{"id":1587,"date":"2017-12-29T17:12:45","date_gmt":"2017-12-29T17:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/?page_id=1587"},"modified":"2026-05-07T10:29:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:29:55","slug":"nazi-anti-semitism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/european-history\/nazi-germany\/nazi-anti-semitism\/","title":{"rendered":"Nazi Anti-Semitism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nazi Anti-Semitism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anti-Semitism is dislike or hatred of the Jews.<\/p>\n

Background<\/p>\n

\u2022 Hitler\u2019s believes have many links with Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism is a belief in the survival of the fittest. Hitler applied this to race and national politics.
\n\u2022 Hitler believed that the Germanic or \u2018Aryan\u2019 race were a \u2018master race\u2019. His belief in Social Darwinism led him to conclude that as such other races were inferior. The Jews were one of the most inferior races in Hitler\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n

Why did Hitler hate the Jews?<\/h3>\n

A number of possibilities. A Jewish master at Art College rejected Hitler. This may have sparked his hatred, as he was a very keen artist. Jews were prominent within the Communist party of the Soviet Union<\/a>; this led to a political reason to turn Jews into scapegoats. Many Germans blamed the Jews for \u2018stabbing Germany in the back\u2019 after the First World War<\/a>; the hatred may have been fostered by his involvement in this conflict and a belief in this theory.<\/p>\n

Political gains from anti-semiticism<\/h3>\n

The Jews were accused of exploiting ordinary German workers and for being communists. Both the communists and war profiteers were disliked by the German populace, blaming the Jews and promising to rid Germany of the problem could gain political support from the oppressed masses.<\/p>\n

Anti-Semitic policies 1933-1945<\/h3>\n

Upon gaining power Hitler set about establishing a programme of selective breeding and racial indoctrination.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The SS were in charge of a selective breeding policy. This involved selecting racially pure women for SS officers to father the children of.
\n\u2022 Important positions could only be filled by people who were racially pure.
\n\u2022 Educational programmes were introduced that taught Race studies and Eugenics (study of controlled reproduction). School curriculum was rewritten to teach about racial superiority: example being the Old Testament taught as being a struggle between the Jews and the Aryan race.
\n\u2022 Government sponsored boycotts of Jewish owned shops and businesses took place as early as April 1933.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

An example of Anti-Semitic propaganda produced by the Nazi’s<\/p>\n

Persecution of the Jews<\/h3>\n

Stage 1: Denial of rights 1933 -1938<\/p>\n

\u2022 1933. Jews lose the right to be German citizens.
\n\u2022 1933. Refused the right to protection from the police.
\n\u2022 1933. Illegal for Jews to inherit land.
\n\u2022 1935. Enforced segregation. Jews banned from: parks, swimming baths, restaurants and public buildings.
\n\u2022 1935. Nuremberg Laws. Illegal for Jews to marry Germans or to have sexual intercourse with a German.
\n\u2022 1933-39. Government propaganda against the Jews.
\n\u2022 1933-39. Jewish schoolchildren ridiculed and humiliated in front of classes on regular basis (indoctrination process).<\/p>\n

During the period 1933 \u20131938 Jews were also sent to concentration camps. This was not in the large numbers that were to follow, nor were the camps \u2018Death Camps\u2019 at this stage. Jews sent to concentration camps in this period were imprisoned due to their response to the Nazi rule or a perceived threat of aggressive reaction to Nazi rule.<\/p>\n

Stage 2: Acceleration of persecution 1938 \u20131941<\/h3>\n

November 1938: Kristallnacht (Crystal Night: so named because of the amount of glass smashed).
\nKristallnacht was a massive pogrom (uprising against the Jews). Across Germany Jewish property, homes and synagogues were vandalised, burnt down and defaced. Thousands of Jews were injured and there were deaths. The SA probably organised and implemented this, although no official order has been found: the government said that it was a spontaneous uprising.<\/p>\n

By 1941 the Jews had lost all civil liberties including: the right to choose their children\u2019s names (official list of permissible names); forced to live in a \u2018ghetto\u2019 (sealed area of a town or city) and they had to wear a Yellow Star of David on their clothes.<\/p>\n

Stage 3: 1941 \u20131945 The Holocaust<\/a>.<\/h3>\n

After the conquest of Eastern Europe the Jewish population of \u2018Germany\u2019 had grown to in the region of 8 million (an exact figure is impossible to calculate). Many areas of Eastern Europe were highly populated with Jews. The Wannsee Conference in 1942 decided how to deal with these Jews.<\/p>\n

At Wannsee the Nazi leadership decided upon the \u2018Final Solution\u2019 of the \u2018Jewish problem\u2019. Jews were to be exploited as far as possible (i.e. forced to work to the point of death on starvation diets) and, if incapable of or unsuitable for demeaning (dirty\/ undesirable) jobs they were to be terminated.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Final Solution\u2019 was therefore a policy designed to rid the third Reich of the Jews. This would be achieved through initially the deployment of Einsatzgruppen (Mobile Death Squads) and later the introduction of Death Camps such as Auschwitz, which were essentially factories designed for the purpose of killing as many people as possible and disposing of their remains. Other Jews would die as a result of sheer hard work.<\/p>\n

The Holocaust is estimated to have resulted in the mass murder of an estimated 6 Million Jews. In addition to this there were many Gypsies, Homosexuals, Communists and Russian (Soviet) prisoners who perished at the hands of the SS in death camps or via the use of Einsatzgruppen.<\/p>\n

Germany 1919 \u2013 1945 Links<\/h2>\n

The Second Reich<\/h3>\n

Unification of Germany<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Political systems within the Second Reich<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0German Society during the Second Reich<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Collapse of the Second Reich<\/a><\/p>\n

Weimar Republic<\/h3>\n

Interim Government<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Founding of the Weimar Republic<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Impact of the First World War on Germany<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The Treaty of Versailles and its impact on Germany<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Weimar Constitution<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a01919-1923: Years of Crisis?<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Spartacist Uprising<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Kapp Putsch<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Reparations<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Hyperinflation in Germany, 1923<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a01924-1928: A Golden Era?<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a01925 Presidential Election<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Gustav Stresemann<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0German Foreign Relations 1919-1932<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Germany in the Great Depression<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Failings of the Weimar Republic<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Dada Movement<\/a><\/p>\n

Rise of the Nazi Party<\/h3>\n

The Munich Putsch<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Did the Economic Crisis of 1923 help the Nazi\u2019s?<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Origins of the Nazi Party<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Rise of the Nazi Party<\/a><\/p>\n

Nazi Germany<\/h3>\n

Totalitarian Regime in Nazi Germany<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0How did Hitler consolidate power?<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Mein Kampf<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Nazi methods of control<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Opposition to the Nazi Regime<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Organisation of the Nazi Party<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Fuhrerprinzip<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Kristallnacht<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Youth and Education<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Goering and the 2nd 4 Year Plan<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Anti-Jewish Boycott, 1933<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Nazi Anti-Semitism<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0DAF (The German Labour Front)<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Propaganda in Germany 1919-39<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Economic Policy of the Nazi Party<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Kreisau Circle<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The Confessing Church<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Catholic Church<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Edelweiss Pirates<\/a><\/p>\n

Biographies<\/h3>\n

Ludwig Beck<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Dietrich Bonhoeffer<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Bishop Clemens von Galen<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Carl Goerdeler<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Robert Ley<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Helmuth von Moltke<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Martin Niemoller<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Erwin Rommel<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Hjalmar Schacht<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Sophie Scholl<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Albert Speer<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Claus von Stauffenberg<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Fritz Todt<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nazi Anti-Semitism Anti-Semitism is dislike or hatred of the Jews. Background \u2022 Hitler\u2019s believes have many links with Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism is a belief in the survival of the fittest. Hitler applied this to race and national politics. \u2022 Hitler believed that the Germanic or \u2018Aryan\u2019 race were a \u2018master race\u2019. His belief in… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1590,"parent":789,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":100,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1587","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1587\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}