Life_under_Siege_The_Jews_of_Magdeburg_under_Nazi_Rule.pdf

175
weeks and that in spite of the known breaches of the Nuremberg Laws, Böhm
maintained the relationship until arrested. Sentencing was set for 4 October and
his sentence remains unknown. This final example is perhaps the most typical of
the cases. The motivations of Böhm’s lover, turned informant, accuser and
witness, remain unknown. However, this case illustrates how perilously dangerous
any social relationships with non-Jews had become. Quite separate from their
public demonisation, Jews were also completely unprotected legally and put
themselves at potential risk when interacting on any level with non-Jews.
By the very essence of the crime, ‘Rassenschande’ could be viewed as perhaps
the most humiliating and degrading of all ‘crimes’ a Jew could be accused of at
that time. A number of observations may be drawn from these cases in
Magdeburg. Not all cases resulted from the possibility of an ‘aryanisation,’ but the
sample cases from Magdeburg indicate a range of motivations. The cases of
Albert Hirschland and Willi Spanier provided the local Nazi Party and racial
ideologists with perfect propagandistic opportunities. Regardless of the veracity of
the accusations, they made sure that they used such cases to prove to the public
the supposed perverse nature of Jewish sexuality. In the case of ‘Kaufhaus
Gebrüder Barasch’ the prime motivation would have been the ‘aryanisation’ of
the business. In the remaining two cases of Gans and Böhm, personal motivations
for gain or revenge came into play. However, the unifying element in all of the
cases was the public humiliation, the shame and the degradation both the accused
and the Jewish community experienced. In depriving Jews of any legal status, the
Nuremberg Laws made them perfect targets for any accusation. With the
introduction of the crime of ‘Rassenschande’ added to the ongoing public
campaign of demonisation, Jews were now defined legislatively as the ultimate