Board games from the city of Vijayanagara (Hampi ... - Gioco dell'Oca.

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B OARD G AME S TUDIES 6, 2003
Cultural Background
The persecution of the Jews and other minority groups in Nazi Germany began as
political repression, and ended as perhaps the worst genocide in human history. In 1933
Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of the so-called Weimarer Republik and the first
concentration camp for political dissidents was established at Dachau. In September
1935 the Nuremberg laws deprived Jews of all political rights in Germany, and in
October 1937 Jewish property was confiscated. In 1938 Jewish passports were revoked,
trapping hundreds of thousands of Jewish people within territories controlled by
Germany. In November 1938, a nation-wide pogrom, the “Reichspogromnacht”, which
the Nazis called “Reichskristallnacht” began against Jewish people. This event, better
known as “Kristallnacht” (Crystal Night) refers to the smashing of windows of Jewish
shops and synagogues during these actions carried out by the organizations of the
NSDAP. Soon after, the deportation of tens of thousands of Jews to concentration camps
began (Barnavi 1992). It was in this cultural context that “Juden Raus!” was made available
to the public. On December 5, 1938, one month after “Kristallnacht” the distribution
firm of Rudolf Fabricius offered a 33.1/3% discount on “Juden Raus!” at the price
of RM 4.50.
Description of the game
“Juden Raus!” is a race game that instills values of a totalitarian fascist regime. It has
both the theme of racial hatred and employs racist images in the game design. The object
of the game is to deprive the German Jews of their property and to make them leave the
city. The game board clearly states that the first player to remove six Jews from the city
wins the game. In this way the game clearly foreshadows the policy of racial genocide that
was to follow.
Gaming material
The dimensions of the board are 50 x 60 cm, the board is cardboard with cloth
hinges. On the board are 13 specially marked circles with pictures of Jewish storefronts.
On reaching these places a hat representing a Jew is awarded to the player.
The game board has three areas of text. The first sentence says: “Zeige Geschick im
Würfelspiel, damit Du sammelst der Juden viel!” (Display skill in the dice game, so that
you collect many Jews!). The second reads: “Gelingt es Dir 6 Juden rauszujagen, so bist
Du Sieger ohne zu fragen!” (When you succeed in driving out 6 Jews, you will be winner
beyond all question!). On the lower portion of the game board can be seen caricatures
of a man, a woman and a child, in the style in which Jews were stereotyped at that
time (figure 1). The writing below them reads: “Auf nach Palästina!” (Off to Palestine!).
This graphic echoes a description given by Victor Klemperer in his diary (Klemperer
1995: 398). Under March 1st 1938 one reads: “Sie [i.e. the Nazis] haben keinen Sinn
für ihre eigene Komik... Ihre bewußte Komik ist Niedertracht gegen Wehrlose: Hier in
Dresden ist heute ein Faschingsumzug: “Auszug der Kinder Israel” (They have no sense
for their own humor... Their deliberate humor is meanness towards the helpless: Today
there is a carnival’s procession here in Dresden: “Exodus of the children of Israel”). This