Ethnic Minorities Flashcards
1
Q
Volk
A
- a feeling of superiority of German culture and the idea of a universal mission for the German people
2
Q
Ethnic minorities under Weimar Government
A
- depended on where they lived + who they were
- low-level discrimination like with women
- lower wages + less likely to be hired against a German
- elite conservatives - army + landowners - less welcoming vs city-based liberals
3
Q
Article 113
A
- stated that groups couldn’t legally be stopped from using their language or preserving their national identity
- liberal law
- didn’t control the laws that the Länder made against minorities
4
Q
Jewish population in Weimar Germany
A
- only 1% of the German population in 1918
- only 500k in 1933
- 1/3 of Jews lived in Berlin - antisemites called it Jew Berlin
5
Q
Jewish influence
A
- huge influence on culture and some became politicians
- 5 Jews held Cabinet posts in the Weimar Republic
- Walther Rathenau as Foreign Minister in 1922 - assassinated soon after
6
Q
Anti-Semitic organisations
A
- some banned by the gov
- German Peoples Offensive and Defensive Alliance - had 25k members in 1919
- had approx 170k members by 1923 when it was disbanded
- believed the Jews had conspired with Allies so Germany lost WWI
- many joined the Nazi Party
- some conservative judges were anti-Semitic in their judgments
7
Q
Jews during the Depression
A
- public needed someone to blame for the misfortune - Jews were an easy scapegoat
- Reich Federation of Jewish Front Soldiers set up to fight antisemitism
- 85k Jewish soldiers had fought in the war + 12k died
8
Q
Länder response to Gypsies
A
- gypsies discriminated against as they didn’t pay tax + didn’t work + weren’t involved outside own community
- no federal legislation against gypsies
- in 1926 Bavaria passed a series of laws controlling Gypsy movement + aimed to get their children in schools + adults to work - adopted by the state Hesse
- in 1927 Bavaria said all Gypsies must carry identity cards
9
Q
Polish minority post-war
A
- border between Poland + Germany redrawn post-war
- people left on wrong side of the border - some moved + some stayed
- in 1925 there were over 200k Polish speakers in Germany
- 500k people who spoke both Polish + German - often born in Germany + viewed self as German
- hostility as Poland had fought Germany in the war
- between 1925-33 approx 30k left
10
Q
Black People after Ruhr occupation
A
- met with rising hostility in 1923
- French army of the occupation in 1923 had black units from the French colonies
- after *19238 there were approx 500 mixed race kids born - denounced as Germany’s shame
- Black adults who had lived in Germany pre-occupation found certain areas to be more hostile afterwards
- musicians + writers more accepted in the cities
11
Q
Compulsory sterilisation
A
- 1 January 1934 - Doctors + hospitals had to report those that were unfit to breed to a Hereditary Health Court - decided who to sterilise
- supposedly for hereditary defects but included Jews + Roma + Sinti Gypsies + Black + Criminals + Mixed Race people**
- June 1935 - law extended to abortion of the unfit
- publicised in press + taught at school
- 400k sterilised between 1934 - 36 - at least 5k women died from procedure
12
Q
First official boycott of Jewish businesses
A
- 1 April 1933
- initially many people didn’t partake - called off after a day
- SA members began to stand outside businesses to urge people not to enter
- SA + Hitler organised attacks + boycotts all over Germany = violence escalated
13
Q
1935 Nuremberg Race Laws
A
- Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour - forbids mixed marriage + sex between Aryans + Jews
- Reich Citizenship Law - deprives Jews of German citizenship
- Law for the Protection of the Genetic Health of the German People - medical exam before marriage - certificates of fitness to allow marriage
14
Q
Kristallnacht
A
- began 9 November 1938 - Nazis organised attacks on Jews across Germany
- over 260 Synagogues burnt + homes and shops looted and attacked
- over 20k Jews arrested - taken to concentration camps
- Jews taxed a billion Reichsmark for repairs that didn’t actually take place
15
Q
Jews try to leave
A
- Nazis introduce flight tax of 30-50% of wealth for Jews leaving
- Between 1933-39 over 450k Jews emigrated - didn’t go far enough - those who moved to Netherlands + France were later under Nazi rule again
- countries began quotas at her than allowing all Jews to come
- flight tax increased to everything but a suitcase
16
Q
War = Change of Policy
A
- 1939 special SS units called Einsatzgruppen set up to murder political opponents + Jews
- by 1941 Nazis committing mass murder - rounding up and shooting
- 2 million out of 6 million Jews murdered in Holocaust were Einsatzgruppen victims
17
Q
Ghettos
A
- the first ghetto was in Piotrkow - set up in October 1939
- deliberately badly overcrowded + food and medical supplies were low
- Nazi propaganda said Jews were dirty + lice ridden - Strength Through Joy ran bus trips through ghettos - to dehumanise them
- electricity + water available for few hours a day
18
Q
Concentration camps
A
- full of a variety of groups deemed undesirables - people wore patches to show what their crime was
- dig roads + work on land + factories
- appealing conditions + lack of food
- died from starvation + beatings + dysentery + mistreatment
19
Q
The Final Solution
A
- decided at Conference in Wannsee - 1942 January
- death camps to be set up - Chelmo + Treblinka + Auschwitz + Belzec + others
- people would work for a short while then be gassed
20
Q
Economic boom of 50s and 60s for guest workers
A
- by 1947 approx 10 million refugees + expellees - Germans from places no longer part of Germany
- unions feared new foreign workers would lead to reduce wages
- gov guarantee non-Germans the same wages + German preference for jobs
21
Q
Federal Office for Labour Recruitment
A
- set up in Nuremberg - ran offices in countries where FRG had labour recruitment treaties
- physical exam to ensure fit to work + signed a year long contract
- employee provided accommodation - often dormitories near factories + outside town = cut off from communities
- programme increased after 1961 Berlin Wall
22
Q
Foreign labour programmes
A
- favoured men 20-40 years old - heavy manual labour - jobs that Germans didn’t want to do
- between 1961-71 3 million Germans switched from manual to white-collar jobs
- from 1960 onwards more female workers recruited at request of industries - electronics + hospitality
- increased number of illegal foreign workers - worked the worst jobs for little pay
23
Q
Guest worker status
A
- temporary stay - didn’t have rights of citizens - contracts renewed on yearly basis
- unions helped families adjust but NOT with long term assimilation
- help from church organisations like Caritas
24
Q
1966 recession impact
A
- increased hostility to guest workers
- many landlords refused to rent out to foreigners - forced to live in poor areas
- recession over quickly BUT sentiment remained
25
1970s impact on guest workers
- guest workers under pressure to leave
- *November 1973* gov put a **stop on hiring + banned permits** for families already in the country
- **Ford Car Works** in **Cologne** offered **voluntary severance packages** - many workers accepted with out knowing that LEGALLY workers laid off according to point system
- *1978* first **Federal Commisioner** for **Foreigners’ Affairs** appointed by Schmidt to work for rights of guest workers
- allowed to apply for **unrestricted residence** NOT citizenship
26
Education of children of guest workers
- gov policy in BASIC LAW to provide **democratic education** for all + *1975* guest workers’ children given same benefits as other children
- attempt to create **mixed-learning groups**with mixed classes of Germans + foreigners
- **200k** foreign children in schools by *1983*
- most kids were Muslim with no pre-school education + Koran schools faced hostility
27
Ethnic Associations
- helped newcomers settle in + learn the language + culture
- some stooped integration into German life
- Greek associations tried to integrate vs Turks tried to preserve own culture
- attitude of West Germans hindered assimilation - suspicion about religion + politics
