Persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany, 1933-1939
From its formation the Nazi regime persecuted the Jews. From April 1933,
nationwide boycotts were carried out against the Jews and Antisemitic
legislation began. The Nazis strove systematically to remove the Jews from all
centers of influence in German society and to separate them from the "Aryan
Race." Along with their governmental and legal activities, the Nazis attempted
to segregate the Jews from the rest of German society. The Nazis realized that
they were able to generate extensive support for these steps, or at least tacit
acceptance of them, among the German people. The Nuremberg Laws, enacted in
1935, stripped the German Jews of their citizenship and brought about sharper
racial separation between Jews and "Aryans."
The Jews of Germany, most of whom had until then considered themselves an
integral part of German life, found themselves in an existential and a severe
identity crisis under Nazi rule. However, the regime's policy still permitted
them to develop their own internal organizations and services. The Jewish
communities and organizations offered social and financial assistance to the
needy. They were involved in planning and in assisting emigrants, and developed
extensive educational and cultural activity.
The Antisemitic policy implemented by the Nazi regime was intensified in the
late 1930s, when the Jews began to be systematically dispossessed of their
property and were subjected to increased pressure to emigrate. In March 1938
Germany annexed Austria, where this policy was applied through brutal means. The
anti-Jewish policy escalated further in a series of violent acts beginning in
the summer of 1938, culminating in the Kristallnacht pogrom in November 1938 and
the events that followed. At this point, most of the Jewish organizations and
the internal infrastructure of the communities in Germany were paralyzed.
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