Nazi Germany 1933-1939

Nuremburg Laws

By Carmen Waller, Class of 1999

"APRIL 11, 1933, Non-Aryan defined as anyone with Jewish parents or with a single Jewish grandparent"¹ Aryan, described as the "Master race, blond hair, blue eyed Caucasians with no biological validity nor a racial term." ³

On September 15, 1935, at a NAZI rally, Adolf Hitler introduced two anti-Semitic laws to deal with what he referred to as the "Jewish problem." The first being called "Citizenship law" and the second being called "Protection of German Blood and German Honor" also known as the Nuremberg Laws.

This series of laws was designed to: clarify the requirements of citizenship in the Third Reich, to assure the purity of German blood and German honor and, to clarify the position of Jews in the Reich

Law # 1, "September 15, 1935, Moved by the understanding that purity of the German Blood is the essential condition for the continued existence of the German people, and inspired by the inflexible determination to ensure the existence of the German Nation for all time, the Reichstag has unanimously adopted the following Law, which is promulgated herewith

1) Marriages between Jews and subjects of the state of Germany orrelated blood are forbidden. Marriages never the less, concludedare invalid, even if concluded abroad to circumvent this law.2) Annulment preceding can be initiated by the State Prosecutor."¹

Law # 2, "Extramarital intercourse between Jews and subjects of the stateof Germany or related blood is forbidden."¹ Law # 3, "Jews may not employ in their household female subjects of the stated of Germany or related blood who are under 45 years old." ¹

Jews were not allowed to attend German schools, use the public transportation, or even own their own telephones. "April 7, 1933, Forced Compulsory retirement of all "non-Aryans" from professional life."¹ Jewish teachers, lawyers, doctors and writers were not allowed to work. They could own their own cars, but they were required to have "Jew numbers" on their license plates.

Law # 4, "1) Jews are forbidden to fly the Reich or National flag or to display the Reich colors. 2) They are, on the other hand, permitted to display Jewish colors. The exercise of this right is protected by the state."¹ They were required to change their names, men had to add Israel to their first names, and women had to add Sara to theirs. It was against the law to fly the German flag, and most humiliatingly of all; German Jews were required to wear the yellow Star of David as to be able to identify themselves to the Gestapo. It was hazardous to their health to lose it, "one elderly Gentleman who lost his was forced by an SS officer to pick up shards of broken glass with his teeth."²

The Reichstag was adamant about their set laws and were harsh with their punishments towards anyone who broke them Law # 5, "1) Any person who violates the prohibition under No.1, will be punished by a prison sentence of hard labor

2) A male who violates the prohibition under No.2 will be punished with a prison sentence with or without hard labor.3) Any person violating prohibition under No.3 or No.4, will be punished with a prison sentence of up to one year and a fine, or with one or the other of these penalties" ¹ Those people who broke the laws were shot, beaten, or publicly humiliated. "One woman who had a Jewish boyfriend was made to stand in the street wearing a sign around her neck that said, ‘I am a swine that can only have relations with Jews.’"²

It was stated as part of the "Citizenship Laws" that, "1) A Jew cannot be a Reich citizen. He has no voting rights in political matters; he cannot occupy a public office 2) Jewish officials will retire as of December 31, 1935"¹ The idea was to strip the Jews of their every right to citizenship, to ensure that they were no longer considered Germans. They became aliens in a foreign land.

It was very definite as to how a Jew was classified,"1) A Jew is a person descended from at least three grandparents who are full Jews by race...

"2) A Mischling who is a subject of the state is also considered a Jew if he is descended from two full Jewish grandparents: a) who was a member of the Jewish Religions Community at the time of the promulgation of this Law, or was admitted to it subsequently; b) who was married to a Jew at the time of the promulgation of this Law, or subsequently married to a Jew; c) who was born from a marriage with a Jew in accordance with paragraph 1, contracted subsequently to promulgation of the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor of September 13, 1935; d) who was born as the result of extramarital intercourse with a Jew in accordance with Paragraph 1, and was born illegitimately, after July 31, 1936"¹

When looking back, it seems foolish that the Jews in Germany stayed, in a country in which they were unwanted. Very few of them believed that kind of terror would last, but with Hitler’s new system of abuse and hate, which was written into law, they had no idea that the horror had just begun.

Infoseek "Nuremberg Laws" ¹

http://voyager.bxscience.edu/orgs/holocaust/edguide/1.html

San Diego, CA ²

Holocaust Era Vocabulary ³

http://www.holocaustcenterbuff.com/vocab.html

by: Carmen Waller

MrKerm17@aol.com