With Social Darwinist eugenic thinking expanding in the late 1800s, the concept of Jews as a separate race became an increasingly important proposition among antisemitic ideologues. Although the concept of race is only a social construct created to define “in-groups” and “out-groups,” constructs such as these still wield tremendous persuasive power. Georg Ritter von Schönerer, an Austrian politician active in the late 19th century, who helped inspire ultranationalist pan-Germanic movements of the era, firmly asserted that Jews were members of an “alien” race who could never be assimilated into Germany. Combining nationalist and racial ideologies, Schönerer produced widely read propaganda calling for ‘the elimination of Jewish influence in all fields of public life.” He was not alone in his beliefs.
Adolf Hitler shared the same racialized antisemitism of Schönerer and, in his book Mein Kampf expressed similar views. Hitler began pursuing antisemitic policies after becoming chancellor of Germany in January 1933; however, after the attempt at a nationwide boycott of Jewish businesses on April 1, 1933, failed to gain popular support, Hitler and his Nazi colleagues learned they would need to change their strategies. It was not until completing a series of power consolidating steps, including purging external and internal enemies, winning over support of the Wehrmacht’s generals, and combining the office of the president into the role of Führer, that he felt he was in a strong position to enact sweeping anti-Jewish legislation.
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 the law:
Article 1 stated, "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 a person had three or four Jewish grandparents, they were classified as racially Jewish. Having one or two Jewish grandparents left a person with the classification of Mischlinge, or “mixed-breed.” Issues with this classification would be resolved later on a case-by-case basis. If a person had any Jewish grandparents, they could not be classified as being German. Only those without any grandparents classified as Jewish could be categorized as German.
The Nuremberg Laws classified approximately 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). All others were presumed to be “Aryan,” the term the Nazis used to describe Germans as part of a race superior to all others.
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 Sturmabteilung (SA, also referred to as the “Brownshirts”). 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 codified 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. Holocaust survivor, 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.”
The Nuremberg Laws were a major 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 stated that Jews can only be given specific Jewish first names. New Jewish parents were required to choose a name from a government-approved list. Also, any Jew who did not already have a name from this list, were required to add an additional first name: “Israel” (for men) and “Sara” (for women). Individuals had to report their new names to government offices. They also had 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 had to submit them to a passport office so that they could be stamped with the letter “J.” The decree specified that this applied 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 was a palm-sized, yellow six-pointed star with black lines outlining the Star of David. The star was required to have the word Jude (German for “Jew”) written in the middle. It had to be visible anytime a Jew appeared in public. Specifically, Jews were required to sew this yellow star onto the left breast of their clothes. This order applied to all German Jews (as defined by the Nuremberg Laws) who were six years old and older. Germans categorized as Mischlinge did not have to wear the star.
The creation of the Nuremberg Laws was followed by additional legal measures which aimed at other target groups. In addition to the Jews, Sinti and Roma were soon stripped of their rights as German citizens when they were ruled to be “alien to the Aryan species.” Using a false interpretation of the Nuremberg Laws being based upon scientific facts designed to protect the purity of the “Aryan” race, legislation against Germans with disabilities soon followed. Conditions in hospitals and institutions soon deteriorated and the treatment and care for anyone designated as “disabled” increasingly lapsed. Severe measures designed to prevent individuals seen as having disabilities from having children were enacted.
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.
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 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 establishment of the Nuremberg Laws represents a significant turning point in the evolution of the Holocaust. Before September 1935, Jews faced discrimination but remained legally recognized and protected citizens of the German nation. After the enactment of the Nuremberg Laws, although subjects under the control of the German government, Jews were no longer citizens. Having lost the guarantee of any of the rights or protections of citizenship, the Jewish people were placed in the position of being stateless subjects, a precondition later used to justify deportation, dehumanization, and finally genocide.
