How did the Nazi's dominate the Jewish people? (Minority Group)

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You are to investigate how a dominant society, of your choice, imposes its control on a minority group. Your investigation should focus on the political, economic, social and legal aspects. The investigation is to be presented in essay form and should be of about 750 words in length.

It all started during the 1930’s to around the 1940’s where Germany was under the rule of the Nazi party, and this was also when Germany’s views on non-Aryan Germans radically distorted and rational actions were performed. When you hear the name Adolf Hitler, you know for a fact, things aren’t going to be pretty. Germany being led by him soon led to the Germans trying to eliminate the minority groups out of their country, if you did not have blonde hair and blue eyes you were in trouble. These minority groups consisted of: homosexuals, gypsies, Jews and many more. The Jews were the one group that went through the worst ordeal.

No one can honestly say they knew why Adolf Hitler was so against the Jewish people. But there are theories or conspiracies on why he was so hostile towards them. The most believed one would be the “Stab in the Back Theory” this was mainly about how the Jews caused Germany to lose World War One; well this was what Hitler believed. Then there was another theory that Hitler wanted a pure Ayran race, which meant pure Germany people and this was called “The Master Race”, based on Darwinism. And the last theory believed that Hitler has a niece that he loved very dearly and she chose to go out with a Jew over him.

The law side of things came into action when Germany changed many of their laws to literally secure the fact that the Jews had to disappear. There were several laws that were put into place such as;-Jews were forbidden to join the army-Prohibited marriages between Jews and non-JewsGermany did not want mixed families and thought the Jews were below them, they did not want to be entwined with them in anyway.

-Removed rights of Jews as Germans, could not voteThis was the most serious law change as it stopped the Jews from voting and having a say.

-Were banned from professional jobsJobs as doctors or government were not allowed, as this was a threat to the Germans to have Jews smarter than them.

-Had to use a new name in their signatures ie. Sarah for the woman and Israel for the men-Passports had a large letter “J” stamped on them-Jewish people had to wear a yellow star (Star of David) on their armsThe two laws above were made so that others were well aware with who was Jewish and who wasn’t.

-being packed into Jewish GhettosThis was introduced in 1939-1940 it was when things hit an all time peak, with Jews being made to move out of their homes and packed in together into dense areas. From here on out you knew that this was only going to get worse as the Jews were practically prisoners in their own country.

For Hitler’s plan to go through, the elimination of the minority groups in Germany, he had to take social actions. This involved Anti-Jewish posters and signs on the streets, in restaurants and just in the general public. The Jews were portrayed as cheap people, with black curly hair, big noses, the Star of David and hats. They were also seen as “rats” by the German people, Jews were sub human and in Hitler’s eyes “the lowest”. All these stereotypes were the doing of Hitler to make his people believe him and his theories. A social dilemma was the fact that people should not engage in sexual relations with a Jew or marriage if you were non Jewish, so a rule was set out by the government, banning this. The Ghetto’s were made sure to be separated from the public, condensed supply of food and clothing was carried out, and living in such a confined space led to many diseases being spread. This also helped the German’s theories that the Jews were full of diseases, although it would have been quiet hard to free yourself of such things when the living standards were so low.

For the Germans to have a minority group free country they used political, social, law aspects and now, economic measures. This obliviously resulted in the Jew’s lifestyle and living being effected and this is what the Germans wanted. Many of them saw the Jews as a major threat, although they most probably would not admit it. Jews came across as cheap but they were rich and well off, more so then most of the German people. This aggregated many as Jews had come to Germany with nothing and had managed to obtain more money than the German’s had them selves. This is when the law to prohibit Jews from professional jobs such as, doctors, lawyers, and teachers and so on. In 1936 to 1939 every business that was Jewish in Germany was sold to an Aryan company or shut down for good. A major incident that was associated with the Economic side of things was the Kristallnacht or Night of Broken Glass. The Night of Broken Glass was numerous attacks on Jewish property for instance, homes, shops and synagogues. This was all done by the Government who then were acting as they were normal Germans; this led to approximately 200 deaths and enormous sum of damages.

On the whole, Germans used social strengths such as propaganda, placing rules that socializing with Jewish people was a crime and moving the Jews into the ghettos. The economical strengths that were used to get rid of the Jews in Germany were making sure the Jewish did not have professional jobs and making more money than the Germans. All these rules/laws etc were carried out by Hitler and his people. Without these strengths and the power he had over his people, it was unlikely that Hitler would have been able to make Germany what he planned to be, an anti minority country.

www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Jews_Nazi_Germany.htm