Source : January 1934, the National Representation (Reichsvertretung) of German Jews, Berlin - Charlottenburg, Kontstrasse 158, (Yad Vashem archives), cited in a sourcebook edited by Avraham Margaliot, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1972.
January 1934 A request to regulate Jewish life in order to allow Jews to make a living, integrate into all occupations, and effect an orderly emigration. At a time when the Reich Government is urging the entire German people to act for the resurrection of the homeland, the German Jews - rooted in Germany and in German culture - are beset by psychological and physical distress. Their Jewish origin and affiliation, to which they have adhered proudly for generations on end, in succession from father to son, have been defamed and humiliated into dust. Jewish people, whose integrity can be questioned by no one, are being forced out of their jobs, their occupations, and their workplaces. In very many cases, the families affected have been hit by grievous economic hardship. As long as the rationale for coercing German Jews to make this sacrifice is the well-being of the state, [the Jews'] devotion to the homeland and their sense of Jewish dignity are powerful enough to silence them. However, they cannot but raise their voices [in protest] when the very existence of German Jewry is at stake, when one of the bases of our communities is being threatened with collapse, and when actions are being taken against German Jews that clash not only with their own interests, but with those of Germany itself. Accordingly, the of Jews of Germany, which unites the Jewish communities and their countrywide associations, and which commands the trust of German Jewry's large organisations, addresses the following remarks to the Reich Government: The past year's legislation has in principle banished the Jews, with several known exceptions, from legal occupations and white-collar positions in the service of the Reich, the states, the municipalities, and other public agencies. The rationale offered for this is that Jews cannot wield state powers in a country about to be rebuilt on racial principles. Furthermore, the Jews' role in all academic professions has been gravely scaled back if not nullified. In contrast, the Reich Government, which is striving to reinvigorate and stabilise the economy, has waived the Aryan principle in economic legislation. To apply this principle in economic affairs would not only deprive German Jews of the possibility of sustenance but would gravely harm assets of the German national economy - valuable relations in domestic and foreign trade, based on personal connections. In spite of this, a profusion of regulations has been relentlessly heaped upon the Jews by the authorities - the Reich, the states, the Party, municipalities - and by representative professional organisations at all levels, in the economic activity of Jews as employees and employers. In several parts of the country and in some fields of employment, Jews are finding it practically impossible to remain economically active... ...These interventions in economic life lead inescapably not only to the dispossession of Jews but to their abject impoverishment. Anyone with eyes in his head can see that this development has already begun. The taxpaying ability of German Jews is dwindling. Jewish communities have been directly harmed, and one doubts that they can cope any longer with their duties in religion, welfare, and culture - duties that are now even more emphatically theirs to discharge. If the situation does not change, they will almost certainly collapse. Since the new Reich cannot possibly prefer to see this situation come about, and since it is not in the Reich's interest, we call on the Reich Government for its assistance. The Government will manage to bring the needs of the new state into harmony with the living possibilities of the Jews of Germany. Our prior assumption for this is that: The discrimination in dealing with Aryan bread-winners vis - vis Jewish ones, must come to an end. Any deliberate pressure to crowd out or hinder Jewish breadwinners, from whatever source, should be halted . . . We acknowledge the fact that the occupational stratification of German Jewry, noted thus far for a high percentage of people in academic occupations and in large towns, has not been healthy. Because they are aware of this, young Jews have for years been going out of their way to change this disgraceful state of affairs, which can be traced back, among other things, to a specific historical development. After thorough preparatory work, an extensive vocational retraining activity ( Berufsumschichtung ) has been introduced among German Jews. Young Jews wish to engage in physical labor of all kinds. By the same token, one must begin by assuming the same extent of willingness to admit them into occupations in which they have been less represented thus far than their share in the population would warrant. For this purpose too, we ask the government for its assistance. . . We expect that In principle, Jews should be barred from no occupation. Jews should also find their path to wholeness and integration in the state structure of trade and crafts associations, agriculture, and forest industries. Even if this happens - as we hope it will - the pressure of the current situation will force many Jews to emigrate... For the sake of both German and Jewish pride, this emigration should be instituted and directed with an orderly plan. To make this possible, Jews should be given appropriate vocational training even before they leave the old homeland. In this fashion, along with assistance from the German authorities and Jewish organisations, the emigrants will be directed to countries that will be willing to take them in and put them to work in occupations in which they are needed and for which they have been trained. If this is done, the emigrants, when in their new homes, will remain loyal to the country where their parents and forebears lived and where they acquired their education and training. Family and cultural relations may give rise to valuable commercial contacts, not to mention trade relations, with the old Fatherland. If the emigrants know their craft, other countries' appreciation of German knowledge will grow. However, if the emigrants require welfare services, contempt for its recipients will easily lead to feelings of disgust and repulsion toward the country from which they came. Accordingly, we ask the Reich Government: With respect to emigration, to support our own work and the efforts of organisations that promote emigration to Palestine and other countries - organisations that were established with this in mind. Our psychological distress is more arduous than all the economic distress. The racial doctrine on which the National Socialist State rests begins with the assumption that the Jewish component of this state is substantively different from the rest. However, no self-respecting community would tolerate an allegation of its inferiority. We German Jews have been forced to watch with our own eyes, on German soil, how they seek to defame us.... We know that the state authorities, along with high-ranking party circles, express their aversion to us in the form of crude and insulting denunciations. Our pride, especially for our children's sake, prevents us from expressing what we German Jews feel in the midst of this. However, we must point out one matter, because it also has political significance: The countries with which Germany must compete in its struggle for world influence are inhabited by Jews. No horror propaganda offends these Jews so gravely as the fact that the pages of German newspapers and journals express contempt toward their beloved tribe and faith. The wound that penetrates them is that much deeper when these utterances are not random interjections, prompted by the heat of the election campaign, but premeditated and recurrent statements, made at a time when the public domain seems to have stabilised, and in a State that has the means to moniand direct public opinion. From every point of departure that we use to address ourselves to this matter, we consider ourselves entitled to express our expectation that all contempt of the Jewish community and Jewish origin will cease in the future. Even as we take exception to these matters, we know very well how preoccupied the Reich Government is with its many tasks. Accordingly, we have limited our remarks to matters that, we believe, should be set aright at once, since this is to the advantage of the German State as well. It is our duty to apprise not only our own communities, but also the Reich Government, of these matters. We are confident that, by so doing, we are performing a good service for our German homeland.
