Summary The treatment of ethnic minorities in Weimar, Nazi and FRG
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Course
Unit 1G - Germany and West Germany, 1918-89
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
This document provides a concise summary of the key aspects of the treatment of ethnic minorities in Weimar, Nazi and the FRG. This includes Jews, gypsies, guest workers, black people and disabled people. This document provides key dates and facts with regards to ethnic minorities, central to Theme...
Ethnic minorities
German nationalism and the idea of Volk meant that from 1871 onwards, ethnic minorities in
Germany were not regarded as equal, especially by elite groups such as landowners and the
army. However there were also other prejudices, Protestants held prejudices about Catholics and
there was prejudice between di erent regions. Before the war, ethnic minorities were partially
integrated with Germans — businessmen did business together and people interacted in daily life.
There was a signi cant amount of intermarriage, especially in the big cities.
Weimar Republic
Life for ethnic minorities widely varied, depending on where they lived and who they were
They were mostly accepted though there was low-level discrimination
Article 113 said that social groups speaking di erent languages could not legally be stopped from
using it — they could not legally be stopped from preserving their national identity
However, although there were liberal laws, they were not always implemented as the Lander had
regional control
Jews
- Had a huge in uence on culture and some became politicians
- 5 Jews held cabinet posts and Walther Rathenau became Foreign Minister
- Government banned some antisemitic organisations after Rathenau was assassinated
- Jewish organisations were set up to ght antisemitism
- Many were accepting of Jews as they had fought in the war
- People referred to Berlin as ‘Jew Berlin’ as about one-third of German Jews lived there
- Walther Rathenau was assassinated in 1922 by an extreme right-wing group
- There was criticism towards the government for appointing jews into cabinet
- There were antisemitic organisations such as the German People’s O ensive and Defensive
Alliance
- Scepticism towards Jews due to the Stab in the Back myth — blamed Jews and Communists
for conspiring against the German war e ort
- Jews were also blamed for the Great Depression
Gypsies
- No federal legislation against gypsies
- 1926 Bavaria passed a series of laws against gypsies which controlled their movements and
tried to get children in school and adults in work
- 1927 Bavaria said all gypsies must carry ID cards
- Moved around a lot so didn’t contribute to the country by working, paying taxes or becoming
involved in the community
- Several Lander passed laws to try and control gypsies, speci cally in Prussia and Bavaria
Black people
- From 1923 onwards about 500 mixed race children were born
- Black musicians and writers were accepted in cities — jazz music was especially popular
- The ‘Black Horror’ was an early campaign of political persuasion initiated by the Weimar
government against black people
- It was used to propagate hatred
- 1919 government ministers deployed racist propaganda against the French-African troops who
were occupying the Rhineland
- The propaganda claimed that black soldiers were raping white women and that the French
were purposely trying to humiliate Germany through this
- This resulted in all major parties demanding the removal of black soldiers from German soil
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