Jews in Prewar Germany

In 1933, about 500,000 Jews lived in Germany.

Jew’s held important positions in government and taught in Germany’s great universities.

Marriage between Jew’s and non- Jews was common.

On April 1, 1933, the Nazi’s came into power and carried out the first action plan against the boycott of Jewish Businesses.

The boycott of Jewish Businesses

The Nazi spokesmen claimed the boycott was an act of revenge against the German Jews and foreigners.

On the day of the boycott, Storm Troopers painted the Star of David on thousands of doors and windows.

The nationwide boycott only lasted a day but marked the beginning of a nationwide campaign against the entire German Jewish population.

At a annual party rally, the Nazis announced new laws which regulated many of the racial theories in the Nazis view.

Jewish workers and managers of businesses were taken over by non-Jewish Germans.

Jews were required to carry identity cards with a red “J” on them.

The Nuremberg Race Laws

Germany took a census of every citizen, including people in Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia. They took down the age, gender, profession, and religion of the person.

Slowly, every Jew or disabled person was removed from the government.

The government made a law to where every Jewish person had to wear a star of David. Any passport owned by a Jew had to have a big “J” stamped onto it.

Locating the Victims

After Germany made it hard for Jews to live, almost 150,000 of them had fled the country.

The U.S. was afraid to take any Jews in because they were in the middle of the Great Depression.

A conference between 32 countries was held to see if anyone could house the Jews until the war was over. Only the Dominican Republic accepted them.

The Evian Conference

St. Louis Voyage In May 1939, about 937

Jewish refugees left Germany to go to Cuba to escape from Hitler’s carnage.

The passengers had to have documents to enter Cuba, but when the ship actually reached the Port of Havana, the president of Cuba wouldn’t accept the documents.

They sailed on the St. Louis trying to find someone to take them, but the U.S had the coast guard to prevent them from sneaking in.

They eventually turned back to go to Europe, but within months the Nazi’s took over.

The Night Of Broken GlassWhy- set off by German official assassination, in hands of a Jewish teenager

What- burning synagogues, ruining Jewish businesses, murder, etc.

In the end- segregation, inequality, death, and hatred.

Synagogue burning in Oberramstadt

The Jews lived in predominantly Jewish towns or villages

Spoke their own language(combined elements of germen and Hebrew)

The Jews had all sorts of entertainment:

Yiddish books Theaters Movies Younger Jews in larger towns begun

to modernize in the ways they dress, but older people continued to dress traditionally.

Jews in western Europe had less of a population of Jews

Adopted the culture of their non-Jewish neighbors

Many of the Jews worked as farmers, tailors, seamstresses ect..

Jewish life in Europe Before The Holocaust

A strong place for trying to understand the tragedy that would befall countless numbers of people during the holocaust.

 Jews lived isolated as outsiders in Europe societies with the population mainly Christians.

( for centuries the church taught that Jews were responsible for Jesus' death)

Jews were blamed for causing the “black plaque”.

In the 1400’s Jews were forced out of Spain to convert to Christianity, leave the country, or be executed.

Late 1800’s in Russia and Poland the government organized or did not prevent violent attacks on Jewish neighborhoods ,called programs.

European leaders who wanted to establish colonies in Africa and Asia argued that whites were superior to other races and had to take over.

Jews were called Semites.

Antisemitism

Jewish Life in Europe before the Holocaust: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007689

Antisemitism: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007691

The Boycott of Jewish Businesses: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007693

The Nuremberg Race Laws: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007695

The “Night of Broken Glass”: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007697

The Evian Conference: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007698

Voyage of the St. Louis: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007701

Locating the Victims: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007703

Citations