Germany was starting to get bad press all over the world because of the way it was treating the Jews. The Germans, in their way of thinking, said: "It's all because of the Jewish lobby, overseas."
So they thought: " We're going to hit them where it hurts - to quiet them down. We're going to hit them in their pocketbook." They declared a boycott against all Jewish businesses.
They placed their S.A.'s, their bully-boy storm troopers, in front of the Jewish businesses all over Germany for a one-day boycott. If anyone tried to go in to a Jewish business or store, he was subject to a beating or re-education in a camp.
Hitler took the sludge off the streets and gave them a stick and a salute and a brown shirt and a badge. That was the S.A. In his country of 65 million people, he had over 400,000 of these people.
They had a song, called "Horst Wessel." One of the verses went: "When Jewish blood spurts from the knife, things will go well again." Russia used the same techniques during the Communist revolution. The Communists were successful in part because they mobilized the street forces. In Germany, it was the Right Wing. That was a key to Hitler's original success.
Finally, in 1935, anti-Semitism became legal. It became the state law. The Nuremberg Laws went into effect. There were many of them, but two main ones were:
The pure-blood law, that no Germans could marry those of non-German
blood. There were no intimate relations allowed, specifically no marriage
allowed with Jews. Offenders were humiliated.
The revoking of citizenship from any non-Germans. That meant that
if someone went into a Jewish business and walked out with some goods, or
someone went into a Jewish house and took away their stove, there was no recourse
in courts.
Case in point: A Jew had been working for a German for years, doing a good job as a manager. The German got on the bandwagon of the Nazis and wanted to fire this Jew, but the Jew had a contract, and was doing a good job. So the case went to court. The result:
The court invoked a clause in the Jew's contract which said that the contract would be terminated if the man became incapacitated due to illness. The court ruled that his racial characteristics of being a Jew were considered the same as illness and therefore his contract was not valid.
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The Holocaust happened one or two generations ago -what about today?
Writing from Germany, the place where the Nazis began the plan to humiliate and kill the Jewish people, I can hardly believe what happened. I asked older relatives about the Hitler time of Germany and went to see the sites where the slaughters happened. It is unbelievable but historical fact that about 6 million European Jewish people had to die for this insane ideas of a few top leaders of the Nazi government. How could it happen without the outcry of the rest of the population? Many looked away, bowed their heads to a powerful and intriguing government. Only few like Oskar Schindler managed to support and protect Jewish people successfully. In the Wannseekonferenz, a meeting in January 1942, 15 top leaders of SS and Nazi government planned the "final solution" to kill the remaining 11 million Jews of Europe. Before that date it was possible for about half a million to escape by immigration to other countries. But from late 1941, this was becomng impossible.
After the Holocaust, a defeated and humbled German population tried to recompensate their guilt for the heinous crimes which happened to the Jewish people by payments. But the murdering could not be undone.
Until this day, there has been much education on what happened. But to be frank, payments and favourable contracts cannot be the only way to ask for forgiveness. The grieve for what happened one or two generations ago must be expressed by personal and national penance and repentance.
As a German who did not witness what happened because being born well after WWII, there is grief and deep sorrow towards this darkest chapter of European history. It is may personal aim to help what I can help to come to restoring the terribly broken relationship between Jewish and German people. What happened was terrible.
But what happens today? Daily murders on the streets of Jerusalem and all over Israel - even in far away countries Jewish people are shot, humiliated and hated. The media of Arab countries reminds of the Nazi propaganda. And here in Europe, the picture what happens in Israel is distorted and twisted in favour of the Arabs and Arafat. Many people turn their eyes away from what happens - like sixty years ago.
There must be a change - the Holocaust shall not be repeated. It is my hope that real peace will be established between members of the Jewish people and of other nations. I am aware that there are only a few who actively pursue this peace, but they should be encouraged as their number grows.
(48) Connee, 26/3/2007
It's hard to believe these things have happened
It's just so shocking that people were treated this way for being jewish. I cry over things that have happened to them. I also read the diary of anne frank. It was very suprising to see the world falling apart and so many joys and tears were brought into this one diary. If I were the jury I would just say one sentence"These so called people killed innocent human beings for their amusement I say death no questions" I would go to the gallos to see these people get killed or I would be the hangman in charge of the kiling. In my book murderers should'nt wait 10 years to die I would say" Nazis you guys are going to burn in hell in 2 minutes.
(47) ashley, 14/2/2007
I know about the holocaust for a long time. Now I have to a poject and I choose the holocaust and I never knew all of the detail of it. As I am reaching it it is really sad that this happened and I can't believe that someone can do this to anyone.
(46) Mustapha, 23/1/2007
I wish it didn't happen.
When I was still very young, I used to go with my father to the cinema from time to time .My father worked with a french company that produced wine in Casablanca. He was offered extra money for his hard work .Now he's retired and regreted those days when he worked with Mr Boufar as he pronounced it.Mr Boufar(a jew) prefered my father to the rest of the workers.It was ,then, mitual.My father as I said before found money and time to take my brother and I to the movies.We saw different types of films among them War films.I still remember the scenes where people were gathered together and for some reasons,which I didn't know at that time,were put on dirty wagons and sent to unknown directions.And film after film, I started to wonder why all those scenes came back,until I saw children and old people urged into rooms only to realize later that they were stifling for air ,but it was Gas what they were breathing.I wept for the first time in a cinema.I was fascinated and happy to see US Army killing the SS and germen army.I didn't know anything about those victims except that they were Humans ,and that was enough for me to weep,and I'm sure there were many people like me who wept and were disguised when they saw what I saw:Soldiers killing each other,and worse than that soldiers killing other people because they were jews.
I hope this would help people think deeply.