Describe how Jews were discriminated against in Germany from 1933 to 1939

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1. Describe how Jews were discriminated against in Germany from 1933 to 1939

Anti-Semitism – the hatred of Jews had existed in Europe for hundreds of years, since the early Christian period. This Racism, which formed a major part of the Nazi idea, was the cause of the shocking discriminations against the Jewish people. When Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany on 30th January 1933, much of the fate of the Jews had been decided. Nazi Germany under Hitler’s control soon became a dictatorship and the idea of racism against Jews was forced upon ordinary German citizens.

During the period between 1933 and 1939, the persecution of Jews in Germany was at its earliest stage, with little organized violence and gradual deprivation of their rights. The Nazi policy against Jews changed extensively in these years and their treatments towards the Jews became increasingly extreme. Nazi racial thinking idealized the Volksgemeinschaft (People's Community), where only the ‘Master Aryan race’ could belong. The Jewish race was classed into the Gemeinschaftsfremde (Community Aliens) category, with those who have mental or physical disabilities. In separating the Jews from other German citizens, the Nazis have created a perfect situation for discrimination against Jews amongst ordinary people.

Between 1933 and 1934, Hitler’s policy was fairly moderate, not wishing to scare off voters or moderately-minded politicians. He was uncertain how the policies would affect the German economy or the opinions of other foreign governments. Jews had been disliked for years before, and the Nazi Party used the anger to gain votes. Blaming poverty, unemployment, and the loss of World War I all on the Jews, Hitler had justified reasons for the discrimination. In 1933, persecution of the Jews became an active Nazi policy, but the laws were not as rigorously obeyed and were not as devastating as in later years. Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda against "Non-Aryans" openly attacked anyone who had Jewish parents or grandparents. In the summer of 1935, anti-Jewish propaganda appeared in Nazi-German shops and restaurants. Hatred for the Jews was spread by a wide use of media: the weekly newspaper ‘Der Strurmer’ and some films depicted Jewish people as unclean and dishonest. Even cartoons in childrens’ books showed signs of anti-Semitism by portraying the ‘typical Jewish features’ of having dark hair and big noses. This racial hatred Jews was spread amongst neighbours, schools and colleagues. Jewish children were bullied and humiliated in class, and Jews were often attacked on the streets; they were increasingly isolated from the rest of German society.

Soon the boiling hatred turned into action On 1st of April, 1933, there was organised boycotts of Jewish doctors, lawyers, and stores. Hitler ordered the SA to smash the windows of Jewish shops and people were stopped from using any Jewish services. Boycotts such as this were widely encouraged druing the Nazi regime. This had damaged the Jews financially as they had lost many customers, without financial support, it would be very hard for them to survive. Six days after the boycott, the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service was passed, banning Jews from government jobs. Between April to October, the regime passed civil laws that  barred Jews from holding positions in the civil service, in legal and medical professions, and in teaching and university positions. These laws meant that Jews were now indirectly and directly dissuaded or banned from privileged and superior positions reserved for "Aryan" Germans. From then on, Jews were forced to work at more low paid positions, beneath other non-Jews.

As well as lowering the social positions of Jews in society, the Nazi were also trying to deny them identity and their intelligence. In 1934, all writings by Jews were burnt; this resulted in an enormous loss of the Jewish culture and religion; They could no longer have a voice to express their opinions and discoveries. Jewish people are no longer recognized for their contribution to the arts and sciences, one example of this was Albert Einstein, who fled from this persecution. The frequent attacks on synagogues meant that a large, precious part their ethnicity was destroyed. In September 1933, Jews were banned from inheriting land. All of these actions reflect how the Jews were stripped of their positions, identities and culture.

As Hitler secured the position of the leader of Germany, he was able to pass more severe laws to deprive Jews of their rights and to try to dehumanize the Jewish race. Between 1935 and 1936, persecution of the Jews increased apace. The Nuremberg Laws passed on 15th September 1935 separated the Jews from Germans legally, socially, and politically. This included the "Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor", which prevented marriage between any Jew and non-Jew. At the same time, the "Reich Citizenship Law" was passed, stating that all Jews, even quarter and half Jews, were no longer citizens of Germany. This meant that they had no basic citizen rights e.g., the right to vote. This removal of basic citizens rights allowed harsher laws to be passed in the future against Jews. Later, in 1936, Jews were banned from all professional jobs, preventing them having any influence in education, politics, higher education, and industry. There was now nothing to stop the anti-Jewish actions when the Jews could no longer affect the economy.

Although the Nuremberg Laws were discriminating and separating Jews from normal society, these extreme measures were temporarily at a hult due to the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Hitler wanted to promote a good image of Nazism to the world. Magnificent stadiums and other Olympic facilities were constructed; anti-Jewish propaganda was replaced by propaganda promoting the image of Hitler.

The Nazi regime accepted the terms of the Olympic Charter of participation, which was unrestricted by class, creed, or race. There were calls for a U.S. boycott of the games so the Nazis guaranteed that they would allow German Jews to participate, which prevented the boycott. During the game, two Germans with some Jewish ancestry were invited to be on the German Olympic team. However, the German Jewish athlete Gretel Bergmann, one of the world's most accomplished high jumpers, was not. After the Berlin Olympics, the rasist laws of the Nazi government did not become less oppresive. On the contrary, more than 120 laws, decrees, and ordinances were passed after the Nuremburg Laws and before the outbreak of World War II, further destroying the rights of German Jews. Many thousands of Germans who had not previously considered themselves Jews found themselves ideatified as "non-Aryans".

In the period 1937 to 1938, the segregation of Jews from the German "Aryan" population became more severe. Jews were punished for their "race". There were clear evidence suggesting how the government tried to exclude and outcast the Jews: on 30th of September 1938, a law passed that "Aryan" doctors could only treat "Aryan" patients; medical care for Jews was already constrained by the fact that Jews were banned from being doctors or having any professional jobs. On 17th August of the same year, Jews had to add "Israel" (males) or "Sarah" (females) to their names, and a large letter "J" was to be imprinted on their passports on October 5, so they could be identified easily and be separated from rest of the German citizens. On November 15, Jewish children were banned from going to public schools. By April 1939, nearly all Jewish companies had either collapsed under financial pressure and declining profits, or had been persuaded to sell out to the Nazi government, reducing their rights as human beings even further; they were, in many ways, effectively separated from the German population.

The increasingly dictatorial regime that Hitler had imposed on Germany allowed him more control over the actions of the SS and the army. On November 17, 1938, a young Polish Jew shot dead a German official in the German embassy in Paris over the treatment of Jews by the Nazis. This resulted in a retaliation by the German government. That night, the SS smashed and vandalized the storefronts of Jewish shops and offices, this was known as the Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass). Approximately 100 Jews were killed and over 30,000 were sent to the newly built concentration camps. Over 191 synagogues were set afire, with 76 destroyed. More than 7,500 Jewish businesses were looted and over 800 ruined. Ironically, the Jews were made to pay back one billion RM (Rentenmark) in damages, the fine was collected by confiscating 20% of every Jew's property. Without financial support, most Jews could not immigrate out of Germany to escape persecution. It became clear to Hitler that forced immigration of Jews out of Germany is not a feasible option. There was little passitivity of the German people in the face of the events of Kristallnacht. This showed to the Nazis that they would encounter little opposition when it comes to the treatment of the Jews. This made Hitler consider ‘The Final Solution’ for the Jews. Kristallnacht was a crucial turning point for the Nazis’ policy regarding the Jews as it was the actual beginning of what is now called the Holocaust.

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2. In what ways did the Nazis’ treatment of the Jews change from 1939 to 1945?

The period between 1939 and 1945 saw the systematic state-controlled persecution and genocide of the Jews in Europe by Nazi Germany. This is known as the Holocaust. The Jews of Europe became the victims of what the Nazis called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Problem". Early elements of the Holocaust included Kristallnacht, progressing to the later use of killing ...

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