Socials studies

First Regulation to the Reich Citizenship Law Note: This law, passed on November 14, 1935, amended the original Reich Citizenship Law, passed on September 15, 1935.

Article 3

Only the Reich citizen, as bearer of full political rights, exercises the right to vote in political affairs or can hold public office . . .

Article 4

1. A Jew cannot be a citizen of the Reich. He has no right to vote in political affairs and he cannot occupy public office.

2. Jewish [government] officials will retire as of December 31, 1935 . . .

Article 5

1. A Jew is anyone who is descended from at least three grandparents who are racially full Jews . . .

2. A Jew is also one who is descended from two full Jewish parents, if (a) he belonged to the Jewish religious community at the time this law was issued, or joined the community later, (b) he was married to a Jewish person, at the time the law was issued, or married one subsequently, (c) he is the offspring of a marriage with a Jew, in the sense of Section I, which was contracted after the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor became effective, (d) he is the offspring of an extramarital relationship with a Jew, according to Section I, and will be born out of wedlock after July 31, 1936 . . .1

1 Jeremy Noakes and Geoffrey Pridham, eds., Documents on Nazism 1919–1945 (New York: Viking Press, 1974), 463–67.

Handout

© Facing History and Ourselves visit www.facinghistory.org