1939
As World War II began with the invasion of Poland, life in Frankfurt also changed. In all of Germany a "lights out" policy
was announced; thus, Frankfurt was dark at night. Groceries were only available with ration cards. On April 3, 1939, the
Jewish community was forced to sell its real properties and other assets. 1941-45 Beginning in the fall, Jews were required
to wear a yellow star on their left side in public. In 1941 the large deportations to Theresienstadt, Lodz, Izbica, Majdanek,
Minsk, Kaunas and Auschwitz began in Frankfurt. The collection point was the large market hall on the Hanauer Landstraße.
Out of the more than 10,600 persons deported from Frankfurt, fewer than 600 were freed in 1945. From November 1938
until the official emigration prohibition on October 23, 1941, approximately 7,000 Frankfurt Jews emigrated. With a Jewish
population of 4.7% before Hitler's seizing of power, Frankfurt stood at the peak of German cities, ahead of Berlin and Breslau.
In 1943 area commander Sprenger announced that Frankfurt was "free of Jews."
1938-39
During the morning of November 10, 1938, the synagogues in Frankfurt were burned
and Jewish shops and private residences were wantonly demolished and plundered.
2621 Jewish men were arrested and forced to the Festhalle and later to Buchenwald
or to Dachau. Everyday life in Frankfurt was characterized by increasing harassment.
Jews were not permitted to go out or to use public transportation. Jews were required
to pay special taxes, such as the Jewish capital levy or the emigration tax, when they
emigrated. Neither the tax privacy laws nor the laws regarding the protection of personal
information applied to Jews. All Jewish establishments were under the control
of municipal authorities after the pogrom of November. In April of 1938, the
two Jewish congregations/communities had been compulsorily united. The Jewish
community was given the task of ensuring that the rules of the Gestapo were complied with.
Synagoge at the Börneplatz
1933
With the naming of Adolf Hitler as chancellor, the president of the Republic, Paul van Hindenburg, paved the way for the
NS-State. Only two days later, the new government, under the direction of Hitler, dissolved the German Parliament in Berlin.
In Prussia, to which Frankfurt belonged, the Secretary of the Interior Hermann Göring ordered the municipal representatives to
disband. In the parliamentary elections an March 5, 1933, just over 170,000 residents of Frankfurt voted for the NSDAP
(constituting 44.1%), 0.2% more than the national average. One week later, in the municipal elections, the NSDAP
received 47.9% of the vote, which gave them one seat short of an absolute majority. On the next day the mayor
(Lord Mayor in Eng.) Ludwig Landmann was removed from office, and in his place the National Socialist Friedrich
Krebs was appointed. On April 1, a boycott of Jewish shops, lawyers and doctors was proclaimed under the slogan
"Don't buy from Jews." The "Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service" of April 7, 1933 led to the firing
of more than one-third of the teachers at the University of Frankfurt within one year. The law "Against the Overcrowding
of German Schools and Universities" limited the access of Jews to higher education. On May 10, 1933, Frankfurt students
and professors demonstrated the cultural attitude of the National Socialists by burning Marxist and "un-German" literature
on the Römerberg, Frankfurt's historical centre. 1934-37 The longer the authority of the National Socialists lasted, the more
threatening the persecution of the Jews became. Every step out of the house meant confrontation with prohibitions,
discrimination and hostility. At the schools, the school week began or ended with hoisting the flag on the schoolyard;
lessons began and ended with "Heil Hitler." The uniforms of the various party memberships, from the "Hitler Youth" to the
SS, were part of everyday life, as was the omnipresent swastika.
1938-39
During the morning of November 10, 1938, the synagogues in Frankfurt were burned
and Jewish shops and private residences were wantonly demolished and plundered.
2621 Jewish men were arrested and forced to the Festhalle and later to Buchenwald
or to Dachau. Everyday life in Frankfurt was characterized by increasing harassment.
Jews were not permitted to go out or to use public transportation. Jews were required
to pay special taxes, such as the Jewish capital levy or the emigration tax, when they
emigrated. Neither the tax privacy laws nor the laws regarding the protection of personal
information applied to Jews. All Jewish establishments were under the control
of municipal authorities after the pogrom of November. In April of 1938, the
two Jewish congregations/communities had been compulsorily united. The Jewish
community was given the task of ensuring that the rules of the Gestapo were complied with.
Synagoge at the Börneplatz
1933
With the naming of Adolf Hitler as chancellor, the president of the Republic, Paul van Hindenburg, paved the way for the
NS-State. Only two days later, the new government, under the direction of Hitler, dissolved the German Parliament in Berlin.
In Prussia, to which Frankfurt belonged, the Secretary of the Interior Hermann Göring ordered the municipal representatives to
disband. In the parliamentary elections an March 5, 1933, just over 170,000 residents of Frankfurt voted for the NSDAP
(constituting 44.1%), 0.2% more than the national average. One week later, in the municipal elections, the NSDAP
received 47.9% of the vote, which gave them one seat short of an absolute majority. On the next day the mayor
(Lord Mayor in Eng.) Ludwig Landmann was removed from office, and in his place the National Socialist Friedrich
Krebs was appointed. On April 1, a boycott of Jewish shops, lawyers and doctors was proclaimed under the slogan
"Don't buy from Jews." The "Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service" of April 7, 1933 led to the firing
of more than one-third of the teachers at the University of Frankfurt within one year. The law "Against the Overcrowding
of German Schools and Universities" limited the access of Jews to higher education. On May 10, 1933, Frankfurt students
and professors demonstrated the cultural attitude of the National Socialists by burning Marxist and "un-German" literature
on the Römerberg, Frankfurt's historical centre. 1934-37 The longer the authority of the National Socialists lasted, the more
threatening the persecution of the Jews became. Every step out of the house meant confrontation with prohibitions,
discrimination and hostility. At the schools, the school week began or ended with hoisting the flag on the schoolyard;
lessons began and ended with "Heil Hitler." The uniforms of the various party memberships, from the "Hitler Youth" to the
SS, were part of everyday life, as was the omnipresent swastika.