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The Path to the Holocaust
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The National Socialist Workers' Party that emerged in Germany after World War I was commonly referred to as ___________.
In Germany, which was hard hit after the First World War, a new party is emerging - the National Socialist Workers' Party, or the Nazis. Their leader Adolf Hitler promises that Germany will become a powerful country again, for the benefit of the German people. But not everyone in Germany belongs, in Hitler’s mind, to the ‘German people’. Jews, for example, are not considered real Germans.. Hitler believes that it is the Jews' fault that Germany lost the First World War, and that Germany's economy is poor.
Hitler is not the only one who thinks so. Almost all German parties, except the Marxist workers' parties, are hostile towards jews - anti-Semitic. On January 30, 1933, Hitler and the Nazis come to power. In a short time, they turn Germany into a Nazi dictatorship. Political opponents are imprisoned and put in special prisons - concentration camps.
Very soon, Jews, Roma, gay people and disabled people will also begin to be discriminated against, and persecuted. Two months later, the Nazis organize a boycott of Jewish shops. They want to prevent Jews making a living. Another week later, a new law is introduced, the "Aryan clause," which allows Jews to be fired from government jobs for no reason. Soon Jewish doctors, lawyers and teachers will lose their jobs, too.
Jews are not allowed to join public organizations such as sports clubs. And on April 25, the government restricts Jews' access to high school and university studies. In May, the Nazis burn thousands of books written by Jews or political opponents. It is becoming more and more difficult to be a Jew in Germany. In September 1935, Jews lose their German citizenship, and marriage or sexual intercourse between Jews and non-Jews is forbidden.
These rules are part of the new Nuremberg Laws. Jews are also forbidden to use the German flag or the German colors. Breaking these laws results in imprisonment. In March 1938, Germany takes over Austria. Immediately, the Nazis begin to persecute the Jewish population there as well.
Jews are not allowed to go to university and are forbidden to work for the state. Their businesses and stores are seized and their homes looted of art and valuables. Synagogues are destroyed and thousands of Jews are arrested and sent to concentration camps. Many Jews try to flee Austria, but many other countries in Europe and abroad, refuse to let them in. In the autumn of 1938, Sweden and Switzerland ask Germany to issue special passports that clearly show who is a Jew, so that it is clearly shown who to reject.
The German government presses a red J on the front page of all Jews' passports. 17,000 Jews with Polish citizenship are arrested in Germany. They are transported to the Polish border. The Polish authorities at first refuse to let them in. They are forced to stay in the border town of Zbaszyn for 3 months in difficult conditions.
A Polish-Jewish teenager, angry at his family’s plight in Zbaszyn, shoots dead a German diplomat in Paris. The Nazis use this shooting as an excuse to justify a mass arrest of Jews, and to send them to concentration camps — even though, in reality, they have been planning this for months. A major act of violence is now being launched. Across Germany, SA organizations begin to smash the windows of Jewish shops and vandalize Jewish homes. More than 1,400 synagogues and Jewish houses of worship are burned down.
Jews are beaten and about 400 are murdered. 30,000 Jews are arrested and taken to concentration camps. The event is called the November pogrom - or the “Night of Broken Glass”. The material damage will be enormous. The Nazi government blames the Jews for the damage and they are forced to pay for the repairs.
Jewish business owners are forced to clean up the streets after the destruction. Living as a Jew in Nazi Germany during the 1930s is almost impossible. But it will get worse - much - worse.