HIST295 - Lecture 7.2
Segregation from Society
Segregated from Western society.
Removed from professorships and unable to teach in schools or universities.
Doctors stopped treating patients who are not part of the community.
Citizenship and Violence
The community had gained citizenship in 1871 and were considered subjects of the German Empire.
There were instances of violence against this community; the first deaths were recorded.
Political enemies, including some who were Jewish, were targeted.
Nazis identified themselves as a counterforce to left-wing ideologies, claiming they would resolve labor issues.
Persecution of Leftists
Trade unionists, communists, and socialists were sent to concentration camps. Many of these individuals also happened to be Jewish.
Example: Magnus Hirschfeld - a Jewish sexologist, gay, Jewish, and socialist who escaped prior to Nazi rise.
Hirschfeld helped transition a trans woman who was later murdered by the Nazis.
Fascism and Youth
The Nazi ideology attracted young university students, reflecting a broader context of fascist sympathies worldwide, including in Canada.
Documentaries and Historical Background
Reference to a recommended documentary by Ken Burns about the Holocaust.
The second episode begins in 1938, setting the stage for further discussion.
Personal Anecdotes
The speaker recalls visiting his grandfather in Miami Beach, who had siblings that immigrated to the U.S. in their twenties.
Family photographs depicted individuals killed by the Nazis, highlighting a personal connection to the events.
Historical Geography and Expansion
In March 1938, Hitler, an Austrian who disliked the Habsburg Empire's multiculturalism, invaded Austria.
By September 1938, the Sudetenland, a German-speaking region in Czechoslovakia, was annexed by Nazi Germany.
Historical context: Economic migration of Germans into Eastern Europe for centuries, contributing to tensions.
Authoritarianism and Historical Justification
Hitler's rationale for expansion mirrored historical justifications used by modern authoritarian figures.
The Rise of Anti-Semitism
The Nazis ruthlessly persecuted Jews in Germany and Austria, causing widespread property expropriation and cultural erasure.
Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) on November 9, 1938, marked a turning point in the Nazi campaign against the Jews, resulting in orchestrated violence against Jewish communities across Germany.
Effects of Kristallnacht
This brutal pogrom aimed to drive Jews out of Germany, escalating violence prior to the final solution.
Many Jewish individuals sought refuge in neighboring friendly European nations or fled to the United States.
Canada's refusal to accept Jewish refugees was noted; it is labeled as one of the worst records in accepting Jewish refugees.
Early American Response
American newspapers reported on the violence during Kristallnacht, leading to widespread shock in the United States.
FDR referred to the situation as shocking and withdrew the American ambassador from Berlin.
Legislative Action and Immigration Quotas
FDR took executive action by allowing Jews in the U.S. on tourist visas to remain.
However, he could not alter the restrictive immigration quota system established in 1924, which was premised on nativism and anti-immigration sentiments.
Quota System Facts
The quota was based on historical census data, favoring Northern and Western European immigrants while severely restricting those from Eastern and Southern Europe.
Notably, even during the Holocaust, the U.S. relied on this system.
Public Sentiment in America
Following Kristallnacht, 94% of Americans disapproved of the Nazi actions, but any significant action, like opening immigration, was met with reluctance.
Nazis viewed the lack of significant opposition as approval of their actions, intensifying their campaign against the Jewish population in Germany.
Further Persecution of Jewish Germans
Post-Kristallnacht, the Jewish community was collectively fined, leading to further financial ruin and systemic dislocation.
The regime imposed restrictions such as expelling Jewish children from schools, banning them from ownership of businesses, and prohibiting them from using public amenities.
The Path to Annihilation
By early 1939, many Jews were taking desperate measures to escape, with half having applied for U.S. visas.
Raymond Geist predicted a systematic program for the annihilation of Jews in a correspondence that hinted at the impending horrors.
Hitler's Propaganda and Rhetoric
Hitler's speech on the sixth anniversary of his power expressed a clear agenda for extermination, warning of the blame he would assign to "international Jewry" in the event of war.
The language portrayed Jews as a scapegoat for broader unrest.
Definition and Discussion of Genocide
Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish lawyer, highlighted the necessity for international laws against genocide, advocating for preemptive measures against any form of ethnic cleansing.
His definition of genocide reflects a preventative stance: it considers acts against a group, in whole or in part, as unacceptable.
Personal Narratives of Refugees
Family stories illustrate the complexities faced by Jewish refugees attempting to flee Nazi oppression, with desperate measures taken to secure escape routes.
Cultural Impact of Music and Sports
Emphasizes the role of American culture, especially music, in providing solace and integration for refugees.
The Kindertransport Initiative
Britain's Kindertransport allowed 10,000 Jewish children to escape to safety, highlighting the disparity in treatment and refusal of similar actions by the U.S.
Legislative and Societal Responses in the United States
Proposals for refugee programs to shelter Jewish children met with fierce opposition from various groups, including American Legion and anti-immigration advocates.
Conclusion of American Attitudes
The underlying antisemitism, as well as fear of economic competition, drove many Americans to oppose the admittance of Jewish refugees.