The word antisemitism means prejudice against or hatred of Jews. The Holocaust is history’s most extreme example of antisemitism.
These artifacts reflect some of the anti-Jewish policies that permeated daily life in the period of the Holocaust.
Signs excluding Jews, such as the sign shown here, were posted in public places (including parks, theaters, movie houses, and restaurants) throughout Nazi Germany. This sign states in German: "Jews are not wanted here."
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1939 flyer from the Hotel Reichshof in Hamburg, Germany. The red tag informed Jewish guests of the hotel that they were not permitted in the hotel restaurant, bar, or in the reception rooms. The hotel management required Jewish guests to take their meals in their rooms. Following the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, Jews were systematically excluded from public places in Germany.
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Antisemitic children's book published in 1936 in Nuremberg, Germany. The title, in German, is translated as "You Can't Trust a Fox in the Heath and a Jew on his Oath: A Picture Book for Young and Old." The cover depicts a fox in the heath and a caricature of a Jew taking an oath.
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German police authorities issued this passport to Erna "Sara" Schlesinger on July 8, 1939, in Berlin. This first page of the passport illustrates the German laws that facilitated the identification of Jews in Germany. From 1938, German regulations required that Jewish women with a first name of "non-Jewish" origin use the middle name "Sara" on all official documents. Jewish men had to add the name "Israel". The letter "J" (standing for "Jude," that is, the word "Jew" in German) was stamped in red on the passports of Jews who were also German nationals. Erna Schlesinger emigrated to the United States in 1939.
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We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies, Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation, the Claims Conference, EVZ, and BMF for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. View the list of donor acknowledgement.
