Mixed Marriages Between Aryans And Non Aryans

One event that encouraged Anti-Semitism and increased tensions leading up to Kristallnacht and beyond was the announcement of the Nuremberg Laws in September of 1935. This set of laws created by the Nazi party made sharp distinctions between the rights and privileges of Germans and Jews (Sigward 291). This redefined citizenship in the Third Reich and laid the groundwork for a racial state. For example, the Reich of Citizenship Law stripped Jews of their citizenship, claiming they didn’t have “German blood” (Sigward 291). Those of Jewish descent were denied the right to vote and the ability to obtain a valid passport or visa to leave the country. This law completely dehumanized Jews living in Germany and made them stateless, which caused those of the Aryan race or pure German descent to feel superior. In the Nuremburg Laws, Article 5 of the First Regulation to the Reich Citizenship Law defined a Jew as a descendant of three or more Jewish grandparents or two Jewish parents (Sigward 293). These laws lead to the Jews being persecuted for who they were, rather than the faith they believed during previous years. As a result of these laws being carried out, German nationalism and Anti-Semitism across the Reich increased drastically .

controversial topic at this time, and resulted in many believing in Aryan superiority. Hitler concealed

The major theme of the book is shown through the bonds of friendship and how in the most of unlikely circumstances friendship can survive and exist between people possessing an extensive and most restrictive division. A second theme is the evil and the intolerance which existed around these times of the Nazi regime and the Holocaust, as seen by the Germans having the Jews in the concentration camp. And the third theme is the curiosity and innocence of Bruno, Shmuel and

The Nazis believed in ‘Aryan’ superiority, this belief contributed to the Holocaust. In the years of Nazi rule before World War II, The Nazi group organized policies of discrimination and separation targeting especially German Jews. The Nazi political group believed in one race Aryans, they believed the Aryans were superior to all races. Hitler was an anti-Semitic, he believed Jews were the main corrupter of culture, society and Germany. Non-Aryans were seen as impure and evil.

Furthermore, Appelfeld also isolated himself to hide his true identity, however he was also isolated during the beginning of his new life as the result of a language barrier with his own people, which further resulted in suppressing the anger he felt towards his parents for straying away from the Jewish culture. The abandonment of Tzili’s family, mistreatment of other people she encountered, and the stillbirth of her baby are just a few points of sadness expressed within the story. These situations of sadness help express what it might have been like to live through such a horrific event as the Holocaust. This is done by paralleling these stories and using a fictitious work, Tzili, to accentuate key points in Appelfeld’s own true story of survival.

As well as this, the novel signifies indifference of the will to live, whereas the film hardly mentions it among the Jews. As the end of the story grows near, Elie notes the indifferent attitude of those simply forcing themselves to go on, to survive during a Winter march: “Beneath our feet there lay men, crushed, trampled underfoot, dying. Nobody paid attention to them” (89). Yet again, indifference is illustrated because of how they no longer had the will to push themselves. Instead, the Jews started following orders out of habit and lacked the will to object. Lastly, the novel shows little to no opposition from the Germans, demonstrating Nazi indifference. When the officers at the camp separate the men and women. Elie says these officers declare orders in “words spoken quietly, indifferently, without emotion” (29). In other words, the Nazi officers are simply carrying out orders to avoid exhibiting that they are against anti-Semitic norms that most Germans have adopted. In the film however, although Bruno’s father is a Nazi general, his mother and grandmother still demonstrate a strong opposition toward the Nazi party’s anti-Semitism the more they are exposed to it. For example, while the mother gets into a big argument with her husband, the grandmother refuses to show up at her son’s house for a visit (Boy in Striped Pajamas). Unlike the Nazis in the novel, this clearly

Discrimination against the Jews started immediately after the Nazi seized power in Germany on January 30, 1933. Hitler had a vision for Germany that they belonged to Aryan master race. Hitler also believed the Jews were interfering with that vision. Hitler's discrimination against Jews began April 7, 1933, with a law passed stating Jewish member couldn't practice their religion. The Nazi regime began pushing out Jews from the country voluntarily with violence. Jewish businesses were attacked and denied access to markets and advertisements. On September 1935 Nuremberg Laws, which prohibited Jews and Germans to be married, was put into effect. The Reich citizenship law stated that those of Germanic or relative blood were defined as citizens which means Germans were striped of their citizenship. By the start of WWII around 250,000 of Germany's Jews emigrated to the United States, Great Britain and other countries.

Between Dignity and Despair, a book written by Marion A. Kaplan, published in 1998, gives us a portrait of Jewish life in Nazi Germany by the astounding memoirs, diaries, interviews with survivors, and letters of Jewish women and men. The book is written in chronological order of events, from the daily life of German Jewish families prior to when the Holocaust began to the days when rights were completely taken away; from the beginning of forced labor and exile to the repercussion of the war. Kaplan tries to include details from each significant event during the time of the Holocaust. Kaplan

During the holocaust, the germans saw the jews as a “tainted race”, and saw them inferior to themselves. They also sought to kill off the jewish bloodline completely.

But why racism? It is generally believed by sociologists that one cannot be a racist unless he is distinguishing between different biological traits between people, which somehow make one biological 'race' superior to another. And Hitler knew how bitter the Germans were about the loss of the First World War, so he needed a reason to give them as to why they lost. So he turned to racism and began distinguishing the Aryans from other races in Germany such as the Jews and homosexuals. By blaming the mixing of these inferior races into Aryan blood he gave the people a reason to believe they were better than someone else, and gave them a purpose, people to blame for Germanys devastated economy.

By 1933, the Jewish population in Germany was around 525,000 people which was only one percent of the total German population. During the years to follow, Nazis established an “Aryanization” of Germany. Non- Aryans (non- Germans) were dismissed from civil service, Jewish- owned businesses were liquidated, and Jewish layers and doctors were stripped of their clients. Later in 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were enacted by the Nazi government. The Nuremberg Laws were composed of two new racial laws, the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law to Protect German Blood and Honor. The Nuremberg Laws restricted Jews, it declared that anyone who had three or four Jewish grandparents would be deemed as a Jew, and anyone with two Jewish grandparents would be deemed a Mischlinge (half-breed). The Nuremberg Laws led to Jews becoming targets of wide-spread discrimination and persecution. These laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship and outlawed marriage and sexual intercourse between Jews and non-Jews. They also prohibited Jews from obtaining certain jobs (such as jobs in the government, medical field, and in law). They prohibited Jews from certain entertainment and recreational activities (such as parks, beaches, theaters, sporting events). Under the Nuremberg Laws Jews were also prohibited

‘Schindler’s List’ is no less a “Jewish story” or a “German story” than it is a human story. And its subject matter applies to every generation.’ [Stephen Spielberg] Discuss.

The Nuremberg Laws, created September 15, 1935, were rooted in the idea of Nazi eugenics; to biologically “improve” the population into achieving the Master race that Hitler envisioned. These laws would ensure that any mixing of German and Jewish blood would cease and

The novel describes his family life in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his rebellious teenage years in the newly created state of Czechoslovakia. The novel informs the reader of Oskar Schindler’s relationship with his

“The opposite of love is not hate but indifference,” Elie Weisel stated after commenting on his thoughts on racism and his years surviving the Holocaust. Weisel was thrown in and out of concentration camps starting at the age of fifteen until finally his final camp where his father had died was liberated. The tragedies that Weisel along with the other millions of people who suffered were unimaginable and even Weisel himself strived for years to find words that somewhat explained what their experience was like. However, no one will ever be able to fully express what It is truly like to live during such racist times, whether it be through writing or film.