What did the Third Reich do to a German woman who dated a Jew?
In the United States, up until the first decades of the 20th century, not only marriage, but even the relationship between Europeans and people of color was not tolerated. The former was officially banned in most states, while the latter seemed to be not. But because of this, the white woman became an outcast to society, and her black lover could be lynched. Of course, people looked at the fleeting relationship between a white man and a black beauty more leniently, but no one would allow them to raise children together.
In Germany in the middle of the same century, a similar situation developed. After the defeat in the First World War, the German people’s minds became somewhat clouded. Many activists began to look for external and internal enemies. Only there, first of all, the Jews – the largest community in the country, with the exception of the titular nation – were targeted. How did they deal with women who dated or even married Jews?
From the very beginning, the NSDAP was categorically opposed to such relations. And she had the same negative attitude towards them, regardless of the gender of the Aryan. Back in the 1920s, there were calls from the Nazis to ban it on pain of punishment, up to and including capital punishment.
But when they came to power, they did not rush to do so. First of all, because the party leadership did not have a clear understanding of who exactly was considered a Jew – and most of them were assimilated to one degree or another. Some have even openly stated that the number of mixed marriages is too small for this phenomenon to become “socially dangerous.”
After the victory of the NSDAP in the elections, but before the passage of the Nuremberg Race Laws, the people guilty of this “misdemeanor” were not punished to the fullest extent of German law. They were only judged by society, which in some ways was much worse.
Blond SS boys would parade them through the streets with placards around their necks that said something like, “I’m dating a Jew.” And they actually went up and checked if one of the couple walking the streets had a suspicious appearance.
Consensual romantic relationships were portrayed in the press as “molestation.” There have been cases of mobs storming the homes of suspected citizens in order to lynch them. The SS and the police may or may have intervened.
At the same time, many local officials, in case of doubts about the nationality of the bride and groom, began to require the newlyweds to present documentary evidence of their Aryan origin. And after the adoption of the Nuremberg legislation, this rule was officially introduced.
From that time on, marriages between Aryans and non-Aryans were strictly forbidden. And how they dealt with simple lovers – see above. This kind of relationship was called Rassenschande and Blutschande – “racial shame” and “bloody shame”. The maximum penalty was up to 15 years in prison.
But such sentences did not happen often. Usually, people were urged to leave and were given a “public reprimand.” Only if they continued their behavior even after warnings could the Aryan offender receive a real sentence. What happened to their Jewish loved ones is understandable. With each passing year, the repressions became stronger and stronger. Even a barren German woman could not marry a non-Aryan, since the “honor of the German people” was at stake.
Nevertheless, it is known that the Gestapo was literally inundated with cases of violations that appeared only after the Nazis came to power. More than three-fifths of investigations at that time were initiated on the basis of denunciations. Therefore, the authorities did not always have the opportunity to react.
It is true that before the laws were passed, a significant number of ethnic Germans were already married to Jews. And the government never dared to annul them – even though such people were attacked by society and clearly forced to divorce. But no one wanted to lose their children, who would be sent to the camps with a high degree of probability.
For example, in February 1943, a demonstration took place in Berlin on Rosenstrasse. Residents of the German capital demanded the return home of their wives, children and husbands who had been taken from them. Most of the people who came there were German women who were very determined.
Shortly before that, the Battle of Stalingrad came to an end, and Field Marshal Paulus capitulated. Goebbels had no time for experiments, so he let these people go.