Section 5: The Racial State 1933-1941 Flashcards
Explain the Nazi policies towards the Jews 1933-37
1933-39 Hitler and Nazi leadership set up a scheme of anti Semitic legislation, emphasising legality
Boycott of Jewish shops 1 April 1933- unqualified success, unclear what was a Jewish business, no of citizens defiantly used Jewish shops, Hitler not all enthusiastic
Civil service laws 1933- Law for the Restoration of the Professional Ciivl service - not clear what defined racially Jewish, P Hindenburg insisted exemptions of G. jews who served in WW1. 16% of Germany’s legal profession
Doctors - 10% Jews,danger to German society , ban of Jewish doctors April 1933
Education - 1933 Law against Overcrowding of German Schools and Universities , key aim was segregation,Jewish children could still attend private education
October 1933- Reich Press law applied strict censorship and closed down publications
What was the Nuremberg Laws
Laws that extended anti Semitic legislation through the Nuremberg laws
Fanatical anti semites in the Nazi movement were restless, persecution not gone far enough
Reich Citizenship law - German citizen,pure blood , Jews and other non aryans classified subjects and fewer rights
Law for protection of German blood and honour outlawed marriage between Aryans and non Aryans
1935 First Supplementary Decree on the Reich Citizenship Law defined ‘full Jew’ ‘half Jew’ labelled Mischlinge
What was the effect of the Anschluss,March 1938
Bloodless victory emboldened Hitler and the Nazi leadership to pursue their ambitions in foreign policy and to adopt more radial policies
More radical phase of Nazi anti semitism was part of the more general radicalising of the regimes polices - 4 year plan
Sacht(economic policy ) argued strongly against radical anti semitism in economic field did not want to alienate foreign investors
Give legal examples of anti Semitic decrees , April to November 1938
April 1938 Decree of Registration of Jewish property - confiscated of all Jewish owned property worth 5000 marks
Lost entitlement to public welfare, charities set up Central Institution for Jewish Economic Aid
October 1938 passports of German Jews had to be stamped with letter J
What was the Reichkristallnacht
9-10 November 1938 Jewish homes and businesses were looted and vandalised
Pogrom- viewed as an uncontrolled outpouring of anti Semitic feeling amongst radical elements of the Nazi movement
Orchestrated by the Nazi leadership, 91 Jews killed
Not received with universal approval, some ordinary citizens joined the lotting
Goering ‘Now the gloves are off’- prevent insurance Decree for the Restoration of the street scene
What was the concept of Emigration
1st method of achieving was through voluntary emigration but as war approached moved to more radical policies
Voluntary emigration - allowed but strictly controlled , 1933 37,000 Jews left,made confusing by it was encouraged yet threatened to confiscate assets , encouraged Zionist to emigrate to Palestine, difficult to accept large number of Jews such as Palestine
Controlled emigration - Heydrich involved, Central office for a Jewish emigration set up, prompting emigration, SD see all Jewish org. Into single ‘Reich Association of the Jews in Germany’ modelled by SS Adolf Eichman
What was the significance of the war against Poland
Emphasis moved away from forced emigration to deportation and ‘resettlement’ of Jews
War provided régime with: national emergency that enabled to act with more dictatorial power and in greater secrecy, propaganda machine to whip up patriotism and hatred,new territories, way of Germanisation and ‘Jew free’ Nazi empire
Poland- 3 separate areas, ‘general government’ under Hans Frank, create Lebensarum to drive poles and Jews out of west Prussia ‘dumping ground’
Conquest of Poland increased the number of Jews under Nazi Control, 61% of 3, 115,00 Jews under Nazi control
Deported eastwards
Conwuesrin
What was the Madagascar plan
Make Madagascar available for a solution to the Jewish question
Natural wastage - intended to be harsh living cost
1940- British could interfere naval
What was the impact of operation Barbarossa
Aim to fulfil Lebensarum in the east, Nazi soviet pact a temporary truce for Nazi invasion in Poland
War east - racial annihilation
3 million Soviet Jews under German rule
No explicit Hitler order in June 1941 to kill all the Jews in Soviet Union but atmosphere which saw killing an overall mission, July 1941 Goering issued a general order to kill communist commissars
War intensified the pressure on Hitler to deal with ‘Jewish question’ - Radio sets were confiscated, 1940 excluded from wartime rationing , 1941 regulations were tightened up to require Jews to have police permit to travel
What impact did the war do to deportation and ghettoisation
Needed clear plan to deal with huge Jewish populations. Creation of Jewish ghettos, first set up in Łódź, poor conditions, economic exploitation in the form of forced labour, 6 people shared a room
Who were the Einsatzgrupen
German forces that overran the western territories of the USSR, sent to eliminate communist officials, Red Army commissars,‘Jewish Bolshevist intelligentsia’
June - July 1941 half a million SJ killed
Important role in ‘ethnic cleansing’ of terrifies in W. Poland, 1939 7000 Jews were killed
Some groups were restricted their killing of Jews, in other areas Einzatsgrupen and local volunteers set about killing many Jews as possible. Baltic states, special group A shot 25,000 Jews in 1941
The radicalisation of Nazi policy towards the Jews in the years 1933-41 was the result of success achieved by German forces in the war
Assess the validity of this view
Valid: Einsatzgrupen was solely for the elimination of Jewish intelligence and supported invasion of Poland 1939, no such thing prior to the war,
Invalid: Nazi policy towards Jews began to radicalise prior, 1933 37,00 allowed Jewish emigration, urgency of war > succession, general government area too much to handle
