Pre-War Persecution To many people, the Holocaust and Jewish persecution started in 1939, with the declaration of war, by the United Kingdom and France, upon Germany. However, what people may not be aware of is the fact that German persecution of Jews started significantly earlier than that. Anti-Jewish laws and regulations were brought into Germany along with the Nazis in 1933. The Nuremberg Laws, issued on September 15, 1935, began to exclude Jews from public life.
1933 - Jews barred from civil service in Germany. - Jews barred from becoming practicing lawyers. - Jews barred from German universities. 1934 - Jews excluded from serving in the German military. 1935-1936 - ‘Mixed marriages’ between Aryans and Jews are forbidden. - Jews lose the Vote. - Jews lose German citizenship. - Jews banned from entering or using public places (restaurants, swimming-pools, public parks). - Jews no-longer allowed to own…bicycles, typewriters, records and phonographs. - Jewish travel restrictions began. 1937-1938 - Jews excluded from cinemas, theatres, concert-performances, public beaches and holiday resorts. - Jewish children are expelled from schools and forced to attend “Jewish schools” instead. - Jews have their passports marked with a “J” (for ‘Jude’, the German for ‘Jew’), to identify them when they travel. 1939 - Jews could not own radios. - Jews had to abide by a curfew. - Jews could not own telephones. - Jews were forcibly evicted from their houses without reason or notice (this was provide homes for Germans whose homes had been bombed by the Allies). - Jews forbidden to leave the country. - Jews forbidden pets. 1941 - All Jews over the age of six years old must wear a yellow Star of David, with ‘Jude’ written on it.