National Socialism in Power: Treatment of Jews & other Minority Groups (SQA National 5 History): Revision Note

Summary

The Nazis believed only “Aryan” Germans should have rights, so they targeted Jews and others. From 1933, Jewish people lost jobs and faced boycotts. This was followed by further discrimination and violence through the Nuremberg Laws and 'Kristallnacht'.

Other groups were also attacked: People from the Roma population were killed, some Black people and people with disabilities were sterilised. Many patients with mental health illnesses were killed, and people seen as “anti-social” (including homosexuals and Jehovah’s Witnesses) were jailed in camps. The aim was to remove these groups from society using laws, fear, and violence.

Treatment of Jewish people by the Nazis

• From 1933, Jewish people were sacked from public jobs and barred from many professions

• The 1935 Nuremberg Laws took away German citizenship from Jewish people and banned mixed marriage or sex between Jewish people and “Aryans”

  • During 'Kristallnacht'(9–10 November 1938), synagogues and Jewish businesses were destroyed

  • Almost 100 people were killed

  • About 30,000 Jewish men were arrested

    • The men were sent to concentration camps

• Persecution and discrimination continued from 1935

  • In 1938–39, Jewish people had to:

    • Carry ID cards

    • Add “Israel” or “Sarah” to their names

  • From November 1939, wear the Star of David

  • In 1939, many Jewish people were forced into ghettos in occupied Eastern Europe

Treatment of other minority groups by the Nazis

• People from the Roma and Sinti populations were rounded up

  • Between 250,000 and 500,000 Roma and Sinti were killed by the Nazis

• Black people and some Germans of mixed race were forcibly sterilised

• Homosexuals were arrested under Paragraph 175 and sent to concentration camps

• Jehovah’s Witnesses and other “asocial” groups were imprisoned for refusing to conform

• The 1933 Sterilisation Law forced people with conditions judged “hereditary” to be sterilised

• From 1939 the T4 programme killed thousands of people with disabilities or mental health issues gas, injections, or starvation

  • This was presented as “euthanasia” by the Nazis

Why did German people accept the treatment of minorities?

• Propaganda was used to lie about the Jewish people and other minorities

  • This increased prejudice and discrimination

  • Many German people then accepted the violence, boycotts and sackings

• People were frightened to speak out for fear of being arrested by the SS or Gestapo

  • Many people were arrested and sent to concentration camps without trial after speaking out

• Jewish properties and businesses were given to non-Jewish Germans

  • This benefited some people