Jews in Germany
1. Hitler’s Racism
For years before Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, he was obsessed with
ideas about race. In his speeches and writings, Hitler spread his beliefs in racial "purity"
and in the superiority of the "Germanic race" -- what he called an Aryan "master race."
He pronounced that his race must remain pure in order to one day take over the world.
For Hitler, the ideal "Aryan" was blond, blue-eyed, and tall.
The Nazis used public displays to spread their ideas of race. The chart shown here is titled "The Biology of
Growth," and is labeled "Stages of Growth for Members of the Nordic Race."
When Hitler and the Nazis came to power, these beliefs became the government
ideology and were spread in publicly displayed posters, on the radio, in movies, in
classrooms, and in newspapers. The Nazis began to put their ideology into practice with
the support of German scientists who believed that the human race could be improved
by limiting the reproduction of people considered "inferior." Beginning in 1933, German
physicians were allowed to perform forced sterilizations, operations making it impossible
for the victims to have children. Among the targets of this public program were Roma
(Gypsies), an ethnic minority numbering about 30,000 in Germany, and handicapped
individuals, including the mentally ill and people born deaf and blind. Also victimized
were about 500 African-German children, the offspring of German mothers and African
colonial soldiers in the Allied armies that occupied the German Rhineland region after
World War I.
Hitler and other Nazi leaders viewed the Jews not as a religious group, but as a
poisonous "race," which "lived off" the other races and weakened them. After Hitler took
power, Nazi teachers in school classrooms began to apply the "principles" of racial
science. They measured skull size and nose length, and recorded the color of their
pupils' hair and eyes to determine whether students belonged to the true "Aryan race."
Jewish and Romani (Gypsy) students were often humiliated in the process.
Establishing racial descent by measuring an ear at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology. Germany,
date uncertain.
— National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.
Source: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007679
2.
APRIL 1, 1933
NATIONWIDE BOYCOTT OF JEWISH-OWNED BUSINESSES
At 10:00 a.m., members of the Storm Troopers (SA) and SS (the elite guard of the Nazi
state) stand in front of Jewish-owned businesses throughout Germany to inform the
public that the proprietors of these establishments are Jewish. The word "Jude," German
for "Jew," is often smeared on store display windows, with a Star of David painted in
yellow and black across the doors. Anti-Jewish signs accompany these slogans. In
some towns, the SA march through the streets singing anti-Jewish slogans and party
songs. In other towns, violence accompanies the boycott; in Kiel, a Jewish lawyer is
killed. The boycott ends at midnight. Boycotts organized at the local level continue
throughout much of the 1930s.
Jews are not wanted here.
Source: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007687
3.
By September 15, 1941, Jews in Germany were forced to wear a yellow star. The six-pointed
yellow star (as big as a palm) had a black border and the inscription “Jude” (Jew). The star,
which also represented a public stigmatization, was introduced to facilitate the identification of
Jews in preparation for their deportation to the East.
Source:
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/doyourememberwhen/popup.php?content=yellowstar&modal=true&height=400&width
=500
4.
Click this link to watch a video about life under the Nazis :
http://www.ushmm.org/remembrance/dor/video/?content=fanny_early
5.
A yellow Star of David badge bearing the German word Jude (Jew)
In September 1941, the Nazi regime, at Goebbels's urgent request, ordered
Germany's Jews over the age of 6 to sew on their clothing a yellow Star of David
with the word Jude (Jew) in bold, Hebrew-like letters. The following year, the
measure was introduced in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and other
lands under German control.
USHMM, courtesy of Charles and Hana Bruml
Source: http://www.ushmm.org/propaganda/archive/star-david-badge/
6.
Antisemitic poster published in Poland in March 1941
An antisemitic poster published in Poland in March 1941. The caption reads, "Jews
are lice; They cause typhus." This German-published poster was intended to instill
fear of Jews among Christian Poles.
Muzeum Okregowe w Rzeszowie / Historical Museum of Rzeszow
7.
Click on this link to see a slide show about anti-Jewish propaganda (using many
tools to put across your point of view – in this case the point of view that the Jews
were bad.)
http://www.ushmm.org/propaganda/exhibit.html#/themes/defining-the-enemy/