Hitler’s origins of anti-Semitism
Austria
For
The Vienna
Academy of Art rejected his application – Had to live in a doss house with
tramps
Catholic
background allowed him to absorb a lot of traditional Austrian anti-Judaism.
2m Jews living
in pre-war Vienna
Some of his
ideas came from George von Schonerer – Austrian Pan-German league leader.
Lanz von
Lienenfels’ “Ostara” magazine – extremely anti-Semitic
Karl Luger –
Mayor of Vienna from 1893-1910, an anti-Semite populist
Against
Dr Bloch, Family
Doctor who cared for Hitlers mother, was Jewish.
Moritz Rosenthal
– arranged sales and sometimes lent him money when Hitler was struggling to
make ends meet by selling his paintings.
According to
August Kubizek Hitler rarely showed blatant anti-semitic feelings
Hitler attended
Gustav Mahler’s concerts (A jew who converted to Catholicism)and was impressed
according to Kubizek
Bavaria
Consolidated and
moulded Hitler’s anti-Semitic views
Nationalist
ideology stemmed from his experience in WW1 as a soldier
Reaction to
defeat in WW1 “Stab in the back” myth, November Criminals
Anti-Semitism
already in place by end of the war
Nazi Ideology
25 point Programme 1920 and Mein Kampf
1925
25 Point Programme
Created by Anton
Drexler and Adolf Hitler outlining Nazi vision for Ger
-
No Jew can be a member
of the race, therefor jews are not Ger citizens.
-
Lebensraum
-
Exclusion of Jews from
administration and law
-
Expelling
Jews/non-citizens from the Reich if self-sustenance is not possible
-
Non-citizens are
“guests”
-
Ban on immigration,
anyone who immigrated since 2 august 1914 must leave the Reich.
-
Abolition of unearned
incomes
-
Confiscation of war
profits (aimed at Jews)
-
Large dept stores
divided up and rented out cheaply to small trades peoples (aimed at Jews)
-
Death penalty
introduction
-
Citizenship taught in
schools from the beginning
-
Abolition of the
Freikorps
-
Censorship of Jewish
newspapers (need permission)
-
Etc etc etc.
Impact of this
only reached a small proportion of the pop
Mein Kampf
Transcribed to
Rudolf Hess whilst Hitler was in Landsberg prison in 1924
Frequently Misunderstood
A conversational
monologue rather than a structured book
After 1933 –
became a Nazi “bible”, every adult in Ger owned a copy
Nazi Ideology (In Mein Kampf)
Lebensraum
(Taking of land, mainly focused on Russia and “The East”) in the hope of a self-sustaining
Reich.
Anti-Semitism,
exaggeration of Aryan influence in the world and the dangers of Jewish
Bolshevism (From a speech)
Euthanasia /
Extermination of the Jews (From a speech)
Threat of Jews
(description of rape) (in Mein Kampf)
Opposing
democracy and communism (Mein Kampf)
Outline of Nazi Ideology
Fuhrerprinzip – One
party state, one strong ruler, masses controlled for common good
Anti-Semitism- Non-Aryans
at bottom of social Heirachy – Slavs / Jews, The undtermenschen – Sub-human,
Jews classed as a race not a religious group.
Social Darwinism –
Popular in late 19th century, Nations / races like animals
struggling for survival, important to maintain racial purity – Blood of weak
not undermine strong, a heirachy of races (Aryan people/ herronvolk – Master
race)
Racism – Shaped
by Social Darwinism, Vital to maintain “Racial purity”, Herronvolk “Master
race” and the “untermenschen”, sub-human.
Anti-democracy –
No alternative to a strong dictatorial government in Hitlers opinion. Germans
held a similar belief with the Kaiserreich appearing stronger in comparison to
the chaos of democracy during eatly Weimar Rep years. Demo/social politicians
of 1918, “Nov Crims”, who had stabbed Ger army in the back accepting armistice
Hitler wanted an
all-embracing one-party state running on the Fuhrerprinzip – “the leadership
principle”. One strong leader who would reject liberal values and rouse the
nation into action.
Nationalism – Creation
of an empire to include all German speaking people, like Austrian Germans,
Sudetenland Germans and the Ger communities along the Baltic coast. Acquisition
of Lebensraum, living space, was necessary to expand the master race. From the
“east”… Poland, Ukraine, Russia – space and raw materials and cheap labour and
food supplies necessary for continental supremacy. Russia = Communism,
destroying Russia destroys communism.
The Volksgemeinshaft – (People’s
Community)
A community of
people sharing a common race working together as one for the good of
eachother. Uniting all ethnic german
speaking people and Aryans
Vaguest element
of Nazi ideology
Blut und Boden (Blood and Soil)
– The belief in the mystical bond that traditional Ger people held with the
land before industrialisation – Peasants working the soil in rural communities
was the purest element of the Volk.
Anti-Communist – Did
not initially focus on Russian communism, suspicious of “the Left” in general
especially since their actions post-WW1 (spartacist, red Bavaria etc). Began to
focus on the “Jewishness” of communism and Jew-Bolshevism. Communism was part
of a “world conspiracy” plot. Led to the idea of expansion into Russia with a
“dual effect” (Two birds with one stone, lebensraum and destroying jewish
communism)
Nationalism –
Aggressive nationalism – overturning ToV
Unite all Ger
speaking peoples, Lebensraum – east +
destroy communism.
Nazi ideology and racism
Mein Kampf was
too vague and incoherent to be the bible of Nazi doctrine. Rather a vague
collection of broad themes.
Late 19th
and early 20th century – many social darwinists put forwad theories
designed to justify Euro imperialism arguing advanced Euro’s had the right to
rule over inferior/backward colonial peoples.
Swedens
influential group of scientists seeking to eliminate disabilities through pop
planning / birth control were adopted by Nazis and incorporated into their
ideology.
Nazi principles
of “racial hygiene” justified the sterilisation of the mentally and physically
disabled, the gypsies and the other “racial undesirables” – homosexuals,
pacficits and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Theme of eradication of racial enemies ran
through the extreme Nazi propaganda like “Jew baiter of Nuremberg”, Julius
Streicher.
Julius Streicher
- An anti-semite
who’s views were too violent and extreme even for many Nazi leaders,
considering him an embarrassment.
- Editor of the
racist and pornographic Nazi journal Der Strumer.
- Nazi race
theories in the 1920’s were a driving force behind the ideology of the SS and
has a direct link to the later policies of the Third Reich.
In the later
1930s SS put Social Darwinist ideas into practice
-
Policy of sterilisation
implemented against disabled etc who were deemed a threat to racial purity and
also implemented against “social deviants”
-
Aktion T4 – programme
of mercy killings of the disabled, including first gas chamber experiment. “So
called”
-
Lebensborn programme –
mass kidnapping of “Aryan” children from their parents in conquered territories
-
The medical experiments
carried out by SS doctors under direction of Josef Mengele at Auschwitz from
1942 – to advance the “science” of racial selection.
The Volksgemeinshaft
Community of
true Ger people. Used in Nazi propaganda in the early 1920’s and early years of
the regime after 1933. To be a part of the Volk you needed to be a german
Citizen, jews weren’t. Idea of social unity and a classless society eliminated
after the death of Gregor Strasser late in 1932 and the purge of the SA in June
1934 that these left wing elements in ideology were pushed aside.
Lebensraum
Yet another
example of ideological concepts being twisted by anti-Semitism. Not a new idea,
in late 19th century Euro thinkers proposed “opening up space” for
the expanding pop of superior white race. Settlement of Australia by British an
example. In each case supposedly “backward” indigenous peoples had been displaced
or killed to make way for civilisation and progress.
The Wall Street Crash
and the economic crisis
Impact of the Wall Street Crash, Oct 1929
-
American stock market
crashed – the world was sent into an economic crisis
-
Germany suffered more
than any other country due to its over-reliance on US loans
-
US investment ended and
demands were made for the quick repayment of previous loans
-
Germany spiralled into
a severe economic depression
One of the most
visible problems caused by the crash was unemployment.
-
Sept 1929 – 1.9m
unemployed
-
Jan 1930 – 2.2m
-
Oct 1930 – 3m
-
Jan 1931 – 6.1m
Due to the
collapse of world trade many workers were laid off
By 1933 around 1
in 3 german workers were unemployed, undermining gov confidence
The polarisation of
politics
The crash and
subsequent unemployment further polarised
German politics
The main
political parties disagreed over what action to take
The german
people began to turn to the political extremes of the left and the right as
they seemed to have strong views on how to solve the crisis
As a result both
the nazis’ and the communists share of the vote began to increase
Links between the
economic depression and rising anti-Semitism
The Wall Street
Crash of October 1929 was the sudden collapse of the stock market in New York
after the roaring twenties. – took more than two years for the downturn of the
great depression to reach the bottom.
Business in Ger
badly hit after the Creditanstalt Bank
collapse in Austria in 1931
The growing
economic crisis helped to bring the collapse
of Muller’s coalition gov and enabled Nazis and the communists to make
gains in the Reichstag elections in September
As the economy weakened, the extremist politics
gained support.
Most Gers
unwilling to go along with openly anti-Sem propaganda such as spouts of “Jewish
Capitalism”, but their occupation with the rising unemployment, the banking
crisis and pressures on small farmers let them hear the messages they wanted to
hear such as promises of “work and bread”.
Voted because of their policies not their anti-Semitism.
Frequent adaptation of Nazi propaganda by Hitler – Dusseldorf
Industry Club, addressed 650 businessmen, did not mention Jews in the two and a
half hour speech
Albert Speer
(had Jewish friends) influenced by Hitlers speeches rather than his anti-Sem –
because of his personality
Many meetings
attended by people lower down the social
scale where Nazi speakers openly
encouraged hostility against Jews by accusing them of being cause of eco troubles.
Expansion of SA
encouraged radical anti-Sem, Juda
Ver recke (down with the Jews) a fav Brownshirt chant
Many
men attracted into the SA because of anti-Communism, comradeship in the pub, or
as a “meal ticket”, anti sem rarely the motive for joining
Developments in the
1920s
Nazi party born
of humble origins – Anton Drexer
(Munich locksmith) founded it in Jan
1919 as the Ger Work Party
Developed during
political turmoil as the Weimar struggled to establish
Hitler pushed
Anton to rename the party the National
Socialist German Workers Party, set out its 25 point programme at a
meeting in Munich feb 1920
Because of Hitler
and others, like Ernst Rohm, Alfred Rosenberg and Dietrich Eckart, the party
became more noticeable amongst
other right-wing partys
1920-21, Hitler rose
through ranks of the party, building support and eventually took over Drexler as leader in July 1921
At this point
Nazi Party had grown to a membership of
3,330 and gathered enough funds to buy a local Munich newspaper, renaming
it the Volkischer Boebachter.
1921 – SA
created (Stormtroopers, brownshirts, Sturmabteilung, Paramilitary wing of the
party) – Involved in widespread political violence and thuggery aimed at
commies.
Munich Putsch
Mid 1923 – 20k
members
Ruhr crisis 1923
– Hitler + Nazi press kept up its barrage against Weimar Rep criticizing it.
Believed it was
time to seize power during the chaos of 1923
Aim of the uprising – create a dictatorship
with General Ludendorff as President.
-
Attempted coup of 8/9th
Nov resulted in 17 dead and Hitler arrested.
-
Turned
his trial into a propaganda coup giving him a nationwide platform for his
beleifs.
-
Achieved
best electoral results to date. May 1924 – 1.9 million votes, 6%.
Wrote Mein Kampf
while in Landsberg Castle in prison.
– Party fell to pieces, December 1924
received 907,000 votes, 3%
Hitler released
from prison 27th feb 1925 – Stressed complete obedience to Hitler,
Fuhrerprinzip and adherence to 25 point programme of 1920 in party conference
feb 1926
-
Also creating affiliate
organisations to attract support – 1926 Hitler Youth and the Nazi Students’
Association founded.
-
Still performed
terribly. May 1928 – 800k Votes. 2.6%, 12 seats in Reichstag.
-
Summary
; Failed putsch and trial used as propaganda – 6% of votes. Prison – 3%. Reorganisation
– 2.6%
Hitler’s role in growth
of Nazi support 1930-33
Election results – sept 1930
Disaster for democrats.
Huge gains for
extremist parties – Commies won 77, Nazis won 107, and DNVP won 52 seats.
-Raised a scare for Jews – Threatened their
social position if Weimar democracy fell.
-Was a breakthrough for Hitler into
national politics.
How?????
By 1930 – Hitler
fully est. as leader of Nazi movement/party. – Their most important member
also. Nazi propaganda portrayed Hitler a
lot.
-
Hitlers charisma was a key factor in gaining
support in 1931 and 1932, had a high public profile.
-
Hitler decided Nazi
political strategy – calmed down the SA and their eagerness for a “Brown
Revolution”
The rise of the SA
-
Sturm Abteilung (storm
troopers) – paramilitary wing of Nazi movement, formed 1921, led by Ernst Rohm
-
Increased in membership
from 1930- Brown uniforms seen everywhere. – 400k by end of 1932 (4x the
regular army) – Intimidated poliece by their numbers / aggression. – Rarely
prosecuted for street/petty crimes.
-
Battles between SA men
and Commies/socialists was a common
occurrence.
-
Hitler relied on them
to intimidate political opponents / protect against Communism, but often had to
restrain SA as they frightened traditional elites, such as the regular army.
-
Dreamed of a Brown
Revolution – Got rid of when Hitler came to power in 1933 in the Knight of the
Long knives
Hitler didn’t
want to frighten away Mid-class voters businessmen, politicians and army
officers, reassured them by keeping up respectable image and appearing in
control of Nazi extremists – watered down anti-Semitic messages in his
propaganda / speeches to them.
Depended on
support from Goebbels and Goering and fight off criticism of Gregor Strasser
(Who looked likely to take over in 1932)
Hindenburg tried
to keep Hitler out – Would not appoint him chancellor.
Reichstag election results, 1932
July - November
NSDAP – 13.7M Votes,
37.3%, 230 seats – 33.1% in Nov (Improving economy?) Still Hindenburg refused
to make Hitler chancellor, continued trouble-making in Reichstag
SPD - 8M Votes, 21.6%, 133 seats
KPD – 5.3M Votes,
14.3%, 89 seats
Nazi party clear
winners, didn’t have an overall majority however to rule alone
Hindenburg
refused to make Hitler Chancellor
Nazis refused to
participate in government other than to cause trouble.
Why was Hitler made Chancellor in 1933?
Economic Crisis 1929 – 33
Oct 1929
– Two important events, death of
Stresemann and the Wall Street Crash
sparking depression in USA and reducing its exports
Affected Ger
badly, US recalled the loans it originally gave to German banks it used to
recover in 1920’s – Led to collapse of many businesses and unemployment rose =
Nazi support rose. 1930 – 107 seats in Reichstag, July 1932 – 230 seats
(although it fell to 196 seats in Nov 1932 election)
The main factors
that helped the Nazis increase support ;
Economic problems;
-
Inflation not a
problem, unemployment was, 6 mill out of work by 1932
-
Desperation meant they
were more ready to listen to Nazi promise of “work and bread”
-
Weimar under Bruning’s
leadership cut the pay of government employees, increased taxes and reduced
benefits, made the gov unpopular and therefor Nazi more popular.
Propaganda and violence ;
-
SA played important
part in Hitler’s campaigns, beating up commies and socialists / attackin their
meetings
-
Propganda posters urged
voters to see Hitler as only option, blamed Jews for all eco problems
Hitler’s political skill;
-
Hitler over Germany
campaign – flew over different cities
-
Powerful public
speakers, won new supporters
-
Skilled at putting over
simple policies appealing to different groups in Ger.
Role of key individuals ;
Future
Chancellors Franz von Papen and Kurt von Schleicher unable to form stable govs,
relied on Article 48
Period defined
by back-room deals and backstabbing
After meetings
in jan 1933 von Papen persuaded Hindenburg to make Hitler Chancellor
Elites thought
they could control Hitler – naïve
Political problems;
-
The Commies gained
seats after 1929 – frightened industrialists who then financed Nazis
-
Democ parties failed to
agree on how to deal with the unemployment, weakened Ger faith in the Weimar
and democ parties
-
July 1930 – Hindenburg
began to help Chancellor Bruning bypassing Reichstag through Article 48
1932 – Year of the elections
Main candidates
march/april for the Presidential election – Hindenburg, Thalmann (commie) and
Hitler – Hitlers public image grew as he won 11 mill votes in Presidential election
April – Prussian
provincial election
Reichstag July
elections – Bruning resigned due to collapse of his gov so elections were
called.
-
November ; elections
called because all attempts to create a gov without Nazis participation had
failed.
Elections led to
increased donations from businessmen and industrialists and increased
propaganda
Main focus on
unemployment in propaganda rather than anti-semitism
The
vote for Nazis
May 1924 – 6.5%
Dec 1924 – 3%
May 1928 – 2.6%
Sept 1930 – 18.3%
July 1932 – 37.3%
Nov 1932 – 33.1%
March 1933 – 43.9%
The
influence of anti-Semitism in Hitler’s coming to power in 1933
Hitler needed a
majority vote in the Reichstag as currently he was dependent upon a fragile
alliance with Conservative politicians who did not like him and who he did not
like. – Called for elections in March,
The Reichstag Fire, 27 feb 1933
Reichsag
building destroyed by a fire, Nazi’s blamed the fire on communists
Pressured
Hindenburg to ban the Communist Party
Possibly
Nazi-inflicted
EVEN with this
advantage they still only gained 43.9% of the vote
So Hitler still
had to keep nazi anti-semitism toned down to appear respectable.
Potsdam Day 21st March 1933 – Propaganda
coup for the Nazis, Violence and anti-sem appeared invisible for the day.
23rd March 1933 – Enabling Law
Passed due to SA
intimidation against the SPD and other opposing officials shouting “Give u the
bill or else fire and murder”
March 1933 – First regular concentration camp opened
in Dachau
April 1st – SA
Boycott of Jewish shops and businesses.
May 10th – Nazi
regime organised the Burning of the Books
-
A public display of
Nazi ideology
Anti-Semitic
Legislation
30th January 1933 – Hitler made
Chancellor of Germany
-
Didn’t have complete
control yet still launched into a moderate anti-Semitic scheme of legislation
-
Outbreaks of violence
towards Jews
1933 Legislation
-
April
– Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service
-
Banned Jews from
working in Civil Service, yet not straightforward as no legal scientific
definition of “Jewishness” yet.
-
President Hindenburg
insisted Jews who had served / fathers had been killed in WW1 be exempt
-
Lessened the impact of
the law
-
Applied to 2/3rds of
Jews in Civil Service
-
Direct hit on Jewish
middle-classes led to economic and psychological consequences and ultimately
37,000 immigrating in 1933
-
Over 60% of Jewish
lawyers continued to work despite the regulations as they discovered loopholes
-
Ban on Jewish doctors
treating Aryans in April, yet most continued their practices as normal
-
Proved to be difficult
as Jews in medicine and law were well established
-
Law
against Overcrowding of Germany Schools and Universities
-
Restricted number of
Jewish children who could attend state schools and universities.
-
To give Aryan children
more resources and attention
-
Well educated Jews
would pose a bigger threat to Nazis
-
Process didn’t complete
until 1938
-
October
– Exclusion of German Jews from the press
-
Strict censorship +
closing of publications
-
Jewish dominance of
press in Weimar Rep meant they were silenced
Many germans were in favour of these laws. Why?
Anti-Semitism? Fear? Jealousy? Self-interest?
Evidence
of effects of Anti-Semitic legislation from sources
-
Jewish children (Uri
Ben Ari) bullied when leaving his Jewish school, would be beaten up by gangs.
Ruth Foster – Was
bullied by her teacher who attended Nuremburg Rallies, singled out and
persecuted, her old friends ignored her.
Jewish children
were humiliated in the classroom
Of an estimated
800 Jew academics, 200 left in 1933 alone. Twenty were Nobel laureates, eleven
physicists included Albert Einstein.
Chambers of
Culture excluded Jews from cinema, art, journalism etc and it soon became
evident.
The Nuremburg Laws, 1935
Even before
coming to power the Nazis had always wanted to protect Aryans by preventing
Jew-Aryan marriages and banning sexual relations between them.
In 1933 / 1934
Nazi’s were still not in full control of Germany, opposition from Schacht and
the inability to agree on a definition of Jews
Why 1935?
In early 1935 –
pressure from Streicher and Goebbels to pass more anti-Sem legislation.
-
Posted a story of
German girls being raped by Jews
-
May-August 1935 local
party organisations stepped up action against Jews – Attacks on synagogues and
Jewish shops
Hitler distanced
himself from this, but decided “terror” posed dangers to Ger trade and spoke
out against unauthorised actions, the campaign then quietened down.
Demands for a
“Blood Protection Law” (preventing marriages between Jews and Gers) continued
to grow, July 1935 Minister of the Interior Frick instructed registrars to stop
performing “racially mixed marriages” ( a sign of future legislature)
By Sept
legislation has still not appeared, hitler ready to “remedy” this with the
Nuremburg rally in mid-September 1935.
Hitler’s Motives
Some historians
think Hitler not initially planned to use occasion of the rally to produce the
legislation around mixed marriages and instead on foreign policy. – Did it
despite of this.
By 1935 Many
ordinary Gers were becoming uneasy at the seemingly random violence, yet the
Nuremburg Laws replaced this with controlled legal discrimination.
15TH September 1935 The
Nuremberg Laws
Marriages
between Jews and Citizens of Ger or kindred blood are forbidden
Extramarital
sexual intercourse between Jews and subjects of the state of Germany or related
blood is forbidden
Jews will not be
permitted to employ citizens of German blood under the age of 45 as domestic
workers
Jews are
forbidden to display the Reich and national flag or the National colours.
Reich Citizenship Law
Distinguished
between Citizens and subjects. Only those of Ger blood could be a citizen. Jews
and other non-Aryans cclasses as subjects with no few rights.
The law for the protection of German Blood and
Honour – Later extended to cover almost any
physical contact between Jews and Aryans.
Allegations
could secure a conviction.
Aryan women
pressured to leave their Jewish husbands, risk of being revealed to the Gestapo
if not.
Nov 1935 – First Supplementary Decree on the Reich
Citizenship Law
-
Defined what a “full
Jew” constituted.
-
A full jew = Three
jewish grandparents or someone who had two jewish grandparents and who was
married to a jew.
-
Smaller fractions of
Jewishness were labelled Mischlinge (with varying degrees depending on number
of Jewish grandparents)
-
Second degrees did not
face much discrimination, initially regarded as Aryan, unless they belonged to
a Jewish religious community or married to a Jew.
-
First degrees were
allowed to attend senior schools and universities and military service, barred
from certain professions, forced to marry into the Jewish community.
Impact – Without
citizenship Jew’s left powerless against Nazis
-
Many tried to falsify
ancestry – Black market
-
Deepended anti-Semitism
in Ger society.
-
Many gers uncomfortable
– Gestapo docs suggested public opinion not fully in support
-
No public outcry. Fear?
Propaganda? Passivity?
Anti-Semitic decrees
1936-38
After Nuremberg
Laws passed, anti=Sem persecution lessened but did not reflect a change in
attitude amongst the Nazi leaders. Reduction due to political reasons. 1936 –
Olympics. Had to hide anti-Semitism.
Jews not the
only onest argetted, around 30k gypsies, Zigeuner, subjected to legal discrim
before 1933.
-
In 1935- Nazi legal
experts ruled that the Nuremberg laws applied to gypsies
-
In 1936 – SS set up a
new Reich Central Office for the Fight Against the Gypsy Nuisance
-
Dr Robert Ritter became
the new expert “scientific advisor” to the SS and the Ministry of Health which
with his criteria allowed the SS to locate and classify gypsies
-
Dec 1938 – Himmler
issued a directive ordering the registration of all gypsies
Anti-Semitic decrees,
April-Nov 1938
By 1938 hitler
no longer depended on compromises with conservatives, he had full power of the
Reichstag. Dr Hjalmar Schacht, minister of economics, forced out in Nov 1937.
Feb 1938 -
Hitler purged the army high command, made himself head of Ger’s armed forces.
March 1938 –
Anschluss with Austria took place, no intervention of western powers.
September –
Munich conference handed Sudetenland region of Czech over to Ger. - Pop of the
Third Reich swelled by 11 mill, also increasing the Jewish population,
prompting action to deal with the “Jewish question”
April 1938 –
Decree of Registration of Jewish Property – confiscation of all Jewish-owned
property worth more than 5,000 RM.
April 1938 – 40k
Jewish owned businesses in Ger, a year later only 8k avoided being closed down
/ Aryanised.
Further
legislation banned jews from work as – Travelling salesmen, security guards,
travel agents, estate agents. 30k Jewish travelling salesmen lost their jobs.
1938 – Jews also
lost entitlement to public welfare.
The increasing
unemployed Jews depended on charities set up by the Jew community (Central
Institution for Jewish Economic Aid)
From Oct 1938 –
Passports of Gers had to be stamped with a large “J” – Made jews easily
identifiable / strip them of individuality. Led to 1939 law compelling all
Jewish men to adopt the additional first name of “Israel” and women “Sarah” –
Hitler turned down the suggestion of Yellow Star of David at this stage, didn’t
come until 1941.
On the 9th/10th
of November, during Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) Nazi regime
authorised a vicious wave of violence against Jew people and property.
Aftermath of pogrom, damaged the economy and Goering’s Four Year Plan, he
demanded further say in Jewish policies in the future.
Decree Excluding Jews from German Economic Life
November 1938
Also – Forbidden
to visit theatres, cinemas, concerts and other cultural events. Pressure to
expel Jews from schools (Some remained even after Law Against Overcrowding of
German Schools and Unies of April 1933) after Nov 1938 this no longer possible.
End of 1938 –
legislation had isolated the Jew pop. Many had emigrated. Ones who stayed faced
anti-Sem violence and propaganda.
Success of Nazi propaganda
Difficult to judge success of Nazi
propaganda, a balance between skilful effective propaganda and crude/boring
propaganda.
Varying methods used and constant
backing of censorship+ terror
Did the constant racist stereotypes just
intimidate people into silence rather than outright support?
Established churches receptive to Nazi
anti-Semitism as it reflected their opinions.
Late 1930’s – Nazi hold over ger strong,
intensity of anti-Sem propaganda increased.
-
Approaching war-
Increased focus on Jewish-Bolshevism
-
Culminated with
Hitler’s sinister speech in Reichstag jan 1939
-
“If the international
Jewish financiers, inside and outside Europe, succeed in plunging the nations
once more into a world war, then the result will not be the Bolshevisation of
the earth, and thus the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish
race in Europe.”
Nazi
Propaganda
-
Key to spreading
anti-Semitic beliefs. Key role in dehumanising / demonising Jews. Gers subject
to constant barrage of negative images/stereotypes of Jews in ; Children’s
books, feature films, radio programmes, mass rallies and the press.
-
Most under the
direction of Dr Josef Goebbels, the Minister for Public Enlightenment and
Propaganda.
Youth
Increased emphasis on the indoctrination
of youth. – Nazi’s concentrated on
the young as they were the future generation that could be moulded into committed
Nazis.
-
Put pressure on
subjects such as biology and history, pro-Nazi teachers slanted their lessons
towards crimes and inferiority of the Jews along with isolation/humiliation of
them.
-
Jewish science
announced in Universities, heckling of “un-German” professors. Burning of Books
10th may 1933 example of intellectual conformity, many academics
emigrated or adopted a low profile, had
negative effects as a whole on university education quality.
-
Propaganda was not
enough, needed total immersion through youth groups.
-
Boys absorbed into the
Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend) and girls pressured to join League of German
Maidens (Bund Deutscher Madel) – Nazi ideological themes such as nationalism,
anti-Commie and god-like status of the Fuhrer, youths were fed a diet of
anti-Semitic slogans. Members taught how to I.D. Jews and encouraged to abuse
verbally / physically assault Jews and their affiliates.
-
Many anti-Nazi parents
encouraged their children to join just to avoid trouble.
-
In many families the
propaganda was effective in brainwashing the young generation.
-
Hitler Youth marches
used to intimidate potential opponents.
-
Propaganda posters of
Aryan boys and girls reinforce the ideology.
-
“The Jew is the most
dangerous poison mushroom in existence” – Childrens book
-
Depiction of a Jewish
man as a child molester luring children with candy.
Media
and Culture propaganda.
-
Mobilisation of mass
culture a key goal of Nazi propaganda
-
Hitler thought there
was a powerful Jewish conspiracy controlling the arts and media – Removing jews
from media and arts fitted with Hitler’s belief in the superiority of Ger art
and culture.
-
1933 – Reich Chamber of
Culture (RKK) under Josef Goebbels set up. To coordinate the cultural life of
Germany in cinema, literature, music, fine arts and theatre. Needed official
approval through membership with a Reich Chamber to continue working. – Purged the
Jews and promoted positive images of
German values
-
Pressure from legal
discrim and hostile propaganda to Jews. Thousands lost their post, forced into
exile – Composer Arnold Schoenberg, acress Elizabeth Bergner
-
Many gers accepted jews
were over-represented in these areas, little protest against the cultural
purge, plenty of opportunities for self-gain
-
Goebbels never able to
control all parts of propaganda machine. Cinema too big, small portion of films
in 1930s were propaganda films.
-
Some more successful
than others – Volkischer Boebachter “boring” and derided. (edited by his rival
Alfred Rosenberg)
-
Open aggressively
racist propaganda – Der Sturmer (Julius Streicher)
-
Goebbels favoured
indirect propaganda through culture and mass entertainment
The
Press
-
1933 Reich Press Law –
Goebbels made sure newspapers were closely censored
-
Editors briefed daily,
responsible for unflattering content towards Nazis/ideology.
-
Extensive
self-censorship. Many tried to stay on right side of regime to keep access to
info and avoid harassment.
-
Goebbels + Otto
Dietrich invested huge time in influencing foreign journalists + providing with
material.
-
Several official Nazi
newspapers – Oldest and best known Volkischer Boebachter rarely read by most
Gers
-
Der Angriff (Goebbels
own newspaper) far superior to VB, but most of its readers already convinced
Nazis.
-
Julius Streichers Der
Sturmer soviolent and obscene turned off many, even convinced Nazis.
Der
Sturmer
Racist, Pornographic journal, not
official Nazi publication but personal project of Julius Streicher, the
“Jew-baiter of Nuremberg”, founded in 1920s.
Sale of it increased steeply in 1935
(Nuremberg laws)
Contract with National Labour Front –
copies displayed in every workplace in Ger.
Many nazi’s (Goebbels) regarded Streicher as an
embarrassment, Hitler stayed loyal to him.
Not important but revealed the intensity
of anti-Jewish hatred in Nazi ideology. Formed part of the “stress” people were
subjected to.
Melita Maschmann (Nazi youth leader)
regarded Dur Sturmer as vulgar and unbelievable. Still stayed a loyal nazi
supporter.
The
Radio
Cheap mass produced “People’s radio”
produced in Ger had a deliberately limited range of reception. – People rarely
able to tune into foreign stations. – The Volksempfanger.
By 1939 roughly 70% of all German homes
had a radio set.
Many Germans receptive to the new and
exciting form of propaganda. – News, plays, comedy shows, and music.
Regular broadcasts of classical music
and live orchestral concerts – no Jewish composers / performers were heard.
Jazz, modernism were ignored.
Not entirely successful – thriving black
market in records of jazz and swing music. Many educated Gers turned off by
Nazification of Ger culture.
Mainly for light entertainment, but
hitler transmitted his key speeches. In 1933, 50 broadcasts transmitted, 1935
audience for his speeches reached 56 million (pop of under 70 mil) Speeches
announced by sirens so could all listen to the public loudspeakers.
Cinema
Ineffectiveness of blatant propaganda –
only small number of propaganda films realised, none of them achieved much
popularity. Deepest impact was made when films were made for entertainment.
Racist message not explicit was most effective.
Kristina Soderbaum – Blonde, beautiful,
popular idealised Aryan image. Even in the historical epic “The Great King”
Most famous producer – Leni Riefenstahl.
– Triumph of the Will, 1935. Olympia 1938
1940 anti-semitic films – Der Ewige Jude
(The Eternal Jew) and Jud Suss (Contained rats in comparison to Jews)
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