Final answer:
The Reich Citizenship Law aimed to remove Jewish people’s right to German citizenship as part of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, institutionalizing Nazi racial ideology and systematically depriving Jews of their civil rights.
Step-by-step explanation:
Purpose of the Reich Citizenship Law
The purpose of the Reich Citizenship Law, as part of the Nuremberg Laws established by the Nazi regime, was to remove Jewish people’s right to German citizenship. These laws were designed to institutionalize the Nazi racial ideology that primarily targeted Jewish individuals. The Nuremberg Laws defined Jews based on their ancestry, regardless of their religious practices or self-identification, and systematically stripped them of their civil rights, including the right to hold public office, practice professions, and participate in extramarital relationships with non-Jews. This excerpt from Article 2 sets forth the criteria for someone to be considered a Reich citizen, emphasizing ‘German or related blood’ as a precondition and implying that Jews, due to their ancestry, could not meet this standard.
These laws also forbade marriages between Jews and non-Jews, segregated Jews socially and economically, and were a significant step in the incremental marginalization that would culminate in the Holocaust. In addition, the regime imposed financial burdens, such as the “Reich Flight Tax,” to expropriate wealth from Jews attempting to leave Germany and then pursued a policy of “Aryanization” by confiscating Jewish property.
The Nuremberg Laws effectively excluded Jews from the fabric of German society, aiming to isolate and degrade them, which served the broader agenda of Nazi propaganda and the personal cult of Adolf Hitler. The removal of citizenship rights was critical to justify future atrocities, as it rendered Jews stateless within their own country, depriving them of the legal protections afforded to citizens under international law.