Nazi Policy and Jews - Essay Example

Nazi Policy and Jews Nazi policies against the Jews were easy for them to enforce because they took their time in creating them. The Nazis were subtle in their enforcement at first and the Jews were naïve to think that nothing was going on that would effect them. When Hitler came to power on January 30, 1933 there were many things that he decided to do. First, he attacked the arts to create a "de-Judaization" of the culture, especially in Prussia (Freidlander 9). The majority of the anti-Jewish violence happened after the Nazis held elections in March. After that Storm Troopers (called the SA) were sent to Sturmabteilung to excavate the Jews in Eastern Europe; these were the very first Jews that were sent to the concentration camps (18). According to Friedlander, the Nazis did not have a real plan when they started their policies against the Jews. They had more a list of guidelines that had come from Hitler but they did not have actual long term goals for what they would do. The first step was to take Jews out of the arts. The next step was to boycott Jewish businesses. There was no real reason given for Hitlers boycotts and future annihilation of the Jews; at least not one that he would state easily. In the beginning, the Jews were told to leave Germany and there were many anti-Jew pamphlets that were distributed and violence against them was commonplace (16). Hitler began to sweep the country with a variety of changes. He took over the unions ad replaced them with the German Labor Front, political parties were then dissolved and the National Socialist German Workers Party became more prominent (p. 17). The Germans seemed to have an attitude about the Jews that no one actually understood. The boycotts were carried out but they did not work exactly in the way that the Germans wanted them to work. However, many Jews still had adverse consequences from the boycotts. Many were blamed for inciting against Germany but this was just another way that the Germans used to create anti-Jew behavior in the communities where Jews were living. The Nazis were basically interested in racial purity which meant that since the Jews were not Aryan or German, they were to be eliminated. As Friedlander states: "Such racial purity was a condition of superior cultural creation and of the construction of a powerful state, the guarantor of victory in the struggle for racial survival and domination" (33). This attitude became the driving force of the entire Nazi regime. Another aspect of the policies stopped Jews from holding government positions. The Nazis decided that they were "sowing the seed of corruption" (35) and therefore should be removed. The persecution of the Jews was systematic and slow. Many things happened in April to July of 1933. Jews could not change their names without going through the Justice Ministry, Jews were excluded from journalism, sports, and were thrown out of universities whether they were teachers or teaching assistances (36-37). By the end of April, Jews could not use Yiddish in certain places and their names were not able to spelled in telephone communiqués. Eventually, they were unable to change their Jewish names to non-Jewish names and they were not allowed to be a part of the German gymnastics organization. Jewish doctors were also a target and there was an order that said that anyone who had been treated by a Jewish doctor in private institutions, would be entitled to a refund (37). By this time there was so much tension between Jews and non-Jews that many Jewish professionals (doctors, lawyers, industrialists) left the country. A Jew who wanted to open a shoe store in Etam was met by 300 people who demonstrated against his opening the store. This kind of behavior happened on a daily basis and no one knew who would be the next person or business targeted. All of these events were considered the first aspects of the "cleansing" that was happening by the Third Reich. One of the most heinous policies came into place in July of 1933. This was The Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring. According to this law, anyone could be sterilized who was seen as "suffering from supposedly hereditary diseases, such as feeble-mindedness, schizophrenia, manic-depression, insanity, genetic epilepsy.." (39) or any other disease seen as "chronic"., Ironically, this law was first a "voluntary sterilization" policy, but when the Nazis came to power, and it became mandatory. Friedlander makes the point that by the summer of 1933, the sterilization process was not only about racial cleansing, but it was also about eliminating an "enemy" that was "active and formidable" and "threatened the very survival" of both Germany and the Aryan race (40). Another aspect of the persecution the SA men went into a town in southwest Germany and took all the Jewish men to the town hall and beat them as the police kept watch outside, and they eventually killed several men. The fury of the anti-Jewish movement intensified and many shops and homes were destroyed as well as synagogues and various artifacts were destroyed (271), Hitler remained silent on this issue stating that if people acted in this way they would not be stopped. This continued the "spontaneous" outbursts in different regions. In fact, Hitler also issued statements that the police should not interfere with these "demonstrations". No matter where Jews were in Europe, they were discriminated against. Thousands of Jews died in Poland in the pogroms (persecution) and more died in France. In Nuremberg, Jews were to be separated in hospitals, they were kept out of swimming pools and old peoples homes. Jewish businessmen could not go to markets or to fairs so this severely limited their income (231). The Anschluss (the term used to bring Austria in as part of Nazi Germany) sent another 190,000 Jews to the Nazis. Austria became the next place that Jews were persecuted in and where the "public humiliations were more blatant and sadistic" (241). Again, these actions escalated until thousands of Jews were sent to the concentration camps. After reading this material it seemed that the only reason the Jews were persecuted was because the Nazis (and in particular Hitler) saw them as an economic threat. They understand how to stand together and make money within their own communities. Because they were so together and considered "clannish" they were looked at as people not to be trusted. The actions of the Nazis were to get rid of the threat. This in no way makes it "a good thing" but it gives a good understanding of what can happen to people who are different and who may not be a part of the dominant culture. Reading this book also gave a good understanding of what happened in the cities and towns surrounding the Third Reich and what happened to lead up to the death camps. Works Cited Friedlander, Saul. (1997). Nazi Germany and the Jews. Volume 1: The Years Of Persecution, 1933-1039. NY: Harper-Collins. Print. Read More