The Road to the Holocaust - Kristallnacht | BETWEEN 2 WARS I 1938 Part 3 of 4 - YouTube (1)
On the night of November 9, 1938, ordinary citizens will look on as thugs smash and loot
the homes, businesses, and temples of people they once considered neighbors. Police and
firefighters stand by only to ensure the “Aryan” population remain safe. It is a night that
will become known as “Kristallnacht”, the night of broken glass. No one may grasp
it at the time, but this event confirms for good the end of Jewish life in Hitler's Germany.
Welcome to Between-2-Wars a chronological summary of the interwar years, covering all
facets of life, the uncertainty, hedonism, and euphoria, and ultimately humanity's
descent into the darkness of the Second World War. I'm Indy Neidell.
Right before we get started I want to make clear that though the Nazi's love to raise
the “Jewish question”, it is pure fantasy. While they are concentrated in certain urban
areas, the 1933 Germany national census shows that Jews make up less than 1% of the country's
67 million population, barely more than half a million. And though they are overrepresented
in certain professions requiring higher education, there is no concentration of wealth and power
in their hands. By every definition, they are ordinary Germans, who are no more capitalist,
communist, powerful, or scheming as their gentile countrymen.
Okay.
When we looked at Hitler's consolidation of power back in 1933 and 1934, we saw how
German-Jews immediately faced a wave of persecution. It began with “spontaneous” anti-Semitic
violence from SA troops. Despite not being ordered by the Party, these acts were quietly
approved- and no doubt executed- in the hope of fulfilling the anti-Semitic dreams expressed
by Hitler. After this, more “official” actions took place. Hitler and his Minister
of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, approved and organized a nationwide boycott of Jewish shops.
The first batch of anti-Semitic legislation soon followed. The “Law for the Protection
of a Professional Civil Service" and it's "Aryan Paragraph", ordered the dismissal of
all Jews – defined as anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent – from governmental
positions. Other professions were then targeted, and Jews were banned from taking the bar or
practicing medicine through state insurance programs.
This pattern will continue in the next few years- extreme bouts of violence and propaganda
engineered by the Party followed by sweeping legislation in what historians such as Ian
Kershaw will call “the dialectic of radicalization”. With each new wave, the momentum just keeps
building, and building, and building.
But as 1933 moves into 1934, an uneasy calm has set for the time being.
This doesn't mean things are easy for Jews. Boycotts are frequent, and Jews still find
themselves subject to petty acts of discrimination from regional authorities. Instances of outright
violence are also known to occur, and there is clearly an undercurrent of radical anti-Semitism
waiting to explode, but without some sort of official “green light” - imagined or
otherwise - the violence does not become endemic.
And Hitler is playing it safe for now. He is conscious of the delicate international
situation, and ratcheting up official anti-Semitism will just anger foreign powers. Economic concerns
are also at play. Boycotts and instability when Germany is just recovering from the Great
Depression will only make the situation worse. Finally, public opinion is not yet entirely
meaningless in the Third Reich. The “Aryan” population might not be Judeophiles, but nor
are they foaming at the mouth anti-Semites, and rushing forward with harsh measures will
likely alienate many of them. All this means that Hitler is careful not to make any official
pronouncements on the “Jewish question”. Newspapers, especially Julius Streicher's
Der Sturmer, still churn out anti-Semitic sensation, of course, but since they are not
official organs of the Party, the regime can keep up a kind of plausible deniability.
But the aloofness won't last long. Hitler's power will soon reach new heights, which means
anti-Semitic policy can enter a new phase.
Now, we've looked at this in other videos in this series but basically, the Night of
the Long Knives in June and the death of President Hindenburg in August remove all potential
challenges to Hitler's power. 1935 then sees his popularity skyrocket. In January,
the Saar Basin, a territory under the authority of the League of Nations, votes to be reunited
with Germany, and open rearmament is announced in March. The Allies failure to do anything
about this only adds to Hitler's prestige.
Small state measures signal that it is time for further persecution. In February, the
Gestapo ban Jews from raising the Nazi flag, and in May they are barred from military service.
Local leaders and the Party press also fan the flames. One particularly hot issue is
"race defilement", sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews. An official Nazi newspaper
in Cologne calls for male Jewish race defilers to be castrated, and in April, the SS newspaper,
Das Schwarze Korps, demands that even Aryans should face 15 years imprisonment for such
a “crime”.
It is clear which way the wind is blowing. Radicals take the initiative, and a wave of
anti-Semitic persecution breaks out across Germany in the Spring and Summer. Jews are
assaulted on the streets and their businesses are vandalized and destroyed; they are banned
from public spaces such as swimming pools or are driven out by angry mobs. Cemeteries
and Synagogues are desecrated, and signs spring up on roadsides reading “JEWS UNWANTED.”
The “race-defilers” face particularly harsh humiliation. In July a woman is forced
to walk through the streets of Hamburg wearing a placard stating "I am the biggest sow in
town and never on the Jew boys frown".
The Nazi leadership openly distance themselves from the outrage they have manufactured. At
the end of May after serious anti-Semitic violence in Munich, SS leader, Heinrich Himmler
and Deputy Fuhrer, Rudolf Hess, both make declarations against “individual operations”.
Goebbels is the most calculating in all this. On July 15, in his Berlin newspaper, he calls
for Germans to take physical measures against “anyone” disrupting the screening of an
anti-Semitic film that day. The same evening there are riots on the Kurfürstendamm, the
most famous avenue in the city. Activists force their way into restaurants and drive
out Jewish customers with screams of "Destruction to Jews!". With more confrontations with police,
the event attracts international attention. Goebbels swiftly issues an order condemning
the acts of violence he himself has just engineered.
But the Nazi top dogs realize that such rabid violence is offensive to the sensibilities
of ordinary Germans.
The Nazification of public life makes popular opinion challenging to gauge, but we can catch
some glimpses. Nazi agencies regularly produce reports on the ‘mood and bearing' of the
people, and many ordinary Germans are sick of outright thuggery. By now, many accept
anti-Semitism in principle, but some staunchly Catholic regions express distaste at the open
violence. Areas in Bavaria also report economic anxieties over how it could hurt tourism.
In fact, economic practicalities often take precedence over ideological commitment, and
to the chagrin of Nazi authorities, ordinary Germans, and even some uniformed Party members,
continue to trade with Jewish shopkeepers or cattle dealers.
Hitler seems to realize that the population are baulking at the worst excesses of anti-Semitic
persecution. On August 9, 1935, a circular from the office of the Deputy Fuhrer is sent
around stating that Hitler is explicitly banning “individual actions”.
It is clear to the Nazi leadership that their anti-Semitism has to be further enshrined
in actual law, rather than put in the hands of thugs. They seize their chance to do so
in September 1935 at the Nuremberg party congress.
The annual rallies at Nuremberg are a staple fixture of the Third Reich. Awe-inspiring
scenes of uniformed troops, adoring crowds, party regalia, dramatic music, and cries of
‘Sieg Heil' are the perfect propaganda opportunity. But this one is set to be a little
different. The Reichstag – by now a purely ceremonial body – will be called to Nuremberg
to pass the Reich Flag Law, making the Swastika the official national flag. But at some point,
the supposedly “spontaneous” decision is made that anti-Jewish legislation will
also be pushed forward.
Hitler addresses the Reichstag on September 15, informing them that: "The German Reich
Government is guided by the hope of possibly being able to bring about, by means of singular
momentous measure, a framework within which the German Volk would be in a position to
establish tolerable relations with the Jewish people."
He is talking about just two laws. First, the “Citizenship Law” establishes that
a German citizen “must have German or kindred blood” to have full political and civil
rights, and declares everyone else as “subjects” who are now deprived of such rights. Second,
the "Law for the Defence of German Blood and Honour" prohibits marriage and all sexual
relations between Jews and Aryans. The law also bans German women under the age of 45
working in Jewish households and prohibits Jews from displaying national colours.
And that's it, Jews are now legally not German, but more a national minority. The
question remains, though: who is a Jew? The First Supplementary Decree of the Reich Citizenship
Law is passed in November 1935. It defines a Jew as anyone descended from at least three
Jewish grandparents. Someone with two Jewish grandparents who associates with the religious
community; is married to another Jew, or is the child of a relationship with a Jew after
the Nuremberg Laws is also a Jew. If a person has two Jewish grandparents but has not made
these "choices", they are Mischling (mixed-blood), as is a person with one Jewish grandparent.
After these laws are passed, another uneasy calm sets in.
Most Germans hope that it means an end to the mob violence, and many believe that with
the boundary drawn between "Germans" and "Jews", things will finally be stabilized. The anti-Jewish
propaganda that's been pumped out for years may not have made every German burn with anti-Semitism,
but it has made most of them believe that there is a “Jewish question” and that
this is now solved. Many Jews even feel the same way. Nuremberg has at least imposed a
framework of what Jewish life can and can't be. Most Jews hope to weather the storm, but
the idea of emigration is now growing steadily. This is actually the aim of the Nazi party
at this point and with all significant German-Jewish organizations accepting it is as a reality,
it looks like it might be realized.
There is now a lull in anti-Semitic agitation and legislation. The 1936 Olympic Games are
approaching, and the eyes of the world are focused on Germany. If you saw our video on
the games, you'll know Hitler used it a propaganda tool to present his Reich as an ordered and
content nation. In fact, when Wilhelm Gustloff, founder of the Swiss Nazi Party, is assassinated
in February 1936 by David Frankfurter, a Jew angered at Gustloff's anti-Semitism,
strict orders are given that no anti-Jewish action takes place. And none do.
But once the games are over, the heat is once again turned up.
Hitler and other top Nazi officials have been planning ways to exclude Jews from the economy
altogether. The aim is to pressure Jews to emigrate and leave most of their wealth behind.
But unlike the legislative drama at Nuremberg, more subtle methods are adopted. Laws are
passed in December 1936 promising the death penalty for anyone, meaning Jews, suspected
of “economic sabotage”. The boycott campaign is once again ramped up to force Jewish business
owners to sell their firms. In the summer of 1937, the Gestapo undertake a massive operation
across the entire country to eliminate Jewish cattle dealers, with any farmer trading with
them arrested.
The 1937 Nuremberg Rally sees the radicalization process pushed even further. Hitler and Goebbels
both offer anti-Semitic tirades. Goebbels is the most manic, declaring Jews to be “the
incarnation of evil, the ferment of decomposition, the visible demon of the decay of humanity.”
