The veneer of legality
All Jews required to carry ID cards
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“Possession of a card is compulsory for all Jews and ‘Aryans’ of military age, but voluntary for other ‘Aryans.’”
Berlin
Identification cards for use within Germany were introduced by decree of the Minister of the Interior, Wilhelm Frick, on July 22, 1938. Frick, a lawyer by training, consistently worked to furnish the anti-democratic, anti-Jewish measures of the regime with the veneer of legality. Frick’s initial order was vague about who would be required to carry IDs (“The Reich Minister of the Interior determines which groups of German nationals and to what extent are subject to compulsory identification”), but this was clarified in an announcement on July 23. Apart from men of military service age, it was mainly Jews of all age-groups who were required to apply for IDs. The purpose of the IDs was to clearly identify and stigmatize Jews and further separate them from the rest of the population. In a July 28 notice, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports on this latest legal atrocity.
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SOURCE
Institution:
Collection:
“Reich Jews from Age of 3 Months Must Carry Identity Cards”
Original:
Box 1, folder 5
Source available in English
