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{{for|the set of research ethics principles for human experimentation|Nuremberg Code}}
{{The Holocaust}}
The '''Nuremberg Laws''' ({{lang-de|Nürnberger Gesetze}}) of 1935 were ] ] in ] which were introduced at the annual ] rally in ]. The laws classified people as German if all four of their grandparents were of "German or kindred blood", while people were classified as Jews if they descended from three or four Jewish grandparents. A person with one or two Jewish grandparents was a '']'', a crossbreed, of "mixed blood".<ref>In many cases a person with exactly two Jewish grandparents was deemed a "Jew" under the Nuremberg laws. There were a number of ]s used, to determine if such a person --with precisely two Jewish grandparents-- was to be classified as a "Jew" or a "Mischling" under the laws. ''See'' ].</ref> The Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews of citizenship and prohibited marriage between Jews and other Germans.<ref>Hunt, L. (2009). The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, Vol. C: Since 1740. Bedford/St. Martin's.</ref>

== Background history ==
] used to explain the Nuremberg Laws]]

At the time of Hitler's assumption of power on 30 January 1933<ref>''See'' '']''</ref> less than one percent of the German population was Jewish. Nevertheless, antisemitism had been a major theme of Hitler's rhetoric for almost fifteen years and attacks on Jews started almost as soon as Hitler assumed the Chancellorship in January 1933. A notable example of the anti-Semitic campaign was the ] on 1 April 1933.

During the spring and summer of 1935, disenchantment within the Nazi Party with how the ] had developed in practice as opposed to what had been promised had led to many in the Party, especially the ''Alte Kämpfer'' (Old Fighters; i.e. those who joined the Party before 1930, and who tended to be the most ardent anti-Semites in the Party), and the ] into lashing out against Germany's Jewish minority as a way of expressing their frustrations against a group that the authorities would not generally protect.<ref name="K1">''Kershaw'' pp. 560-61.</ref> A ] report from the spring of 1935 stated that the rank and file of the Nazi Party would "set in motion by us from below" a solution to the "Jewish problem", "that the government would then have to follow".<ref name="K1"/> As a result, Nazi Party activists and SA members started a major wave of assaults, vandalism and ] against German Jews in the spring and summer of 1935 that was far worse and violent then the previous anti-Semitic campaigns of 1934 and 1933.<ref name="K2">''Kershaw'' pp. 561-62.</ref> A conference of ministers was held on August 20, 1935 to discuss the negative economic effects of Party actions against Jews. ], the Party representative at the conference, argued that such effects would cease, once the ] decided on a firm policy against the Jews.

Dr. ], the Economics Minister, criticized arbitrary behavior by Party members as this inhibited his policy of rebuilding Germany's ].<ref name="K3">''Kershaw'' p. 563.</ref> It made no economic sense since Jews were believed to have certain entrepreneurial skills that could be usefully employed to further his policies. Schacht made no moral condemnation of Jewish policy and advocated the passing of legislation to clarify the situation. Following complaints from Dr. Schacht plus reports that the German public did not approve of the wave of anti-Semitic violence, and that continuing police toleration of the violence was hurting the regime's popularity with the wider public, Hitler ordered a stop to "individual actions" against German Jews on August 8, 1935.<ref name="K3"/> On August 20, 1935, the Interior Minister Dr. ] threatened to impose harsh penalties on those Party members who ignored the order of August 8 and continued to assault Jews.
<ref name="K3"/>

From Hitler's perspective, it was imperative to bring in harsh new anti-Semitic laws as a consolation prize for those Party members who were disappointed with Hitler's halt order of August 8, especially because Hitler had only reluctantly given the halt order for pragmatic reasons, and his sympathies were with the Party radicals.<ref name="K3"/>

The Nazi Party Rally held at Nuremberg in September 1935 had featured the first session of the ''Reichstag'' held at that city since 1543. Hitler had planned to have the ''Reichstag'' pass a law making the Nazi Swastika flag the flag of the German ''Reich'', and a major speech in support of the impending Italian aggression against Ethiopia.<ref name="K4">''Kershaw'' pp. 567-68.</ref> However, at the last minute, the German Foreign Minister Baron ] persuaded Hitler to cancel his speech as being too provocative to public opinion abroad, thus leaving Hitler with the sudden need to have something else to address the historic first meeting of the ''Reichstag'' in Nuremberg since 1543, other than the ''Reich'' Flag Law.<ref name="K4"/> On September 13, 1935, Dr. Bernhard Lösener, the Interior Ministry official in charge of drafting anti-Semitic laws was hastily summoned to the Nuremberg Party Rally by plane together with another Interior Ministry official, ''Ministerialrat'' (Ministerial Counsellor) Franz Albrecht Medicus, to start drafting at once a law for Hitler to present to the ''Reichstag'' for September 15.<ref name="K5">''Kershaw'' p.567.</ref> Lösener and Medicus arrived in Nuremberg on the morning of September 14 and because of the short time available for the drafting of the laws, both measures were hastily improvised – there was even a shortage of drafting paper so that menu cards had to be used.<ref name="K6">''Kershaw'' pp. 568-70 & 759-60.</ref>

== Introduction of the Laws ==
On the evening of September 15, 1935, two measures were announced to the Reichstag at the annual ] in Nuremberg, becoming known as the Nuremberg Laws.<ref name="K4"/>

The first law, '''The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour,'''<ref>, English translation at the University of the West of England</ref> prohibited marriages and extramarital intercourse between "Jews" (the name was now officially used in place of "non-Aryans") and "Germans" and also the employment of "German" females under forty-five in Jewish ]s. The second law, '''The Reich Citizenship Law''' <ref>, English translation at the University of the West of England</ref>, stripped persons not considered of German blood of their German ] and introduced a new distinction between "Reich ]s" and "nationals".

Hitler made a speech before the Reichstag in Nuremberg, introducing the laws and their alleged motivation, before the laws were formally read and proposed for adoption by ], the President of the Reichstag:

{{bquote|...Bitter complaints have come in from countless places citing the provocative behavior of ]....a certain amount of planning was involved.... vigorous defensive action by the people<ref>It was a standard tactic of Hitler's to transfer the blame for his aggressive actions onto his adversary so that his action was simply a "defensive" one.</ref>, we have no choice but to contain the problem through legislative measures....it may be possible, through a definitive secular solution, to create a basis on which the German people can have a tolerable relationship with the Jews.<ref>Even a cursory review of '']'' and Hitler's speeches before 1935 would make it clear to anyone that this prospect of "hope of toleration" extended by Hitler is a blatant lie. ''See also'' ''Kershaw'' p. 565.</ref> ... This law is an attempt to find a legislative solution....if this attempts fails, it will be necessary to transfer ... to the National Socialist Party for a final solution ({{lang-de| endgültige Lösung}}).<ref>The ominous term "]" did not yet, in ordinary discourse in 1935, necessarily entail the complete eradication of European or World Jewry. Neither did it exclude that possibility.</ref>}}

The measures were unanimously adopted by the Reichstag. In twelve years of Nazi rule, the Reichstag only passed four laws: the Nuremberg laws were two of them.<ref>''Shirer'' p. 234n. Most laws in the Nazi state were simply decreed by Hitler under powers vested in him by the ]; there was no legal need for the "legislature" here, and having the Reichstag adopt these laws at the party rally was done for propaganda purposes. ''Kershaw'' p. 268-75.</ref>

The Nuremberg Laws by their general nature formalized the unofficial and particular measures taken against Jews up to 1935. The Nazi leaders made a point of stressing the consistency of this legislation with the ], which demanded that Jews should be deprived of their ] rights.

== The Laws ==
;The Laws for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour

{{Quote|
(September 15, 1935)
Entirely convinced that the purity of German blood is essential to the further existence of the German people, and inspired by the uncompromising determination to safeguard the future of the German nation, the Reichstag has unanimously resolved upon the following law, which is promulgated herewith:

; Section 1
:#]s between Jews and citizens ({{lang-de|Staatsangehörige}}) of German or kindred blood are forbidden. Marriages concluded in defiance of this law are void, even if, for the purpose of evading this law, they were concluded abroad.
:#Proceedings for annulment may be initiated only by the ].
; Section 2
:Extramarital sexual intercourse between Jews and subjects of the state of Germany or related blood is forbidden.
:::*''(Supplementary decrees set Nazi definitions of racial Germans, Jews, and half-breeds or ]e --- see the latter entry for details and citations and ] for how such decrees were applied. Jews could not vote or hold public office under the parallel "citizenship" law.)''
; Section 3
: Jews will not be permitted to employ female citizens under the age of 45, of German or kindred blood, as ]s.
; Section 4
:#Jews are forbidden to display the ] and ] or the ].
:#On the other hand they are permitted to display the Jewish colours. The exercise of this right is protected by the State.
; Section 5
:#A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of Section 1 will be punished with ].
:#A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of Section 2 will be punished with ] or with hard labour.
:#A person who acts contrary to the provisions of Sections 3 or 4 will be punished with imprisonment up to a year and with a ], or with one of these penalties.
; Section 6
: The Reich Minister of the Interior in agreement with the Deputy Führer and the Reich ] will issue the legal and administrative regulations required for the enforcement and supplementing of this law.
; Section 7
: The law will become effective on the day after its promulgation; Section 3, however, not until January 1, 1936.
}}

== Effect of the Laws ==
]
{{See also|Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany}}
Legal discrimination against Jews had come into being before the Nuremberg Laws and steadily grew as time went on; however, for discrimination to be effective, it was essential to have a clear definition of who was or was not a Jew. This was one important function of the Nuremberg laws and the numerous supplementary decrees that were proclaimed to further them.

People defined as Jews could then be barred from employment as lawyers, doctors or journalists. Jews were prohibited from using state hospitals and could not be educated by the state past the age of 14. Public parks, libraries and beaches were closed to Jews. War memorials were to have Jewish names expunged. Even the lottery could not award winnings to Jews.<ref>{{cite web |title=Examples of Antisemitic Legislation, 1933-1939
|publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum no
|url=http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007459
|accessdate=2008-07-12}}</ref>
Jews, at the insistence of Swiss immigration officials, were required to adopt a middle name: "Sara" for women and "Israel" for men when applying for a passport. These passports were required to have a large "J" stamped on them and could be used to leave Germany - but not to return.<ref>{{cite web
|title=The Nuremberg Race Laws
|publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
|url=http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/nlaw.htm
|accessdate=2008-07-12}}</ref>

From September 1941 all Jewish people living within the Nazi empire, including Germany, were required to wear a ], which had been required in Poland (under German occupation) beginning in 1939.

== Influence and inspiration ==
In the early thirties, the Nuremberg Laws and ] were regarded by many as the height of scientific thought and the laws were emulated in other countries such as ] passed in ] during ], which also had a strong ]. Romania, Slovakia and Croatia also emulated the Nazi laws.

The principal inspiration for Nazi racial thinking was the British-German author, ], several of whose books were found in Hitler's private library.<ref>]: The Books That Shaped His Life, T.W. Ryback page 69 & 112 Knopf 2008</ref> Houston Chamberlain was inspired in turn by the ] theories of ]<ref>Brookes, M. 2004,Extreme Measures: The Dark Visions and Bright Ideas of Francis Galton, Bloomsbury Publ. Plc. London , p. 142.,</ref>, Galton was the cousin of Charles Darwin and his ideas owed a lot to ]. ], who coined the term "]" is also believed to have played an important role in bringing Galton's theories to Hitler's attention.
]'s work ] was another influence and , in 1922, the New York Times report that his office contained a large picture of Ford.<ref>]: The Books That Shaped His Life, T.W. Ryback page 69 Knopf 2008</ref>

== Existing copies ==
An original typescript of the laws signed by Hitler himself was found by the 203rd Detachment of the ] (CIC), commanded by Martin Dannenberg, in ], ], ], on April 27, 1945. It was appropriated by General ], in violation of ]. During a visit to ], he secretly handed it over to the ]. The document was stored until June 26, 1999 when its existence was revealed. Although legal ownership of the document has not been established, it is on permanent loan to the ], which placed it on public display three days later.

== See also ==
* ]
* ]
* ]

== References ==
=== Bibliography ===
*Ehrenreich, Eric. ''The Nazi Ancestral Proof: Genealogy, Racial Science, and the Final Solution''. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-253-34945-3
*{{cite book | last = Fest| first = Joachim C. | title = Hitler | author-link=Joachim C. Fest| publisher = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | year = 2002 | isbn = 0156027542}}
*{{cite book | last = Fischer | first = Conan | title = The Rise of the Nazis| publisher = Manchester University Press | year = 2002 |author-link=| isbn = 0719060672}}
*{{cite book |last=Kershaw|first=Ian|isbn = 0-393-04671-0 |author-link=Ian Kershaw|title= Hitler 1889–1936: Hubris|location=New York|publisher= W. W. Norton & Company|year=1999 }}
*{{cite book | last = Shirer | first = William L. | title = The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich| author-link = William L. Shirer | publisher =Simon & Shuster| location = New York | year = 1960 }}
*{{cite book | last = Toland | first = John | title = Adolf Hitler | author-link=John Toland| publisher = Doubleday & Company | year = 1976 | location = New York | isbn = 0-385-03724-4 }}

=== Notes ===
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*
*, English translation at the University of the West of English
*, English translation at the University of the West of England
* (Nazi and other)
*
*

{{Segregation by type|state=collapsed}}
{{Nationality laws}}

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Revision as of 18:23, 27 April 2010

obama < mcain