Geltungsjude

Geltungsjude was the term for persons that were considered Jews by the first supplementary decree to the Nuremberg Laws from November 14, 1935. The term wasn't used officially, but was coined because the persons were considered (gelten in German) Jews rather than exactly belonging to any of the categories of the previous Nuremberg Laws. There were three categories of Geltungsjuden: 1. offspring of an intermarriage who belonged to the Jewish community after 1935; 2. offspring of an intermarriage who was married to a Jew after 1935; 3. illegitimate child of a Geltungsjude, born after 1935.

Contents

Definition

The definition of these persons in the decree is as follows:

ARTICLE 5 (2) A Jew is also an individual [jüdischer Mischling] who is descended from two full-Jewish grandparents if:
(a) he was a member of the Jewish religious community when this law was issued, or joined the community later;
(b) when the law was issued, he was married to a person who was a Jew, or was subsequently married to a Jew;
(c) he is the issue from a marriage with a Jew, in the sense of Section I, which was contracted after the coming into effect of the Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor of September 15, 1935;
(d) he is the issue of an extramarital relationship with a Jew, in the sense of Section I, and was born out of wedlock after July 31, 1936.[1]

Each of these persons is considered a Jew, hence the name Geltungsjude. The term jüdischer Mischling in the first sentence means Jewish half-breed.

Consequences

Geltungsjuden were not citizens of the Reich anymore and did not have the right to vote. They were also prohibited to marry a quarter Jew. In the Protectorate, they were routinely deported. They were sometimes deported from Altreich, and only very rarely from Austria.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/nurmlaw2.html
This article incorporates information from the revision as of February 13, 2007 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.