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.
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 the removal of citizenship rights in 1935 ensure?
That anti-semitism became more embedded in German society and led to Jews being increasingly discriminated against.
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.
Which other group (excluding the Jews) was a target of Nazi persecution? Why?
Gypsies.
Viewed as outsiders, non-Aryan and work-shy and thus viewed as sub human
When was the sterilisation law passed? Who did it target?
1933
Targeted ‘simple-minded’, ‘chronic alcoholics’ and sufferers of mental and physical health problems.
What happened to homosexual men in Nazi Germany?
Homosexuality was already illegal, however, with the establishment of a department within the Gestapo, some 50,000 were arrested.
What campaign was also launched in 1939?
Euthanasia campaign.
