L4 - how nazi persecution of jews developed 1933-1936

when was the reich press law passed?

october 1933

consequences of the reich press law

• highly successful in removing public opposition to regime during consolidation of power

• applied strict censorship

• silenced majority of jewish journalists and editors

• closing of publications was followed by violence and intimidation

how did jews experience discrimination on a local scale? why?

• locally introduced laws enforcing segregation

• bans on using swimming pools or joining organisations

• designed to create isolation and humiliation for jews

how were local discriminatory laws undermined?

some places secretly continued to serve jews

what law attacked jewish children’s’ education? when?

• law against overcrowding of german schools

• april 1933

how did the nazis justify the law against overcrowding of german schools?

• restricted number of jewish children in schools

• told public resources were being wasted on jews

• told educated jews were a danger to the state

  • could control people through their access to education

how was the law against overcrowding of german schools limited in effect? shows what?

• created april 1933

• only achieved full exclusion of jewish children from education by 1938

• haphazard application

  • evidently not a priority of the nazis

how can goebbels’ propaganda campaign against jews be described?

“relentless” → claimed to be ‘re-educating’ the german people through posters, radio, film, newspapers and speeches

when did hitler call a boycott of jewish shops and businesses?

1st april 1933

what happened during the 1st april 1933 boycott?

• SA men stood outside businesses to intimidate germans into complying with the boycott

• many defied boycott

• call off after 1 day

why may the 1st april 1933 boycott have been an ultimate failure?

• hitler claimed it to be too successful → concerned of reactions of conservatives

• in reality:

  • regime had not had time to successfully indoctrinate public

  • majority of public were non-nazi and/or did not agree with nazi anti-semitism

what percentage of lawyers were jewish?

16%

what percentage jewish layers continued to practice law following 1933? significance?

• 60% continued to do so

• 1933 → jews banned from practicing law

• nazis lacked success in removing jews from legal sphere

  • clearly not a priority, lacked effective implementation

what percentage of german doctors were jewish?

11%

how did nazi oppression of jewish doctors fail?

• propaganda portrayed them as a danger to patients

• many continued to treat non-jewish patients despite april 1933 ban

• clearly not a priority → failed to enforce isolation and exclusion of jews from society

what law did the nazis pass to reconstruct government? when?

• april 1933

• law for the reconstruction of the professional civil service

what did the 1933 law for the reconstruction of the professional civil service enforce?

• jews to be dismissed from the civil service

• people were considered to be ‘non-aryan’ if parents or grandparents were jewish

how was the april 1933 law for the reconstruction of the civil service undermined?

• actions of hindenburg

  • insisted jews who fought in WW1 or whose fathers had been killed in the war to be exempt from the war

  • applied to 2/3 of jews in civil service until hindenburg’s

  • still had huge economic and psychological impact

• ‘non-aryan’ status was hard to prove and based on circumstance rather than religion

how many jews were exempt from the law for the reconstruction of the professional civil service until hindenburg’s death?

2/3 of jews in the civil service

name 2 key nuremburg laws passed in september 1935

• the reich citizenship law

• law for the protection of german blood and german honour

what was the purpose of the reich citizenship law?

• stripped jews of german citizenship

  • caused removal of most constitutional legal protections and rights

  • laid ground for further harsher laws

• only ‘pure blood’ aryans could be citizens

what was the purpose of the law for the protection of german blood and german honour?

• condemned marriages between jews and german citizens

  • later banned any form of sexual relations/physical contact

why did the nuremburg laws fail to an extent?

• intially no clear definition of jew

  • later defined as 2-3 jewish grandparents

• mischlinge (half-jews) could live more ordinary lives

• classification of jews was hard to police, causing policy to be inconsistent and not universally applied

  • suggests policy of gradualism - lacked sufficient long-term organisation

how many jews voluntarily emigrated march 1933 - november 1938?

150,000 jews voluntarily emigrated over the 5 year period

why was the number of jews emigrating germany unexpectedly low? (3)

1. people didn’t want to leave their lives, homes, friends etc

2. most people lacked financial means, visa, or passport to leave and enter another country

3. most people didn’t expect further escalation in persecution, didn’t know what was coming

why were the nuremburg laws of 1935 a key turning point for escalation of racial policy?

• defined jewishness as a race not a religion

• removed citizenship

  • laid foundation for further harsher laws

  • jews lost most of legal protections and rights

• showed nazis felt more established and confident about implementing policies in 25 point plan

• further isolated and excluded jews → less powerful

• harder for jewish professionals to continue to work

what happened to persecution of jews during the 1936 olympic games?

• tactical pause to avoid unwelcome international attention

• wanted to showcase success of the regime to foreign visitors

• toned down anti-semitic propaganda + discrimination

• removed anti jewish signs

key themes for ‘extent of jewish exclusion from society’

• jobs/economic exclusion

• legal rights

• culturally/socially

• migration