Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Jews and Minorities
The Jews and Minorities
The Jews and Minorities
minorities in Nazi
Germany
1933-39
What do you need to know?
1. The persecution of minorities:
Nazi racial ideas and policies
the treatment of minorities: gypsies, homosexuals and those with disabilities
Many doctors and scientists taught that some races were superior to
others.
Nazi
master race or Aryan race and they wanted to
strive to achieve a racially pure Germany.
Using the
information on the
treatment of
minorities,
complete the table.
Find on WHS
Campus.
2. Nazi persecution of
the Jewish community
Hitler publically hated
the Jews from the 1920s!
“To read the pages (of Hitler’s Mein Kampf) is to enter
a world of the insane, a world populated by hideous
and distorted shadows. The Jew is no longer a human
being, he has become a mythical figure, a grimacing
leering devil invested with infernal powers, the
incarnation of evil.”
See video
Hitler publically blamed the Jews for:
- Defeat in 1918 and the humiliating Treaty of Versailles. Hitler had
fought in WW1 and was shocked when the war ended in German defeat
- Economic problems of Weimar as a result of the Treaty of Versailles and
the greed of the Jews who he felt took money away from the Germans.
- The fact that Jews represented less than 1% of the population but there
were over represented professionally. 10,000 Jewish doctors and 16% of
lawyers and 17% of bankers were Jewish led to resentment at them as a
community
- Weakening of the Aryan race
- Degeneration of German art, philosophy and entertainment
- He believed that Jewish businessmen were plotting to take over the world
- He believed that Communism was Jewish in its origins and the two were
closely linked and working together.
Persecution of Jews,
1933-1939
Persecution of Jews began once Hitler
came to power and increasingly
escalated.
Complete the
timeline
summarising the
persecution of the
Jews 1933-39.
2. Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour which included the
following:
-Segregation and even forbidden from a variety of public places.
- Yellow star began to be displayed to identify Jewish establishments and would later be worn by
Jews themselves.
- It was illegal to marry outside their race or to engage in sexual relations outside their race.
- The penalty was death for breaking these laws or being used for slave labour or sent to
concentration camps
August 1936 –
The persecution of
the Jews eased off
during the 1936
Olympic games,
which were held in
Berlin.
TEMPORARY!
January 1937 –
Jews were banned
from key professions,
including teaching,
accountancy and
dentistry.
April / June 1938 -
Jews had to register
their property,
making it easier for
the Nazis to take it off
them. Jews were not
allowed to own land
July / August 1938 –
Jews had to carry
identity cards and
wear a Star of David on
their clothing in public
places.
September 1938 –
Jews were banned
from all legal
practices.
October 1938 -
Jewish passports
were stamped with a
“J”. Jews were also
forced to use new
names – men were
to use “Israel” and
women “Sarah”
See BBC Video on Campus
November 1938 –
Kristallnacht – The night
of the broken glass.
Economic
Civic rights
Exclusion
Violence
By 1939 the Nazi actions against the Jewish community had
a significant impact!
1. Jewish quality of life was damaged – the Jews were
The impact constrained, isolated and oppressed. Many Jews were all but
prisoners in their own homes.
of Nazi Example: Summer 1935 – Jews not wanted signs in many
actions and localities
policies on
the lives of 2. Jews were stripped of their rights.
Example: The Nuremberg Laws
the Jewish • Lost jobs.
community • Lost basic rights.
by 1939… • Lost their freedoms.
• Lost their Citizenship.