Soon the changes become a lot more noticeable, with separate public toilets and separate benches built for Jews. They were slowly becoming detached from German society, and the changes were slowly becoming more apparent; signs were even put up outside some villages reading ‘Jew’s not allowed’. It became impossible for Jews to enrol into university meaning their chances of escape were minimal; as normally the only Jews accepted into other countries were university graduates or rich professionals. By this stage there were still no laws made, nothing was official and nothing was announced so Hitler still managed to get away with such sickening policies. This realisation that he could control the country even in such extreme cases made Hitler more and more confident, therefore his policies became even more intense.
An example of Hitler’s extreme behaviour was the events of May 10th 1933. Nazi students and professors were among those who stormed libraries and book shops in around 20 cities, burning all Jewish books and any writing opposed to the Nazi ideology. It was a fairly bizarre attempt at cleansing the German state and shows the terrifying lengths Hitler was willing to stretch to. I feel this is where Hitler is truly becoming uncontrollable and where other countries should have stepped in, or Germans should have resisted. Unfortunately they didn’t.
In 1935 the were introduced, legalising the appalling prejudice of the Nazis. They not only gave a legal definition of a Jew and an Aryan, but also stated Jews were no longer German citizens. Meaning they were deprived of basic human rights. They could no longer vote and could not marry or have sexual relations with Aryans; they were reduced to subjects of the state. Making the Jews different to the Germans and forcing them not to belong was a key step to reaching the extermination of the Jews. It meant Germans were forced to discriminate against Jews, as if not they would be breaking the law. Also, as the Jews were no longer citizens it probably meant the other Germans could distance themselves, and therefore would find it easier to be outwardly prejudiced.
The laws were very clever at forcing the German population to abide by the severe Nazi beliefs. They made it illegal to not be anti-Semitic, so not reporting these barbaric laws was illegal. No matter how strongly the German people disagreed with the laws it was their life at stake if them ignored them. This was such an important step in the discrimination of the Jews as it finally becomes official and is a true indication of Hitler’s ruthlessness. It must have eliminated any hope the Jews once felt of regaining a democratic state.
Up until this time it was the government who were controlling the German people’s thoughts and persuading them to discriminate against Jews. Yet now, due to the introduction of the , the public were reinforcing this; for example they greeting each other by saying: ‘the Jews are our misfortune’. It was against the law not to, and so finally Hitler had the Germans where he wanted them: accepting his policies through propaganda and terror. He even indoctrinated German children too; filling them with propaganda from trustworthy peers so they swallowed the lies and outrageous terms with no questions. This is evidence that Hitler truly believed he could change the state forever and that children were the important future to continue his dreams.
In 1936 the Olympics was held in Germany. Hitler made sure to hide the separate benches and toilets, showing even he knew what he was doing was wrong. Yet even this did not bring guilt upon him nor stop him from causing such pain to the Jews.
In fact on November 9th 1938 it got a great deal worse with the first planned physical attack against the Jews taking place (Kristallnacht- the night of the broken glass). The German storm troopers (SA) were strongly involved in this attack, which wiped out 2000 synagogues, ruined Jewish businesses and resulted in 300 Jews being murdered. Not only this, but 20,000 Jews were arrested for the Nazi prejudice attack! Yet the worst part for me is the fact that the Jew’s were fined for all the damages and disturbances; they were blamed for this obvious Nazi attack. This blatant act of prejudice is where the Jew’s began to realise the extent of what was happening to them, however by now it was far too late.
1939 saw the outbreak of the war, and Jew’s were seen as threats. They were expected to side against the Germans and so were made to have Jewish identity cards and wear a Jewish star of David. Any crime now committed by a Jew was seen as a capital crime- the extermination had, in effect, begun.
Each one of Hitler’s policies took time and this was the key to his success; he never rushed what he was doing. A subtle increase in laws and extremity meant they went practically unnoticed for possibly two years. The Germans were eased into this outrageously severe state not realising quite how powerful Hitler would one day be. Hitler’s self-belief grew with every achievement stepping up his game after every unnoticed victory. When the policies became visible it was too late for anything to be done and the discrimination of the Jew’s was in full swing. After the war, joint guilt was felt by the European countries that could have, and should have, stepped in to prevent this great tragedy.
