15th September 1935: Nazi Germany introduces the discriminatory 'Nuremberg Laws'

Adolf Goebbels
Published on Jan 25, 2023
Since coming to power in 1933, the Nazi Party had produced large amounts of propaganda that discriminated against minorities, and which encouraged people in Germany to view Jews in particular as belonging to a separate race to other Germans. The Nuremberg Laws enshrined this discrimination in the legal framework of the country through two pieces of legislation.

The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour focused on individual relationships by banning marriages and sexual relationships between Jews and Germans. Furthermore it strengthened the concept of â€˜Germanâ€™ racial superiority in law by banning German women under the age of 45 from working in Jewish households. Meanwhile the Reich Citizenship Law stripped Jews and many other racial minorities of their German citizenship since it stated that only people with German or related blood could be citizens of the country.

The Reich Citizenship Law relied on a clear definition of â€˜Jewishnessâ€™, which was not actually agreed upon until November. In the end, Hitler declared that anyone with three Jewish grandparents was to be classed as Jewish; anyone who had two Jewish grandparents would be considered Jewish under the law if they practised the faith or had a Jewish spouse. Proving racial heritage therefore became a vital part of life in Nazi Germany.

Due to concerns about how the international community might interpret the laws, prosecutions did not begin until after the 1936 Berlin Olympics.