Reich Citizenship Law and Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour

In German Reichsbürgergesetz and Blutschutzgesetz. These were announced on 15 September  1935. At the core of this is antismeitsm and the percepton that the Jews are a race not members of a religion. Jews living in Germany were seen not as citizens but as subjects.  

Reich Citizenship Law of September 15, 1935

(https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nuremberg-laws - accessed 9 September 2021)

(Translated from Reichsgesetzblatt I, 1935, p. 1146.)

The Reichstag has unanimously enacted the following law, which is promulgated herewith:

Article 1
1. A subject of the state is a person who enjoys the protection of the German Reich and who in consequence has specific obligations toward it.
2. The status of subject of the state is acquired in accordance with the provisions of the Reich and the Reich Citizenship Law.

Article 2
1. A Reich citizen is a subject of the state who is of German or related blood, and proves by his conduct that he is willing and fit to faithfully serve the German people and Reich.
2. Reich citizenship is acquired through the granting of a Reich citizenship certificate.
3. The Reich citizen is the sole bearer of full political rights in accordance with the law.

Article 3
The Reich Minister of the Interior, in coordination with the Deputy of the Führer, will issue the legal and administrative orders required to implement and complete this law.

Nuremberg, September 15, 1935
At the Reich Party Congress of Freedom

The Führer and Reich Chancellor
[signed] Adolf Hitler

The Reich Minister of the Interior
[signed] Frick

Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour of September 15, 1935

(Translated from Reichsgesetzblatt I, 1935, pp. 1146-7.)

Moved by the understanding that purity of German blood is the essential condition for the continued existence of the German people, and inspired by the inflexible determination to ensure the existence of the German nation for all time, the Reichstag has unanimously adopted the following law, which is promulgated herewith:

Article 1
1. Marriages between Jews and citizens of German or related blood are forbidden. Marriages nevertheless concluded are invalid, even if concluded abroad to circumvent this law.
2. Annulment proceedings can be initiated only by the state prosecutor.

Article 2
Extramarital relations between Jews and citizens of German or related blood are forbidden.

Article 3
Jews may not employ in their households female subjects of the state of Germany or related blood who are under 45 years old.

Article 4
1. Jews are forbidden to fly the Reich or national flag or display Reich colours.
2. They are, on the other hand, permitted to display the Jewish colours. The exercise of this right is protected by the state.

Article 5
1. Any person who violates the prohibition under Article 1 will be punished with a prison sentence with hard labour.
2. A male who violates the prohibition under Article 2 will be punished with a jail term or a prison sentence with hard labour.
3. Any person violating the provisions under Articles 3 or 4 will be punished with a jail term of up to one year and a fine, or with one or the other of these penalties.

Article 6
The Reich Minister of the Interior, in coordination with the Deputy of the Führer and the Reich Minister of Justice, will issue the legal and administrative regulations required to implement and complete this law.

Article 7
The law takes effect on the day following promulgation, except for Article 3, which goes into force on January 1, 1936.

Nuremberg, September 15, 1935
At the Reich Party Congress of Freedom

The Führer and Reich Chancellor
[signed] Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister of the Interior
[signed] Frick
The Reich Minister of Justice
[signed] Dr. Gürtner
The Deputy of the Führer
[signed] R. Hess

There was a strict protocol for defining a Jew. If three grandparents were Jewish, you were Jewish.  If two were Jewish and you did not practise the religion you were a “Mischling” of the first degree but if only one was Jewish and you did not practise the religion you were a “Mischling” of the second degree. The word Mischling can be translated as “mongrel”.

The diagram above shows how this works.

There is a lot of discussion about race at the moment. Are Jews and Gentiles actually separate races?  It isn’t actually possible to determine by medical tests that a person is Jewish. DNA tests simply tell you whether or not you are related to a person who is labelled as Jewish.   

For me the main point remains that there is an intolerance of what we don’t understand. Many of us have learnt to rise above that first gut reaction to the new and strange. We can cultivate a healthy attitude of “What might I learn here?”  However, frequently in cases of anti-Semitism there is also some jealousy and some perception that Jews act as though there is Jewish supremacy. My old scripture teacher used to say the Jews were God’s chosen people and because the German persecute the Jews, God allowed the “other side” to win World War II.  To be fair, she presented this as a question rather than as a statement.                             

We might remember that the Nazis also persecuted gypsies, people with disabilities and homosexuals. There was some misguided belief in a superior race. It is for this reason too that there was an emphasis on not allowing mixed marriages and one part of the blood protection law was that a household may not employ a Jewish woman under forty-five years old.

We might also ponder this difference between subject and citizen. Notably, the German Jew lost the right to vote.  What about that relationship between taxation and representation? However, might we not wonder whether we might have got it wrong as well?  How many people pay taxes in our own world and are not allowed to vote on important matters?   

Does this relate to white supremacy / privilege?  Do people think that white people are superior to other races and should dominate them?