A

B

How did the Nazis persecute the Jews?

communists, gypsies, homosexuals, disabled people , the mentally ill, It is important to remember, before we start, that it was not only Jewish people that the Nazis persecuted – communists, gypsies, homosexuals, disabled people , the mentally ill, amongst others, were also discriminated against and the Nazis tried to, eventually, systematically have them murdered.

Adolf Hitler had gained power and by 1934 he was declared as the Fȕhrur of Germany. Even before this he had begun to talk openly about anti-Jewish ideas. Hitler had read about how Black people had been denied civil rights in parts of South America. At first, Hitler wanted to make life so unpleasant for Jews in Germany that they would choose to leave Germany. The Nazi’s began to openly persecute the Jews on the 1st April, 1933, when a one-day boycott (which means to deliberately not do something in the hope it will stop) of Jewish-owned shops took place. Members of the SA (Hitler’s private army) stood outside Jewish shops to make sure that the boycott was successful.

After 1933… The persecution of Jews happened in 3 ‘waves’ – in each wave the discrimination against the Jews became worse and worse. The first wave of persecution in April 1933: the boycott of Jewish shops and goods , the first anti-Semitic laws, The second wave started in 1935: violence against Jews, the Nuremberg Laws, which removed citizenship from Jews and banned them from a lot of public things The third and final wave began in 1938: More violence against Jews, which ended in Kristallnacht, After the Nuremberg Laws, 1935, Jews were no longer classed as citizens - thousands of Jews were sent to ghettos and concentration camps.

Persecution by law Task 1: In pairs/small groups - put the laws into chronological order. (earliest to the latest) Discuss: What do you notice happening over the years? On your desk there are 18 laws, which were passed in Nazi Germany. Subtitle: Persecution by law

Task 2: Put the laws into three different groups. You choose the groups – but you have to explain why you chose them. Discuss: What are your groups? Why did you pick them? Why do certain laws fit into different groups? Group 1: Group 2: Group 3:

“The law I feel is the most horrible and severe is…” Task 3: Put the laws in order of, in your opinion, the least to the most horrible and severe. Discuss: Why have you picked the law you have as most severe? What makes it that? Write in your book: “The law I feel is the most horrible and severe is…”

Pick one law that would: Be annoying and inconvenient Task 4, on your own: Put yourself in the shoes of a Jewish teenager living in Germany at the time of the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. Pick one law that would: Be annoying and inconvenient Make you feel depressed Make you feel scared Write the 3 laws you have picked in your book by finishing these sentences: - “The law I would find annoying is…” - “The law that would make me feel depressed is…” - “The law that would make me feel scared is…” For the law that would make you feel scared, say WHY.

Create a timeline of Jewish Persecution. 1933- 39