Jews Flashcards
Describe 4 reasons why anti-Semitism was widespread across Europe during the 1900s.
- Their religion, customs and looks made Jews stand out as ‘different
- Some Christians hated Jews, as they blamed them for the execution of Christ
- Some Jews were very successful in finance and business, creating jealousy towards them.
- since Germany was only united as a single country in 1871, efforts by German nationalist to unite the country resulted in heightened opposition to Germany’s enemies including the British Empire, communism and minority groups like Jews
Why were Jews persecuted in Germany?
- Associated with communism (Karl Marx as Jewish)
- Jealous of their success = many Jews were professionals or owned businesses
- Blamed for Germany’s defeat in the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles (some politicians involved were Jewish)
- Suspicious of a different religion
- Used as scapegoats for Germany’s problems
Why did non- Jewish German people let the persecution happen?
- Long-standing mistrust of Jewish people common belief in Europe
- The influences of Nazi anti-semitic propaganda
- fear of Gestapo and SS if they did speak out
How many Jews were in Germany in 1933?
437,000
less than 1% of the population
How were Jews gradually excluded from positions of power and wealth?
April 1933 = banned from government jobs and Jewish civil servants and teachers were sacked
September 1933 = banned from inheriting land
May 1935 = Jews banned from the army
How did Nazis who controlled local councils begin to follow the lead of the Nazi government?
1934 = some local councils banned Jews from parks and swimming pools
some provided yellow park benches for Jes to keep “normal” Germans safe
How were the Jews persecuted in terms of shops and businesses?
Nazi campaign against Jewish shops and businesses.
In March 1933, the Nazi Party announced that from 10am on 1 April, an official boycott would begin of all Jewish businesses, doctors and lawyers.
SA members were sent to paint Jewish stars outside Jewish businesses and stood outside Jewish businesses with banners, discouraging people from going inside.
Explain the laws which comprised the Nuremberg Laws (when were they passed) and how did each law persecute Jews?
The Reich Law on Citizenship 1935:
- it stated that only those of German blood could be German citizens.
- The law defined a Jew as anyone with three or four grandparents who practised the Jewish religion, which was completely arbitrary and included 50,000 Jews who had become Christians and excluded 200,000 practising Jews who only had one or two Jewish grandparents.
- Jews became German ‘subjects’, not citizens and lost the right to vote;
- couldn’t vote or hold government office or German passport
- must wear a yellow star-shaped patch sewn on clothes for ease of identification
The Reich Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour :
the law forbade Jews from marrying German citizens and forbade sexual relations.
Describe the causes behind Kristallnacht and when was it?
7th Nov 1938 = 17-year-old Polish Jew, Herschel Grynszpan who was angry at the way the Germans had treated his parents, went to the German embassy in Paris and shot a German (Ernst vom Rath)
8th Nov 1938 - Joseph Goebbels used the incident to stir up resentment against Jews in Germany by ordering local papers of Grynszpan’s home town (Hanover) to condemn the shooting and using the SA, SS and Gestapo to attack local synagogues and the houses of local Jews.
9th Nov 1938 - vom rath died causing things to escalate
Goebbels and Hitler then agreed to turn the violence against the Jews in Hanover into a nationwide attack
How to Hitler and Goebbels decide to incite violence on the 9th of November?
Nazi leaders were encouraged to arrange attacks on Jews and their property albeit undercover.
Police were told not to prevent any violence against Jews by the members of the public
Instructions were sent to local SS groups to arrest as many Jews as the prisons could take
When was Kristallnacht (night of broken glass)?
9th November - 10 th November 1938
What happened in Kristallnacht?
- gangs smashed and burned Jewish property
- Some gangs in Nazi uniforms, others were SA and Hitler youth who were told not to wear uniforms so that the violence would seem to be by the general public
Outline some statistics that highlight the extent of the damage of Kristallnacht
814 shops, 171 homes and 191 synagogues were destroyed. Also, 100 Jews were killed.
How were the Jews persecuted in the aftermath of Kristallnacht?
Goebbels blamed the Jews for starting the trouble on Kristallnacht and they were fined 1 billion marks to pay for the damage
by 12 November, 20,000 Jews had been rounded up and sent to concentration camps.
At which conference was the Final Solution decided? What did it outline and what role did the German people play?
Wannsee Conference.
In January 1939, the Nazis decided to evict all Jews from Germany.
The Reich Office for Jewish Emigration was set up under Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Gestapo. His task was to deport Germany’s Jews. To achieve this, in April 1939, orders went out that all Jews should be evicted from their homes and collected together for deportation.
