Development Of Anti-semitic Policies, 1938-40

Question 1

When was the German Anschluss (union) with Austria decided?

Answer 1

March 1938

Question 2

What was one of Hitler’s foreign policy aims to do with Austria?

Answer 2

Unite all Austrian speakers to create a Greater Germany ‘reuniting’ Germans living in Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland with the Reich

Question 3

Why was it quite easy for Hitler to achieve a ‘bloodless victory’ in his Anschluss?

Answer 3

. Austria already had a strong Nazi party and were historically quite antisemitic (similar principles)
. Became clear that Britain, France and Italy wouldn’t intervene with the union to try and support Austrian independence

Question 4

How did Hitler go about achieving his Anschluss with Austria?

Answer 4

. Chancellor Schusnigg had previously banned Nazi demonstrations in Austria but the popularity was there nonetheless
. Hitler pressured Schusnigg to announce a referendum to decide on union with Germany vs maintaining Austrias sovereignty on the 13th March
. Hitler threatened invasion and crossed border unopposed on the 12th march and secretly pressured Schusnigg to resign
. 10th April: results of a plebiscite showed rigged approval for Anschluss

Question 5

How was the 10th April 1938 plebiscite in Austria rigged?

Answer 5

. ‘99.7%’ seemed to approve the Anschluss
. Before the plebiscite, 80,000 people who didn’t support support were rounded up and sent to concentration camps (not the concentration camps we know now)

Question 6

How did the Anschluss with Austria show Hitler’s defiance of the TOV?

Answer 6

The Anschluss with Austria was banned under the treaty but it was a long-term ambition of German ambitions so was carried through with anywa

Question 7

What was Hitler’s territorial target after Austria and why?

Answer 7

Czechoslovakia - included a large German minority in an area called the Sudetenland
- Hitler needed to unite all German speakers so wanted to invade

Question 8

How were the Allied powers actually pretty useless in preventing the beginnings of WW2?

Answer 8

. Weren’t willing to take German emigrants (Evian conference)
. Didn’t fight for Austrian independence
. Britain and France agreed for Germany to take over the Sudetenland which should have risked war

Clearly, many of the European allies were taking a ‘not my problem’ stance that would come back to bite them

Question 9

When did German take over the Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia?

Answer 9

September 1938: Sudetenland
March 1939: occupation of rest of Czechoslovakia

Question 10

How had Hitler always had a consistent policy on Jewish emigration?

Answer 10

Always spoke of making Germany Judenfrei or ‘Jew free’

Question 11

How did Jewish emigration shift in the lead up to WW2?

Answer 11

was initially voluntary emigration but as war approached, policies became more radical and the focus moved to forced emigration
Late 1938 - autumn 1941: was the solution to the Jewish problem for the Nazis

Question 12

How did the German occupation of the Sudentenland and Anschluss with Austria link to the Hitler myth?

Answer 12

The fact that Hitler was winning consecutive bloodless victories meant the German public confirmed the Hitler myth in believing he was a mighty leader sent to save Germany. This gave Germans reassurance that Germany would easily win a war, so it was quite a blunder that the Munich agreement allowed Germany to fulfil the idea that Hitler was indestructible through Britain and France’s policy of appeasement before the invasion of Poland

Question 13

What was the starting point for the Aryanisation of Jewish properties and businesses?

Answer 13

April 1938 - Decree of Registration of Jewish property confiscated all Jewish-owned property worth more than 5000 marks

Question 14

How impactful was the decree of Registration of Jewish property?

Answer 14

April 1938 - 40,000 Jewish-owned businesses in Germany
April 1939 - only around 8000 avoided being ‘Aryanised’ or closed down

Question 15

After the 1938 Decree of Registration of Jewish property, what further legislation in 1938 impacted Jews lives?

Answer 15

. Jews banned from work as travelling salesmen, security guard, estate agents
. Jews lost entitlement to public welfare

This meant Jews rapidly became poor and unemployed

Question 16

What was the only help for Jews against the rising anti-Semitic legislation in 1938 that was making them so economically poor?

Answer 16

Jews became dependent on charities in the Jewish community such as the Central Institution for Jewish Economic Aid

Question 17

How were Jews made easily identifiable and de-humanised in 1938-1939?

Answer 17

October - German Jewish passports had to be stamped with a J
1939 - Jews with ‘non-Jewish names’ had to change them e.g ‘sarah’ for women and ‘israel’ for men

Question 18

What do many historians consider the start of the holocaust and why?

Answer 18

The Night of Broken Glass
- Jews from this point onward couldn’t carry on any level of normal existence

Question 19

How many Jews voluntarily emigrated from Germany in 1933 and give some big names?

Answer 19

37,000

Included many leading scientists like Albert Einstein which was a massive blunder as he came to help create the atomic bomb that put the Nazis in the mud for WW2

Question 20

Over the Nazi period of voluntary emigration, how many Jews voluntarily emigrated from Germany?

Answer 20

March 1933 - November 1938 = 150k Jews

Question 21

Why were many Jews torn over voluntary emigration?

Answer 21

. Even though Germany was a horrible place, many of them had no family elsewhere and had made a living in Germany
. Nazis were both trying to encourage emigration while also threatening to take some of their assets, leaving them with barely anything on emigration
. Only those who had family and transferable skills to other countries found the decision quite easy
. Especially older German Jews felt very German and wanted to stay
- many believe these anti-Semitic atrocities would come and go like in the past

Question 22

What did Nazis encourage Zionist’s to do?

Answer 22

Emigrate to Palestine under British rule
- however, most German Jews weren’t zionists and didn’t choose this option

Question 23

How did the rest of the world make Nazi policy of being Judenfrei very difficult?

Answer 23

. Many foreign countries wouldn’t accept large numbers of Jews (Evian conference)
. Many countries had been raising barriers to limit Jewish immigration.
. Even Palestine could only receive a limited number as Britain wanted to prevent Jewish-Arab hostility

Question 24

How were brutal Nazi policies towards Jews actually contradicting their aim of emigrating them?

Answer 24

Nazis were stripping Jews of their wealth, making it more difficult for them to have a life somewhere else, therefore not willing to emigrate

Question 25

How did the situation for Jewish emigration become more urgent after Kristellnacht?

Answer 25

Jews realised the real danger they were in from the Nazis and Jewish parents were keen to get their children to safe countries.
1938-39 - 9000 Jewish children sent to Britain

Question 26

What happened to Jews of polish citizenship in 1938?

Answer 26

October 28 - 17000 Jews with Poland citizenship (felt very German as many lived there for decades) were arrested and relocated across Polish border. The Polish government didn’t admit them so they went to ‘relocation camps’ in the Polish frontier

Question 27

Who was Herschel Grynszpan?

Answer 27

Lived in Paris with uncle, Son of Zendel Grynzpan. He heard of how his dad and family were forced out of their home by German police with his family. His store and family possessions were confiscated and they had to move over the Polish border

Question 28

When was the murder of Ernst Von Rath?

Answer 28

6th November 1938

Question 29

What is ironic about von Rath’s death?

Answer 29

Von Rath was actually under investigation by the Gestapo for not properly dealing with Jews
(Maybe not the man to kill, but Herschel didn’t know)

Question 30

How did Goebbels react to the death of Von Rath?

Answer 30

. Saw it as a chance to elevate the persecution of Jews, just like with the Reichstag Fire
. As chief of propaganda, ordered all newspaper editors in Reich to put the news of the death on page one.
. Goebbels was undoubtedly trying to suck up to Hitler and impress him with violent persecution of the Jews, to get a higher rating above Himmler and Goering

Question 31

How was the news of Von Rath’s death reacted to by the Nazis as an act of propaganda?

Answer 31

November 9 - there was a feast at Munich’s old town hall to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the beer hall putsch
- Hitler was informed that von Rath had died and left the hall without making a speech (dramatic exit - possibly to make it seem to the public that he wasn’t involved in what came later)
- Goebbels made a speech to the crowd, saying the attack on international Jewry couldn’t go unchallenged and there must be consequences

Question 32

How was the Night of Broken Glass prepared for success?

Answer 32

. Heinrich Müller (Gestapo Chief) ordered all police offices to not interfere with the actions that will happen against Jews, especially against their synagogues
. 20k-30k Jews in the Reich are to be arrested to stop any opposition
. November 10 - concentration camps in Dachau and Buchenwald were in a position to accommodate ten thousand detainees

Question 33

How did the Nazis appear to not have been too involved in Kristellnacht?

Answer 33

. The instructions given to the SA for the pogrom were hazy to avoid any accusations of instigating the attack, while correctly assuming that the SA would overstep the given instructions.
. Any of the SS, SA members involved in the pogrom were ordered not to wear their uniforms as to make it appear an anti-Semitic public-led pogrom

Question 34

What were the original orders from Heydrich and Himmler at 1-2am on November 10th?

Answer 34

. Arrest healthy Jewish adult males and transport them to concentration camps
. Destroy Jewish businesses and homes, but don’t loot them
. Ensure no German lives or property were endangered
. Seize documents of historical importance from synagogues
. Police instructed to supply SA with weapons
. Refrain from harming foreigners even if Jews, as this would cause a worldwide backlash against the Nazis

Obviously the SA greatly overstepped these instructions, it was carnage

Question 35

What was the damage from Kristellnacht like?

Answer 35

. Looting of cash, Jewerelly, works of art
. Damage to shops = millions of marks
. 91 Jews killed and thousands injured
. Vandalism purely destructive, not for gain
. More than 1300 synagogues burned

Question 36

When did Kristellnacht violence officially end?

Answer 36

November 10, but it continued for several days in some areas

Question 37

Were the Jews aware that Kristellnacht was Nazi-led?

Answer 37

Most likely as one survivor Frederick Firnbacher said ‘since it was all over, you knew it was orchestrated.’ They may not have necessarily known it were the Nazis who organised it but it deficient wasn’t a one-off event

Question 38

How did Goebbels describe the events of Kristellnacht?

Answer 38

Spontaneous outbursts of violence, to make it appear as though the Nazis weren’t involved, even Hitler reportedly said the violence shouldn’t be discouraged as long as it remains spontaneous

Question 39

Did ordinary citizens join in with Kristellnacht?

Answer 39

Some did, alongside SA who were equipped with hammers, crowbars, petrol bombs and axes
- however, many citizens were horrified by the destruction and it seems like the Nazis may have gone too far to get away with it this time

Question 40

How was the majority German feeling that Kristellnacht was state-organised and horrifying evidenced?

Answer 40

. Leipzig - American consul reported that silent crowds of local people were complete horrified to see the burned-out synagogues and looted shops in the morning
. Hamburg - Christabel bielenberg witnessed pedestrians appalled by what they saw, murmuring how terrible it was
. In Berlin everyone seemed to be in agreement to some extent that they should disapprove of the events

Question 41

How did Kristellnacht reveal the silent majority and the Hitler myth?

Answer 41

There was clearly a majority opinion that Kristellnacht was a horrifying event and a step too far. However, they couldn’t really voice their opinions due to the dominance of the terror state.

The fact that German citizens seemed to believe it was state-organised rather than Hitler’s doing himself shows that the hitler myth was still strong and the citizens probably just believed hitler wasn’t informed of the plans for the violence and if he had been, he wouldn’t have let the destruction occur. (Naive power hitler holds)

Question 42

What was the 12th November 1938 meeting called by hermann goering for?

Answer 42

. Assess the damage done during Kristellnacht and place the responsibility on the Jews
. Use the events of Kristellnacht as a rationale to justify and promote a series of anti-Semitic laws to remove Jews from the German economy. (Like with the Reichstag fire and making it clear that the communists were the enemy)

Question 43

What was decided at the November 12th 1938 meeting?

Answer 43

1. ‘Decree for the restoration of the street scene’ - Jews had to be legally and financially responsible for the damages during kristellnacht.
2. The Decree Excluding Jews from economic life - all Jewish-owned businesses closed
3. Jews would pay a 1 billion reichsmark contribution to compensate for disruption to German economy
4. “It’s insane to clean out and burn a Jewish warehouse, then have a German insurance company make good the loss.” - clearly Nazis hold this anti-Semitic view that Germans have no fault at all in this violence which is completely wrong
5. Aryanisation of Jewish businesses accelerated

Question 44

How was Kristellnacht a crucial turning point in German policies against Jews that hinted the beginnings of the holocaust?

Answer 44

By this time:
. Hitler realises forced emigration isn’t a feasible option
. Hitler already considering invasion of Poland
. Concentration camps and labour camps already in operation
. Nuremberg laws in place
. Lebensraum has become a guiding principle of Nazi ideology
. Passive opposition to Kristellnacht made Nazis feel like they’d have no opposition in beginning slowly a ‘final solution’

Question 45

How did Kristellnacht stimulate outrageous acceleration of Aryanisation of the German economy over the next 2-3 months?

Answer 45

. Huge number of anti-Semitic degrees put in place to exclude Jews completely from German life e.g:
. Suspension of Jewish driver’s licenses
. Confiscation of Jewish-owned radios
. Laws protecting tenants were made non-applicable to Jewish tenants
. Nov 29 1938 - ban on the Jewish ownership of carrier pigeons
. Nov 15 1938 - Jewish children expelled from public schools

Question 46

When was the idea of sending Europe’s Jews to Madagascar first proposed?

Answer 46

By French anti-semites in late 1930s, however it didn’t really have any prospect of becoming reality at the time

Question 47

How did the idea of the Madagascar plan come about?

Answer 47

When German armies took over France from May-June 1940 during WW2, the German foreign ministry’s department for Internal German affairs proposed making Madagascar a German mandate and take it from France so that Jews could be sent there

Question 48

Why was the Madagascar plan favourable for the Nazis?

Answer 48

. The previous voluntary and forced emigration sent many to Europe, but this wasn’t really far enough away as they could still ‘infect’ Germans from Europe. Especially during WW2 when Germany occupied most of Europe at one point before turning to Britain, the Madagascar plan seemed a good solution to the ‘Jewish question’
. Madagascar was far away, had much more space than Palestine and didn’t need political compromise such as with the British rule in Palestine

Question 49

How did Vichy France come about?

Answer 49

After Germany defeat France in June 1940, northern part became occupied and ruled by Germans. The southern part, including Vichy, was technically independent but closely allied with Nazi Germany

Question 50

What was the role of Vichy France in the Madagascar plan?

Answer 50

To resettle the 25k strong French population there to hold Jews here and make Madagascar available for the plan

Question 51

What was the actual plan in the Madagascar plan?

Answer 51

. To send 4 million Jews to Madagascar
. Start with farmers, construction workers and artisans up to age 45 to get the island ready for the mass of Jews
. Sale of remaining Jewish property in Europe would finance the initial cost
. The conditions in Madagascar were intended to naturally and indirectly eliminate the Jews like with the ghettos (dumping ground)

Question 52

Apart from Madagascar, where else were Nazis trying to send Jews, but what were the problems?

Answer 52

. From 1936, SS experts at RSHA led by Adolf Eichmann worked on schemes for mass emigration of Jews to Palestine
- crazily, the racist SS and leaders of the Zionist community of Germany were cooperation relatively well in these schemes
. The problem was, Palestine was small, under British rule, and not far away enough from Europe (not as ideal as Madagascar)

Question 53

What was the RSHA?

Answer 53

Reich security Head Office

Question 54

Was the Madagascar plan a viable option or no?

Answer 54

. Only seemed viable in late summer and early autumn of 1940 when Germany were crushing the war.
. Germany’s failure to end the war with Britain (operation sealion) set Germany so far back that this didn’t seem a good option to prioritise as British Royal Navy could just disrupt the Jewish transportation by sea

Question 55

After the Madagascar plan didn’t seem possible anymore, what did Germany turn to as a new solution to the Jewish question?

Answer 55

. By oct 1940, Hitler was planning Operation Barbarossa.
. New plan to send Europe’s Jews deep into Siberia, once conquest of USSR was complete.

Question 56

What are the two schools of thought on the Nazi’s intentions towards the Jewish question that can be told from the Madagascar plan?

Answer 56

1. Proves decision to exterminate all Jews hasn’t been made yet, that different plans had to be considered and the ‘Final solution’ wasn’t inevitable
2. Proof that the long-term goal of Jews to die somewhere far and secret was fixed, even if the location wasn’t

I probably agree more with 2

Question 57

How did Hitler show that he believed he was completely in control of Germany and couldn’t be opposed after Kristellnacht?

Answer 57

For the first time, he began to openly mention the Jewish question regularly in his speeches, e.g 30th Jan 1939 speech.
- the public were motivated to keep supporting Hitler due to the idea of bloodless victories and peace in these speeches, Hitler made it seem as though Germany was in safe hands and they wouldn’t lose another warm in a humiliating fashion like in WW1.

Question 58

Was anti-semitism a motivator of Hitler’s support?

Answer 58

No, it was only really of secondary important to the German population and they believed it was out of Hitler’s hands because of the Hitler myth. They were much more drawn to the ideas of Lebensraum, uniting German peoples, bloodless victories and ‘going down in history’ after a humiliation in WW1

Question 59

When was the Munich Agreement and what was it?

Answer 59

September 29-30 1938: Germany, Italy, GB and France sign the Munich ageeemenr
- Czechoslovakia must surrender its border regions and defences (Sudetenland)

Question 60

Why was the Munich Agreement such a blunder by the Allies?

Answer 60

After a successful Anschluss of Austria, the occupation of Sudetenland would seal German citizens’ belief that Hitler was indestructible and would continue his bloodless victories to an easy win in a war. Before the occupation of Sudetenland, the Germany public were very wary of starting another war and didn’t think the risk would be worth it, but the Munich agreement allowed Germany to walk into Czechoslovakia and fuel a belief of indestructibility.