Nazi racial policies and increasing persecution of Jewish

• Ideal characteristics of the 'master race' - Aryan:

  blond hair

  blue eyes
• Why people with mental and physical disabilities were persecuted:

  The Nazis believed that these conditions were genetic and were therefore a threat to future racial health.
• How the Nazis persecuted people with mental and physical disabilities:

  1933 - compulsory sterilisation of people with disabilities.

  1939 - children with disabilities began to be euthanised.

  1940 - adults with disabilities began to be euthanised.

  1941 - euthanasia of children and adults with disabilities was stopped due to criticism from the Catholic Church.
• Why Roma people and Germans of African ancestry were persecuted:

  The Nazis viewed both groups as racially inferior and therefore a threat to the purity of German blood.
• How the Nazis persecuted Roma people and Germans of African ancestry:

  1937 - around 500 Germans of African ancestry were sterilised.

  1938 - Roma people were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.
• Why homeless people, poor people, sex workers, those who committed crimes, habitual criminals and gay people were persecuted:

  Homeless people, poor people, sex workers, and criminals were seen as burdens to society. Some Nazis believed their behaviour to be genetic.

  Gay people wouldn't produce children and were therefore seen as worthless to society.
• How the Nazis persecuted homeless people, poor people, sex workers, criminals and gay people:

  1933 - some were compulsorily sterilised.

  1936 - they were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.
• Persecution of Jewish people, 1933-39:

  The Nazis viewed Jewish people as the biggest threat to the strength of the German race, even though they only made up about one percent of the population. Hitler blamed Jewish people for Germany's defeat in WW1 and the economic depression. He associated them with communism. Antisemitic persecution unfolded in multiple different ways.
• Persecution of Jewish people, 1933-39: how Antisemitic persecution unfolded:

  1933 - Jewish people were banned from government employment. Jewish judges and lawyers were banned from practising law. The SA organised a boycott of Jewish owned businesses and shops.

  1935 - Jewish people were banned from serving in the army. They were also banned from using public places like cinemas and parks.
• Persecution of Jewish people, 1933-39: how Antisemitic persecution unfolded:

  September 1935 - Nuremberg Laws were introduced; Jewish people couldn't marry non-Jewish people, Aryan Germans who were married to Jewish people were encouraged to get a divorce otherwise they would be treated as though they were Jewish, Jewish people lost their status as German people, they didn't have any rights and couldn't vote or have a passport.
• Persecution of Jewish people, 1933-39: how Antisemitic persecution unfolded:

  1938 - Jewish people had to register their possessions to the government which could be confiscated at any time. Jewish people had to carry cards that identified them as Jewish and had to present them to an official if asked. This helped authorities identify them easily so they could question or imprison them. Jewish doctors couldn't take on non-Jewish patients.
• Persecution of Jewish people, 1933-39: how Antisemitic persecution unfolded:

  November 8th and 9th 1938 - Kristallnacht ('night of the broken glass') a Jewish student shot and killed a German diplomat in Paris as a protest to antisemitism. Nazi leaders encouraged SS and SA men to attack Jewish people and smash their homes, businesses and synagogues. The police weren't allowed to interfere. 191 synagogues were vandalised or set on fire, 91 Jewish people were killed and 20,000 Jewish people were sent to concentration camps.
• Persecution of Jewish people, 1933-39: how Antisemitic persecution unfolded:

  1939 - The Reich Office for Jewish Emigration was set up to persuade Jewish people, if they were able to leave the country to do so. Many had nowhere to go and and there were limits on how many refugees other countries would accept. Those who were able to leave, were made to give all of their property and possessions to the Nazi state. Those who were unable to, faced an extremely hostile environment.