Jewish People in Nazi Germany (AQA GCSE History)
Revision Note
Written by: Zoe Wade
Reviewed by: Natasha Smith
The Treatment of Jewish People - Summary
To establish a Third Reich, Hitler and the Nazis focused on creating a strong and ‘pure’ society that followed Nazi beliefs.
Germany in the 1930s was home to multiple minority groups. Many of these minorities considered themselves to be German. However, the Nazis believed in a hierarchy of races with the Aryan race at the top. Policy soon became directed towards the persecution of minorities.
Jewish people faced increased discrimination and persecution throughout the 1930s in Germany. Beginning with the boycotts of 1933, the Nazis soon stripped away the German citizenship of thousands of Jewish people through the Nuremberg Laws of 1935. Following 'Kristallnacht' in 1938, Jewish communities were no longer safe in Germany. The Nazis sent them to ghettos and extermination camps. This only increased in the Second World War, where German expansion eastwards increased the number of Jews in Nazi-occupied territory.
While many German citizens disliked what was happening to Jewish communities and other minorities, the use of censorship and the secret police reduced the level of opposition.
Nazi beliefs about race
The Nazis aimed at making Germany as ‘strong’ as possible
Their beliefs in eugenics and racial hygiene affected all policies towards:
What are eugenics and racial hygiene?
Hitler outlined his belief in a racial hierarchy in his book, Mein Kampf. Hitler stated that:
Aryans were the superior race - blonde, blue-eyed and athletic
other white Western races were respected, but lower than Aryans
races of Eastern Europe like Slavs were seen as Untermenschen (sub-humans)
the Nazis believed that homosexuals lowered moral standards as they could not procreate or be part of a traditional family unit
the Nazis believed that people with disabilities were a burden on society
Jewish people and Roma were considered unworthy of life
How were minorities treated in Nazi Germany before the Second World War?
Anti-Semitism in Germany
Anti-Semitism is the hatred of Jewish people
Anti-Semitic feelings had been common for centuries across many European countries:
some Christians blamed them for the execution of Jesus Christ
Jewish people were blamed for starting the Black Death by poisoning water wells
many people were jealous of Jewish people for their success in business and finance
Anti-Semitism was strong in Germany throughout the 1920s and 1930s
They were blamed in part for the surrender of Germany during the First World War
Some of the politicians who signed the armistice were Jewish
A myth existed that many communists were Jewish
Many Germans feared communism and, as a result, feared the Jewish community
Germany’s failings during hyperinflation and the Great Depression were often blamed on Jewish people
Many people - including Hitler - had been influenced by speakers like Karl Lueger, who spoke about the dangers of Jewish people
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Students struggle to understand how the Nazis viewed Jewish people. Hitler and the NSDAP considered Jewish people as a race, not a religion. A race is a permanent state that you are born in. A religion can be changed if the person desires. Therefore, the Nazis wanted to view Jewish people as a race. This means that no Jewish person could escape persecution, whether they practised Judaism or not.
Policies against Jewish people
There were only 437,000 Jewish people in Germany by 1933, less than 1% of the population
When Hitler became chancellor in 1933, persecution against Jewish people began immediately
Persecution of Jewish people before the Second World War
The Nuremberg Laws, 1935
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 included two laws that drastically increased the persecution of all Jewish people in Germany
Anyone with three or four Jewish grandparents was considered Jewish, regardless of whether they practised Judaism
Many people who had converted to Christianity still faced persecution
From 1938, Jewish people had to register their possessions and also had to carry identity cards
'Kristallnacht'
Persecution of Jewish people became much worse in November 1938 following an event known as ‘Kristallnacht’ (Night of Broken Glass)
Jewish people were punished for causing ‘Kristallnacht’:
they had to pay a combined total of 1 billion marks to repair the damage
by 12 November, around 20,000 Jewish people were sent to concentration camps like Dachau
What was the Final Solution?
When the Second World War began, the Nazis increased the persecution of Jewish people
Invading countries like Poland increased the number of Jewish people under Nazi rule
The Nazis developed different strategies to persecute Jewish people
The Wannsee Conference, January 1942
Key Nazi officials met at Wannsee to discuss the 'Jewish question'
They wanted a more efficient way to deal with Jewish people under Nazi control
Techniques such as ghettos took housing and resources away from German citizens
Einsatzgruppen were limited to how many Jewish people they could kill at once
They wanted a technique that could be rolled out to destroy the global Jewish population
Reinhard Heydrich and Rudolf Hess agreed upon a 'Final Solution' that:
all Jewish people in Nazi-controlled territory must be killed
the Nazis would begin to build extermination camps (death camps)
Six camps were built. The largest of these camps was Auschwitz
Railway networks were built to transport Jewish people from ghettos to the extermination camps
Each camp had gas chambers, disguised as shower blocks
The camps contained large crematoriums to burn the bodies of those killed
Heinrich Himmler was selected to oversee the Final Solution
Worked Example
Describe two causes of the Final Solution
[4 marks]
Answer
One reason for the Final Solution was anti-Semitism in Germany (1). Some Germans blamed the Jewish people for the surrender of Germany during the First World War (1).
Another reason for the Final Solution was the Second World War (1). Invading countries like Poland increased the number of Jewish people under Nazi rule (1).
Examiner Tips and Tricks
The 'Describe two' question in previous years has focused on problems in Germany. However, it may not always be focused on problems.
Our exam skills pages give further guidance and advice on the 'Describe' question
The Holocaust
The Final Solution resulted in the transportation of millions of Jewish people to extermination camps across Europe
Many Jewish people died within days of arriving at the death camps, either by the gas chambers or disease
Other Jewish people were forced to work in the death camps, doing roles such as:
removing the bodies from the gas chambers
operating the crematoriums
cleaning toilets
The Holocaust is the name given to the systematic murder of approximately six million Jewish people by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during the Second World War
Jewish people were not the only victims of extermination camps
Other minorities contribute to another six million deaths in Nazi extermination camps
Other minorities also taken to extermination camps included:
Roma and Sinti gypsies
Slavs
disabled people
Homosexuals
political prisoners
Jewish resistance
There are many incidents of small and large-scale acts of resistance by Jewish people during the Holocaust
Small acts of Jewish resistance
Blowing up railway lines to prevent the transportation of Jewish people to extermination camps
Keeping records of the Nazis' actions so they could not be denied later
Escaping from ghettos during their liquidation
The Warsaw Uprising, 1943
Began on 19th April 1943 when Nazi soldiers attempted to transport the survivors of the ghettos to extermination camps
Around 700 Jewish people fought with the Nazi soldiers
They used guerrilla warfare tactics
The uprising lasted 41 days
The uprising failed because:
the Nazis heavily outnumbered the Jewish people. They had:
2,000 soldiers
artillery
tanks
the Jewish fighters were poorly equipped and had little military training
The Treblinka Uprising, 1943
Treblinka was one of the Nazi extermination camps built after the Wannsee Conference
The uprising happened on 2nd August 1943
Around 1,000 Jewish people in the camp:
captured weapons
set fire to buildings
ran towards the main gate
Several hundred Jewish people escaped from Treblinka
Around half were found and killed by the Nazis
The Treblinka extermination camp was closed shortly after the revolt
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