By 1935, Nazis had effectively excluded the Jews from German society. Assess the validity of this view.
A common historical debate surrounding Nazi Germany is the progression of violence and isolation faced
by the Jews in Germany. Trying to identify landmark changes or key events that accelerated Jewish
persecution. From 1933-35 the Jews felt the effects of more than 400 decrees and regulations that
restricted all aspects of their public and private lives. Some historians suggest that the alienation of the
Jews had already taken place by 1935, while others counter that legal, economic and educational exclusion
had not gone as far by then- and that full alienation only began after the war began in 1939. In this essay I
will debate both sides and conclude that while the Jews were alienated from German society by 1935,
complete exclusion did not take place till later, with the introduction of ghettoization and the increase of
violent de-humanising policies.
One tool that the Nazis used to exclude the Jews from society was through the legal means. The Nazis used
laws to legitimise a state-initiated crime. Hitler had to use legality to keep appearances at home and
abroad during the consolidation period. These laws concentrated on ridding Germany of the ‘Jewry’,
promoting social Darwinism and using eugenic theory to allow for the Nazi mandate to provide lebensraum
for the volksgemeinschaft. Laws such as the civil service laws in 1933, e.g. Law for the Restoration of the
Civil Service in April-Berufsverbot, which dismissed all Jews from the civil service. This had a large economic
and psychological impact on middle-class Jews with over 37,000 emigrating in 1933. This illustrates how
Jews were excluded from German society as their livelihoods were stripped leading to increased
emigration. The exclusion of Jews from the workplace by using legal means is evidenced throughout Hitlers
first year as chancellor. Laws to exclude Jews from professional jobs, as the 1933 ban on Jewish doctors
treating non-Jewish patients came into force. This meant that many Jews lost their ability to stay afloat in
German society, which in turn ostracized them from being active in society. This carried on throughout
Hitlers consolidation of power, with his attempt to achieve Gleichaltung aiding the alienation of the Jews.
Legal discrimination to exclude the Jews from society accumulated in the 1935 Nuremburg laws.
Announced at a party rally in September- to ‘deal with once and for all Jewish-bolshevism’, the various
laws further incited tensions between the Jews and ‘herenvolk’; The Reich Citizenship Law- classifying Jews
as subjects not citizens, The Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour- outlawing marriage to
non-Aryans, and the First Supplementary Decree- describing who ‘classified’ as a full-Jew. Each law de-
humanised the Jews, giving them fewer rights then ‘Germans’ but still obligating them to the state e.g. tax.
This meant that Jews were no longer seen as German citizens, and that the Nazis had succeeded in
segregating them from the rest of the country, as by 1935 as a result of laws implemented Jews had lost all
ability to continue actively in society. With the loss of citizenship, civil and political rights Jews were
effectively excluded from the state.
However, there were limitations to the impact that each law had. For example the Law for the restoration
of a professional civil service saw Hindenburg make exemptions for Jews who had served during WWI.
Therefore this aspect was not as successful at separating the Jews from society as Hitler had hoped.
Another way in which the Nazis managed to alienate the Jews is economically and socially. This eliminated
Jewish people’s ability to stay afloat financially and participate socially. Government agencies at all levels
aimed to exclude Jews from the economic sphere of Germany by preventing them from earning a living.
Jews were required to register their domestic and foreign assets, a prelude to the expropriation of their
material wealth by the Nazis. Similarly, German authorities intended to “Aryanize” all Jewish-owned
businesses, a process that involved the dismissal of Jewish workers as well as the transfer of companies to
non-Jewish Germans, who bought them at prices fixed below market value. By the spring of 1939, the
Nazis had succeeded in transferring most Jewish-owned businesses in Germany into “Aryan” hands.
Economic exclusion came not just in the form of Nazi laws, but also through the boycotting of Jewish
shops, which took place in April 1933. This was enforced by the SA, who set up picket lines outside Jewish
owned business. This attacked all types of jobs; lawyers, doctors and other professionals. This was
accompanied by mass propaganda efforts by Goebbels to ensure that psychologically the Jews felt isolated
A common historical debate surrounding Nazi Germany is the progression of violence and isolation faced
by the Jews in Germany. Trying to identify landmark changes or key events that accelerated Jewish
persecution. From 1933-35 the Jews felt the effects of more than 400 decrees and regulations that
restricted all aspects of their public and private lives. Some historians suggest that the alienation of the
Jews had already taken place by 1935, while others counter that legal, economic and educational exclusion
had not gone as far by then- and that full alienation only began after the war began in 1939. In this essay I
will debate both sides and conclude that while the Jews were alienated from German society by 1935,
complete exclusion did not take place till later, with the introduction of ghettoization and the increase of
violent de-humanising policies.
One tool that the Nazis used to exclude the Jews from society was through the legal means. The Nazis used
laws to legitimise a state-initiated crime. Hitler had to use legality to keep appearances at home and
abroad during the consolidation period. These laws concentrated on ridding Germany of the ‘Jewry’,
promoting social Darwinism and using eugenic theory to allow for the Nazi mandate to provide lebensraum
for the volksgemeinschaft. Laws such as the civil service laws in 1933, e.g. Law for the Restoration of the
Civil Service in April-Berufsverbot, which dismissed all Jews from the civil service. This had a large economic
and psychological impact on middle-class Jews with over 37,000 emigrating in 1933. This illustrates how
Jews were excluded from German society as their livelihoods were stripped leading to increased
emigration. The exclusion of Jews from the workplace by using legal means is evidenced throughout Hitlers
first year as chancellor. Laws to exclude Jews from professional jobs, as the 1933 ban on Jewish doctors
treating non-Jewish patients came into force. This meant that many Jews lost their ability to stay afloat in
German society, which in turn ostracized them from being active in society. This carried on throughout
Hitlers consolidation of power, with his attempt to achieve Gleichaltung aiding the alienation of the Jews.
Legal discrimination to exclude the Jews from society accumulated in the 1935 Nuremburg laws.
Announced at a party rally in September- to ‘deal with once and for all Jewish-bolshevism’, the various
laws further incited tensions between the Jews and ‘herenvolk’; The Reich Citizenship Law- classifying Jews
as subjects not citizens, The Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour- outlawing marriage to
non-Aryans, and the First Supplementary Decree- describing who ‘classified’ as a full-Jew. Each law de-
humanised the Jews, giving them fewer rights then ‘Germans’ but still obligating them to the state e.g. tax.
This meant that Jews were no longer seen as German citizens, and that the Nazis had succeeded in
segregating them from the rest of the country, as by 1935 as a result of laws implemented Jews had lost all
ability to continue actively in society. With the loss of citizenship, civil and political rights Jews were
effectively excluded from the state.
However, there were limitations to the impact that each law had. For example the Law for the restoration
of a professional civil service saw Hindenburg make exemptions for Jews who had served during WWI.
Therefore this aspect was not as successful at separating the Jews from society as Hitler had hoped.
Another way in which the Nazis managed to alienate the Jews is economically and socially. This eliminated
Jewish people’s ability to stay afloat financially and participate socially. Government agencies at all levels
aimed to exclude Jews from the economic sphere of Germany by preventing them from earning a living.
Jews were required to register their domestic and foreign assets, a prelude to the expropriation of their
material wealth by the Nazis. Similarly, German authorities intended to “Aryanize” all Jewish-owned
businesses, a process that involved the dismissal of Jewish workers as well as the transfer of companies to
non-Jewish Germans, who bought them at prices fixed below market value. By the spring of 1939, the
Nazis had succeeded in transferring most Jewish-owned businesses in Germany into “Aryan” hands.
Economic exclusion came not just in the form of Nazi laws, but also through the boycotting of Jewish
shops, which took place in April 1933. This was enforced by the SA, who set up picket lines outside Jewish
owned business. This attacked all types of jobs; lawyers, doctors and other professionals. This was
accompanied by mass propaganda efforts by Goebbels to ensure that psychologically the Jews felt isolated
