Living under Nazi Rule

• 1938: Edict on the Jewish School System


  Required Jewish children to attend Jewish schools, effectively banning Jews from attending non-Jewish schools.
• 1935: Nuremberg Laws


  Included the "Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor" that prohibited marriage and extramarital relations between Jews and Germans, and forbade Jews from employing German women under the age of 45 in their households. Did not explicitly ban Jews from attending non-Jewish schools.
• In 1935, Jews could no longer be members of the German army or civil service
• The Nazis used the term 'Jew' to describe anyone who was Jewish, even if they were not religious.
• By 1936, all Jewish doctors had been removed from hospitals and clinics
• The Nazis also banned Jews from working as doctors, lawyers, teachers, journalists, actors, musicians, artists, architects, engineers, and other professions.
• From 1937, Jewish lawyers were banned from representing clients in court
• By 1936, all Jews were required to add an additional name with the suffix "- Israel" to their names.
• From 1937 onwards, Jews had to wear yellow badges with the Star of David symbol on them at all times.
• Many Jewish businesses were forced to close down by the Nazis
• Some Jewish families lost everything when their businesses closed down
• Hitler announced that he would expel all Jews from Germany by October 1940
• Nazi propaganda portrayed Jews as responsible for Germany’s defeat in World War One and blamed them for the country’s economic problems
• On April 25th 1933, Hitler announced that he would be removing Jews from positions of power within the civil service
• On November 9th 1938, Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) took place - this was when synagogues were burned down, shops smashed up, and thousands of Jews arrested by the Gestapo
• Kristallnacht was a response to the assassination of Ernst vom Rath, a German diplomat, by Herschel Grynszpan, a Polish Jew living in Paris
• Hitler believed that Jews were responsible for Germany losing World War One
• After Kristallnacht, many Jews fled Germany and Austria
• Many Germans blamed the Treaty of Versailles on the Jews because it contained harsh penalties against Germany
• Kristallnacht was not planned by Hitler but he did give his approval when it happened
• Mein Kampf


  'My Struggle' - a book written by Hitler and published in 1925
• Lebensraum


  The Nazi policy of taking land from other countries to gain extra 'living space' to keep the German people happy and wealthy.
• Gestapo


  Secret police in Nazi Germany
• Einsatzgruppen


  The mobile killing squads that carried out mass murders in the east after 1939
• Ghetto


  An enclosed area in a city where the Nazis forced Jews to live after 1939
• Untermenschen


  The Nazi word for so-called sub-human people, most notably the Jews
• Volksstrum


  The National Militia
• 30 January 1933 


  Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany
• 27 February 1933


  The Reichstag Fire
• What was the Reichstag Fire?


  The Reichstag building which was home to the German Parliament. Nazis blamed it on Communists because a Dutch Communist, Van Der Lubbe, was found in the Reichstag as it burned.
• How did Hitler use the Reichstag Fire to the Nazi's advantage?

  Won them more seats in the election on 5 March 1933, increasing their share from 33 percent to 44 percent by:

  Expelling Communists from Parliament and imprisoning many Communist leaders - stopped them from campaigning before March elections.

  Announced country was in danger from Communists during his election campaign - led to more votes for Nazis as they were anti-Communist.