How did Nazi persecution of the Jews and other groups develop into the Holocaust?
Nazi racial ideology, the persecution of Jews from the boycott of 1933 through the Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht, the persecution of other groups, the ghettos and the Final Solution, and the responsibility for the Holocaust.
A focused answer to Nazi persecution in OCR's Living under Nazi Rule depth study, covering Nazi racial ideology, the escalating persecution of Jews (the 1933 boycott, the Nuremberg Laws, Kristallnacht), the persecution of other groups, the ghettos and the Final Solution, and the question of responsibility for the Holocaust.
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What this dot point is asking
This dot point traces the Nazis' persecution of the Jews and other groups, escalating into the Holocaust. You need Nazi racial ideology, the steps of persecution (the 1933 boycott, the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, Kristallnacht in 1938), the persecution of other groups, the ghettos and the Final Solution, and the question of responsibility. It is the most serious topic in the depth study, and it must be handled with care and accuracy.
Nazi racial ideology
The escalation of persecution against the Jews
The persecution of other groups
The ghettos and the Final Solution
Responsibility for the Holocaust
Try this
Q1. What did the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 do? [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. They stripped Jews of German citizenship and banned marriage and relationships between Jews and non-Jews.
Q2. Explain how the Second World War changed Nazi persecution of the Jews. [Short explanation]
- Cue. The invasions of Poland and the USSR brought millions more Jews under Nazi control, leading to ghettos, mass shootings by killing squads, and then the Final Solution from 1941 to 1942, the systematic mass murder in death camps.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR SHP 20194 marksDescribe two ways the Nazis persecuted Jews before the Second World War.Show worked answer →
The world depth study opener (4 marks, two features, 2 marks each). Reward two distinct, developed examples, focused on the pre-war period.
Way one. Legal discrimination: the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 stripped Jews of German citizenship and banned marriage and relationships between Jews and non-Jews, removing their rights step by step.
Way two. Violence and intimidation: from the 1933 boycott of Jewish shops to Kristallnacht in November 1938, when synagogues, shops and homes were attacked, many Jews were beaten, killed or arrested.
Top marks. Two separate ways, each with a precise supporting detail.
OCR SHP 202116 marks'Nazi persecution of the Jews became steadily more extreme between 1933 and 1945.' How far do you agree with this interpretation?Show worked answer →
The world depth study interpretation judgement (16 marks, AO4). Argue both sides with precise support and reach a clear judgement.
Support for the interpretation. Trace the clear escalation: the 1933 boycott and early discrimination, the Nuremberg Laws (1935) removing citizenship, Kristallnacht (1938), the ghettos after 1939, and the Final Solution from 1941 to 1942, a steady move from discrimination to mass murder.
Qualification. The escalation was not perfectly smooth: there were pauses (for example around the 1936 Olympics) and the shift to systematic genocide came with the war and the invasion of the USSR, so it was both escalating and shaped by circumstances.
Judgement. Conclude how far you agree, for example that persecution did become steadily more extreme overall, while noting the war as the decisive turning point, with a supported judgement.
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