Antisemitic policies 1933 - 1945

Anti-Semitic policies under the Nazi Regime

Boycott of Jewish Shops and Businesses

1st April 1933

What was the Boycott of Jewish shops and businesses

Aimed to target places of business, but also applied to Jewish professionals (e.g. Lawyers, Doctors)

Enforced by the SA, who aimed to deter those not participating in the boycott from attempting to enter Jewish places of business

Law for the Restoration of the Civil Service

Excluded Jews and the “Politically Unreliable” (e.g. communists) from being able to work in the civil service (unsuccessful as there was no objective or definition on how to define a person as Jewish)

Not comprehensive as Hindenburg prevented the law from applying to German Jews who served in WW1 or had fathers killed in the war.

When was the Law for restoration of the civil service introduced

7th April 1933

Law against Overcrowding of German Schools and Universities

April 1933

Restrictions on the no. of Jewish Children who could attend state schools and universities, by promoting the idea that Aryan students were more deserving that children who could become ‘enemies of Germany’ and that well-educated Jews were a threat to Germany

Exclusion of German Jews from the press - The Reich Press Law

October 1933

The Reich Press Law allowed the censorship and banning of publications that disputed with the Nazi Regime, by silencing the large no. of Jewish journalists, editors and publishers

The Nuremberg Laws

15th September 1935

extension of the antisemitic legislature, named after their announcement at a Nuremberg Party Rally in 1935, the laws included;

• The Reich Citizenship Law

• The Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour

Allowed for easier enforcement of anti-semetism by Gestapo, Judges and Civil servants

The Reich Citizenship Law

as part of the Nuremberg Laws.

German citizens can only be classed as such, if they had purely ‘German blood’ → stripping Jews and other ‘non-Aryans' were classified as subjects and had fewer rights than true citizens

When was the Reich Citizenship Law introduced

15th September 1935

The Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour

Outlawed marriage between Aryans and Non-Aryans and marriage or sexual relations between German citizens and Jews.

Later amended to cover any physical contact between Jews and Aryans; with allegations resulting in convictions and Aryan Women being encouraged to leave Jewish husbands

Impact from the decree for the protection of German Blood and Honour

First Supplementary Decree on the Reich Citizenship Law

November 1935

Law defining what constituted as a ‘full Jew' or a ‘half Jew’.

The law was hard to interpret, due to the definition being based on the number of Jewish grandparents had, but many had converted to Christianity, making many of the classifications arbitrary or inconsistent.

1936, Berlin Olympics

A major event used by the Nazi regime to showcase Aryan supremacy and promote Nazi propaganda, with VERY limited participation from Jewish athletes.

The games were used to distract from the regime's antisemitic policies and present a positive image of Germany to the world - to kerb international reactions

Banning ability for optional name changes, for Jewish people

5th Jan 1938

Anchluss with Austria

March 1938

Unification with Austria, was a ‘bloodless victory' as German troops were welcomed by Austrians;

This allowed the Nazis to become ambitious in their foreign policy and adopt more radical policies overall.

Registration of Jewish Assest over 5000 marks

26 April 1938

The Decree for the Reporting of Jewish-Owned Property, required Jews submit detailed accounts of their property and assets valued over 5000 marks.

Part of the broader plan to economically disenfranchise Jews, making it easier for confiscation of assets and wealth. Failure to comply could result in imprisonment.

ALL Jewish people forced to chage their names

17 August 1938

Men to ‘Israel’, Women to ‘Sarah'; aimed at furthering the exclusion and identification of Jews in society. This policy was part of a larger set of antisemitic measures implemented by the Nazi regime.

Jewish passports stamped with a large ‘J’

5 October 1938

Used as a method of separtating and identifying Jewish people from the rest of the German population

De-certification of Jewish Doctors in Germany

30th September 1938

Jews forbidden to visit theatres, etc.

November 1938

Alienating and separating Jewish people from the general German public

Reichkristallnacht

9 - 10 November 1938

Instigated by Nazi leadership, over the murder of Ernest Vom Rath in Paris on 9th November, by a Polish-Jew

• Jewish homes and businesses were looted and vandalised

• Synagogues were arsoned

• Thousands of jews were arrested, beaten and killed

• The radical actions were supported by the German Public

Expulsion of all Jewish pupils from schools

November 1938

Compulsory sale of all Jewish business

December 1938

Introduction of rationing, excluding Jewish people

August 1939

German Invasion of Poland

1st September 1939

triggered World War II, essentially marking the beginning of full racial war against Jewish people and other targeted groups.

Einsatzgruppen

September 1939

7000 killed within the first month

Ghettoisation of Jews in Poland

September 1939

Euthanasia Programme organised by Hitler

October 1939

Jews in occupied Poland made to wear Star of David

November 1939

First Ghetto established in Lodz, Poland

February 1940

German invasion of Western Europe

April 1940

Madagascar Plan

1940

Establishment of the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland

October 1940

Jews Excluded from wartime rationing

October 1940

Einsatzgruppen ordered to kill Jewish sympathisers and communist commissars

July 1941

Jews in Germany compelled to wear the Star of David

December 1941

Wansee Conference

January 1942

meeting where Nazi officials discussed the implementation of the "Final Solution" to exterminate the Jewish population.

Round up of Jewish people from France

occurred in July 1942 during the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup, where thousands were arrested and deported to concentration camps.

Auschwitz

May 1943

German Jews began to be deported

June 1943

Hungary Jewish sent to Auschwitz

May 1944

Auschwitz destroyed

November 1944

Liberation of Auschwitz

January 1945