September 15, 1935—Perhaps the fateful step toward the destruction of Europe’s Jews in the Second World War began because of an accident of political timing: a cancellation of a major event that left a void in the news. But typical of Adolf Hitler, he seized the moment for his own ends, announcing the Nuremberg Race Laws on the last day of the annual rally of the Nazi Party faithful.
Some—perhaps many—might dispute the importance I’ve assigned to this event in the context of the Holocaust. If you’re going to talk about importance, what about the Wannsee Conference of 1942, when the Nazis began to systematically organize the vast apparatus of the death camps? Or what about December 7, 1941, which saw the passage of the ominously titled “Night and Fog Decree,” in which Hitler broke free from international treaties and conventions in the treatment of prisoners?
But all the necessary groundwork for these terrible events, I would argue, had been prepared in 1936, when, with a stroke of the pen, Hitler:
* deprived German Jews of their rights as citizens;
* empowered the most radical anti-Semites in his party by codifying their demands;
* sowed the seeds for his later massive and unthinkable crimes with an early public use of the term “Final Solution” (of the so-called “Jewish Question,” that is);
* gave scientifically justified racism the force of law; and
* gave momentum to bureaucrats who would, for now, be confined simply to isolating Jews, but later would provide the fig leaf of the law to the mass murder of vulnerable minorities.
But first, a little background on what was expected to happen—then what did.
From the early 1920s until 1938, the Nazi Party held massive rallies each September in Nuremberg. Meant to demonstrate the party faithful’s absolute bond with The Fuehrer, they had evolved into multiple-day events.
Originally, Hitler had been expected to address the Reichstag on this last day of the rally concerning the League of Nations and Fascist Italy. Not long before the speech, however, he was persuaded to cancel the event.
Casting around for something to do to fill the vacuum, Hitler hit on a remedy: fan the fires of anti-Semitism that he had done so much to create in the beginning. That summer, Jews had come under even greater pressure in Nazi Germany than before, facing boycotts and even threats against their safety in public swimming pools.
Two years into the Third Reich, a struggle still existed between, for want of a better term, “moderate” and “radical” anti-Semites. I’m not sure “moderate” is the right word to be used about such an ugly tendency, but at least those espousing this view didn’t mind if Hitler dragged his heels on moving against the Jews. International reactions had to be considered, they contended, and how could the government even function if many of its best civil servants were forced out overnight?
Hitler gave irresistible support to the radicals, as he announced that henceforth Jews:
* Were no longer considered “citizens” of the Reich but “subjects”;
* Not only could no longer marry Germans but also could not have sex with Christians; and they
* Could not even hire young Aryan women to help manage the house.
Some—perhaps many—might dispute the importance I’ve assigned to this event in the context of the Holocaust. If you’re going to talk about importance, what about the Wannsee Conference of 1942, when the Nazis began to systematically organize the vast apparatus of the death camps? Or what about December 7, 1941, which saw the passage of the ominously titled “Night and Fog Decree,” in which Hitler broke free from international treaties and conventions in the treatment of prisoners?
But all the necessary groundwork for these terrible events, I would argue, had been prepared in 1936, when, with a stroke of the pen, Hitler:
* deprived German Jews of their rights as citizens;
* empowered the most radical anti-Semites in his party by codifying their demands;
* sowed the seeds for his later massive and unthinkable crimes with an early public use of the term “Final Solution” (of the so-called “Jewish Question,” that is);
* gave scientifically justified racism the force of law; and
* gave momentum to bureaucrats who would, for now, be confined simply to isolating Jews, but later would provide the fig leaf of the law to the mass murder of vulnerable minorities.
But first, a little background on what was expected to happen—then what did.
From the early 1920s until 1938, the Nazi Party held massive rallies each September in Nuremberg. Meant to demonstrate the party faithful’s absolute bond with The Fuehrer, they had evolved into multiple-day events.
Originally, Hitler had been expected to address the Reichstag on this last day of the rally concerning the League of Nations and Fascist Italy. Not long before the speech, however, he was persuaded to cancel the event.
Casting around for something to do to fill the vacuum, Hitler hit on a remedy: fan the fires of anti-Semitism that he had done so much to create in the beginning. That summer, Jews had come under even greater pressure in Nazi Germany than before, facing boycotts and even threats against their safety in public swimming pools.
Two years into the Third Reich, a struggle still existed between, for want of a better term, “moderate” and “radical” anti-Semites. I’m not sure “moderate” is the right word to be used about such an ugly tendency, but at least those espousing this view didn’t mind if Hitler dragged his heels on moving against the Jews. International reactions had to be considered, they contended, and how could the government even function if many of its best civil servants were forced out overnight?
Hitler gave irresistible support to the radicals, as he announced that henceforth Jews:
* Were no longer considered “citizens” of the Reich but “subjects”;
* Not only could no longer marry Germans but also could not have sex with Christians; and they
* Could not even hire young Aryan women to help manage the house.
But there was one problem with this enabling legislation (not surprising, considering that it had been drafted so quickly that its framers used the back of a hotel food menu, after midnight, to come up with the law): Jewishness was not defined. That meant that it was up to civil servants—party legal experts who, somehow or other, found the means to circumvent the law—to come up with suitable criteria for the term.
They settled on using as the legal basis for the determination an individual’s grandparents. Thus, three Jewish grandparents constituted a “full Jew”, while those with fewer were defined as Mischlinge (Germans of mixed race). If that was still not easy enough to figure out, the Nazis created elaborate instructional charts.
After these racial edicts, Hitler turned his attention to re-establishing Germany’s military might and saber-rattling to see incur retaliation from the victors of WWI. But he had provided a clear warning signal to Germany’s Jews that their status within the nation was being systematically undermined.
Moreover, in a short speech that night, he sounded an ominous note with a phrase that would resound years later: what he had tried to do, he said, was to "achieve the legislative regulation of a problem which, if it breaks down again, will then have to be transferred by law to the National Socialist Party for final solution."
When Hitler finally devoted greater attention to the “Final Solution” after 1941, the bureaucratic and legal infrastructure for deciding that Europe’s Jews possessed “life not worthy of life” was in place. That infrastructure began to be built, in a serious way, starting with the Nuremberg Laws.
They settled on using as the legal basis for the determination an individual’s grandparents. Thus, three Jewish grandparents constituted a “full Jew”, while those with fewer were defined as Mischlinge (Germans of mixed race). If that was still not easy enough to figure out, the Nazis created elaborate instructional charts.
After these racial edicts, Hitler turned his attention to re-establishing Germany’s military might and saber-rattling to see incur retaliation from the victors of WWI. But he had provided a clear warning signal to Germany’s Jews that their status within the nation was being systematically undermined.
Moreover, in a short speech that night, he sounded an ominous note with a phrase that would resound years later: what he had tried to do, he said, was to "achieve the legislative regulation of a problem which, if it breaks down again, will then have to be transferred by law to the National Socialist Party for final solution."
When Hitler finally devoted greater attention to the “Final Solution” after 1941, the bureaucratic and legal infrastructure for deciding that Europe’s Jews possessed “life not worthy of life” was in place. That infrastructure began to be built, in a serious way, starting with the Nuremberg Laws.
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