90: Nuremberg Laws

90 years ago today (September 15, 1935) the Nazis introduced the Nuremberg Laws.

It had two parts:

The First Part: The Reich Citizenship Law

The Reich Citizenship Law declared that only those of German or related blood were eligible to be Reich Citizens; the remainder were classed as State Subjects, without Citizenship Rights.

The wording in the Citizenship Law that a Person must prove "by his conduct that he is willing and fit to faithfully serve the German People and Reich" meant that Political Opponents could also be stripped of their German Citizenship.

Jews went from being German Citizens to German State Subjects (with little to no Government Protections) overnight.

The Roma and Sinti and Black-Germans were later added as State Subjects.

The Second Part: The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor

The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor prohibited Marriages and Extramarital Intercourse between Jews and Germans, forbade the Employment of German Females under 45 in Jewish households, forbade Jews from flying the Reich’s National Flag, etc.

Punishments: Any Person violating the “Protections” was sent to a Concentration Camp.

(A Nazi German Poster to show who was and who was not a Jew after the Nurenberg Laws were introduced.)

Classifications Under The Laws:

Deutschblütiger (German-Blooded: German only =  Belongs to the German race and nation; approved to have Reich Citizenship

Deutschblütiger (German-Blooded): 1⁄8 Jewish = Considered as belonging to the German race and nation; approved to have Reich Citizenship

Mischling zweiten Grades (Mixed Race - Second Degree): 1⁄4 Jewish = Only partly belongs to the German race and nation; approved to have Reich Citizenship

Mischling ersten Grades (Mixed Race - First Degree): 3⁄8 or 1⁄2 Jewish  Only -  partly belongs to the German race and nation; approved to have Reich Citizenship

Jude (Jew): 3⁄4 Jewish = Belongs to the Jewish Race and Community; not approved to have Reich Citizenship

Jude (Jew): 100% Jewish = Belongs to the Jewish Race and Community; not approved to have Reich Citizenship

Special Cases with First-Degree Mischlinge:

A Mischling will be considered a Jew if they are a Member of the Jewish Religious Community.

A Mischling will be considered a Jew if they are married to a Jew. Their Children will be considered Jews.

A Mixed-Race Child that is born of a marriage with a Jew, where the marriage date is after September 17, 1935, will be classified as a Jew. Those born in marriages officiated on or before September 17, 1935 will still be classified as Mischlinge (created on September 17, 1935.)

A Mixed-Race Child originating from forbidden Extramarital Sexual Intercourse with a Jew that is born out of wedlock after July 31,1936 will be classified as a Jew (created July 31, 1936.)

A German Blood Certificate (German: Deutschblütigkeitserklärung) was a Document provided by Nazi Leader Adolf Hitler to Mischlinge (those with partial Jewish Heritage), declaring them deutschblütig (of German Blood). This practice was begun sometime after the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, and allowed exemption from most of Germany's Racial Laws.

Honorary Aryan (German: Ehrenarier) Status was also given to certain Jewish Germans as well as to the Japanese People.

Note: There were an estimated 200,000 Mischlinge in Nazi Germany.

 

Impact of the Nuremberg Laws:

In Nazi Germany, the Aryan Certificate or Aryan Passport (German: Ariernachweis) was a Document which certified that a Person was a member of the Aryan Race.

Every single Aryan German needed to get and carry their Aryan Document along with their Mandatory German Identity Card (Kennkarte) at all times.

Beginning in April 1933, it was required from all Employees and Officials in the Public Sector, including Education, according to the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service.

It was also a primary requirement to become a Reich Citizen for those who were of German or related blood (Aryan) and wanted to become Reich Citizens after the Nuremberg Laws were passed in 1935.

 

There were two main types:

Kleiner Ariernachweis (Lesser Aryan Certificate) was one of:

Seven Birth or Baptism Certificates (or a combination of both) (the Person, his Parents and Grandparents) and three Marriage Certificates (Parents and Prandparents) or certified proofs thereof:

Ahnenpaß (Ancestor's Passport)

Ahnentafel, (Certified Genealogy Table)

Großer Ariernachweis (Greater Aryan Certificate) was required for compliance with the requirements of the Reichserbhofgesetz (Land Heritage Law) and Membership in the Nazi Party. This Certificate had to trace the Family Pedigree back to 1800 (to 1750 for SS Officers).

 

The Nuremberg Laws in Other Countries:

In 1938, Fascist Italy passed the Italian Racial Laws (Italian: Leggi Razziali) and Manifesto of Race (Italian: Manifesto della razza) which stripped Jews of their Citizenship and forbade Sexual Relations and Marriages between Jewish and non-Jewish Italians.

Hungary passed laws on May 28, 1938 and May 5, 1939 banning Jews from various professions. A third law, added in August 1941, defined Jews as anyone with at least two Jewish Grandparents, and forbade Sexual Relations or Marriages between Jews and non-Jews.

In 1940 the ruling Iron Guard in Romania passed the Law Defining the Legal Status of Romanian Jews.

In 1941 the Codex Judaicus (Jewish Code) was enacted in Slovakia comprising of 270 Articles comprehensively denying rights to Slovak Jews. The Code was longer than the Slovak Constitution. It required that Jews wear the Yellow Star, annulled all debts owed to Jews, confiscated Jewish property, and expelled Jews from Bratislava, the Slovak Capital.

In 1941 Bulgaria passed the Law for Protection of the Nation (Bulgarian: Закон за защита на нацията)

In 1941, the Ustaše in Croatia passed Legislation defining who was a Jew and restricting contact with them.

While the Empire of Japan did not draft or pass any legislation, they implemented policies targeting Jews in some Occupied Countries, like Iin the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and British Singapore.

In October 1940 Vichy France made the Law on the Status of Jews (French: Loi portant statut des Juifs) and in June 1941 made an even stricter 2^nd Law on the Status of Jews (second statut des Juifs.)