The answer is the first one.
In "Writers often disavow the notion of a 'literary duty'" the author conveys a somewhat condescending attitude, as if they would always follow this and set aside anyone who said otherwise. This attitude says the author is looking down on them, and that the author believes that many authors do not meet their standards.
Another answer I would consider is "...writers ruined by their shrill commitments." However, there is no context or clear tone. The author could be mournful of the lost potential for all we know.
Starting in 1937, new segregation laws were put in place in Nazi Germany to separate Jews from the 'Aryan' German population.
- Under Nazi rule, Jews in general were not allowed to become doctors and would be rejected by Aryan doctors when they needed medical attention.
- Jewish children were banned from regular schools.
- Jewish businesses were forced to collapse due to excessive financial pressure, a ban from signing work contracts for the German government, and the destruction of their storefronts and offices.
- Synagogues were set on fire.
- Jews were sent to the 4 remaining concentration camps (Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald, and Lichtenburg) where they lived in inhumane conditions and often met their deaths.
