Question

Describe the German persecution of the Jews leading up to the Holocaust.

Answer 1

Answer:

The Jews enjoyed all rights of citizenship in Germany before the Nazis took over power. This led to the German government excluding the Jews from public life and public education. By 1938,  the discrimination became so strong that German authorities had to isolate and segregate German Jews, leading to removing them from professional institutions  and eliminating most opportunities for the Jews to earn a living.

The German government had enacted a lot of laws and regulations that defined the lives of the German Jews, separated and impoverished them. All these happened between 1933 to 1939.

The aim of Nazi government or propaganda was majorly  to demonize Jews and to also  encourage Germans to see Jews as dangerous people in their midst. After 1935, a public display of antisemitism created  an atmosphere of great hostility toward Jews in Germany. In March 1938, the German troops had moved into Austria. The Germans merged Adolf Hitler’s homeland with Germany. This  was a total disaster for Austrian Jews. Because within a year, the Nazis achieved in Austria what had taken five years to carry out in Germany.

On November 9th, the Nazi Party organised  an anti-Jewish violence throughout Greater Germany. This  attack was lawless  and this outraged the world and brought about criticism of the regime by many Germans. At this time, Jewish businesses had already suffered antisemitic attacks were targeted for deliberate vandalism disguised as spontaneous public action. Party officials directed the SA, SS and Hitler Youth to destroy Jewish shops and torch synagogues. The nationwide violence damaged or destroyed more than 250 synagogues. The German police filled the concentration camps with thousands of Jewish inmates. This events led to the Holocaust killing over six million Jews.