11. La Gestapo et la persécution des Juifs en Allemagne, 1933-1939

Abstract

This article examines the persecution of German Jews before the Shoah – from the seizure of power in 1933 until the outbreak of war in 1939. In addition to briefly outlining the formation of the Gestapo and its growth in personnel, its changing priorities will also be discussed. Subsequently, the various stages of persecuting the Jews, which began with the early pogroms and boycotts in 1933, will be thoroughly described. Gradually, the exclusion became systematic, which was also reflected in the organisation of the Gestapo, which formed its own “Jew departments” to bureaucratise the persecution. The preliminary highlight was the 1938 November Pogrom. Although the so-called “Reichskristallnacht” was not initiated by the Gestapo, it seized the opportunity to take the lead in “Jewish policy”. Thus, in the course of the Pogrom, over 26,000 youths and men were deported to concentration camps. A view of the tightened measures after 1939 and the deportations from the Reich concludes the article.