The Persecution Begins
Phases of Persecution
Anti-Jewish policies are often divided into phases

Each more aggressive than the last
1933-1935

boycotts and dismissal from government jobs
1935-1938

Legal restrictions, begin Aryanization
1938-1939

Attacks, confiscation of property, increased violence
1939-1945

WWII presents Nazis with opportunity to wage war on the Jews
of Europe
Purposes of Nazi Policies
Nazis wanted to make Germany
“Judenrein” or cleansed of Jews
Policies used to remove them from public
life and restrict them
Try to get as many to leave as possible

By 1938, about 25% of Germany’s Jews had
left the country
1933
Nazis encouraged Germans to boycott
Jewish businesses
Scheduled to begin on April 1, 1933
Signs posted to advertise the boycott


First boycott was not as successful as Nazis
hoped
Schedule additional boycotts
1933
Jews dismissed from Certain jobs




Government jobs
Teaching (public schools and universities)
Lawyers
Judges
Reich Chamber of Culture also banned
Jews from holding jobs in radio, theater, or
art
1933
Jews prohibited from owning land
Jewish doctors not allowed to treat Aryan
patients
1935
Nuremberg Laws adopted




Jews deprived of citizenship
Bans intermarriage between Jews and Aryans
Jews could not employ females under the age
of 45
Jews forbidden from displaying the Reich’s
flag
1936
Restrictions on Jews temporarily relaxed


Berlin hosted the Olympics
Anti-Jewish propaganda taken down
Gives Jews a false sense of hope


They thought things were going to get better
Believed the Nazi policies would eventually
end.
1937
Ayranization increased



Jewish property seized and handed over to
“Aryan” Germans
Jews forced to register property with
government
System used to further impoverish the Jews of
Germany
1938
Germany annexed Austria (Anschluss)


March, 1938
Nazi policies apply to Austrian territory
Adolf Eichmann assists Nazis in their
persecution of Austrian Jews
Organizes system for registration of Jews, seizure
of property and forced emigration


Over 100,000 Jews forced to leave Austria
Eichmann later helps organize the transportation of Jews
to killing centers
1938
Jews forced to add “Israel” and “Sarah” to
their names and mark passports with “J”
for easier identification
Could no longer attend public functions,
own phones or radios, and could not
operate vehicles
Jews given curfews
1938
International protests due to Nazi policies
Nazis try to get as many Jews to leave
Germany as possible
Most countries had immigration quotas

Restricted the number of people they would
allow in
Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) calls for an
international conference to discuss the
fate of the Jews
1938
Evian Conference (in France)




Summer, 1938
32 nations represented (including the U.S.)
Hitler offers to let Jews leave if other nations
would take them
No one willing to relax immigration quotas and
take more Jews
Only one country agreed to take more Jewish
refugees (Dominican Republic)
1938
Munich Conference


September, 1938
Meeting to discuss Nazi aggression toward
other nations of Europe
Appeasement!!!


Allow Hitler to have his way
Hoped to avoid a war
More on this in the Next unit.
1938
Kristallnacht


Night of Broken Glass
Night of November 9-10, 1938
Major violent attack


Synagogues burned, Jewish homes and
businesses looted and damaged
30,000 Jews sent to concentration camps
Night of Broken Glass
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Images

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/gallery_ph.php?
ModuleId=10005201
Eye witness account of Kristallnacht

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_oi.php?
ModuleId=10005201&MediaId=1158
1939
Aryanization continues



Jews register their property/valuables with the
government
Property is then confiscated and houses
looted
Property turned over to “Aryans”
1939
Over 900 Jewish refugees board the St.
Louis and sail to Cuba



May, 1939
Cuba refuses entry for most of them
United States refused to take them
Over 700 were on the quota list to enter the U.S.

Forced to return to Europe in June, 1939
Most will die during Nazi occupation of Western
Europe
1939
Nazis and Soviets sign a non-aggression
pact
September 1, 1939:

German invasion of Poland

WWII BEGINS