Who is German — and what exactly makes someone German? Germans have been arguing about these issues for centuries.
The current German constitution, called the , is clear and concise: a German is anyone with a German passport. Citizenship cannot be revoked. And discriminating against citizens on the basis of their religion, origin or language violates the fundamental values of the constitution.
This is one of the lessons learned from the ‘s reign of terror from 1933 to 1945, which systematically disenfranchised, terrorized and murdered the Jewish German population in particular, but also , homosexuals, disabled people, and political opponents, among others. They were arbitrarily denied their German identity.
However, 80 years after the end of Nazi rule, the fundamental value of equality for all Germans is increasingly being called into question.
“Whether you are German is decided between your ears, not on paper,” wrote Stefan Möller, a politician from the far right (AfD), on the social media platform X in July 2023.
His remark is one of hundreds of reasons why numerous German courts have repeatedly confirmed the unconstitutionality of parts of the AfD.
Historian Rolf-Ulrich Kunze from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in southwestern Germany sees the AfD as part of a historical continuum, partly because of statements like these.
“From my perspective, the AfD’s program is a seamless continuation of this Nazi ideology,” he told DW. “At that time, it was the distinction between Reich citizens and state citizens that was regulated in the so-called Reich Citizenship Law of the Nuremberg Laws. This is directly comparable to the AfD’s idea of a distinction between ‘real Germans’ and ‘passport Germans.’”
When had his so-called “race laws” passed by the Nazified parliament in Nuremberg on September 15, 1935, the persecution of the Jewish population had long been part of everyday life.
Hitler’s paramilitary troops terrorized people in the streets, and the first concentration camps had already been opened. Nevertheless, the laws depriving the Jewish population of their rights were a decisive step on the path to Germany’s policy of extermination.
Nuremberg Laws legalized injustice
The laws had two main provisions: firstly, they prohibited the Jewish population from marrying so-called ‘Aryans’ and even made sexual contact a criminal offense. Furthermore, Jews no longer enjoyed the same rights.
“It was what we now refer to as the legalization of injustice,” explains Kunze.
Although they remained German citizens, they were no longer citizens of the Third Reich. As a result, they lost their political rights and were declared second-class citizens.
“It’s about a theory of the superiority of the so-called white race over all others, empowering themselves to rule the world,” explains Rolf-Ulrich Kunze. “This type of ancestry-based racism is a direct product of the oldest form of discrimination we know of in European cultural history, namely .”
The laws led to an absurd process of determination as to who exactly was to be considered Jewish. The lawyers of the Nazi bureaucracy distinguished between “German blood,” “mixed race (first degree),” “mixed race (second degree)” and “Jewish.” In the end, these categories meant life or death.
Racial discrimination is still a problem
Even though the policy of extermination ended in 1945 with and the defeat of Nazi Germany, and the Germans adopted a new, liberal constitution, racial discrimination based on ancestry does not seem to have been overcome to this day.
“Some people in Germany are more equal than others,” Karen Taylor, chair of the Federal Conference of Migrant Organizations, told DW. “To put it bluntly, the promise of equality in the Basic Law effectively applies above all to people with ‘German blood.’ Immigrants in particular experience that they are not protected to the same extent.”
Demands by the radical right to be able to revoke German citizenship from migrants reinforce this impression.
How can racial discrimination in society be brought to an end? “We don’t talk enough about the positive aspects of migration,” said Taylor.
“In Berlin, we are proud that you can travel around the world through the city’s cuisine, and we are proud of our cultural diversity. But migration is more than food and cultural programs: it’s about people, their stories, and traditions that enrich Germany in the long term.”
To overcome racist and antisemitic prejudices against parts of German society, Taylor said everyone must do their part. “It’s wrong to wait for the state to act. Every one of us — in school, in clubs, and in everyday life — can take responsibility.”
This article was originally written in German.
While you’re here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.
The post Legacy of racist Nuremberg Laws still lingers in Germany appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
