“As Darwin-based eugenic thinking caught on in the 1880s and 1890s, many antisemitic ideologues increasingly began proposing that Jews were a race. Race, of course, is a social construct, created entirely by humans to define in-groups and out-groups, but even social constructs have immense power. Georg Ritter von Schönerer, who helped inspire ultranationalist pan-Germanic movements in the late 19th century, believed wholeheartedly that Jews were members of an “alien” race who could never be assimilated into Germany. Attaching nationalism to racial ideology, Schönerer produced widely read propaganda calling for ‘the elimination of Jewish influence in all fields of public life.’ He was not alone.” (Childers 353) Adolf Hitler shared the racialized antisemitism of Schönerer in his book, Mein Kampf expressed similar views. After becoming chancellor of Germany in January 1933, Hitler and his Nazi colleagues quickly learned that they needed to alter their antisemitic strategies when the nationwide boycott of Jewish businesses on April 1, 1933 did not gain popular support. Only in 1935, after Hitler had effectively consolidated power “by purging external and internal enemies, winning over the support of the Wehrmacht’s generals, and combining the office of the president and chancellor into a singular role of Führer, did he feel emboldened enough to enact sweeping anti-Jewish legislation.” (Flaws)
The Nuremberg Laws, enacted on September 15, 1935 at a party rally in Nuremberg, were pivotal in institutionalizing racial discrimination in Nazi Germany. These laws laid the groundwork for the systemic persecution of Jews and other minority groups, stripping them of citizenship and fundamental rights. The two primary statutes—the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor—codified Nazi racial ideology into law.
The Reich Citizenship Law
This law redefined the concept of German citizenship, distinguishing between "Reich citizens" and "nationals." According to Article 1:
"A subject of the state is one who belongs to the protective union of the German Reich, and who, therefore, has specific obligations to the Reich."
Article 2 further stipulated that only individuals of "German or related blood" could be Reich citizens, effectively excluding Jews from citizenship and relegating them to mere subjects without political rights
As a result, Jews … lost their rights to citizenship, which not only stripped them of the right to vote, but also made them stateless. This meant that they could not get a valid passport for travel between countries or acquire a visa to leave Germany.
The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor
This statute aimed to preserve the perceived purity of German blood by prohibiting relationships between Jews and non-Jewish Germans. Key provisions included
Article 1: "Marriages between Jews and subjects of the state of German or related blood are forbidden”
Article 2: "Extramarital intercourse between Jews and subjects of the state of German or related blood is forbidden."
Additionally, the law prohibited Jews from employing German females under 45 years of age in their households, aiming to prevent any intimate associations
If one had three or four Jewish grandparents, one was considered racially Jewish. One or two Jewish grandparents left one in an odd position of being classified as a Mischling, or “mixed-breed,” an issue that would later be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Only someone without any Jewish grandparents was categorized as being of German blood. In all, the Nuremberg Laws classified some 502,200 Germans as “full Jews,” 70,000 to 75,000 as first-degree Mischlinge (two Jewish grandparents), and 125,000 to 130,000 as second-degree Mischlinge (one Jewish grandparent).[6] Everyone else was presumed to be “Aryan.” (Childers 353)
This law aimed at preventing the crime of Rassenschande or Blutschande , an anti-miscegenation concept in Nazi German racial policy, pertaining to sexual relations between Aryans and non-Aryans. The Nazis were horrified by relationships between Jews and non-Jews. In July 1935, for example, Julius Wolff and his non-Jewish fiancé Christine Neumann were paraded through the streets of Norden by the SA. They were forced to carry signs saying "Ich bin ein Rassenschänder" ("I defile the race") and “I am a German girl and I allowed a Jew to defile me”. Christine was taken to a concentration camp and released after a month. Julius was locked up in the Esterwegen concentration camp. After his release, he fled to the United States.
The Nuremberg Laws changed the everyday lives of Jews in Germany by making Jews legally different from their non-Jewish neighbors. The restrictions guaranteed by the Reich Citizenship Law led to further marginalization with the enactment of hundreds of supplemental laws. These later laws relied on the definition of “Jew” as defined in the Nuremberg Laws. Jewish children were greatly impacted because of their contact with non-Jews, especially in school and extra-curricular activities. Oral testimonies reflect examples of bullying and harsh treatment by both students, teachers, and adults such as SA or Stormtroopers. Rudolph Herz, a child at the time, noticed the changeover from religious antisemitism to racial antisemitism. He remembered,
“one of the most frightening experiences I had as a child … [was] when young storm troopers marched up in front of our house and sang such songs as: ‘When the Jewish blood drips off the knives, then our lives will be twice as good.’ And knowing that I was Jewish, this … made a very grave impression.” (Herz)
The Nuremberg Laws were an important step in the Nazi regime’s process of isolating and excluding Jews from the rest of German society as evidenced in three subsequent laws:
On August 17, 1938, the Law on the Alteration of Family and Personal Names set new name requirements for Jews in Germany. This law states that Jews can only be given specific Jewish first names. New Jewish parents must choose a name from a government-approved list. Also, any Jew who does not already have a name from this list, must add an additional first name: “Israel” (for men) and “Sara” (for women). Individuals have to report their new names to government offices. They also have to use both their given and added first names for business transactions.
On October 5, 1938, the Decree on Passports of Jews invalidated the German passports of all German Jews. For their passports to become valid again, German Jews must submit them to a passport office so that they can be stamped with the letter “J.” The decree specifies that this applies to the passports of German Jews as defined by the Nuremberg Laws.
Beginning in September 1941, all Jews in Nazi Germany were required to wear a special yellow badge in public. The badge must be a palm-sized, yellow six-pointed star with black lines outlining the Star of David. The star must have the word “Jude” (German for “Jew”) written in the middle. It must be visible anytime a Jew appears in public. Specifically, Jews were required to sew this yellow star onto the left breast of their clothes. This order applies to all German Jews (as defined by the Nuremberg Laws) who are six years old and older. Germans categorized as Mischlinge did not have to wear the star
Additionally, the Nuremberg Laws paved the way for successive legal measures aimed at other target groups. Sinti and Roma were soon stripped of their rights as German citizens when they were deemed “alien to the Aryan species.” Because the Nuremberg Laws were clothed in “science” and aimed at protecting the “Aryan race” from defilement, legislation against disabled Germans soon followed. Conditions in hospitals and institutions deteriorated, treatment and care for anyone deemed disabled increasingly lapsed, and more dire measures taken to prevent disabled individuals from having children went into effect.7
Jewish communities within Germany and abroad reacted to the Nuremberg Laws with a combination of shock, adaptation, resistance, and efforts to escape persecution. Many German Jews, who had fought for Germany in World War I or had considered themselves integrated into German society, were stunned by the legal and social ramifications of the Nuremberg Laws. Despite growing antisemitism since Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, the codification of racial discrimination was a harsh confirmation of Nazi intentions. Jewish organizations sought legal recourse and appealed to international human rights advocates, but their efforts had little effect on Nazi policies. Faced with increasing restrictions, Jewish communities developed support networks to help those affected. The Reich Representation of German Jews, led by Leo Baeck, worked to provide aid, employment opportunities, and legal advice to Jews who were losing jobs and livelihoods. Jewish schools were established as Jewish children were expelled from public schools. Cultural and religious organizations strengthened communal ties and helped maintain morale. 8 The loss of rights and increasing hostility led many Jews to seek emigration. From 1933 to 1939, more than 250,000 Jews left Germany and Austria (which had been annexed in 1938). However, restrictive immigration policies in countries such as the United States, Britain, and Palestine made emigration difficult. Some families sold their properties at a loss to pay for visas, while others faced bureaucratic obstacles that delayed or prevented their departure. While large-scale resistance was difficult under Nazi oppression, some Jews actively resisted. Intellectuals, writers, and activists continued to publish anti-Nazi materials, often in exile. For those unable to leave, life under the Nuremberg Laws became increasingly unbearable. Many businesses were Aryanized (forcibly transferred to non-Jews), and Jews were progressively excluded from public life. The psychological toll was immense, as Jewish families faced uncertainty, economic destitution, and social isolation. Suicide rates among Jews increased as some saw no way out of their predicament.
The Nuremberg Laws were a turning point in the evolution of the Holocaust. Prior to September 1935, Jews faced discrimination, but legally remained protected as citizens of the German nation. Afterward, however, Jews were no longer citizens but remained subjects of the German government. Thus, while they were no longer guaranteed protections and rights granted to citizens by their governments, that same government controlled their very fate. Historically, this position of being “stateless subjects” without rights creates the preconditions to justify dehumanization, deportation, and genocide—a process that began in earnest with the passage of the Nuremberg Laws.9
