Life For The Jewish Community And Minorities In Nazi Germany Flashcards
What was volksgemeinschaft?
This was created when Hitler and the Nazis emphasized their desire to create a Volksgemeinschaft (People’s or National Community) based on the foundations of race, ethnicity, and social behavior.
What was untermenschen?
People who were not considered to fit into the volksgemeinschaft
Give examples of races which were considered as ‘less inferior’:
The English, Danes & French who were all considered to have some Germanic blood.
Who was responsible for writing the Law for the prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring in July 1933?
Ernst Rudin
How were political prisoners treated?
-From the very start of the regime, they were sent to concentration camps
-Wore a red triangle
-Brutally treated eg floggings and pole hangings
-Many political prisoners were students & intellectuals who died as a result of their treatment
How were career criminal treated?
-Wore a green triangle
-Sent to concentration camps, some used by the SS as prisoner policemen and were given special privileges to beat& bully inmates
-Ordinary criminals were sent to prison where conditions were brutal
-During the war they were used to defuse unexplored bombs.
How were asocial Germans treated?
-People regarded as ‘useless mouths’ by the Nazis.
-Included the work shy, vagrants, alcoholics and prostitutes.
-Beggars Week 1933 & Campaign against the Workshy in 1938 to roundup the workshy.
-Pacifists were considered asocial because they refused to defend the Fatherland.
-Thousands of asocials were sent to concentration camps where they were brutally treated and died of gassing, disease,etc.
How were people with mental & physical disabilities and illnesses treated?
-Included people who were deaf or blind.
-LFTPoHDO 1933 allowed sterilisation of the disabled.
-After 1935, doctors were allowed to terminate pregnancies by force.
-1939-41: secret euthanasia programs were conducted.
-Had to wear black triangle with ‘Blod’-means stupid.
-Estimated that 72 000 were killed.
-300 000 sterilised from 1934-45.
How were the Roma treated?
-Gypsies considered as a large an issue to their Aryan race as Jews
-Persecuted began in 1936 when the Roma were rounded up and sent to concentration camps in ‘crime preventipn’ campaigns.
-By 1938, Himmler was calling for a solution to the Gypsy question.
-Roma Holocaust called the ‘Porajmos’ means cutting up.
-Perhaps one third of the estimated 700 000 Roma people in Europe were killed.
How were homosexual men treated?
-1933: the Hitler Youth attacked the Institute for Sex Research.
-100 000 homosexual men were arrested
-15 000 sent to concentration camps.
-Some were castrated and others were experimented on to find a cure.
-Nazis forbade lesbianism but it was classified as asocial rather than a criminal act.
How were Jehovah’s Witnesses treated?
-About 25 000 JW in Germany where they were known as Bible students.
-Refused to swear allegiance to Hitler or join the army but didn’t oppose the regime.
-Placed in prison or mental institutions.
-2 000 sent to concentration camps and 250 were executed.
Why did Hitler despise Jews?
Believed they were responsible for the defeat in WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles.
How were Jews persecuted in 1933?
-SA organised a boycott of Jewish shops & businesses.
-Books by Jewish authors were publicly burnt by Berlin students.
-Jewish civil servants, lawyers & teachers were sacked.
-Jewish doctors & dentists couldn’t treat Aryans.
-Jews were banned from jobs in the newspapers & broadcasting
How were Jews persecuted in 1934?
-Jewish shops were marked with a yellow star.
-Jews had to sit on separate seats on buses and trains
-Many councils banned them from public places.
How were Jews persecuted in 1935?
-Forbidden from joining the army.
-Many towns and villages put up signs in public places to say Jews were not welcome.
-Nuremberg Laws: included the Reich CitizenshipLaw and the Law for the Protection of German Blood & German Honour. Stripped Jews of German citizenship, outlaws marriage & sexual relations between Jews & Germans, and removed all civil & political rights of Jews. Were foundation for much of the extreme persecution later.
How were Jews persecuted in 1936?
-No visible public persecution of Jews in Berlin during the Olympics but it continued in other areas.
How were Jews persecuted in 1937?
-Banned from key professions including teaching, accountancy and dentistry.
How were Jews persecuted in1938?
-Ordered to register all wealth, property & business.
-Had to carry identity cards.
-Could no longer practice as doctors or lawyers, and Jewish businessmen could no longer have Aryan clients.
-Males known as Israel, females as Sarah.
-Jewish children were forbidden from schools and universities.
-Kristallnacht (describe using stats)
What was Kristallnacht?
Kristallnacht (the Night of the Broken Glass) took place on November 9th. It was when the SS ordered attacks on Jewish homes, business & synagogues in retaliation of the assassination of a German ambassador to France by a Jew. 400 synagogues & 7 500 shops were destroyed. 91 Jews were killed and, over the following months, 20 000 were sent to concentration camps. Jews were then made to clear up the destruction on their hand and knees and pay a one billion mark fine to the government. Remaining Jewish property was confiscated.
How were Jews persecuted in 1939?
-Emigration had been encouraged from 193s onwards but now forced emigration set up the Reicg Central Office for Jewish Emigration. 50 000 Jews were deported and had to pay a large ‘tax’ before leaving.
-Mass arrests in March lead to 30 000 being sent to concentration camps.
Describe the impact and effectiveness of Jewish persecution form 1933-39:
-German Jews suffered last out of all groups persecuted with many fleeing Germany.
-Jews suffered economically, politically and socially.
-Nazi persecution was not opposed by many ordinary Germans- a combination of support, education, ignorance or fear ensured the persecution of the Jews could continue unchecked.
