RACIAL POLICIES Flashcards
What was the central belief of the Nazi party?
The idea of a ‘racially pure’ state, which meant the exclusion of some people from the Volksgeminschaft.
What were those excluded from the Volksgeminshchaft seen as?
‘Biologically inferior’ or sub-human.
Why were the racial policies not at the centre of voters beliefs?
Many of those who had voted for the Nazis had not done so because of their racial policies but because of issues such as unemployment or fear of communism.
Why did some Germans believe that the Jews deserved to be legally discriminated against?
They accepted some of the Nazis’ arguments that Jews had been to blame for Germany’s defeat in WW1 or that they were making vast profits while ordinary Germans suffered from the Depression.
What did Nazi propaganda state about the Jews?
That mixing with sub-humans had weakened the German race and that to achieve racial purity their removal was required.
How did violence against Jews begin in the Third Reich?
Violence from members of the SA against individual Jews and their property.
In order to control violence between the SA and the Jews, what did Hitler announce?
A one-day boycott of Jewish businesses on 1st April. However, this boycott was not popular.
How did Hitler attempt to appease radical anti-semitism in the party at the beginning?
By expelling Jews from the civil service, universities and journalism.
What did the Night of the Long Knives do within the party?
Removed some of the radical elements, anti-semitism.
What had happened by the summer of 1935?
There was further widespread violence against Jews and local party activists wanted further measures taken against them.
What was Hitler concerned about when party members became more radical?
That the regime was losing support at home and that attacks on Jews would negatively affect international opinion.
What did Hitler announce in the summer of 1935?
Measures to regularise the status of Jews in Germany by removing citizenship rights.
What did the removal of citizenship rights ensure?
That anti-semitism became more embedded in German society and led to Jews being increasingly discriminated against.
What and when was the first law against Jews passed?
April 1933.
Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service.
What was the set of laws passed in September 1935?
The Nuremberg Race Laws.
What did Göring want to implement in 1938?
Confiscation of Jewish assets to help pay for rearmament.
What growing pressures led up to the Night of Broken Glass?
Growing nationalist feelings within the country encouraged by the Anschluss.
Increasing likelihood of war and the view of the Jews being ‘the enemy within’.
When was the Night of Broken glass?
9-10th November 1938.
What did the attacks on the Night of Broken Glass result in?
The destruction of Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues. Death of over 100 Jews and 20,000 taken to concentration camps.
What can the Night of Broken Glass be seen as?
A turning point in the treatment of Jews.
How many Jews left within six months under Adolf Eichmann?
45,000
When did the fate of the Jews become clear?
From November 1938.
Which other group (excluding the Jews) was a target of Nazi persecution? Why?
Gypsies.
Viewed as outsiders, non-Aryan and work-shy and thus did not fit the Nazi ideal.
What happened to gypsies in 1939?
With the outbreak of war, 30,000 were deported to special sites in Poland.
