This posting continues my previous dialogue about miscegenation and racial purity as proposed by the Nazis. On September 15th, 1935, Hitler spoke at a rally in Nuremberg, Bavaria. There he announced two new laws. The first was titled, Reichsburgergesetz, (The Reich Citizenship Law). It stipulated those with three or four Untermensch grandparents, would henceforth be classified as Staatsangehörige or subjects of the State. From that date they lost their voting rights and had to register their identity with the police every fortnight. Those who could prove they are pure Aryan or ‘half-breeds’ (those with at least 50% Aryan blood), would be deemed Reichsbürger or citizens of the State. Untermensch translates to English as sub-human and included Jews, Romani, Slavs and presumably anybody deemed to have ‘tainted’, non-Aryan blood.
The second law was called Gesetz zum Schutze des Deutschen Blutes und der Deutschen Ehre, The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour. It banned marriages and criminalized extramarital relations between Jews and Herrenvolk. It also prohibited German women, under the age of forty-five, from taking employment in Jewish households. This proclamation was designed protect the purity of the so-called Aryan bloodline. The direct translation of Herrenvolk is ‘Master Race’.
Trump, the cheerleader for White Nationalism, also referred to as White Supremacy, has again taken a leaf out of the Nazi playbook. Twice now, once in October and again yesterday (December 16th 2023 in Durham, New Hampshire), Trump said that “immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country.” Clearly, Mein Kampf is still his favourite bedside audiobook followed closely behind 101 decorative ways to brighten up your bedroom with ketchup.