The Persecution of Minorities Flashcards
Describe Nazi Beliefs About Eugenics
-Eugenics is the science of selective breeding. It became popular in Europe from the 1880s.
-Scientists took the ideas of Charles Darwin, who explained that species changed over time through evolution, and explored how these changes could be controlled to produce ‘better’ humans.
-An example would be by selecting the ‘best’ parents or by preventing reproduction by ‘unsuitable’ parents to create the best child possible.
Describe Nazi Policies About Eugenics
-The Nazis took their ideas about eugenics and applied them to their policies. For example, eugenics became a subject in schools.
-The Nazis also encouraged reproduction by the ‘best’ Germans and prevented those they considered ‘undesirable’. This was achieved by sterilisation.
Describe Nazi beliefs About Racial Hygiene
-Eugenics is about choosing the best parents from any race but the Nazis wanted to choose the best parents from just one race- the Aryan race.
-Aryan Germans should only reproduce with other Aryans, to make their offspring ‘pure’ Aryan, unspoiled by other racial characteristics.
-The Nazis believed the Aryan race was superior to all other races.
Describe Nazi Policies About Racial Hygiene
-Nazi beliefs about racial hygiene meant that they adopted policies to make Germany as Aryan as possible.
-In schools, in the Hitler Youth and in propaganda, the Nazis taught racial hygiene.
-They also passed laws to prevent mixed-race marriages.
Describe Hitler’s Racial Views
-In 1925, Hitler set out his racial views in Mein Kampf. He claimed that there was a hierarchy of races.
-The Aryan race was the superior race- the Herrenvolk or master race- portrayed as tall, blond, blue-eyed and athletic.
-Other races, such as the Slavs of eastern Europe, were Untermenschen or sub-humans.
-The worst of the Untermenschen were ‘gypsies’ and Jews. Later, Hitler deemed them Lebensunwertes or unworthy of life.
Describe the Treatment of Slavs
-Nazi propaganda and school lessons constantly told Germans that the Slavs were Untermenschen.
-The Nazis insisted that, like Jews and ‘gypsies’ they were of different origin from Aryan Germans and needed to be treated differently.
-The Nazis threatened to invade Slav countries in Eastern Europe for Lebensraum for Germany’s people.
Describe Nazi Beliefs About ‘Gypsies’
-In the early 1930s, there were around 26,000 ‘gypsies’ in Germany. they lived an itinerant lifestyle, travelling from place to place.
-The Nazis believed they did not work enough or contribute enough taxes.
-They believed that ‘gypsies’ posed a threat to the racial purity of Germany.
-After 1933, ‘gypsies’ were often arrested as social nuisances and sent to concentration camps.
Describe the Treatment of ‘Gypsies’
-From 1936, some were forced to live in special camps. One in Berlin held 600 ‘gypsies’ who had been forcibly rounded up. It contained just two latrines, three water taps and no electricity.
-In 1938, ‘gypsies’ were banned from travelling in groups. They were rounded up and put on a register of ‘gypsies’ and tested for racial characteristics.
-If they ‘failed’ the test, they lost German citizenship and social benefits.
-In 1939, orders were given to prepare all ‘gypsies’ for deportation.
Describe Nazi Treatment of Homosexuals
-The Nazis believed that homosexuals lowered moral standards and spoiled the purity of the German race.
-The Nazis soon strengthened laws against homosexuality. In 1934, 766 males were imprisoned for homosexuality. In 1936, this number was over 4,000. In 1938, it was 8,000.
-Released homosexual prisoners were often sent to concentration camps. 5,000 German homosexuals died there.
-Nazi laws also encouraged the voluntary castration of homosexuals.
Describe Nazi Treatment of People with Disabilities
-The Nazis believed that people with disabilities were a burden on society and weakened racial purity.
-In 1933, they passed the Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Diseased Offspring.
-This made it compulsory for people to be sterilised if they were mentally ill, alcoholic, epileptic, deaf or blind. 400,000 people were sterilised, using surgical operations, by 1939.
-In 1939, the T4 Programme was started. It ordered: babies with mental or physical disabilities should be killed by starvation or lethal overdose of drugs.
-Eventually, children up to 17 years old with disabilities were included and over 5,000 children with disabilities were killed.
Explain how German Nationalism Led to Anti-Semitism Becoming Strong in Germany
-Germany was only united as a single country in 1871.
-Efforts by nationalists to unite the country included promotion of positive forces such as German heroes in music and science.
-However, it also led to heightened opposition to Germany’s ‘enemies’, such as the British Empire, communists and minority groups, such as Jews.
-Nationalist politicians would also blame Jews, with little evidence, for defeat in the First World War and economic depression.
Describe Early Persecution of the Jews
-There were only about 437,000 Jews in Germany in 1933-less than 1% of the population. However, when he became chancellor, Hitler made it clear that action against jews would be a priority.
-Hitler was a nationalist politician who hated the Jews. His own bitterness towards Jews was given complete freedom when he became chancellor in 1933.
-Many moderates allowed themselves to be influenced by Nazi propaganda and turned a blind eye to-or even participated in- Nazi persecution of the Jews.
Describe Nazi Propaganda Against the Jews (1933)
-The Nazis gradually took control of education, the press and the Arts. Wherever they had influence, they began to discriminate against Jews.
-Nazi propaganda called Jews ‘vermin’ and ‘filth’ and describing them as evil and scheming flooded Germany through schools, newspapers and films.
Describe the Early Exclusion of Jews From Society
-From April 1933, Jews were banned from government jobs and Jewish civil servants and teachers were sacked.
-From September 1933, Jews were banned from inheriting land.
-From 1934, some local councils banned Jews from parks and swimming pools.
-Others provided separate yellow park benches for Jews to keep normal Germans safe.
-From May 1935, Jews were banned from the army.
Describe the Boycott of Jewish Shops and Businesses (1933)
-On 30 March 1933, the Nazi Party announced that, from 10 a.m. on 1 April, an official boycott would begin of all Jewish businesses, doctors and lawyers.
-SA stormtroopers were sent to paint Jewish stars and the word Jude outside Jewish businesses.
-They then stood outside with banners, discouraging people from going inside.
Describe the Nuremburg Laws (1935)
-On 15 September 1935, a set of changes, called the Nuremberg Laws were passed.
-One law was the Reich law on Citizenship. It stated that only those of German blood could be German citizens.
-Jews became German ‘subjects’ not citizens. They lost the right to vote and hold government office or German passports.
-A second law was the Reich Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour.
-This forbade Jews from marrying German citizens. It also forbade sexual relations between Jews and German citizens.
Describe the Later Exclusion of Jews from Society (1938)
-From March 1938, Jews had to register all of their possessions- making it easier for the government to confiscate them.
-From July 1938, Jews had to carry identity cards, making it easier for them to be persecuted.
Describe the Cause of Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938)
-On 7 November 1938, a 17 year old Polish Jew, Herschel Grynzspan, went into the German embassy in Paris, randomly picked a German, Ernst von Rath, and shot him.
-Grynszpan was angry at the Germans for the way they had treated his parents.
-Seriously wounded, vom Rath was rushed to the hospital.
Describe the Nazi Reaction to Grynszpan’s Attack
-On 8 November, Goebbels, used the incident to stir up trouble against Jews in Germany.
-He ordered the local papers in Hanover, Grynzspan’s home town, to print articles condemning the Paris shooting.
-He also used the SA, SS and Gestapo to attack local synagogues and the houses of local Jews.
-However, things escalated when on 9 November, vom rath died.
Describe Hitler’s Involvement in Kristallnacht
-Goebbels told Hitler the news of vom rath’s death on the afternoon of 9 November. They agreed to turn the violence against Jews in Hanover into a nationwide attack.
-Nazi leaders were encouraged to arrange attacks on Jews and their property, but were told to do so under cover.
-Police were told not to prevent any violence against Jews by members of the public.
-Instructions were also sent to local SS groups to arrest as many Jews as the prisons could take.
Describe the Violence During Kristallnacht
-On 9 and 10 November, gangs smashed and burned Jewish property and attacked Jews. One 18 year old Jew was thrown from a third floor window for example.
-Some gangs were in uniforms. Others were SA and Hitler Youth. They were told not wear uniforms so the violence would seem to be by the general public.
-Some Germans were horrified; others watched or joined in.
-Official figures- which underestimated the damage- listed 814 shops, 171 homes and 191 synagogues destroyed, About 100 Jews were killed.
Describe the Aftermath of Kristallnacht
-Goebbels blamed the Jews for starting the trouble on Kristallnacht and announced they would be punished.
-Jews were fined 1 billion marks to pay for the damage.
-By 12 November, 20,000 Jews had been rounded up and sent to concentration camps.
Describe the Climax of Peacetime Persecution
-In January 1939, the Nazis decided to evict all Jews from Germany. The Reich Office for Jewish Emigration was set up under Reinhard Heydrich. His task was to deport all of Germany’s Jews.
-To achieve this, in April 1939, orders went out that all Jews should be evicted from their homes and collected together for deportation.
Describe the Role of the German People in the Persecution of Minorities
-The Nazi government kept some atrocities against Jews secret.
-However, most of what happened to Jews between 1933 and 1939 was known, both within Germany and in other countries.
-Many Germans did take part in the persecution and many other -and most other countries- did little to stop it.
Explain why the German People Took Part in the Persecution of Minorities
-People who criticised the Nazis were severely dealt with. Some Germans may therefore have been too scared to oppose it.
-Others convinced themselves that the suffering inflicted on Jews was not real- or just ignored it entirely.
-However, many Germans seem to have become convinced by ideas at the time that persecution of the Jews was justified; so they supported it and even took part in it.
