Nuremberg Laws Timeline

(September 15, 1935 - May 8, 1945)

The Nuremberg Laws were a set of antisemitic laws enacted by Nazi Germany at the annual Nuremberg Rally on September 15, 1935. Comprising the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour and the Reich Citizenship Law, they deprived Jews of German citizenship, banned marriages between Jews and non-Jews, and defined Jewish identity by ancestry rather than belief. These laws institutionalized racial discrimination against Jews and became a legal foundation for escalating persecution culminating in the Holocaust. More Less

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Prelude to the Laws

Hitler dictates Mein Kampf while imprisoned

1924

While imprisoned in 1924 after the failed Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler dictated Mein Kampf to his deputy, Rudolf Hess. The book laid out his antisemitic ideology, which later informed Nazi racial policy including the Nuremberg Laws.

Image source: Mein Kampf

Central Office for Combatting Gypsies established

1929

The Central Office for Combatting Gypsies was established in 1929 under the Weimar Republic, creating an administrative framework that would later be used by the Nazi regime to track and persecute the Romani people.

Image source: Nuremberg Laws

Boycott of Jewish businesses declared

Apr 1, 1933

In response to international criticism of Nazi persecution of Jews, Hitler declared a national boycott of Jewish businesses on 1 April 1933. This marked an early step in the systematic exclusion of Jews from German economic life.

Image source: Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses

Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service passed

Apr 7, 1933

Passed on 7 April 1933, this law forced all non-Aryans to retire from the legal profession and civil service, excluding Jews from public employment as part of the early Nazi campaign against so-called 'non-Aryans'.

Image source: Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service

Laws stripping naturalised German Jews of citizenship

Jul 1933

Legislation passed in July 1933 stripped naturalised German Jews of their citizenship, creating a legal basis for recent immigrants, particularly Eastern European Jews, to be deported from Germany.

Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring passed

Jul 14, 1933

Passed on 14 July 1933, this law called for the compulsory sterilisation of people with a range of hereditary, physical, and mental illnesses, reflecting the regime's broader eugenic and racial hygiene agenda.

Image source: Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring

Law against Dangerous Habitual Criminals passed

Nov 24, 1933

Under the Law against Dangerous Habitual Criminals, passed on 24 November 1933, habitual criminals were forced to undergo sterilisation, extending the regime's eugenic policies further into the criminal justice system.

Image source: Nuremberg Laws

Nazi Party publishes 'Warum Arierparagraph?' pamphlet

1934

In 1934, the Nazi Party published a pamphlet titled 'Warum Arierparagraph?' ('Why the Aryan Law?'), which summarised the perceived need for racial legislation and helped prepare public opinion for further antisemitic measures.

Hitler orders stop to individual actions against Jews

Aug 8, 1935

Concerned about international opinion ahead of the 1936 Olympics, Hitler ordered a stop to 'individual actions' against German Jews on 8 August 1935, and Interior Minister Frick threatened legal action against party members who ignored the order.

Ministerial conference held on the Jewish question

Aug 20, 1935

A conference of ministers was held on 20 August 1935 to discuss the question of new antisemitic legislation, as assaults and boycotts against Jews increased amidst a propaganda campaign authorised at the highest levels of government.

The Nuremberg Laws

Seventh annual Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg

Sep 10, 1935 - Sep 16, 1935

The seventh annual Nazi Party rally, held in Nuremberg from 10 to 16 September 1935, featured the only Reichstag session held outside Berlin during the Nazi regime, at which the Nuremberg Laws were announced.

Image source: Nuremberg rallies

Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour

Sep 15, 1935

One of the two Nuremberg Laws, it forbade marriages between Jews and Germans, between Mischlinge of the first degree and Germans, between Jews and Mischlinge of the second degree, and between two Mischlinge of the second degree.

Nuremberg Laws unanimously passed by the Reichstag

Sep 15, 1935

The two Nuremberg Laws were introduced at a special session of the Reichstag during the annual Nuremberg Rally on 15 September 1935. They were unanimously passed, institutionalising Nazi racial ideology in German law.

Reich Citizenship Law supplementary decree issued

Nov 14, 1935

A supplementary decree issued on 14 November 1935 defined who was legally considered Jewish and brought the Reich Citizenship Law into effect, stripping Jews of citizenship rights and classifying them by ancestry.

Decree extends laws to Gypsies and Negroes

Nov 26, 1935

A supplementary decree issued on 26 November 1935 extended the marriage prohibitions of the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour to 'Gypsies, Negroes, and their bastards', broadening the scope of Nazi racial policy.

Enforcement and Persecution

Enforcement of the laws delayed until after Berlin Olympics

Aug 1936

Concerned that international opinion would be adversely swayed by the new laws, prosecutions were delayed until after the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. The Interior Ministry did not actively enforce them until after the Games concluded.

Image source: 1936 Summer Olympics

Himmler issues order for combatting the Gypsy plague

Dec 1938

In December 1938, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler issued an order for 'combatting the Gypsy plague', intensifying persecution of Roma. In 1938, public health authorities had also been ordered to register all Roma and Roma Mischlinge.

Image source: Romani Holocaust

Himmler orders deportation of all Roma to concentration camps

Dec 1942

By 1942, Robert Ritter had produced a scale of ZM+, ZM of the first and second degree, and ZM- reflecting decreasing levels of Romani ancestry. In December 1942, Himmler ordered that all Roma were to be sent to Nazi concentration camps.

Spread and Aftermath

Italy passes racial laws and Manifesto of Race

1938

In 1938, Fascist Italy passed the Italian racial laws and Manifesto of Race, which stripped Jews of their citizenship and forbade sexual relations and marriages between Jewish and non-Jewish Italians.

Image source: Italian racial laws

Hungary bans Jews from various professions

May 28, 1938

Hungary passed laws on 28 May 1938 and again on 5 May 1939 banning Jews from various professions, mirroring aspects of the Nuremberg Laws as antisemitic legislation spread beyond Germany.

Romania's Iron Guard passes law defining status of Jews

1940

In 1940, the ruling Iron Guard in Romania passed the Law Defining the Legal Status of Romanian Jews, extending discriminatory racial legislation modelled partly on the Nuremberg Laws to another European country.

Anti-Jewish laws were enacted in Slovakia and Bulgaria

1941

In 1941, the Codex Judaicus was enacted in Slovakia and Bulgaria passed the Law for Protection of the Nation, while the Ustaše in Croatia passed legislation defining who was a Jew and restricting contact with them.

Aftermath and Legacy

Original document recovered by U.S. Counterintelligence Corps

1945

The original typed copy of the Nuremberg Laws was recovered by the U.S. Army's Counterintelligence Corps in 1945. During a visit to Los Angeles, it was handed over to the Huntington Library, where it was stored in a bomb-proof vault.

Document revealed and displayed at Skirball Cultural Center

1999

The Huntington Library revealed the existence of the original Nuremberg Laws document in 1999 and sent it on permanent loan to the Skirball Cultural Center, which placed it on public display.

Key Facts

The Nuremberg Laws were announced on September 15, 1935, at the annual Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany.
The two main laws were the Reich Citizenship Law, which stripped Jews of German citizenship, and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour, which banned marriages and relationships between Jews and non-Jews.
Jewish identity was defined racially by ancestry: anyone with three or four Jewish grandparents was classified as Jewish, regardless of religious practice or self-identification.
Mischlinge (persons of mixed Jewish ancestry with one or two Jewish grandparents) occupied an ambiguous legal category subject to varying degrees of discrimination.
The laws served as the legal basis for increasing persecution of Jews in Germany and annexed territories until their effective end with Germany's defeat in World War II in 1945.

Source

This Nuremberg Laws timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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