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Sources for Western Society: Printed Page 450

27-6 | Legislating Racial Purity
The Nuremberg Laws: The Centerpiece of Nazi Racial Legislation (1935)

Anti-Semitism was never a mere aspect of Hitler’s political ideology; it was central to his vision of a new Germany. In Hitler’s view, the achievement of Germany’s national potential, its historical destiny, depended on the exclusion of the Jews from German life. The Jews were responsible for all of Germany’s past miseries and, if left to their own devices, would do everything in their power to sabotage and undermine the construction of the glorious National Socialist future. The 1935 Nuremburg Laws, excerpted here, were the first formal steps toward Hitler’s goal of a “Jew-free” Germany.

Article 5

  1. A Jew is anyone who descended from at least three grandparents who were racially full Jews. Article 2, par. 2, second sentence will apply.
  2. A Jew is also one who descended from two full Jewish parents, if: (a) he belonged to the Jewish religious community at the time this law was issued, or who joined the community later; (b) he was married to a Jewish person, at the time the law was issued, or married one subsequently; (c) he is the offspring from a marriage with a Jew, in the sense of Section 1, which was contracted after the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor became effective. . . . (d) he is the offspring of an extramarital relationship, with a Jew, according to Section 1, and will be born out of wedlock after July 31, 1936. . . .

Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor of 15 September 1935

Thoroughly convinced by the knowledge that the purity of German blood is essential for the further existence of the German people and animated by the inflexible will to safe-guard the German nation for the entire future, the Reichstag1 has resolved upon the following law unanimously, which is promulgated herewith:

Section 1

  1. Marriages between Jews and nationals of German or kindred blood are forbidden. Marriages concluded in defiance of this law are void, even if, for the purpose of evading this law, they are concluded abroad. . . .

Section 2

Relation[s] outside marriage between Jews and nationals of German or kindred blood are forbidden.

Section 3

Jews will not be permitted to employ female nationals of German or kindred blood in their household.

Section 4

  1. Jews are forbidden to hoist the Reich and national flag and to present the colors of the Reich. . . .

Section 5

  1. A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of section 1 will be punished with hard labor.
  2. A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of section 2 will be punished with imprisonment or with hard labor.
  3. A person who acts contrary to the provisions of sections 3 or 4 will be punished with imprisonment up to a year and with a fine or with one of these penalties.

From U.S. Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946), vol. 4, doc. no. 1417-PS, pp. 8-10; vol. 4, doc. no. 2000-PS, pp. 636-638.

READING QUESTIONS

  1. Question

    According to the law, what made someone a Jew? Why is it important to the Nazis to establish a legal definition of Jewish status?

  2. Question

    What do the laws tell you about the importance of biological “purity” in Nazi ideology?

  3. Question

    Why might Jews have been forbidden to raise the national and Reich flags? What does this provision of the law suggest about the Nazi vision of the relationship of German Jews to the German nation as a whole?