In 1935, things changed again with a change of policy and the passing of the Nuremberg laws; a legal attack on German/Jewish relations. These laws stated that mixed marriages between Jews and Aryans were invalid and any future relationships would be banned. As well as this, they had further rights taken away and they were segregated from the rest of society. There was public segregation in cinemas, transport etc. The Jews were banned from the armed forces and they lost their citizenship and right to vote. Jews were banned from parks, restaurants, and swimming pools. Rabbis and other religious leaders were stopped from preaching. Jewish newspapers were closed down and the writers and editors arrested. In 1936 the persecution continued and Jews could no longer own electrical equipment, typewriters, optical equipment, bicycles or records and had to hand them over to the authorities. They were also not allowed to be vets. In 1937, Jews were banned from being pharmacists. As well as the Jews, gypsies became targets of the Nazi party and so gypsies all over Germany were photographed, fingerprinted, and registered as part of the Nazi campaign to ‘Fight the gypsy menace’. The purpose of the Nuremberg laws was to protect the purity of German blood. The reason for this change in 1935 was that it was the next stage of Hitler’s plan to ‘clean’ Germany.
In 1938, there was more change still. This was the year in which Kristallnacht too place. Kristallnacht was an organised attack on synagogues, Jews and Jewish shops all over Germany and Austria. In this night of violence, the Stormtroopers sent 20,000 Jews to concentration camps, 400 synagogues were burned down and ordinary people were encouraged to join in. Jewish shop windows were smashed, sacred objects were desecrated and 91 Jews were murdered. As well as this organised violence, even more of the Jews rights were taken away. Jews were no longer allowed to be doctors and they had to have their passports stamped with a ‘J’. Some had their passports confiscated, which made it very difficult to leave. Jews were banned from owning a business and Jewish children were banned from school. They were also excluded from public places such as cinemas, theatres and beaches. Jewish bookshops and publishing houses were closed down and Jewish children were forbidden from playing with Aryan children. In 1939, Jews were banned from leaving their homes after 8 p.m. and could be evicted from their homes without reason or notice. 1938 is a turning point in the discrimination of the Jews because it is the first organised violence against them. The purpose is to try and make Jews leave the country i.e. forced emigration, and it is partially successful because one third of all German Jews leave. The reason for this turning point was Hitler’s growing confidence. He had found that he could treat the Jews how he liked, with no interference from England or France, and so he stepped up his ethnic cleansing.
In March 1939, Germany invades Czechoslovakia and then Poland in September. Because of this, a further three million Jews came under the Nazi regime, and their treatment was even worse than in Germany.
