Also, Hitler stereotyped the looks of the pure “Aryan” race, having the women and men to have certain facial features and physical abilities. The women were required to be blue-eyed, oval-faced, red=cheeked, thin-nosed, and most importantly, blonde. The men on the other hand, had to be at least 1.74m tall, long-legged, slim, narrow-faced with a narrow forehead, narrow high-built nose, and a lower jaw and prominent chin. The skin was also required to be rosy bright, with blood shining through, and the hair was to be straight or waxy, and possibly curly in childhood.
The Nazis prepared the Germans to accept the treatment of these “Outsiders” in a step-by-step method. Since the beginning, it was obvious that Hitler did not like the Jews, however, nobody in Germany would have thought of him taking any measures against them. In fact, many Jews supported the Nazi campaign. When Hitler seized power in 1933, he used his new powers under the “Enabling Law” to begin his attack on the Jews. Step-by-step, Hitler took measures to alter the thoughts of the German population to bring them to hate the Jews and believe in what he wanted them to believe, and this went about through propaganda and other methods.
When the first few concentration camps were set up, the main objective of the establishments were to punish political opponents of the regime, especially Communists and Socialists, however, no measures were taken to attack the Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, work-shy, prostitutes, pimps, alcoholics, mentally or physically ill or families containing hereditary diseases. It was only later on where this was conducted. However, by 1st April 1933, boycotting of Jewish shops, lawyers and doctors began. This marked the starting of the anti-Jewish campaigns. The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil service was passed on the 7th of April 1933, which forbid Jewish doctors and dentists to work for public health schemes, and dismissed Jewish teachers and barred Jewish lawyers from state employment. Through propaganda, Hitler convinced the population to believe the evil intentions of the Jews, as well as the difficulties that Germany was facing due to the breeding of homosexuals, work-shy, mentally or physically ill people. To prevent any opposition among the community, Hitler also organized public burning of books by Jews, Communists, Socialists and ‘degenerate’ authors who exemplified modern art and literature.
During the month of July in 1933, the Sterilization Law was passed, which allowed Nazis to sterilize people with certain illnesses such as ‘simple-mindedness’ and ‘chronic alcoholism’. This was then followed shortly after by rounding up of tramps and beggars, which were then sterilized. The Knight of the Long Knives occurred on the 29th of June, 1934, which gave Hitler the excuse to order a central register of all men known to engage in homosexual activities. Jews were later forbidden from any action within the army. On the 15th of September 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were passed, which stripped the rights of the Jews and reduced them to subjects with limited civil rights and banned marriages between “Aryans” and “non-Aryans” (Jews, Gypsies, Roma, and African people). By 1936, the “work-shy”, tramps, beggars, alcoholics, prostitutes, homosexuals and juvenile delinquents were all sent to concentration camps. Many Germans welcomed the removal of these people as they were seen as ‘awkward customers’. By 1938, Gypsies were registered to ensure racial separation from the Aryans.
By the 26th of April 1938, a law was passed that made all Jews register their property, making confiscation easier. By October 1938, all Jews were also required to have a red letter “J” stamped on their passports. Between the 9th and 10th of October in 1938 were the events of the Kristallnacht, otherwise known as the Night of the Broken Glass. During the short period of time, the SS destroyed synagogues, Jewish homes and shops, all of which were supervised by the Police Department. Jews were also hounded by bands of young Nazis and some were arrested by the Police. The fire brigade, however, did nothing as they were told not to help the Jews. The “reason” for this was the murder of a German Embassy official in Paris, Ernst von Rath, who was shot by a Jewish lad, but another reason unknown to the public was the power struggle between leading Nazis as well as the intention to get rid of the Jews at a faster rate. Much of the damaged property on the Kristallnacht was only rented by the Jews from German owners, and hence, the Nazis decided to ‘fine’ the Jews one billion Reichmarks for the damage.
By 1939, the Euthanasia campaign was released, which allowed the Nazis to exterminate the mentally ill. 6,000 handicapped babies, children and teenagers were murdered by starvation or lethal injections. Nazis also devised a new method of killing, using Carbon Monoxide Gas. Gas chambers were built in six mental asylums. These all went in secret, meaning that its true intentions were not revealed to the public. The public believed that the Asylums were protection places for the mentally handicapped, and not many knew the true intentions of the Asylums. By that time, so many of the Germans were brainwashed by the propaganda that some parents even sent letters to Hitler asking for ‘mercy killings’ of their children. In January 1939, the German government also ordered that Jews were to use the first names “Sara” or “Israel”, Sara for females and Israel for males. This made identification much easier.
January 1942 marked the start of the “Final Solution”. To persecute the Jews, the Nazi also had to use certain tactic. This was through deception, where Jews were told that they were going to ‘resettlement areas’, which were in actual fact, death camps. The death camps were ruled by fear, and the Jews suffered daily, starved, and forced to work. In propagandas, the Jews were depicted as evil sub-humans, and by sending the Jews to the death camps, they became dirty, naked and half starved, which made them look like animals, reinforcing the Nazi propaganda. The people sent into the death camps were categorized. The women, children, the old and sick were sent for ‘special treatment’ while the young and fit would go through a process called ‘destruction through work’. Jews were to be rounded up and put into transit camps called Ghettoes, and were used as a cheap source of labor. The conditions in the Ghettos were so bad that many died.
All throughout the Nazi rule, the Nazi also focused on educating the children into believing that the actions they were taking was correct. The Nazi introduced “Eugenics class” into schools, which was the “Science” of breeding better humans, in other words, where anti Jewish teachings were conducted.
In conclusion, the Nazis prepared the Germans in a step-by-step method.
