day - in Warsaw 1940, Poles received 634, Jews received 300 - Malnutrition and overcrowding led to disease outbreak - mainly typhus
More than 100,000 died in the ghetto in 1940-41, almost all the remainder died in death camps
Were the ghettos the solution to the ‘Jewish problem’
The Nazis never saw the ghettos as a long term solution to the ‘Jewish problem’
The conditions in the ghettos and work gangs did however give insight into the fate intended for the Jews
The ghettos were designed to ensure that Jews died in large numbers of starvation, cold and disease
Many were worked to death carrying out forced labour for the Nazis
In total around 500,000 Jews died in the ghettos
The Nazi-Soviet Pact
August 1939
Concluded by Hitler and Stalin - leader of the communist USSR
Guaranteed that the USSR would not intervene when Germany invaded Poland
The Pact was only ever intended to be temporary
Operation Barbarossa
The Nazi-Soviet Pact was only ever intended to be a temporary truce
In October 1940, Hitler started detailed planning for the conquest of the USSR
Launched Operation Barbarossa in June 1941
German armies swept across USSR
Occupied territories in eastern Poland, the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia), western Russia and Ukraine
Made complete victor seem certain
Impact of German invasion of the USSR on Jewish policy
The German invasion of western USSR in 1941 brought more than 3 million Soviet Jews under German control
Before the invasion even launched, Hitler issued the ‘elimination’ of the ‘Bolshevik-Jewish intelligentsia’
This made it clear that in numerous directives that the war was to be one of ‘extermination’ of Germany’s racial enemies
There was no explicit Hitler order in June 1941 to kill all Soviet Jews - however there was an atmosphere in which troops saw this as the overall mission
July 1941 - Goering issued an order to kill communist commissars and Jewish sympathisers
Isolating the Jews from German society by late 1941
Radio sets confiscated from Jews - banned from buying radios in November 1939
Banned from buying chocolate in December 1939
1940, Jews were excluded from wartime rationing of clothing and shoes
July - order limited them to entering shops at restricted times only (in Berlin was 4pm-5pm)
1941 - regulations tightened to require Jews to have a police permit to travel
December 1941 - compelled Jews in Germany to wear the yellow Star of David - already the case with Jews in occupied territories
How the Madagascar Plan started
The idea of removing Europe’s Jews to the island Madagascar was first promoted by French anti-Semites in the late 1930s
However at this time was a wild idea with little / no prospect of becoming reality
However Germany’s rapid conquest of France in May-June 1940 changed this
The foreign ministry’s department for Internal German Affairs proposed that Madagascar should be taken away from France to become a German mandate
Vichy, France would be responsible for resettlng the French population there of 25,000 to make room for Jews in Madagascar
Nazis plan for sending Jews to Madagascar
The Nazis planned to send 4 million Jews to Madagascar
In the first phase - farmers, construction workers and artisans up to the age of 45 would be sent out to get the island ready to receive the influx of Jews
Remaining Jewish property in Europe would finance initial costs
Living conditions of Madagascar were intended to be harsh, leading in the long term to the elimination of Jews by ‘natural wastage’
Natural wastage meaning
The action or process of losing or destroying something by using it carelessly or extravagantly
Problems with Adolf Eichmann’s schemes towards Jews
Eichmann had been working on schemes for mass emigration of Jews to Palestine
However there were practical problems about Palestine, which was a small territory under British rule and not far from Europe
Madagascar was far away, offered infinitely more space and there were no serious political problems that the Plan needed working around
How the Madagascar Plan failed
The Madagascar Plan seemed viable in the late summer / early autumn of 1940
Germany’s failure to end the war with Britain meant that the British Royal Navy would be able to disrupt the mass transportation of Jews by sea to Madagascar
By October 1940, Hitler was already planning for Operation Barbarossa
Maagascar Plan was shelved in favour of the plan to send Europe’s Jews deep into Siberia once the conquest fo the USSR was complete
What did the Madagascar Plan show
What the plan actually showed about Nazi intentions towards the Jews in 1940 is debatable
On one hand - it proves that the decision to exterminate all Jews had not been made at this point
As all kinds of different plans were under consideration - ‘Final solution’ was not yet clear
On the other hand - the driving force behind the Plan was the determination to remove the Jews from Europe to somewhere where they’d slowly die off through harsh conditions
The Plan could be regarded as proof that the long-term goal of sending the Jews to die somewhere far away was fixed, but the location was not.
Summary of the war against Poland
September 1939
The German conquest of Poland provided the regime with new territories in which Jews could be settled
Also brought more Jews under Nazi rule
What the war against Poland provided the Nazi regime with
A national emergency - enabled them to act with more dictatorial power and in greater secrecy
A propaganda machine to bring about patriotism and hatred of Germany’s enemies
New territories to the Reich under the expanding bureaucratic power of the SS
A way for the Germanisation of the occupied territories in Poland and a ‘Jew-free’ Nazi empire
Changes made to Poland during the German war against them
The country was split up into three separate areas
Eastern Poland - occupied by USSR - in accordance with the Nazi-Soviet Pact in August 1939
Western Poland - incorporated into the German Reich and placed under the rule of Nazi Gauleiters
Remaining areas - became the ‘General Government’ of Poland - under Nazi Governor Hans Frank
The Nazi master plan was to create a Lebensraum for ethnic Germans by driving Poles and Jews out of West Prussia and the Warthegau so that ‘empty’ lands could be completely ‘Germanised’
The ‘General Government’ of Poland
The Nazis intended to use the General Government district as a dumping ground for Poles and Jews displaced from the areas that were to be colonised by ethnic Germans
A reservation was established to contain the deported Poles and Jews
The Nazis deliberately intended for the conditions in the reservation to be so bad that most of the people deported there would die
Nazi control of Jews after the war against Poland
After the conquest of Poland, the number of Jews under Nazi control increased
According to the official census in Poland in 1931, there were 3,115,000 Jews in Poland, of whom 61% were in the territory occupied by Germany at the end of 1939
Deportation of Jews out of Poland
October 1939 - Muller instructed the head of the Central Agency for Jewish Emigration to arrange the deportation of 70,000-80,000 Jews from the district of Katowice in Germanised Poland
At the same time, Hitler demanded the deportation of 300,000 Jews from Germany and the removal of all Jews from Vienna - would prove to be impossible to implement this order as problems of dealing with Jews already in Poland were so pressing
Between November 1939 and Feb 1940, the SS attempted to deport 1 million people eastwards - 550,000 were Jews
Transported to the General Government where they faced terrible conditions - authorities couldn’t cope with mass deportations
Governor Hans Frank complained to his supervisors in Berlin that the General Government could not take any more Jews - led to the Madagascar Plan
Emigration 1938-41
From the early days of the Nazi movement, Hitler spoke of making Germany ‘Judenfrei’ - Jew free
Culmination of this ideology was the mass killings of the Holocaust
Byt the first method of achieving Judenfrei was through voluntary emigration
This became forced emigration as the war approached and Nazi regime moved to more radical policies
Nazi leadership saw emigration as the ‘solution to the Jewish problem’
Voluntary emigration
1933, 37,000 Jews left Germany, including many leading scientists like Albert Einstein
Overall, 150,000 Jews voluntarily left Germany between March 1933 and November 1938
The question whether to leave or stay was agonising and Jews frequently disagreed on this
Nazi encouragement of voluntary emigration
Nazis both encouraged Jews to emigrate yet threatened to confiscate some of their assets
Decision to leave was easier for Jews with easily-transferable skills, and those with family in another country
Nazis were also willing to encourage Zionists to emigrate to Palestine, then under British rule
However majority of German Jews weren’t Zionists and didn’t choose to do this
Zionism - the movement for the return of Jewish people to their historic homeland in Palestine
German Jews’ views on voluntary emigration
Most German Jews, especially the older generation, felt mainly German and wanted to stay
Many Jews believed the Nazi persecution was another example of past anti-Semitism that had simply come and gone
Problems with voluntary emigration
It was difficult to find foreign countries willing to accept large numbers of Jews
As countries had begun to raise barriers to limit Jewish immigration
Palestine could only recieve a small number of Jews, as the British who controlled the country were worried about Arab hostility to mass Jewish immigration
Nazis policies towards this were contradictory, they pressured people to emigrate, but at the same time made it harder for them to do so by stripping them of their wealth
Reichkristallnacht’s role in voluntary emigration
Made the voluntary emigration situation more urgent
Jews now desperately sought refuge from the dangers they now faced in Germany
Jewish parents were keen to get their children out of Germany
9,000 Jewish children were sent to Britain in 1938-39
Controlled emigration
Controlling emigration was a key policy aim of the Nazi regime
After the Anschluss in March 1938, Reinhard Heydrich used Austria as a lab for developing SS policy
The Central Office for Jewish Emigration was set up - 45,000 of Austria’s 180,000 Jews had been forced to emigrate
The illegal seizure of Jewish property was used to fund the emigration of poorer Jews
Heydrich took charch of the Reich Office for Jewish Emigration - and promoted the emigration of Jews
Goering’s claims to have jurisdiction over Jewish affairs were bypassed
SD set about amalgamating all Jewish organisations into a single ‘Reich Association of the Jews in Germany’
What was the Reichkristallnacht
The Night of the Broken Glass
9-10 November
Jewish homes and businesses were looted and vandalised, synagogues were set ablaze
Thousands of Jews were arrested, beaten up and killed
Reichkristallnacht pogrom
Pogrom - an organised massacre of an ethnic group
The Reichkristallnacht pogrom can be viewed as an uncontrolled outporing of radical anti-Semitism, partly supported by German public opinion
Nazi propaganda anounced that the ‘National Soul has boiled over’
In the days after the pogrom, Hitler gave Goering a coordinating role to ‘sort things out’
Orchestrating of the Reichkristallnacht
Was orchestrated by the Nazi leadership
The majority of those involved in the violence and vandalism were in reality SA and SS men who were instructed not to wear uniforms
Chief instigator was Goebbels
Gave instructions to Nazi officials in the regions to organise the violence and vandalism - but to make it appear that it wasn’t organised by the Nazi party
The role the murder of Ernst vom Rath
The Nazis seized the opportunity presented by the murder of vom Rath on November 9th
Rath was a minor German official in Paris who was killed by a Polish Jew angry at the treatment of his parents by the Nazi regime
The killing of vom Rath was more an excuse for unleashing anti-Jewish terror than the real cause
Violence of the Reichkristallnacht
91 Jews were killed and thousands were injured
There was looting of cash, silver, jewellery and artwork
Damage to shops and businesses amounted to millions of marks
Orders from the SS to the police was to not intervene against demonstrators
Ordered to place 20,000-30,000 Jews in ‘preventive’ detention
Fire brigades did nothing and watched as synagogues burned to the ground - but ensured these fires spread to other buildings
Views of the Reichkristallnacht in Germany
The anti-Jewish violence of November 1938 was not met with universal approval in Germany
Some citizens joined in with the violence and looting alongside SA thugs who were equipped with weapons
However many Germs were horrified by the destruction
In Leipzig - American consul reported that silent crowds of locals were ‘aghast’ at the sights of burning synagogues and looted shops the next morning
A British official in Berlin claimed ‘he had not met a single German from any walk of life who does not disapprove to some degree’
Germans understood that the violence was not spontaneous but organised by the state
Aftermath of the Reichkristallnacht
Marked a turning point for Jews in Nazi Germany
Goering pronounced ‘now the gloves are off’
In the aftermath, Goering prevented insurance companies from paying out compensation to Jewish victims
the ‘Decree for the Restoration of the Street Scene’ in relation to Jewish business meant that the Jews had to pay for repairs
The Jewish community were also made to make a 1 billion Reichsmark payment in compensation for the disruption to the Jewish economy
The Decree Excluding Jews from German Economic Life was issued on 12 November
The Aryanisation of Jewish businesses was accelerated
What was the Anchluss with Austria
Union between Germany and Austria
Originally banned under the Treaty of Versailles The Anschluss was the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in March 1938, which was prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles. This event significantly increased Germany's territory and was a crucial step in Hitler's expansionist policies.
How Austrians viewed the Anschluss
Welcomed enthusiastically
Takeover of Austria was achieved without a shot being fired
However originally the Austrian government called a plebiscite in March 1938, to show that majority of Austrians were against the union
However when Britain, Italy and France didn’t intervene to help Austrian independence, the Austrian government resigned, and Hitler ordered the Germman army to invade
Hitler’s view on the Anschluss
Caused him by 1938 to be confident that Germany was ready for war - and that the union with Austria mean the Allied powers lacked the resolve to act against him
After his ‘bloodless victory’ in Austria, his next target was Czechoslovakia
Hitler’s occupation of Czechoslovakia
Country included a German minority living in an area called the Sudetenland
September 1938 - Hitler risked war with Britain and France after demanding this land to be handed over to Germany
He again achieved a ‘bloodless victory’ after Britain and France agreed to the German takeover
Achieved occupying the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939
The Nazi-Soviet Pact
August 1939
Non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia
Within this, the USSR agreed not to oppose the German invasion of Poland
German invasion of Poland followed on 1 September 1939 - which led to war between Germany, and Britain and France two days later
Anschluss’s role in removing Jews from businesses
Four Year Plan by late 1937 was beginning to improve the economic and military situation in Germany
Schact had urged strongly against anti-Semitism in the economic field as he did not want to alienate foreign investers
However Goering - in charge of the Plan, did not care for foreign opinion, wanted to remove Jews from businesses quickly
The occupation of Austria in March 1938 led to a repad acceleration of economic campaigns against Jews
As the Nazis in Austria were allowed to act against Jews without constraint
Prompted Goering to take more economic radical action in Germany itself
April 1938 Decree of Registration of Jewish Property
Provided for the confiscation of all Jewish-owned property worth more than 5,000 marks
Marked the start of the Aryanisation (removing Jews and non-Aryans from key aspects of Germany’s cultural and economic life) of Jewish property and businesses
By April 1939 (year after Decree), 40,000 Jewish-owned businesses went down to 8,000
Further legalisation of banning Jewish work within the economy
Jews were banned from work as travelling salesmen, security guards, travel agents and estate agents
30,000 Jewish travelling salesmen lost their jobs
1938 - Jewish lost their entitlement to public welfare
Increasing number of Jewish unemployment resulted in Jews depending on charities set up by the Jewish community - i.e the Central Institution for Jewish Economic Aid
Jewish passports and legal names after October 1938
Passports of German Jews had to be stamped with a large ‘J’
Meant to make Jews easily identifiable and strip them of their individuality
Resulted in law in 1939 - Jews that were deemed as having non-Jewish names had to change them
Jewish women had to take the name ‘Sarah’ and men had to take the name ‘Israel’
Only in 1941 did Jews have to wear a yellow star in public
Discrimination against Jews in everyday life
Pubs and businesses put up signs saying Jews were not welcome
Pro-Nazi activists took the lead in pushing for anti-Jewish measures in local schools, village committees and almost all areas of public life
Example of discrimination in Germany
14 July 1935 - Anti-Jewish demonstrations in swimming pools in Heigenbruken
Resulted in the Mayor issuing a ban on Jews using the swimming pool
Effectiveness of anti-Jewish signs
Evidence suggests these signs were displayed to keep officials happy rather than actually stopping Jews from using establishments
In some pubs, Jewish customers were assured signs were for show and to just ignore it
German views on discrimination of Jews
Some Germans were embarrassed by the overt discrimination
Some people were reluctnt to break of from family doctors they had relied on for years
Appalled to see literary classics seen as Jewish purged from local libraries
When Nazi activists in Leipzig demanded the removal of a statue of a Jewish composer, Germans and the local party boss blocked the proposal
However open opposition to the discrimination was rare
Most people who were unhappy about the discrimination kept their heads down and retreated to ‘internal exile’
What were the Nuremberg Laws
Laws used by the Nazi regime to extend the anti-Semitic legalisation
Announced at the annual party rally at Nuremberg
What Nuremberg Laws were introduced
Introduced on 15 September
Reich Citizenship Law - meant someone could be a German citizen only if they had purely German blood - Jews and non-Aryans were classified as ‘subjects’ and had less rights
The Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour - outlawed marriage between Aryans and non-Aryans, illegal for German citizens to marry Jews, and for Jews to have any sexual relations with a German citizen
Impact of the Nuremberg Laws
Laws made the enforcing of anti-Semitism a major concern of civil servants, judges and the Gestapo
Extension of the Nuremberg Laws
Extended to cover almost any physical contact between Jews and Aryans
Aryan women were pressured to leave their Jewish husbands, were told through propaganda that their Jewish husbands who had lost their jobs through anti-Semitic legalisation would be a burden
Punishments were harsh for relationships that continued - sent to concentration camps if they broke the Law of the Protection of German Blood and Honour
November 1935 First Supplementary Decree on the Reich Citizenship Law
Law that defined what constituted a ‘full Jew’
Was someone who had 3 Jewish grandparents, or had two Jewish grandparents and was married to a Jew
‘Half Jews’ - labelled Mischlinge (meaning crossbreed)
However this law was difficult to interpret as the definition of a Jew was based on the number of Jewish grandparents
In many cases, Jews or Jewish grandparents had converted to Christianity - this confused situation meant that legal classifications were inconsistent
Position of Jews after the Nuremberg Laws
Position of Jews without the rights of citizenship left them with obligations to the state, yet no political rights and powerless against the Nazi regime
Possessing documentary proof of a person’s ancestry became a high priority for many
Many non-practising Jews tried to prove their Aryan ancestry by acquiring falsified documents on black markets
Further discrimination by local authorities and private companies who would not employ Jews
Mischlinge were able to continue their lives ‘normally’ and could even serve in lower ranks of the military
Anti-Semitic laws against legal profession
Jewish lawyers made up about 16% of Germany’s legal profession - often working in family firms
Of the non-Aryan lawyers practising in 1933, 60% were able to continue working in spite of the new regulations
In the years that followed, the regime introduced stricter regulations to try and close these ‘loopholes’
The exclusion of lawyers was a gradual process over several years
Anti-Semitic laws against doctors
More than 10 of German doctors were Jews
They were attacked by Nazi propaganda as a ‘danger to German society’
Some local authorities began to remove Jewish doctors from their posts
Anti-Semitic propaganda against Jewish doctors treating Aryans was filled with lurid stories about malicious actions supposedly carried out by Jewish doctors
The Nazi regime announced a ban on Jewish doctors in April 1933
However in reality many Jewish doctors carried on their normal practice several years after then 1933 ban
Anti-Semitic laws against education
April 1933 - Law against Overcrowding of German Schools and Universities restricted the number of Jewish children who could attend state schools and universities
Propaganda - said Aryans would be given more attention instead of wasting this on pupils who would ‘grow up to be enemies of Germany’
Propaganda also stressed the danger that a well educated Jew was a greater threat than one who’s uneducated
The April 1933 Law’s process was not complete until 1938
Many Jewish professors and teachers lost their jobs and these were seized by German academics
Anti-Semitic laws against the press
October 1933 - the Reich Press Law enabled the regime to apply strict censorship and close down publications they disliked
Jews had a prominent role in journalism and publishing in Weimar Germany - but the Press Law effectively silenced the large number of Jewish journalists and editors
Many of these had to leave the country
Closing down of press wasn’t just laws and regulations, also involved instances of violence and intimidation
The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service
April 1933
This required Jews to by dismissed from Civil Service
Problems with the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service law
Was not straightforward, as there was no objective, scientific definition of who was racially Jewish according to physical characteristics or blood group
However under this 1933 law, people were considered ‘non-Aryan’ if either of their parents or either of their grandparents were Jewish
How President Hindenburg hindered the 1933 Civil Service Laws
He insisted on exempting from this law German Jews who had served in the First World War and for those whose fathers had been killed in the war
Hitler reluctantly accepted this as a ‘political necessity’ and the exemption was kept in place until after Hindenburg’s death in 1934
These exemptions lessened the Law’s impact as it applied to up to 2 thirds of Jews in Civil Service
Impact of the 1933 Civil Service Law
The Civil Service Law had a devastating economic and psychological impact on middle-class Jews in Germany
This law contributed to the increasing levels of Jewish emigration
In 1933, 37,000 Jews left Germany
The start of the boycott of Jewish shops
Started on April 1st 1933
Hitler claimed this action was a justified retaliation against Jews in Germany and abroad who called for a boycott on German goods
Propaganda campaigns within the boycott
Organised by Goebbel to maximise the impact of the boycott
Carried out by gangs of brown-shirted SA men
SA’s role in the boycott
SA stood outside Jewish businesses to intimidate those who would be customers
Shops were the main target, but SA also intimidated Jewish doctors and lawyers
Disrupted court proceedings involving Jewish lawyers and judges in Berlin
SA attacked Jewish lawyers in the street and had their legal robes stripped
Similar attacks happened to Jewish doctors, school teachers and university lecturers.
Was the boycott successful
Made a big public impact and featured prominently in news in both Germany and foreign countries
However was unclear in Germany what was a ‘Jewish’ business and what wasn’t - many were half-Jewish or half-German in ownership or controlled foreignally
A number of German citizens still used Jewish shops to show thei disapproval of Nazi policies
Boycott was abandoned after one day - even though the SA intended for it to last
What did the boycott show
Showed the unleashing of Nazi violence and the aggressive new dictatorship just a week after the passing of the Enabling Act
Hitler’s view on the shop boycott
Hitler wasn’t enthusiastic about a ‘revolution from below’, bringing chaos in Germany
Wanted to keep SA under control - was concerned about adverse reactions from conservative allies in Germany or from foreign public opinion
Possible that Hitler only intended for the boycott to be a brief affair
In order to avoid instablity among the German citizens whilst he carried out his ‘legal revolution’
Arguably for Hitler anti-Semitic violence was a two-edged sword - just enough and the Nazis could claim that only they could maintain order in an unstable Germany
However too much and Hitler’s position might be threatened by the conservative elites whom he depended on
Growing persecution of Roma and Sinti
There was growing persecution of Germany’s 30,000 gypsies (Roma and Sinti people), known in Germany as Zigeuner
Were facing legal discrimination well before 1933
Local authorities frequently harassed them into moving away - however Nazis made the persecution much more systematic
Nuremburg Laws’ application to Gypsies
1935 - legal experts applied these to the Gypsies - despite not being specifically mentioned in the laws
The SS towards the Gypsies
The SS set up a new Reich Central Office for the Fight Against the Gypsy Nuisance
Ritter - psychologist who became the ‘scientific adviser’ to the SS and Ministry of Health
Using his criteria, the SS began the process of locating Gypsies
Said that Gypsies were a threat to Aryan racial purity as they had become fully integrated into German society
1938 policies towards the Roma and Sinti
December 1938 - Himmler issued a Decree for the Struggle against the Gypsy Plague, which led to a more systematic classification of Gypsies
After the war broke out in 1939, Gypsies were deported from Germany to Poland.
Religious sects in Nazi Germany
There were a number of Christian sects that had become established by the time the Nazis had come to power
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists, Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists and members of the New Apostolic Church
Nazi views towards the religious sects
Most of these sects had international links
This had aroused Nazi suspicions about their loyalties, most were banned by the regime in November 1933
However some were lifted when they demonstrated cooperation with the regime
Policies towards Jehovah’s Witnesses
Were the only religious group to show uncompromising hostility to the Nazi State
Around 30,000 members in German in 1933
Their belief that they could only obey Jehovah (God) led them in conflict with the regime as they refused to take a loyalty oath to Hitler, participate in parades, give the Hitler salute or accept conscription
Many were arrested. where in prison they still disobeyed orders
By 1945, around 10,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses had been imprisoned and many had died
Regime failed to break their resistance
Policies towards Seventh-Day Adventists
Gave a positive welcome to the Nazi regime - described it as Germany’s rebirth
The ban on the sect was removed within two weeks as they displayed the swastika flag in their churches, and ended services with ‘Heil Hitler’
They were a welfare organisation, and provided aid - which they excluded asocials, Jews and other ‘race enemies’ when they needed help
Policies towards other sects
Other sects made the necessary compromises with the regime to ensure their survival
The Mormons’ welfare organisation, like the Seventh-Day Adventists, selected its recipients according to Nazi criteria
The New Apostolic Church incorporated SS and SA flags into its church parades
Who were asocials
Term used by Nazis to describe people who were deemed to be social outcasts
Included criminals, the ‘work shy’, tramps, beggars, alcoholics, prostitutes, homosexuals and juvenile delinquents
Nazi policies introduce tough measures against them and gives the police more power to enforce them
Policies towards asocials
September 1933 - regime began a mass round-up of ‘tramps and beggars’, many were young homeless, unemployed people
Nazis did not have enough space in concentration camps to house all of these people (roughly 300,000-500,000)
Nazis began to differentiate between ‘orderly’ and ‘disorderly’ homeless - orderly were fit to work, no convictions, disorderly were sen as criminals and sent to camps
1936 - before the Olympics in Berlin, the police rounded up large numbers of ‘tramps and beggars’ from the streets in order to create an image of a dynamic society to the rest of the world
1936 - an ‘asocial colony’ was set up - known as Hashude, in northern Germany - with the aim of re-educating asocials so they can be integrated into society
1938 - even bigger round-up of beggars - most were send to Buchenwald concentration camps and few survived the harsh treatment
Nazi views of homosexuals + the beginning of policies towards them
Homosexuality was outlawed in Germany before 1933
Most Nazis viewed homosexuals as degenerate, perverted and a threat to the racial health of German people
1933 - The beginning of a Nazi purge of homosexual organisations and literature - clubs were closed down, organisations for gay people were banned and gay publications were outlawed
May 1933 - Nazi students attacked the Institute of Sex Research (a gay organisation), and burned its library
They also seized the institute’s list of names and addresses of gay people - how the persecution of gay people began
1934-35 policies towards the homosexuals
1934 - the Gestapo began to compile lists of gay people
In the same year, the SS eliminated Rohm and other leaders of the Nazi SA who were homosexuals
1935 - the law of homosexuality was amended to widen the definition of homosexuality and to impose large penalties on those convicted
After the law was changed - over 22,000 men were arrested and imprisoned between 1936 and 1938
1936-38 policies towards the homosexuals
1936 - Himmler created the Reich Office for the Combating of Homosexuality and Abortion
100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality - 50,000 of which were convicted
Some held in camps or rearrested by the Gestapo or SS even after serving time in prison
Many imprisoned were subjected to ‘voluntary castration’ to ‘cure’ them of their’ perversion’
60% of gay prisoners died in the camps
Lesbians did not suffer the same degree of persecution as they were considered to be ‘asocial’ rather than degenerate
Disabled people in Nazi ideiology
Disabled people were considered to be ‘biological outsiders’ from the Volksgemeinschaft because their hereditary conditions made them a threat to the future of the Aryan race
Nazi thinking on the issue of disability borrowed much from the ‘science’ of eugenics
Eugenics
The unscientific and racist idea that the mental and physical characteristics of the human race can be ‘improved’ by controlling who can have children - removing undesirable characteristics
Theory became more prominent in Germany after the First World War
Sterilisation
Even before the Nazis came to power, the State government of Prussia had drawn up a draft law to allow the voluntary sterilisation of those with hereditary conditions
1933 - Nazis took this further by introducing the Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Diseased Progeny (Sterilisation Law) - introduced compulsory sterilisation for certain categories of ‘inferiors’
Applied to schizophrenia, manic-depressive illness, epilepsy, chronic alcoholism, hereditary blindness and deafness, and severe physical malformation
Amendments to the 1933 Sterilisation Law
Later amendments included permitted sterilisation of children over 10 years, and the use of force to carry it out after 14 years, with no right to legal representation
1935 - law was amended to permit abortions in cases where those deemed suitable for sterilisation were already pregnant
1936 - sterilisation of women over 38 was introduced (due to higher risk of children being born with disabilities)
However there was also a ban on abortion and contraception for Aryan women and girls in attempt to increase the birth rate
Health courts
Decisions about sterilisation were made at the Hereditary Health Courts
Most judges were in favour of sterilisation - decision process often took 10 minutes
60% of those sterilised were ‘feeble-minded’ , and either suffering from idiocy, (had an IQ of 0-19), or imbecility (IQ of 20-49)
During the Third Reich, 400,000 people were sterilised
‘Euthanasia’
October 1939, the regime had authorised ‘euthanasia’ for people with mental health conditions, learning disabilities and physical disabilities - regarded by Nazis as an ‘unproductive burden’ on German resources
Nazi propaganda had a recurring theme of the ‘solution’ to the ‘burden’ of these people was the legalisation of putting mentally and physically disabled children to be ‘mercifully’ put to death and so ‘relieve the burden on the national community’
Beginning of ‘euthanasia programmes’
The first ‘euthanasia programme’ for disabled children originated from one specific case of a badly disabled child in 1939 - the father wrote to Hitler asking for his child to be put to sleep
Hitler then approved the report and SS doctor Karl Brandt euthanised the child
Hitler issued a directive to protect the prosecution of doctors who carried out ‘mercy killings’
The catalyst of the euthanasia programme
Children were either starved or given lethal injections
More than 5,000 innocent children - deemed ‘incurable’ by the Nazis, were killed this way
Program was then authorised to extend to adults
The T4 programme
From October 1939 - the euthanasia programme was rapidly expanding and moved to a headquarters in Berlin (Tiergarten 4)
The end of the T4 programme
By 1941, rumours about the ‘euthanasia’ policy and aroused opposition
One public official filed a complaint with the Reich Justice Ministry and an accusation of murder - however these got nowhere
From July 1940 there were a series of protests against this programme by the Churches
Pastor Braune who was involved was arrested in August by the Gestapo
2 December 1940 - official statement from Rome stated the direct killing of people with hereditary conditions was against ‘the natural and positive law of God’
Catholic Archbishop Galen of Munster preached a sermon - that was printed and widely distributed
This sparked further protests - which alarmed the Nazi regime
24 August 1941 - Hilter halted the programme
Social Darwinism and race theory
Ideas of Social Darwinism were incorporated into Nazi ideology
Hitler’s obsession with this ‘biological struggle’ between races fitted with his view of the Jews
Hitler viewed humanity as consisting of a hierarchy of races: the Jews, black people and Slavics were inferior races while the master race (the Herrenvolk) was the Aryan people of Northern Europe
Hitler believed that it was the destiny of Aryans to rule over the inferior races - meaning Hitler’s concept of Social Darwinism was on an all-or-nothing basis - Himmler’s justification of killing Jewish was that ‘the germ had to be eliminated’, and Jews were to be treated as posing a deadly threat to the German folk
Race theory and marriage
A key Nazi idea was the need to ‘purify’ the stronger races by eliminating the ‘germs’ that threatened to poison them through intermarriage with so-called ‘degenerate’ (lacking expected qualities) races
In order to ensure their success in this racial struggle, it was vital for Aryans to maintain their ‘racial purity’.
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