The Jewish Tragedy - Part 2

By 1935 the new life, if such it could be called, had settled into routine for German Jews. Not being in ghettoes, as in Easter European countries, it was slightly easier to blend in, especially if one took the chance and did not wear the hated yellow star patch on a coat or jacket. This itself was no easy act of disobedience to the law, especially in 1933 and 1934 when Roehm's thugs in the SA had virtual control of daily law enforcement. Their methods were simple in the extreme. The walked around in cities, stopping anyone they did not like the look of, asking for identification. If the person was a Jew then they would normally beat him, perhaps take him to the nearest police station to await pick-up for transport to a concentration camp; he would 'disappear' and might possibly be found by the family if they could find any help at all, whether by bribing or sympathy, looking for the person's name in the records all Nazi organizations so meticulously kept. And all this was just one part of the daily routine.

There was the simple fact of getting food. That meant finding a Jewish trader who, somehow, still managed to survive by getting wholesale supplies of foodstuffs from sympathetic Germans, or from the black market - at higher cost, of course. Adults were continually hungry, which could be supported, but those with children had this daily battle and continuous anxiety. With virtually all work closed to them, the battle was also where to find the money. If one had a job, even with a sympathetic employer, peer pressure very often made him treat German Jews with brutality when in the presence of other Germans. Without work, savings soon disappeared and then one had to depend on the kindness of others, scarcely better off. All just daily routine.

Children quickly learnt the same self-effacement as their parents. Many of them were unable to continue schooling, which meant enrolling them in secret schools using teachers who could no longer work, teaching Germans. Children also were not picked on by the SA and Gestapo as much as adults, and so could be used to carry messages, buy food, etc. But the secrecy needed and the constant warnings from parents, turned many into premature adults. Just the routine. In 1935, violence again started up, with anti-Jewish riots in Berlin in July and the wave spread all over Germany. Where it was not specific, the anti-Jewish behaviour incited violence, such as painting slogans on Jewish premises and putting up signs in public places reading 'Jews not wanted here' or 'Jews forbidden'. Public meeting places such as markets, swimming pools, theatres and concert halls also started to get more attention from thugs; now, any contact with Jews, not just sexual contact, was excuse for destruction and beatings. In September the so-called Nuremberg Laws were enacted which settled some questions of definition but still left room for life to continue. The Citizenship Law took away citizenship and made German Jews into 'state subjects'. The Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour covered several points, including the bizarre one of Jews not being allowed to raise any German flag! But mainly the laws codified sex by prohibiting both sex and marriage between Jew and 'Aryan', and the employment of 'Aryan' women under 45 as Jewish house servants. The pornographic anti-Semitic press was very strong in many cities and, coupled with this act, simply showed that Nazis were as prurient as anyone else. However, the effect on some 30,000 existing marriages was catastrophic, with misery and further stress added to already overloaded psyches. Despite these pressures, however, there are only records of about 2,000 divorces amongst all these marriages.

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