Jaxon Mitchell Honors English II Mrs. Beasley

Holocaust Research Paper Investigating Hitler’s Use of Institutionalized Racism During the Nazi Reign of Terror

Adolf Hitler knew the importance of propaganda before he even seized power

over Germany. He first championed the use of propaganda in his book, Mein Kampf,

which he wrote while he was still in prison. He wrote the following, “Propaganda tries to

force a doctrine on the whole people... Propaganda works on the general public from the

standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea.” Although there

are many reasons for the success of Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich, perhaps the most

important reason was his ability to gain the German people’s support of anti-Semitism by

implementing institutional racism in schools, youth groups, and the government. Hitler

understood that propaganda was essential to the success of his Third Reich. He was

aware of the fact that propaganda was needed to gain the public’s support of the extreme

anti-Semitic views of the Nazis.

After Hitler’s Nazi Party captured the power over Germany in 1933, he created a

Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, which he chose to be headed by

Joseph Goebbels. The purpose of this Ministry was to make sure that Nazi ideologies

were effectively transmitted to the public through various channels of media. Nazi

propaganda depicted Jews as “an alien race”, parasites feeding off of the superior Aryan

race; they were subordinates that were contaminating German culture. Joseph Goebbels

wanted to deceive the German people to get their support, and frighten those that opposed

Nazi ideology. He did so by erecting billboards and signs everywhere. Some of these

billboards read, “Germany’s Common Enemy – The Jew” and some park signs read “No

Jews or Dogs Allowed.” Goebbels even lied about crimes Jews committed, claiming that

Jews had performed ritual murders and raped little girls. There was even a report in

German news that Jews had been killing Christian children and drinking their blood. In

Hitler’s Reich, Gail B. Stewart quotes one of Goebbels entries to his journal in which he

discussed his feelings regarding what is successful propaganda, and what is not, ‘“The

propaganda which produces the desired results,” Goebbels wrote in his journal, “is good

and all other propaganda is bad. Therefore, it is beside the point to say your propaganda

is too crude, too mean, too brutal, or too unfair, for all this does not matter…Propaganda

is always a means to an end.”’

Eventually, Hitler decided to focus on a particular group of people in German

society to target with his notoriously anti-Semitic propaganda: the youth. Hitler did so by

establishing a youth group called Hitler Youth, where German children and teens were

taught that Jews were “bastard races” that couldn’t produce their own civilization and had

to feed off of the German community to stay alive. Hitler Youth, along with the League

of German Girls, prepared the young Germans to be future leaders of the Nazi state. In

1936, it became mandatory by law that all young Germans between 10 and 17 years of

age be members of a Nazi youth group. The Nazis also closed down any other competing

youth groups in Germany.

Alongside Hitler Youth, Hitler also targeted schools with his anti-Semitic

propaganda to influence German children and teens. Nazi educators celebrated the Aryan

race and disparaged Jews, who were considered inferior. Soon, schools began to be

shaped by a form of censorship; Nazi teachers took away many schoolbooks that might

have praised Jews or that were written by Jews, and they inserted new textbooks that

praised Hitler and anti-Semitism. From then on, schools in Germany used textbooks and

lessons that focused strictly on anti-Semitism. Examples of books that were used to

influence the students’ minds include Trust No Fox in the Green Meadow and No Jew on

His Oath, or The Poisonous Mushroom, both of which emphasized persecution of Jews

and warned German children of association with them. Anti-Semitism was even

encouraged outside of school. Nazi teachers told children that it was their obligation to

spit on Jews whenever they encountered one in public. Clara Feldman was a young girl in

a small German town during the time of the Nazi reign over Germany, and the story of

her true, first-hand experience of the influence of anti-Semitism in German schools is

remembered in Hitler’s Reich, written by Gail B. Stewart. Feldman tells the story of the

actions of her abusive teacher during her time as a student in a German school, “The first

day he came in, he said, ‘I understand we have a Jew pig in our classroom.’ Then he said,

‘Now we will see how much pain a Jewish pig can endure.’ He had me put out my hand,

and he hit me with a stick. I don’t know how many times he hit me. I don’t remember the

pain. But I do remember the laughter of the other children.” Teachings of anti-Semitism

did not stop in elementary, middle, or even high school; it was even included in

university professors’ and religious figures’ lectures and lessons.

Education and youth groups were not the only channels that were used by the

Nazis to influence the German people with their anti-Semitic ideology; they also used the

German legislature to establish anti-Jewish laws in Germany. The Nazis considered Jews

to be “Untermenschen” which translates to “sub-humans” in German. In his article titled

Holocaust on the online encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, Michael Berenbaum

writes, “The Nazis portrayed Jews as a race and not a religious group… Ultimately, the

logic of Nazi racial anti-Semitism led to annihilation.” The first major law that the Nazis

used to discriminate against the Jews was the “Law for the Restoration of the

Professional Civil Service.” This law stated that Jewish and “politically unreliable” civil

servants and employees were to be ostracized from state jobs.

Eventually, a set of anti-Semitic laws was introduced all at once; these laws were

called the Nuremberg Laws. The Nuremberg Laws kept German Jews from having

citizenship in Hitler’s Third Reich and made it illegal for Jews to marry and/or have

sexual relations with those of “German or German-related blood.” The Nuremberg Laws

defined Jews as anyone with three or four Jewish grandparents – it did not matter whether

or not they considered themselves Jews; if they had three or four Jewish grandparents,

then they were considered Jews, no matter what religion they affiliated themselves with.

An article from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum titled Anti-Jewish

Legislation in Prewar Germany reads, “Many Germans who had not practiced Judaism or

who had not done so for years found themselves caught in the grip of Nazi terror. Even

people with Jewish grandparents who had converted to Christianity could be defined as

Jews.” The Nuremberg Laws also required all Jews to wear the yellow Star of David so

that they could be identified as Jews. Any Jews that did not abide by these laws were

punished; they were shot, beaten, or publicly harassed and humiliated. Gail B. Stewart

writes about the Nuremberg Laws in Hitler’s Reich, “The Nuremberg Laws stripped the

Jews of all the rights of citizenship. They were no longer German citizens; they were

aliens in a foreign land. Jews could not attend German schools, use public transportation,

or own telephones. Jewish doctors, lawyers, teachers, writers, and other professionals

could not work.”

There was one horrifying night that marked a very significant moment in the Nazi

reign of terror; it was a moment that can best be described as a turning point. On the night

of November 9, 1938, Nazis all across Germany burned synagogues, destroyed Jewish

businesses, homes, and schools, and a total of 91 Jews were murdered as well. That night

came to be known as Kristallnacht, which translates to “The Night of Broken Glass” in

German. Kristallnacht was a very significant point during the time of the Nazi reign

because it marked a transition from anti-Semitic legislation to vicious, merciless anti-

Jewish demonstrations that would build up to the extermination of approximately 6

million Jews – an event that we have all come to know as the Holocaust.

Although there are many reasons for the success of Adolf Hitler and his Third

Reich, perhaps the most important reason was his ability to gain the German people’s

support of anti-Semitism by implementing institutional racism in schools, youth groups,

and the government. Hitler used these three main channels to influence the German

public and pressure the German people into embracing anti-Semitism. He knew that in

order to successfully seize control over Germany, he would have to secure the acceptance

of the German people, and he effectively did so. The persecution of the Jews through

schools, youth groups, and legislation did not only set a foundation for Hitler’s success,

but it also paved the way towards the widespread massacre of 6 million Jews in the

Holocaust.

Works Cited

"Anti-Jewish Legislation in Prewar Germany." United States Holocaust Memorial

Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, 10 June

2013. Web. 27 Oct. 2013.

Berenbaum, Michael. "Holocaust." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia

Britannica, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013.

"Deceiving the Public." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States

Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, 10 June 2013. Web. 27 Oct.

2013.

"Defining the Enemy." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States

Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, 10 June 2013. Web. 27 Oct.

2013.

"Indoctrinating Youth." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States

Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, 10 June 2013. Web. 27 Oct.

2013.

"Kristallnacht." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust

Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, 10 June 2013. Web. 27 Oct. 2013.

"Nazi Propaganda." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust

Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, 10 June 2013. Web. 27 Oct. 2013.

Stewart, Gail B. "Chapter 5: Life in Nazi Germany." World History Series: Hitler's

Reich. San Diego: Lucent, 1994. N. pag. Print.