Jews And The Nuremberg Laws

Upon assuming power, Hitler and his Nazi party began the process of systematically excluding minority groups from the state. In early 1935, the Nazi party attempted to begin a national boycott of Jewish businesses in Germany that, in the end was unsuccessful. However, while this was happening, and throughout Hitler’s chancellorship the Nazi passed laws denying rights and citizenship to the Jewish people called the Nuremberg Laws. These laws were meant to strip the Jewish people of not only their citizenship, but their humanity, as well. And by accomplishing this the Nazis were able to ensure that others and the Jews themselves viewed them as subhuman in the concentration camps, as described in Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz, allowing the …show more content…
These laws systematically denied the Jewish people living in Germany and German controlled territory the rights of a German citizen, which was defined as “only that subject, who is of German or kindred blood and who, through his conduct, shows that he is both desirous and fit to serve faithfully the German people and Reich” (Nuremberg Laws, 404). While not specifically denying the Jewish people citizenship it is implied in this law that the Jewish people are not a member of the German people. Only a month later the Germans would pass a law denying Jews citizenship. It stated, “A Jew can not be a citizen of the Reich. He has no right to vote in political affairs, he cannot occupy public office” (Nuremberg Laws, 405). In addition, the Nazis passed laws defining who was considered Jewish and they proceeded to deny the Jewish people the right to marry outside of their race, hold jobs, and wave any flag other than one with the star of David. These laws ostracized the Jewish people and singled them out among their friends and neighbors of Jewish descent. These laws in effect marked the Jewish people as unworthy of the same rights as those held by other peoples throughout the German conquered lands. This denial of rights started a dehumanization process that would allow the Nazis to commit genocide against the Jewish people without resistance from the average German …show more content…
They were used to systematically dehumanize the Jewish people in the eyes of the German people, allowing the Nazis to perform their heinous acts. The Nazis were able to accomplish task under the radar after their initial overt attempts failed. It is important to study how the Nazis accomplished this, especially in the wake of current laws banning traditional clothing for Muslims. The Nuremberg laws are an important reminder for the modern