Antisemitism and the persecution of Jews were central principles of Nazi ideology. In their 25-point party program published in 1920, Nazi party members publicly declared their intention to segregate Jews from “Aryan” society and to abrogate their political, legal, and civil rights.
From 1933 until the outbreak of war in 1939, Jews suffered the consequences of more than 400 decrees and regulations that restricted all aspects of their lives. Although many of these regulations that affected the Jews had been national laws issued by German administration, state, regional, and municipal officials also acted on their own initiatives. These communities promulgated a torrent of their own exclusionary decrees. Thus, hundreds of individuals in all levels of government throughout the country were involved in the persecution of Jews as they conceived, discussed, drafted, adopted, enforced, and supported anti-Jewish legislation. No corner of Germany was left untouched.
The first major law to curtail the rights of Jewish citizens was the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service of April 7, 1933, which excluded Jews and the “politically unreliable” from civil service. The German authorities’ first formulation of the so-called Aryan Paragraph was made the new law and the regulation was used to exclude Jews and other “non-Aryans” from organizations, professions, and other aspects of public life. This would become the foundation of the Nuremberg Race Laws of 1935, which defined Jews not by religious belief but by ancestral lineage and which formalized their segregation from the so-called Aryan population.
Government agencies at all levels aimed to exclude Jews from the economic sphere of Germany by preventing them from earning a living. Jews were required to register their domestic and foreign property and assets. German authorities then proceeded to “Aryanize” all Jewish-owned businesses, a process involving the dismissal of Jewish workers and managers as well as the transfer of companies and enterprises to non-Jewish Germans. The prices would be well below market value. German authorities continued their legislative persecution of German Jews in 1937 and 1938 as well. The Nazis forbade Jewish doctors to treat non-Jews and they revoked the licenses of Jewish lawyers. All Jews were obliged to carry identity cards that indicated their Jewish heritage, and, in the autumn of 1938, all Jewish passports were stamped with an identifying letter “J.” The anti-semitic legislation the Nazi leaders enacted in Germany and Austria then paved the way for more radical persecution of Jews.
Below is 28 of the 400 legal restrictions imposed upon Jews and other groups during the first six years of the Nazi regime.
1933
March 31: Decree of the Berlin City Commissioner for Health suspends Jewish doctors from the city’s social welfare services.
April 7: The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service removes Jews from government service.
April 25: The Law against Overcrowding in Schools and Universities limits the number of Jewish students in public schools.
July 14: The Denaturalization Law revokes the citizenship of naturalized Jews and “undesirables.”
October 4: The Law on Editors bans Jews from editorial posts.
1935
May 21: The Army Law expels Jewish officers from the army.
September 15: The Nuremberg Race Laws exclude German Jews from Reich citizenship and prohibit them from marrying or having sexual relations with persons of “German or German-related blood.”
1936
January 11: The Executive Order on the Reich Tax Law forbids Jews to serve as tax consultants.
April 3: The Reich Veterinarians Law expels Jews from the profession.
October 15: The Reich Ministry of Education bans Jewish teachers from public schools.
1937
April 9: The Mayor of Berlin orders public schools not to admit Jewish children until further notice.
1938
January 5: The Law on the Alteration of Family and Personal Names forbids Jews from changing their names.
February 5: The Law on the Profession of Auctioneer excludes Jews from the profession.
March 18: The Gun Law bans Jewish gun merchants.
April 22: The Decree against the Camouflage of Jewish Firms forbids changing the names of Jewish-owned businesses.
April 26: The Order for the Disclosure of Jewish Assets requires Jews to report all property in excess of 5,000 reichsmarks.
July 11: The Reich Ministry of the Interior bans Jews from health spas.
August 17: The Executive Order on the Law on the Alteration of Family and Personal Names requires Jews bearing first names of “non-Jewish” origin to adopt an additional name: “Israel” for men and “Sara” for women.
October 3: The Decree on the Confiscation of Jewish Property regulates the transfer of assets from Jews to non-Jews in Germany.
October 5: The Reich Ministry of the Interior invalidates all German passports held by Jews. Jews must surrender their old passports, which will become valid only after the letter “J” has been stamped on them.
November 12: The Decree on the Exclusion of Jews from German Economic Life closes all Jewish-owned businesses.
November 15: The Reich Ministry of Education expels all Jewish children from public schools.
November 28: The Reich Ministry of the Interior restricts the freedom of movement of Jews.
November 29: The Reich Ministry of the Interior forbids Jews to keep carrier pigeons.
December 14: The Executive Order on the Law on the Organization of National Work cancels all state contracts held with Jewish-owned firms.
December 21: The Law on Midwives bans all Jews from the profession.
1939
February 21: The Decree concerning the Surrender of Precious Metals and Stones in Jewish Ownership requires Jews to turn in gold, silver, diamonds, and other valuables to the state without compensation.
August 1: The President of the German Lottery forbids the sale of lottery tickets to Jews 
Zahra Saad
The Holocaust - A Visual History 