Lecture Summary: Jewish Persecution Pre-WWII

Overview

• The lecture continues the discussion on the Nazi impact on different groups, focusing on Jewish persecution from 1933 to the onset of WWII.
• Emphasizes gradual intensification of persecution leading to the Holocaust.

Key Concepts

Nazi Racial Policy

• Two categories of people:
  • Übermenschen (superhumans): Aryan Germans.
  • Untermenschen (subhumans): Especially Jews.
• Gradual escalation: Persecution began with social exclusion and built up over time.

Initial Persecution (1933 Onwards)

• Social exclusion:
  • Signs excluding Jews from participating in public life (e.g., parks, shops).
  • Propaganda using anti-Semitic myths and derogatory imagery.
• Physical persecution:
  • Humiliation of Jewish individuals, such as lawyer Michael Siegel.

Legal Persecution

• 1933:
  • Jews excluded from legal professions.
  • Jewish judges suspended.
• Incremental laws:
  • Jews banned from cultural and professional activities (e.g., choirs, chess federation, literary activities).
  • Testing public reaction to discrimination.

Nuremberg Laws (1935)

• Key turning point:
  • Jews stripped of citizenship; become subjects without rights.
  • Intermarriage between Jews and Germans outlawed.
  • Established racial discrimination as legal policy.

Intensification (1936-1938)

• Asset and professional bans:
  • Jews ordered to surrender personal property like electrical equipment.
  • Banned from practicing certain professions.
• Exclusion from society:
  • Further isolation with bans on university degrees and Red Cross involvement.

Kristallnacht (November 1938)

• Critical event:
  • Mass destruction of Jewish properties (267 synagogues, 7,500 businesses).
  • 91 Jews killed, 30,000 arrested, leading to increased concentration camp populations.

Escalation Towards War (1939)

• Continued persecution:
  • Confiscation of Jewish valuables.
  • Forced evictions without cause.
  • Curfews imposed on Jewish citizens.

Conclusion

• Progression of persecution:
  • Begins with seemingly trivial exclusions in 1933.
  • Culminates in severe legal and physical exclusion by 1939.
• Foundation for the Holocaust:
  • Gradual intensification laid groundwork for the atrocities during WWII.