The Holocaust began not with violence, but with ink and paper. On September 15, 1935, Adolf Hitler's government passed the Nuremberg Laws, turning antisemitic ideology into a bureaucratic system of persecution. These laws defined a 'Jew' as anyone with three or four Jewish grandparents, regardless of their personal faith or identity. Overnight, the Reich Citizenship Law stripped approximately 500,000 German Jews of their citizenship and right to vote. Another law criminalized marriage or relationships between Jews and non-Jewish Germans, which the state called 'Aryans.' Using complex genealogical charts, officials categorized the population by 'blood.' Germany's Jews were now legally isolated, transformed into rightless subjects in their own homeland, setting a formal framework for the horrors to come.
The Holocaust
The systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945.
The Laws of Hate
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Frequently Asked Questions
What were the Nuremberg Laws?
The Nuremberg Laws were a series of antisemitic and racist laws enacted in Nazi Germany on September 15, 1935. They defined a 'Jew' based on ancestry, stripped Jewish people of their German citizenship and basic rights, and criminalized marriage or relationships between Jews and non-Jewish Germans.
What was the 'Final Solution'?
The 'Final Solution to the Jewish Question' was the Nazi plan for the genocide of the Jewish people. Coordinated at the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, it formalized the use of the entire German state bureaucracy to deport and systematically murder every Jew in Europe through an industrial system of killing centers.
How many people were killed in the Holocaust?
The Holocaust resulted in the systematic murder of approximately six million Jews, which was about two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe. Millions of other victims were also murdered by the Nazi regime, including Roma, people with disabilities, and Soviet prisoners of war.
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