2.2.8: Analyze Nazi policies toward Jews,
gypsies, communists, homosexuals and
religious minorities.(Part II)
World History 3201
December 2014
Nazi Policies towards untermensch
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The Nazi regime despised many groups it thought were
racially or socially inferior (untermensch = subhuman) people they called the 'germs of destruction'.
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The Nazis believed that the 'pure-blooded' German was
racially superior, and that a struggle for survival
existed between the German race and those races considered
to be inferior.
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They saw Jews, Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), black people and
the disabled as a serious biological threat to the purity of the
German-Aryan race, which they called the 'Master Race'.
Gypsies, homosexuals, religious
minorities
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Review the 1933-39:Early Stages of Persecution handout &
find information regarding Nazi policies towards:
 Gypsies (Roma)
 Communists (political opponents)
 Homosexuals
 Religious minorities
Take 15-20 minutes to record a few points for each group
 There is adequate space on the last page of your for this
activity
 Submit to Mr. Cooper when completed.
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The remainder of this class will be used to detail how
German Jews were impacted following Hitler’s ascension to
power in 1933
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Handout #2 will help you understand the main points in this
section. Follow the specific examples of Jewish persecution
1933-38 very closely.
Anti-Semitism
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Jewish people are known as Semitics. So anti-Semitism means
anti-Jewish
Anti-Semitics are racists
Jews were a minority in Germany in 1933
Religious group
Stereotypes of Jews: criminals, sexual predators, inferior,
bacteria, unpatriotic
Anti-Semitics believe that Jews it these stereotypes
Hitler’s Anti-Semitism
The Nazis identified Jews as a race and defined this race as
"inferior.“
 Hate-mongering propaganda also unfairly blamed Jews for:
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 Germany's economic depression
 the country's defeat in World War I
 the Treaty of Versailles
 communism
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“The aim of Jews is the complete destruction of the German
‘Reich’ and the spread of revolution.”
Hitler’s Anti-Semitic Measures
Anti-Semitism was central to Hitler’s idea of creating a new
Germany
 He didn’t want Jews to have any part to play in Nazi
Germany
 When the Nazis came to power in 1933 they immediately
implements measures that would discriminate against the
Jews
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Jewish Persecution 1933-38
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Jewish civil servants, lawyers and teachers sacked.
Race Science lessons were introduced to schools to teach that
Jews are untermensch.
Jews could not be doctors.
Jews could not go to theaters, cinema, or vacation resorts; or
reside or even walk in certain sections of German cities..
Jewish children forbidden to go to school.
1933, Boycott
People who went out shopping were encouraged not to buy
from Jewish businesses and shops
 Storm Troopers stood in front
of Jewish-owned businesses to
inform the public that the owners
were Jewish
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Jude (German for Jew) & Yellow/Black
Star of David are smeared across windows &
doors
1933, Boycott
Anti-Jewish signs also appear
 With this boycott, the Nazis slowly began to make hatred of
the Jews normal and acceptable. Over the coming years it
would become expected of German people to be antiSemitic
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1935, Nuremburg Laws
Nuremberg laws (15 September) new laws were
introduced that made Jews second-class citizens
 Also revoked most of their political rights.
 Jews are prohibited from marrying or
having sexual relations with persons of
"German or related blood
 These laws that only Aryans could be
German citizens.
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1938
Kristallnacht (9 November) – an organized assault upon
Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues.
 The violence against Jews lasts into the morning of
November 10 and becomes known as "Kristallnacht": the
"Night of Broken Glass.“
 Impact
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Jewish Persecution Review
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You are a Jewish writer living in Berlin in December 1939.
You have been living in Germany since 1930 and have slowly
seen things deteriorate for German Jews.
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Write a letter to a British newspaper describing the ways in
which life has become increasingly difficult and dangerous
for German Jews since Hitler came to power.
Try to be as historically accurate as possible so using
information from your class handouts, videos, and textbook
will certainly help you with this.
 Minimum 1 page in length.
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