Being Jewish in the mid-1930s: The Political background

Dearest grandchildren,

I remember questioning my father regarding what genre his book, The Rim of the Volcano, would fall into.

Was it to be historical fiction, in which he’d tell the story of a German woman (Irmgard, who he’d call  “Irene”) who married a Jewish man (Carl, who he’d call “Karl”… huh?!) in 1919 and, by 1933, found herself in the dreadful position of being, by her sheer existence, the only thing keeping her husband, and likely her children, from a concentration camp and certain death?

Or was it to be an autobiographical memoir, told in the first person? If so, Dad insisted that the historical and political background must somehow be included and it must be correct, since the political environment of Nazi Germany had a huge influence on every aspect of Thomas’ family’s life – even though it was never discussed (at least with the kids).

Ultimately, Dad decided that he would write an autobiographic book, but that he would preface his memories with applicable Nazi politics of the time. So each chapter would begin with the political background – laws, decrees, and political actions -  and then be followed with Dad’s personal memories. It was a good approach.

In theory.

As I mentioned previously, my father was an obsessive researcher. With the vast amount of available information on WWII politics, I’m pretty sure Thomas “went down the worm hole” a few times, gathering more information than was really necessary for the short “political background” sections of his Rim of the Volcano book. And I believe that, in his desire to research thoroughly, he probably felt overwhelmed at times. I have a feeling that this feeling of overwhelm led to things like this:

Fortunately, Dad did eventually finish his book – or at least the first version of it. (I have been doing some heavy editing as I post it here.)

My father was absolutely correct in his assertion that factual information about Nazi politics would be critical to include previous to each chapter of personal memories. That is evident in the long, detailed political background section of Dad’s memories of the tumultuous years of 1934 to 1938, which appears here:

The political background:

The Nazis consolidated their political power into a firm dictatorship  between 1934 and 1938. They used the first year to grab the tools they needed. Then, when Hitler was made Chancellor, they enacted the notorious Empowerment Act that let them make their own laws, unencumbered and unobstructed. They got control of the press and outlawed all other parties.

I am writing this blog post on January 2nd, 2021. Two months ago, Americans elected Joe Biden to replace Donald Trump as president. Two days from now, a group of Republicans will try to nullify those election results, claiming fraud. POSITIVELY NO FRAUD HAS BEEN DETECTED and the results of the election is 100% legitimate. The Supreme Court says so and lower courts have said so SIXTY TIMES since November’s election. Trump and his cronies would have loved to do what Hitler did. In fact, since the day he was elected in 2016, Trump has insisted, just as Hitler did, that the press is “the enemy of the people.” Unlike Hitler, though, OUR democracy has – so far, at least; the next two weeks will be precarious and scary – withstood Trump’s attempts to completely take over.

74,000,000 people, a full 46.8%of the electorate, voted for Trump. Most of those would probably love to see the legitimate election results overturned and the will of the people simply ignored. That alone is terrifying. “Never forget,” my ass! Americans have already forgotten, in barely more than a generation.

Now that they had eradicated the Weimar Republic, the time had come to prove to the world that their anti-Semitic measures were working, that they had the approval of the masses, both domestic and international, and that they were a cultured regime that restored Germany to its pre-war greatness and civility.

“Germany first”? Well, yes – “Deutschland über alles.” That’s where Trump go his whole “America First” slogan. MAGA: “Make America Great Again.”

They successfully reduced a vast unemployment problem by construction of the Autobahn and offered the prospect that soon every German would own a Volkswagen (“people’s car”). They supported the heavy steel industry. They created the Gestapo^[1], and along with that they also initiated a popular program called “Kraft Durch Freude” (Strength Through Joy), a popular lure to allow masses of “common people” to enjoy the same cruises and culture that had previously been reserved for the upper class. That propaganda trick worked well with many people inside and outside Germany, even some politicians.

After Hindenburg’s death on August 1, 1934, the Nazis held a plebiscite to decide whether Hitler should become the one and only Führer (leader) in Germany. The voting participation for this election was 95.7%! Of those, 89.9% voted for him. The Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936 was tailor-made for the showmanship of Joseph Goebbels’ propaganda, but is remembered as the occasion when Jesse Owens challenged Hitler’s theory of the supreme Aryan race. A jubilant Austria “came home into the Reich” in 1938. Then, in Munich, the Western Allies gave in to Hitler’s so-called “final territorial demands” and sacrificed the freedom of Czechoslovakia to a vain dream of peace. Hitler promptly gabbed the Sudetenland and made Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate. But the “peace in our time” didn’t last long. Six weeks later, the true face of the regime showed itself to the world in Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass,” when practically all synagogues in Germany were burned and when the homes of thousands of Jews were ransacked, and its habitants arrested. But the worst of the Holocaust was still years away.

I was horrified to see Trump’s “children in cages.” His administration really did separate children, some as young as a few months old, from their parents – and then these children were literally locked in cages. Even now, two years later, these children are without parents, as no one kept track of who those parents were (that wouldn’t have happened in Nazi Germany, only because the Nazis documented everything). For Some of these children will NEVER see their parents again! This is a direct result of Trump’s hatred of immigrants – not unlike Hitler’s hatred of Jews. Plenty of Americans are still siding with Trump, even treating him like a cult leader. The difference between Germany under Hitler (in the beginning) and America under Trump is that enough Americans refuse to allow Trump to get away with what he’s trying to do.

And thank god for our Constitution which, amazingly enough, still stands, and which guarantees freedom of the press and freedom of speech. Those two freedom are what separate America from 2016 to 2020 from Germany from 1934 to 1938.

It is particularly interesting to note how much the government-sponsored anti-Semitism became accepted and understood as “the right way to think now.” It was self-perpetuating with more and more (but step-by-step, almost unnoticeable) decrees against Jews. Most decrees were not particularly severe, just a continuation of policy, not in secret, but proudly published. The thought of “I’m not a Jew -- why should I worry?” became common. Anti-Semitism had become widely practiced and fully accepted.

Drip, drip, drip. The frog in slowly heating water. That is how these things happen. As my father told me on multiple occasions, “Hitler was democratically and enthusiastically elected by an educated , dignified electorate. Don’t think that can’t happen here.” You were right, Dad. You were right.

(Side note: Anti-Semitism didn’t suddenly disappear in Germany at the end of the war. Six years after the end of the WWII, my father-in-law-to be, Max Reiss reluctantly accepted me a his son-in-law, but asked that we don’t disclose the fact that my father was Jewish to his then-wife Maria, for fear of her disapproval.)

To my knowledge, laws issued in May and June, 1938 are the first documented and published instances where the word Konzentrationslager (concentration camp) was openly used, though in 1938 they were not yet the death camps they became later. It is my understanding that a “concentration camp” was known then as a place were “undesirables” (like Jews) were being concentrated - unlike prisons - which still required conviction by a court.

Decrees issued 1934 - 1938:

The flood of laws and regulations to “fence out” Jews from public life and public schools continued in 1934 to 1938, but at a somewhat slower rate than in 1933. Many decrees encouraged emigration of Jews, specifically to Palestine. The treatment of “Devisen^[2]” was increasingly limited, strictly controlled, and severely punished if not followed.

December 20, 1934: (*13 - pg. 100)

An ominous law specified that the divulging or spreading of “malicious claims” concerning people in authority or their orders, which were likely to damage the Party or state, carries a prison penalty. (This kind of “law” justified frivolous arrests by police and others and encouraged informers!)

The Nürnberg Laws: (*13 - pg. 142) and many other sources:

By far the most important laws of 1935 were the “Nürnberg Laws,” passed on the occasion of a flamboyant party congress in Nürnberg on September 15, and November 14, 1935. Practically every reference in literature speaks of those laws, their creation, contents, and their far-reaching implications. They had their origins in the many partial and local regulations that tried to arrive at a unified approach to the “Jewish question.”

In November,1935, the Nazi Party held a very big and showy Party rally in Nürnberg. They named Nürnberg the “CIty of the Party Congresses” -- one reason the Allies chose Nürnberg after the war to try those same Nazis for war crimes and “Crimes against Humanity.” (I believe that term was first used in he Nürnberg Trials.)

The Nürnberg Laws, with the euphemistic title of The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor defined, for the first time, who was a Jew - not by religion, but by race. For the first time in history, conversion from the Jewish religion would no longer remove the designation of being Jewish. Spanish Jews could still do that under the expulsion orders from Spain, under Ferdinand and Isabella. But now, under the Nürnberg Laws, which reflected Nazi ideology, whether one was considered a Jew depended solely on the number of Jewish grandparents one had and no longer on the religion of the mother.

Here are the key provisions:

1. “Reichsbürger” (German citizens) are people of “German or related blood.”

Only Reichsbürger have political rights.

2. “Staatsangehörige” (Members of the State) are all inhabitants of the state, including non-Aryans.

3. “Being Jewish” was defined thus:

“Full Jews”: those who have three or four Jewish grandparents.

“Half Jews” (or “Mischling”): those who have two Jewish grandparents and are member of a Hebrew congregation.

Regardless of religious practice:

Mischling of the first degree means having two Jewish grandparents;

Mischling of the second degree: means having one Jewish grandparent;

 

4. Jews cannot be Reichsbürger ; they have no voting rights.

5. Marriage between a Jew and a Reichsbürger is forbidden.

6. Sexual relations between Jews and Reichsbürger are prohibited. The Nazis called this Rassenschande (“defilement of the race”), considered by the Nazis to be the greatest sin. (More severely punished: the Jewish part…) (Apr. 2 ’36 - *13 - pg. 159)

7. Female employees in Jewish households must be over 45 years of age.

As time went on, there were separate decrees related to these laws, putting “racially impure” people into pigeonholes with restrictions and exceptions for each. Some of these classifications were specific, others were general or unspecified, making enforcement arbitrary.

Feb. 4, 1935: (*13 - pg. 103)

Law for Handling of Foreign Exchange. (Note: this “law” updated several previous regulations, providing the justification for the 1938 action against my father.)

Dec. 19, 1935: (*13 - pg. 146):

Only Jews and Gypsies are considered “foreign races” in Europe. (“Negroes” were not mentioned, because very few lived in Europe, but they were certainly included.)

December 1935: (*13 pg. 149)

Judges are forbidden to quote commentaries or papers by Jewish authors.

Sept. 1, 1936: (*13- pg. 170)

Penalties for Rassenschande are increased and expedited. (The degree to which Rassenschande was spurned went to ridiculous extremes, such as -- reportedly -- a woman who ever had sexual contact with a Jew was in theory no longer able to produce purely Aryan offspring.)

Oct. 26, 1936 (*13 - pg. 174) “SECRET REICHS SUBJECT!”

To maintain maximal deterring effects, duration of confinement must under no circumstances be revealed. Confinement into a concentration camp must always be presented as “until further notice.”

December 1, 1936: (*13 - pg. 176)

Underhandedly moving or leaving property abroad is considered economic sabotage and is punishable by death.

June 1, 1938: (*13 - pg. 227): (TOP SECRET!)

Jews who received a penalty of more than one month in prison are to be sent directly to a concentration camp upon release from prison, without a hearing.

June 14, 1938 (*13 - pg. 229):

The principle that the “Aryan paragraph” does not apply to the economic sector is no longer valid. Jews must be removed as quickly as possible. A Kommanditgesellschaft (limited partnership) is considered Jewish if one of the principal members is Jewish. (Note: per this decree, my father was forced to leave his position as President of Bayer & Heinze Bank on January 1, 1938.)

August 17, 1938: (*13 - pg. 237):

All males who are Jewish by race must adopt the official middle name of “Israel”, and all females must adopt the official middle name of “Sara.” Signatures must include the new middle name, and all Jews must introduce themselves with this mandated name, without being asked, in all official verbal or written transactions.

“Carl Isreal Heumann,” Jew.

Sept. 28, 1938; (*13 - pg. 242):

Until this point, the emigration of Jews had been tolerated, and even encouraged. This regulation stipulated that emigration into neighboring countries now be illegal.

Oct. 10, 1938: (*13 - pg. 244):

Passports belonging to Jews are invalid and must be returned. They become valid again only after they are prominently stamped with the letter “J” (“Jew”).

To get a sense of the racial hysteria that escalated after “Kristallnacht,” one must look at the details of some of the orders and decrees:

November 9, 1938: (*13 - pg. 249):

“SECRET! To all State Police offices: These measures against Jews will take place throughout Germany. They must not be interfered with. Important archival materials in synagogues is to be secured immediately (especially the high-value material from the Köln synagogue). Prepare countrywide for the arrest of 20,000 - 30,000 Jews. Rich Jews are to be targeted with priority.

[Note: this may be part of the reason why I have been unable to find any information about my paternal grandparents in Köln!]

Order to Gestapo group leaders:

All Jewish stores are to be destroyed immediately by uniformed SA “(Sturm Abteilung” or “Storm Troopers”). Place an SA guard to avoid looting of valuables. Involve the press. Synagogues must be incinerated immediately, and Jewish symbols must be seized. Jews must be evacuated from their homes since Aryans will soon occupy those houses. Police must not interfere. Any Jews who resist must be shot on the spot. Post signs that read, for instance, “No Treaties with Countries that Listen to Jews!” or “Death to the International Jewry!”

November 10, 1938: (*13 – pg. 253):

From the Reich Leader of the SS: Arrest all Jews, especially rich Jews, and send them to existing holding facilities. Immediately contact appropriate Concentration Camps (“KZ’s”) officers for expedited placement. State Police units must not interfere.

The KZ’s of Dachau, Buchenwald, and Sachsenhausen will each admit at least 10,000 Jews each.

Official orders are not required to arrest Jews and the Minister of Justice has been directed to not initiate legal investigations into anti-Jewish actions.

November 12, 1938: (*13 - pg. 254):

From head of the Four-Year-Plan: All Jewish owners are responsible for the restoration of residences and facilities that were damaged in recent days by the people’s outrage over the agitation by the international Jewry against the National Socialist Germany. The State will collect any insurance claims.

Jews under age 60 and able to work, who were arrested in the “Protest Action,” will be transported to the nearest Concentration Camp.

(Note that by 1938 the term “KZ” for concentration camps was used quite freely, although the horrific magnitude of the words’ implications was not generally known until years later.)

Jews are forbidden to attend any theaters, movies, concerts, exhibits, etc..

German Jews as a group must pay RM 100,000,000 to the German Reich.

The individual property levy on all Jews is 20% of all assets.

... and many more ....

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^[1] Geheime Staatspolizei - -Secret State Police

^[2] foreign exchange and currencies