Social Aspect: Nuremberg Race Laws

At the annual party held in Nuremberg in 1935, the Nazis announced new laws which established many of the racial theories present in Nazi ideology. The laws excluded German Jews from citizenship giving them the status of "subjects" in Hitler's Reich and prohibited them from marrying, having sexual relations with persons of "German or related blood" or employing them as household help.

Massed crowds at the Nazi party rally in Nuremberg. Nuremberg, Germany, 1935.

The first two laws composing the Nuremberg Race Laws were: "The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor" which referred to the Jewish marriage and "The Reich Citizenship Law" which made the Jews subjects.

These laws were soon followed by "The Law for the Protection of the Genetic Health of the German People," which required all persons wanting to marry to submit to a medical examination, after which a "Certificate of Fitness to Marry" would be issued if they were found to be free of disease. The certificate was required in order to get a marriage license.

The Nuremberg Laws did not define a "Jew" as someone with particular religious beliefs. These laws had the unexpected result of causing confusion and intense debate over who was a "full Jew." The Nazis then issued instructional charts to help distinguish Jews from Mischlinge (Germans of mixed race) and Aryans (person with blond hair and blue eyes of Germanic heritage). The Nazis defined a "full Jew" as a person with three Jewish grandparents, despite of whether the individual identified himself or herself as a Jew or belonged to the Jewish religious community. Those with less than three were designated as Mischlinge.

Many Germans who had not practiced the religion of Judaism for years found themselves caught in a big problem. Even people with Jewish grandparents who had converted to Christianity were considered as Jews.

For a brief period after Nuremberg, in the weeks before and during the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, the Nazi regime decided to moderate its anti-Jewish attacks and even removed some of the signs saying "Jews Unwelcome" from public places. Hitler did not want other countries criticizing his government and maybe having to transfer the Games to another country. Such a change in the host country would have been an disappointment to German prestige.

After the Olympic Games, in which German Jewish athletes were not aloud to participate, the Nazis started again with the persecution of German Jews. In 1937 and 1938, the government caused the impoverishment of Jews by requiring them to register their property and then by "Aryanizing" Jewish businesses. This meant that Jewish workers and managers were discharged, and the ownership of most Jewish businesses was taken over by non-Jewish Germans who bought them at very low prices fixed by the Nazis. Jewish doctors were not allowed to treat non-Jews, and Jewish lawyers were not prohibited to practice law.

Like everyone in Germany, Jews were required to carry identity cards, but the government added special identifying marks to theirs: a big red "J" stamped on them and new middle names for all those Jews who did not have "Jewish" first names that were easy to recognize, giving mostly for example "Israel" for males and "Sara" for females. These cards allowed the police to identify Jews easily.

After the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, a dozen supplemental Nazi decrees were issued that finally prohibited the Jews completely, depriving them of their rights as human beings.

The white figures represent Aryans; the black figures represent Jews; and the shaded figures represent Mischlinge.