VICTIMS OF THE HOLOCAUST

In Nazi ideological terms, Jews were more than simply Untermensch (inferior people) – they were a global threat that, if not eradicated, would eliminate the ‘Aryan master race’ that Hitler was so desperate to promote in Germany. It was a belief that sat at the heart of Nazi thinking and, within weeks of its gaining power in 1933, the Nazi Party was making good on its pledge of 1920 to segregate Jews from ‘Aryan’ society and remove their political, legal, and civil rights.

Between 1933 and 1939, more than 400 laws and decrees designed to segregate Jews were passed, with anti-Jewish legislation touching all parts of daily life. By early 1934, Jewish participation in the medical and legal professions had been severely curtailed; civil servants had been dismissed; the licences of Jewish tax consultants had been revoked; Jewish actors could no longer perform on stage or screen… the list went on and on. At a local government level, too, further restrictions were introduced, many of which impacted life at home – including, in Saxony, the ban on slaughtering animals according to Jewish ritual and dietary laws.

“LEGALLY STATELESS, JEWS WERE SUBJECTED TO A