I hope that I am posting this in the right place, but something has always puzzled me about Nazi treatment of the Jews. For the sake of this question leave aside the whole wider issue that you can't treat human beings like that! Firstly, Nazi's believed that Jews were not quite human. They made much of such things as measurement of noses, ears etc that "showed" that people they regarded as being non-Aryan were "sub-human" etc etc. I hope that I have explained this clearly, and am not being unfair about what Hitler et al believed. Secondly, they forced Jews to wear the "Star of David" on their clothes. My question is this, if the Jews were as the Nazi's claimed they would have been distinctive enough for the Germans to identify them without the "Star of David". If the Jews had to wear a badge to identify themselves surely all the Nazi racial theory is complete b*****? How did the Nazi's justify forcing Jews to wear the badge? By this I mean what did they tell the rest of the Germans, those who were not complete fruit loops?
I feel the simple answer is humility. Wearing the star of David was seen as a badge of disgrace, you had a badge so you were clearly labelled as a Jew to everyone who came across you and therefore sub human. The measurements of facial features were carried out on Germans as well, there was a need to be able to find a way to distguish between those that were of true descendancy and this was just one method at attempting this, there were many more. I read with interest one instance where a medical division looked at both altering the unborn german children so that they were easily recognisable as true Germans. When it was discoverd their efforts only resulted in disfigured or disabled children, their attentions were turned to how they could that same result to everyone not of true German origin.
I think the badge rule simply exposed the invalidity of the Nazis' false presupposition about the Jews. The fact is, Jews do not conform to the physical stereotypes--large nose, beard, etc etc--to the degree which Nazi antisemites would have wished (judging by how these stereotypical features were perpetuated by schoolbook caricatures, etc at the time). The fact that badges were required at all should have sent a clear message to the perpetrators, or anyone observing: "Jews" are not all that different from "Aryans," and to base these alleged differences on supposed racial characteristics is just an ugly mythology run rampant.
The badge rule was to make the humiliated status of Jews blindingly obvious to all of Europe under Germany's rule, so that both Jews and non-Jews knew who they were and where they stood. If a guy in a yellow star was caught sitting on an "Aryan" park bench, the cops wouldn't have to ask for his papers before beating the poor man senseless. It was like all the medieval punishments -- branding, cutting off ears, and suchlike.
Kiwiwriter: Bang on about "medieval"--the yellow star was actually a revival of a medieval convention.
Kiwiwriter: Bang on about "medieval"--the yellow star was actually a revival of a medieval convention. Many of the nazis propaganda was based upon the medieval ideas!
Christopher Hale's book, 'Himmler's Crusade', gives a very good account of Nazi beliefs and 'science'. There are pictures of Nazis measuring the skulls and faces of Tibetan peoples who were believed to be descendants of the original Aryans, created after a collision of fire and ice.(You have to read the book to get the full flavour of nuttiness). But these incredible ideas were deep rooted and stretched far back into the 19th Century - the Nazis didn't invent them - and seem to have been an attempt to justify scientifically centuries old anti-semitism.
Its a book I have on my shelf but have yet to read it, its one of those books that I know will just prove unbelievable, but in some ways thats why I need to get to it
