The Nuremberg Laws of September 1935 did not mention Mischlinge, but they were noted in the Laws' first implementation ordinance of November 1935. Mischlinge of the first degree, or half-Jews, were those who had two Jewish grandparents, did not belong to the Jewish religion, and were not married to a Jewish person as of September 15, 1935. Mischlinge of the second degree, or quarter-Jews, were those with one Jewish grandparent, this category also included Aryan partners in mixed marriages. The census of 1939 showed that 72,000 Mischlinge of the first degree and 39,000 of the second degree were still living in Germany. Generally, the policy was to absorb Mischlinge of the second degree into the German nation, whereas those of the first degree were equated with Jews. At the end of 1941 and at the Wannsee Conference, proposals were made that all Mischlinge of the first degree be sterilised. However, a firm policy was never adopted because of fears of possible repercussions among the large number of German relatives of the Mischlinge. The only Mischlinge killed were concentration camp inmates who had been arrested in the 1930s; they were transferred to Auschwitz at the end of 1942. For Adolf Hitler, the Mischlinge issue was of paramount importance. All potential approvals for a change in status had to be referred to Hitler, as were permits for Mischlinge to serve in the military, and for mixed marriages involving Mischlinge. Hitler exempted some 260 officers or their wives who were Mischlinge of the first degree; by 1942, some 340 Jews had been equalised with Mischlinge of the first degree; and by means of legal fiction, he also granted the status of half-Jew to some 3,000 Jews. After the attempt on his life on July 20, 1944, Hitler ordered that civil servants who were Mischlinge, or who were married to Jews or Mischlinge, could no longer hold high governmental office, even if their partners had previously been equalised with "Aryans." This new regulation affected a wide range of people in important posts. The ferreting out of Mischlinge in the party ranks was much more thorough than demanded by state law, and expulsions from the Nazi party embraced Mischlinge even up to the fifth degree. Hitler also issued general instructions that the offspring of political leaders were not to marry Mischlinge, even if the latter had received equal status with Germans.
