The racial nature of Nazism provided for dividing people into “superior” and “inferior” races. Superiors should be supported, while the spread of the inferiors should be stopped. Mixing races has unwanted effects and should be avoided. This approach also required the sterilization or extermination of antisocial elements, people with various physical or mental disabilities. According to the “racial hygiene” principles, Jews became the main target of persecution. They were considered “inhumans,” and their political and civil rights were limited. With the outbreak of World War II, Jews were systematically exterminated.

The Nuremberg Laws of September 15, 1935, finally consolidated the anti-Semitic policy of Nazism. These were the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. In the collage, you can see a table defining racial affiliation. It explains how the Third Reich’s racial policy recognized Jews. Under these laws, Jews were deprived of German citizenship, and marriages and extramarital affairs between Jews and Aryans were prohibited.

These laws contributed to what is known as “Crystal Night” or November pogroms. (The photo is in the collage to the right of the racial affiliation table). On the night of November 9-10, 1938, a wave of pogroms swept through Germany and Austria. About a thousand synagogues were set on fire and destroyed. More than eight hundred Jewish shops were looted. After the pogrom, the streets were littered with broken glass that glinted in the sun like crystal. This night became known as “Crystal,” symbolizing the so-called “purification” of the nation from Jews. The Jewish community was accused of the riots. In particular, the Jews had to pay compensation of 1 billion Reichsmarks. About 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps.

Around the corner on the left, there is a showcase with German anti-Semitic literature. It was one of the most important tools of racial propaganda. It was aimed at people of all ages, including children. On the top shelf, you see Otto Mall’s children’s book “The Hunting Journey.”

On two shelves below, there are books for schoolchildren. “Do not trust the fox in the green meadow, do not trust the Jewish oaths” and “Poisonous mushroom,” reflecting the anti-Semitic sentiments of society and images of Jews used in the Nazi propaganda.

Next to the wall, you can see a cover and an article from the magazine “Der Sturmer” (stormer), the official periodical of the SA assault brigades.

In the showcase on the left, there are some documents and materials belonging to the Aryans and Jews. They make it clear what consequences Nazi propaganda had for “non-Aryans.”

A typical notebook of a German soldier for 1942-43. On page 119, there’s a table defining “Jewish blood” created following the Nuremberg Laws. Next to it, there’s the so-called “Jewish passport that belonged to Theodor “Israel” Schlepenger. From October 1938, a stamp with the letter “J” was put in the upper left corner of the first page of the passport. It is the first letter of the word “Jude,” which means Jew. Jewish passports holders also had to add a Jewish middle name to their one. For example, if the first name was “Aryan,” men had to add “Israel,” women had to add “Sarah.” Thus, the segregation (separation) of Jews from other Germans occurred even through ordinary documents.