Nazi Jewish Policy 1938-1940 Flashcards
Between the years 1937 and early 1938 what factors accelerated the process of radicalisation?
-Four- Year Plan = control of the economy
-Nuremberg laws = well established and taking effect
-Propaganda = ensured overwhelming compliance
-Allied appeasement= reduces the risk of reaction to foreign policy
-Nov 1937= Hitler announces plan for rapid expansion
-Feb-March 1938= Blomberg- Fritsch affair allows Hitler to purge leadership
Why was Nazi’s so focused on the east?
=Lebensraum “Living Space”
Germany overpopulated, relying on imports for 30% of its food
Concept of Lebensraum fitted with Nazi racial ideology, justifying the conquest of inferior Slavic peoples in Czechoslovakia, Poland and USSR
What was the Anschluss?
German “Union” with Austria = long term aim of German Nationalists to create a “Greater Germany”
-Feb 1938 Hitler directly threatens Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg with invasion unless he concedes power to Nazi’s
-9th March Austrian gov holds plebiscite to prove public opposition to Anschluss
-11th March Schuschnigg resigns and Austrian Nazi’s take control of gov
-12th March German forces enter Austria
-13th March Hitler signs a law annexing Austria as a province of Germany
-10th April Plebiscite held to see of Austrian public agree with Anschluss= 99.7% of electorate said yes
=Bloodless Victory which encouraged Hitler to be even more radical and aggressive in policy
What was the impact of the Anschluss (Union) on Austrian Jews?
10% of population had their civil rights removed
Nuremberg Laws applied from May 1938
=500 Jews committed suicide April-May 1938 and 1000s emigrated
What was the Decree of Registration of Jewish Property and when was it passed?
-April 1938
Confiscation of all Jewish Property worth more than 5000 marks
=starting point of “Aryanisation” of Jewish Property and business
e.g April 1938=40,000 Jewish Owned businesses
April 1939=8000 left that had avoided from being closed down
What did the Reich Ministry of Education do November 15th 1938?
Expels all Jewish Children from public schools
=key evidence of gradual radicalisation from 1933 law against the Overcrowding in Schools and Universities (which restricted the number of Jewish children who could attend schools)
What did the Reich Ministry of the Interior pass on the 5th October 1938?
Invalidated all German passports held by Jews
Jews had to surrender old passports, which only became valid after the letter “J” had been stamped on them= key evidence of radicalisation, now blatant ant-semitism and further exclusion from “Volksgemeinschaft”
What happened in the months between August -September 1938?
Hitler makes a demand of Czech president over falsified claims of persecution of German minority in Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia
What happened on the 30th September 1938?
Munich agreement
authorised Hitler to take the Sudetenland because he promised not to take any more
What happened in the 15th March 1939?
Nazi’s occupied the remainder of Czechoslovakia
What was the impact of the Munich agreement?
=huge boost to Nazi regime
Aggressive foreign policy=paying off
=Expansion in 1938= helped to secure major additional economic resources (e.g Austrian steelwork and Czech mines)
=Next target was Poland
When did the Reichkristallnacht occur?
9-10th November 1938
What happened on Reichkristallnacht?
=Night of Broken Glass
Violence unleashed across Germany and Austria with 1000’s of Jews killed and 30,000 arrested and sent to concentration camps
What led to the Reichkristallnacht?
7 Nov Herschel Grynszapan (17 year old son of detained polish-jewish couple) shot Ernst Vom Rath in German Embassy in Paris
Who was responsible for the Reichkristallnacht?
Ultimately Goebbels however Nazi Party blamed Jews through heavy Propaganda and declared a 1 billion RM fine on Jewish community for the murder of Ernst Vom Rath
What was the reaction to the Reichkristallnacht?
international reaction= mixed
Archbishop of canterbury spoke out in opposition
President Roosevelt condemned the events and withdrew American’s ambassador from Berlin
National reaction= not a great deal of enthusiasm for the widespread violence but equally little vocal protest from non-Jews, mainly regret the scale of destruction but satisfaction that there would be no public cost incurred
Goering saw it as the opportunity to coordinate efforts to finally remove Jews from German society
What did Goering say after reichkristallnacht?
“the Gloves are off”
Who was in charge of the forced emigration of Jews?
the Reich Association of the Jews in Germany”
Why was the conquest of Poland in September 1939 so significant?
Western Poland= Lebensraum and autarky BUT also added around 2 million Polish-Jews to the Reich
=Policies became more radicalised
war= several causes for extreme Nazi racial policy
national emergency=excuse for total power and secrecy
Extreme Propaganda= increased patriotism and hatred of German enemies
War aim of Lebensraum= excuse for “Germanisation” of occupied territory and removal of unwanted people to create a “Jew-free” Reich
Where was the first Ghetto?
Lodz
Between November 1939-Feb 1940 how many Jews did the SS deport eastward?
1 million people
What was the Madagascar Plan?
Favoured solution to Jewish Question in Spring 1940 however plan became unviable because Germany failed to end war with Britain =Royal Navy would disrupt transportation
State a summary of Nazi Jewish Policy in the years 1938-1940?
Nazi policy radicalised rapidly as as potential constraints from opposition disappeared
Expansionist foreign Policy contributed to radicalisation of racial policy
Reichkristallnacht was a turning point in degree of violence
