Nazi Treatment Of Minorities Flashcards
What were Nazi policies & ideas about minorities?
Germans were Aryans and therefore the “Master Race”
Most other races categorised as slave races, but some groups labelled ‘untermensch’ or sub-human - Slavs of Eastern Europe, “gypsies” & Jews regarded as such
All other groups inferior to Aryans & threat to purity of superior “Master Race”
Many Nazi scientists believed in eugenics & selective breeding
People with disabilities or social problems degenerates whose genes needed to be eliminated from human bloodline
How did Nazis implement their policies on minorities?
Sterilisation - To keep Aryan race pure, many groups prevented from reproducing
Sterilisation of people with mental & physical disabilities & with hereditary diseases made legal in 1934
Children born to German women & French African soldiers in Rhineland at end of WW1 also sterilised
360,000 sterilisations carried out
Euthanasia - Killing of people with physical & mental disabilities began at start of war in August 1939 when 5,200 children secretly killed
Concentration camps - Jews, homosexuals, prostitutes, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Sinti & Roma, alcoholics, pacifists, beggars, hooligans & criminals often rounded up & sent to camps
How did the Nazis persecute the Jewish Community in 1933?
SA organised a boycott of Jewish shops and businesses
Books by Jewish authors publicly burnt
Jewish civil servants, lawyers & teachers sacked, & Jewish doctors & dentists couldn’t treat Aryans
Jews weren’t allowed to own farms
Science lessons about race introduced which taught Jews were subhuman
How did the Nazis persecute the Jewish Community in 1934?
Jewish shops marked with yellow star
Jews had to sit on separate seats on buses & trains
Many councils banned them from public spaces
How did the Nazis persecute the Jewish Community in 1935?
Jews not allowed in army
Nuremberg Laws:
Stripped Jews of German citizenship
Outlawed marriage & sexual relations between Jews & Germans
Removed all civil & political rights of the Jews
These laws were to be foundation for much of extreme persecution which took place later
How did the Nazis persecute the Jewish Community in 1936?
No visible public persecution of Jews in Berlin during the Olympics but it continued in other areas
How did the Nazis persecute the Jewish Community in 1938?
Jews ordered to register all wealth & property
Could no longer practice as doctors or lawyers, & Jewish businessmen couldn’t have Aryan clients
Jews forced to change their first names: males known as Israel, females as Sarah
Jewish children forbidden to go to school & universities
Kristallnacht
What was Kristallnacht?
Kristallnacht - 9 November (The Night of Broken Glass)
SS organised attacks on Jewish homes, businesses & synagogues in retaliation for assassination of German ambassador in France by Jew on 7th November
During Kristallnacht, 400 synagogues & 7,500 shops destroyed
20,000 Jews sent to concentration camps
Jews made to clear up destruction on their hands & knees & pay fine of 1 billion marks to government
Remaining Jewish property was then confiscated
How did the Nazis persecute the Jewish Community in 1939?
Nazis, who had been encouraging Jews to emigrate from 1933 onwards, now started “forced” emigration
Göring set up Reich Central Office for Jewish Emigration
150,000 Jews deported, but had to pay large “tax” before they could leave
In March, there were mass arrests. 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps.
What was the impact of Nazi minority policies & ideas by 1939?
Persecution affected every aspect of the lives of Jews, including: employment ownership of property education travel marriage civil liberties & political rights
By 1939, they were harassed & humiliated daily
Had to wear arm bands so they stood out in public, carry identity cards & have letter “J” stamped on their passports
Many Jews saw events of Kristallnacht as turning point
Up until then there had been progressive removal of their rights, but most Jews had not been physically attacked
When their businesses & homes were destroyed & their synagogues burnt down, many concluded that it was time to leave
Those who were able to flee did so, & scheme to evacuate Jewish children to Britain, called Kindertransport, began
How effective were nazi policies & ideas on minorities by 1939?
Persecution of minorities one of more successful Nazi policies, but it was not without trouble for Party
In 1933, German public reacted badly to SA’s boycott & harassment of the Jews:
Hitler had to temporarily order more cautious policy
However, persecution continued & from 1935 onwards significant increase in it
Kristallnacht caused some divisions in Nazi Party - Hitler & Goebbels approved of it, but other leaders, such as Göring and Himmler, disapproved
There was some criticism from religious leaders
However, in general, Nazis able to persecute Jews with little objection from public
There were a number of reasons for this:
Censorship
Propaganda
Eugenics
Fear
Why did the German public allow the Nazis to implement their policies & ideas of minorities?
Censorship - Public didn’t know full extent of persecution
Propaganda - Used Jews as scapegoats for country’s problems, so not popular in Germany
Eugenics & anti-Semitism taught in schools & Strength through Joy movement (KdF) branded Jews as undesirable subhumans
Some Germans jealous of fact that Jews held many professional jobs & owned businesses - believed small number of Jews more influential than they should be
Fear of SS & Gestapo meant people kept quiet
History of anti-Semitism in Germany & Europe before Nazis
