The Growing Persecution of Jews

A persecution that grew step by step

From the moment the Nazis took power in 1933, they set out to persecute Jewish people, and they did it in stages, each one going further than the last. It began with boycotts and pressure, moved to laws that stripped away citizenship and rights, and reached open violence by 1938. ⚠️ This module traces that escalation from 1933 to 1939. The mass murder of the Holocaust came later, during the war, and is studied separately. Your task here is to understand how the persecution built up, step by deliberate step.

How far it had gone, 1933 and 1938

Set the early years against the later ones to see how quickly the persecution deepened.

Order the steps of the persecution

Put the main steps of the persecution between 1933 and 1938 into order.

• The regime organises a boycott of Jewish shops
• Laws remove Jews from many jobs and from public life
• The Nuremberg Laws strip away citizenship and rights
• Persecution intensifies year by year
• In 1938 open violence erupts in Kristallnacht

What the pattern shows

What does the pattern of persecution from 1933 to 1938 show?

• A deliberate escalation, each step removing more rights and going further than the last
• A single sudden event with nothing before or after
• A set of unconnected accidents
• The rights of Jewish people steadily improving

Words for the persecution

Five words that let you explain what happened, accurately and with care.

Identify the steps of persecution

Three of these were steps in the persecution of Jews in the 1930s. Choose the three.

• The boycott of Jewish shops
• The Nuremberg Laws
• The violence of Kristallnacht
• Granting Jewish people equal rights
• Protecting Jewish businesses in law

A deliberate escalation, and its human cost

The clearest way to understand these years is as a deliberate policy that grew harsher in stages. It began with pressure and boycotts, moved to laws that excluded Jewish people from ordinary life and took away their citizenship, and reached open, organised violence by 1938. Each step made the next seem less shocking to onlookers, which is part of how it was allowed to happen. The cost to Jewish people was immense: livelihoods, homes and safety were lost, and many were forced to flee. This escalation is studied up to 1939; the mass murder that followed during the war is examined separately.

Match each step to what it was

Find the sentence that traces the escalation

A student explains these years. Select the ONE sentence that describes the persecution as a deliberate escalation.

• The persecution grew step by step, from boycotts, to laws that removed citizenship and rights, to open violence by 1938.
• The persecution began suddenly and completely in a single day.
• The persecution was a series of unconnected accidents.
• The rights of Jewish people steadily improved in these years.

Why historians trace the steps

Historians pay close attention to the ORDER of events like these, because persecution rarely arrives all at once. It tends to advance in stages: first words and pressure, then rules that exclude a group from everyday life, then the removal of their legal protection, and only then open violence. Each stage can make the next seem a smaller step than it truly is. Understanding this sequence matters. It helps explain how ordinary people came to tolerate what would once have been unthinkable, and it is why the exact order of events is worth learning with care.

Complete the account of the persecution

Hostility and prejudice against Jewish people is _____. An early step was a _____ of Jewish shops. In 1935 the _____ stripped away citizenship and rights. In 1938 open violence came in _____. Many Jewish people were forced to become a _____ and flee the country.

Understand these years correctly

Which is the soundest understanding of the persecution of Jews from 1933 to 1939?

• A deliberate, escalating state policy that stripped rights step by step and turned to open violence, with the mass murder of the Holocaust coming later
• It was the Holocaust itself, complete by 1939
• A few minor, unconnected restrictions of no real consequence
• Something ordinary Germans forced on a reluctant regime

From laws, to open violence

The escalation can be grouped into two broad phases. Weigh how the second went beyond the first.

Judge these years like an examiner

You are marking three claims about the persecution of Jews in the 1930s. For each, choose the soundest judgement.

• An essay says the persecution began suddenly with Kristallnacht in 1938. Is that safe?
• An essay says the persecution of the 1930s was the Holocaust. Is that safe?
• An essay says the steps of persecution were unconnected accidents. Is that safe?

Write: how the persecution escalated

How did the persecution of Jews escalate between 1933 and 1939? Trace the steps in order, explain the human cost, and show that it was deliberate. This is written in English and is not auto-marked.

• Start with the early boycotts and pressure
• Explain the exclusion from jobs and public life
• Explain the Nuremberg Laws
• Explain the violence of Kristallnacht
• Show that the escalation was deliberate, and note its human cost