Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

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because of its propaganda value. The policy of racially cleansing Germany was a
hallmark of this phase, which continued until the pogrom of 1938. Having
formally defined and legislated the Jews as the ultimate other, the Nazis wanted
them disassociated from all things German, and wanted this foreign body to leave
Germany. The city of Magdeburg subjected its Jewish population to all the
associated measures with diligence.
On 16 January 1936, the State Police for the Magdeburg District ordered that
Jews were forbidden to wear the insignia of the Reich Sports’ Association. 28 This
included both the adult and youth divisions. In the case of the youth division, it
was the responsibility of all group leaders to confirm the ‘Aryan’ lineage of their
members under the age of eighteen. 29 Günter Manneberg, then a young Jewish
teenager, fell victim to this and was expelled from his local non-Jewish sports’
association days later. 30 On 7 January 1935, after careful consideration by the
local police, Jews were still permitted to possess licences for firearms. A concern
was raised that allowing Jews to possess any form of weaponry could prove a
danger to the local population. The police also promised to re-assess the matter in
the future, should too many Jews in the city apply for such licences. 31 In this
instance the clear picture of demonisation is articulated as Jews are imagined to be
a serious physical threat to the safety of the city’s population. Further evidence of
this occurred on 12 March 1936 when assemblies of any of the permitted Jewish
organisations in Magdeburg were temporarily banned until the elections for the
28
Rundschreiben Nr. 28/36; Betr.: Tragen der Reichssportabzeichens und des
Reichsjugendabzeichens durch Juden, 16. Januar 1936, Bestand Rep. C 31, Signatur
Nr. 26, LHASA MD, p. 66.
29
Paul Yogi Mayer, “Equality – Egality – Jews and Sport in Germany,” Leo Baeck
Institute Year Book, vol. XXV, 1980, pp. 221–241.
30
Mannings, op. cit., 17 August 1999.
31
Betrifft: Erteilung von Waffenscheinen an Juden, 7. Januar 1936, Collection JM,
File 10624, YVA, op. cit., p. 111.