Jewish Life in Nazi Germany: Dilemmas and Responses (40 page)

Secret Police Try Hand At Jew-Baiting

The Gestapo’s major task is to eliminate all Jews from the economic life of Germany. Until now, Jewish business men have been afforded some measure of protection by the fact that no “Aryan clause” was even enacted in the economic field. But the Gestapo knows no law. Its activities are carried on without regard for legal procedure and there is no appeal from its decisions.

The method which the Gestapo has adopted to force Jewish firms out of business is exceedingly simple. The Jewish business man is

notified that he must either sell or close up his business before a certain date. Failure to do so, he is warned, will result in his arrest on charges of violating the Reich currency laws. Since this is an offense which may be punished with death, there is usually little resistance.

Case Of The Scrap-Iron Dealer

There are occasions, however, when more direct methods are employed. The case of a Jewish scrap-iron dealer of Hagenow in Mecklenburg is typical of the Gestapo’s tactics. The entire stock of scrap-metal belonging to this dealer was confiscated because, as the Nazi District Leader declared, there was ground for suspicion that this stock might be used for speculative purposes. This suspicion was considered ample justifica-tion not only for the expropriation of the Jew’s property but also for the revoking of his trading license.

Under these new tactics, the list of Jewish firms which have passed into “Aryan” hands or have been liquidated entirely grows daily. Some of the oldest Jewish business houses in Germany have fallen under the Gestapo’s assault. A recent victim was the firm of M. kempinsky & Son, which operated a chain of restaurants and cafés, known the world over. Another was the firm of Loesser & wolff of elbing, whose cigar factory was one of the largest in europe.

Gestapo Drive Is Systematic

The Gestapo appears to be following the rule of concentrating on one industry at a time. Thus, it announced recently that three hundred drug stores, formerly owned by Jews, are now under “Aryan” ownership. At present it is concentrating its attention on the textile and leather goods industries. Since these are commodities which may be needed for war purposes, the Gestapo officials have been particularly ruthless. They have announced that within a short time these industries will be “Judenfrei.”

“Liquidations” Pauperize Wage-Earners

even more disastrous than the plight of the Jewish business man is that of the Jewish wage-earner. every liquidation or “Aryanization” of a Jewish enterprise automatically means the discharge of dozens and sometimes hundreds of Jewish employees. while the business man loses a major share of his property, his employee is reduced to the state of a pauper. He becomes dependent upon the relief agencies, which, because the government has refused any assistance, must rely solely upon Jewish support. Lately, the demands for relief have increased so tremendously that these agencies find it almost impossible to cope with the situation.

Recently, the German Labor Front, the government’s gigantic company union, delivered a final blow to the Jewish worker. Under a new order issued by this organization, the Jewish labor exchanges have been dissolved. Both the Jewish employer and the Jewish job-seeker must now apply to general labor exchanges. Since it is dangerous for the Jew-ish business man to specify that he desires only Jewish help, this new regulation has resulted in the closing up of the last source of livelihood to the unemployed Jew. Last year the Jewish labor exchanges placed 18,000 Jews.

Emigration Becomes More Difficult

Slowly but surely, German Jewry is being reduced to a state of utter helplessness. The few avenues of escape open to them formerly are now gradually closing against them. even emigration, the one solution to the Jewish problem of which the Nazi regime seemed to approve, is made increasingly difficult. The Gestapo has closed up a number of Hachscharah (training) colonies where hundreds of young Jewish men and women were being trained for new occupations before leaving Germany. They have also closed most of the schools where Jewish youth were learning the Hebrew language preparatory to emigration to Palestine.

There appears to be no logical explanation for the Gestapo’s activities. Some of them are in fact directly contradictory to the expressed policy of the Nazi regime. Until now the Nazis have maintained that it is their purpose to exclude Jews from German life. on the other hand, the Jews were to be permitted and even required to develop their own cultural and communal life. The Gestapo, however, is utterly contemptuous of such legalistic attitudes. Its goal is the complete extermination of German Jewry, and its methods are not bound by any legal measures.

Thus, the Gestapo closed down, without warning, the only sanato-rium in Germany for tubercular Jews. Since Jews are not admitted into “Aryan” institutions, this malicious action deprived Jewish sufferers of the only means of obtaining relief. Another recent measure was the eleventh-hour ban of the conference of the Reich Federation of Jewish Youth, which was scheduled to be held in Berlin. No reason was given for either of these two acts.

But Old-Line Jew-Baiting Continues

while the Gestapo has now taken the lead in the anti-Jewish campaign, other Nazi organizations have not slackened their activities. And, even before the Gestapo’s ax of confiscation and expropriation finally falls, the Jewish merchant is harassed by boycott, by the cutting off of supplies, by frequent arrest without cause and by the stream of incessant anti-Jewish propaganda. The various sections of the Nazi party and individual government bureaus are vying with each other for first honors in the drive against the Jews. Daily, new restricting regulations are put into effect, new boycott proclamations published. Some of these new regulations are astonishing in their pettiness. example: The recent or-der of the Reich Press Chamber instructing newspapers not to publish notices concerning Synagogue service. other examples: An order prohibiting Jews from playing the music of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and other “Aryan” composers; a Gestapo order permitting Jews to join the Jewish Automobile Club (the only motor club they may join at all) only if they sign a pledge promising to counteract anti-Nazi propaganda and promote German exports while travelling abroad in their cars.

Generally, however, these regulations fit well into the Nazi pattern. Most of them are aimed at those Jews who, while they own no property which can be expropriated or business which they can be forced to liquidate, still manage to eke out a livelihood. A recent order by the Minister of education, Dr. Rust, prohibited “non-Aryans” from giving private lessons or teaching in private schools. The Reich Ministry of the Interior announced that an unemployed German will receive no financial assistance if he consults a Jewish physician or lawyer. At the same time it declared that medical certificates issued by Jewish physicians will not be considered valid. The same Ministry also ordered Jew-ish employers to discharge all Jewish employees of foreign citizenship.

Streicher On The Rampage

Meanwhile, Julius Streicher, publisher of the pornographic Stürmer and Germany’s leading antiSemite, has been increasing his activity. Shortly after the Nuremberg rally last September, Streicher summoned the tax collectors of Franconia and demanded that they rid the province of Jews. He instructed them to institute a new system of business licenses which resulted in the elimination of all Jewish rag dealers in his district, more than 2000 food merchants, and about fifty corn dealers.

Streicher’s special contribution to the 1936 Nuremberg rally was a special edition of his Stürmer, entitled “Jewish world Conspiracy,” which contained a condensed version of the “Protocols of the elders of Zion.” This was followed by another special edition in which Streicher announced the “discovery” of a “ritual murder” case in Germany. The Stürmer had been reprinting stories of historical “ritual murder” trials and, as a climax, Streicher decided to produce a “living example.” The case he trumped up involved the murder of a Christian girl in an east Prussian town more than eighteen years ago. Although the murderer, also a Gentile, had been apprehended and convicted immediately after the crime, Streicher presented “proof” that the real murderer was a Jewish butcher of that town. This “proof” consists of the statement of a young Storm-Trooper that when he confronted this Jewish butcher with the charge of having murdered a Christian girl eighteen years ago, the butcher’s face “became deathly pale.”

“Stürmer” Influence Increases

Streicher’s influence in Germany is increasing. The circulation of his sheet has risen considerably, and recently he announced that 131 “display boxes” for the Stürmer have been established in various cities all over Germany. These boxes have been placed in hospitals, schools and other public buildings. The Thuringia authorities, who ordered that all illustrations depicting old-Testament subjects be removed from the school-rooms, accompanied this order with a request that the Stürmer be used for the purpose of religious instruction as much as possible.

No Schooling For Jewish Children

The introduction of the Stürmer and other anti-Semitic literature into the public school system apparently serves a double purpose. The first is, of course, to instill Jew-hatred from early childhood. The other is far more subtle and is designed to pull the Nazis out of a dilemma.

In September, 1935, the Nazi government announced that in keeping with its plan to segregate the Jews it would establish special schools for Jew-ish children. This aroused the opposition of the extreme radicals among the Nazis who object to the building of permanent institutions for Jews, since thatwouldimplypermanence in the German Jewishstatus. Thisopposition has been strong enough to prevent the government from carrying out its original plan. At the same time, however, Nazi extremists insisted that Jewish children be removed from German schools. The introduction of anti-Jewish literature, causing the voluntary withdrawal of the Jewish children, accomplishes this purpose admirably. Today there are practically no Jews in the German elementary schools.

The Nazis have made remarkable progress in the field of juvenile anti-Semitic literature. A young kindergarten teacher, elvira Bauer, with the aid of the inevitable Stürmer, recently brought out a new Nazi fairy-tale book, with twenty-one brightly colored pictures showing horrible-visaged “non-Aryans,” cheating, seducing and poisoning handsome “Aryans.” Most interesting is the section depicting German children pointing a finger of scorn at these Jewish monsters and laugh-ing joyously at their discomfiture.

The Gospel According to “St. Hitler”

No less an achievement than this new Mother Goose Book, is the new Nazi edition of the Gospel of St. John, brought out under the auspices of Dr. weidemann, Bishop of Bremen and leader in the “German Christian” movement. Under the guidance of this Nazi churchman, a staff of expert Nazi propagandists have deleted from and added enough passages to the authorized version to make this a most effective piece of anti-Jewish propaganda.

Propaganda For All Tastes

The Nazis have overlooked nothing in their campaign against the Jews. The variety of propaganda they produced, designed to suit every taste, ranges from the gutter language of the Stürmer to the refine-ment of “scientific” treatises on the inferiority of the Jewish “race.” The latest innovation is the establishment of a “Research Department for the Jewish Question” by the University of Munich to coordinate the production of the “scientific” anti-Jewish literature. The first achievement of this department was the publication of a list of books on economics and law written by Jews and therefore unfit for study by Nazis. Another new Nazi institution is a school of propaganda where one thousand young Nazis are being trained to become expert anti-Jewish agitators.

The decline of the Jewish communities in Germany under this constant pressure has been rapid. Following are outstanding facts:

Decrease
—Since the advent of Hitler, the number of Jews in Germany has decreased from 500,000 to less than 380,000. 112,000 have emigrated during this time.

Population
—55% of the Jewish population in Germany is over forty-five years old; 15% under twenty; 30% between twenty and forty-five.

Communities
—of the 1,400 Jewish communities in Germany, 276 are entirely dependent upon relief; 12 communities have been dissolved in the last six months.

Physicians
—of the 6,000 Jewish physicians in practice before 1933 only 3,000 remain. of these 1,500 are in Berlin. More than two-thirds of the German Jewish physicians today are over 45 years old.

Lawyers
—2,500 Jewish lawyers are now practicing in Germany. In 1933 there were 6,500.