History of Sorts

On September 15, 1935, the Nazi regime announced the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor (‘Gesetz zum Schutze des deutschen Blutes und der deutschen Ehre’). The law forbade sexual relations and marriages between Germans classified as so-called ‘Aryans’ and Germans classified as Jews.

“–Section 1

1. Marriages between Jews and citizens of German or kindred blood are forbidden. Marriages concluded in defiance of this law are void, even if, for the purpose of evading this law, they were concluded abroad.
2. Proceedings for annulment may be initiated only by the Public Prosecutor.

Section 2
Sexual relations outside marriage between Jews and nationals of German or kindred blood are forbidden.

Section 3
Jews will not be permitted to employ female citizens of German or kindred blood as domestic servants.

Section 4

1. Jews are forbidden to display the Reich and national flag or the national colors.
2. On the other hand they are permitted to display the Jewish colors. The exercise of this right is protected by the State.

Section 5

1. A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of Section 1 will be punished with hard labour.
2. A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of Section 2 will be punished with imprisonment or with hard labour.
3. A person who acts contrary to the provisions of Sections 3 or

4 will be punished with imprisonment up to a year and with a fine, or with one of these penalties.

Section 6
The Reich Minister of the Interior in agreement with the Deputy Fuhrer and the Reich Minister of Justice will issue the legal and administrative regulations required for the enforcement and supplementing of this law.

Section 7
The law will become effective on the day after its promulgation; Section 3, however, not until 1 January 1936.”–

Hitler often blamed moral degradation on Rassenschande, (Racial disgrace) a way to assure his followers of his continuing antisemitism, which had been toned down for popular consumption.[As early as 1924, Julius Streicher argued for the death penalty for Jews found guilty of having sexual relations with Gentiles.

For many it was often a case of divorce or death. Those who chose to remain married were punished by imprisonment in camps where many died.

Rather then go into the detail of the laws and its implications, I just want to highlight one case.

Rosa Schnedlitz had married Michael Schwarz in 1922, in Vienna. She was born Roman Catholic, but had joined the Jewish Religious Community of Vienna, and together with her husband she raised their 7 children in the Jewish tradition. After the annexation of Austria by the Nazis, Michael was sent to labor camps. Meanwhile, Rosa became involved with a member of the Nazi Party named Josef Scholz. When her husband returned to Vienna, she asked him for a divorce, which he refused. In April 1943, Michael was arrested by the Gestapo under the pretense of Communist activity. He died a few months later while imprisoned in Auschwitz. Rosa remarried and changed her last name to Schnedlitz. In addition, five of Rosa’s seven children were deported to Theresienstadt after she abandoned them to the care of the Vienna Jewish community. The other two suffered harassment by employers and law enforcement. In 1946, Rosa was accused of denouncing her first husband to the Gestapo and put on trial in Vienna.

Rosa pled not guilty to the charge of playing a part in her husband’s deportation and murder. Her defense rested on her narrative that she was a helpless victim of Nazi policy. Below is the translation of the report of that case.

—Reference Number Vg3c Vr 5056/46

Questioning of the Accused

District Criminal Court I, Vienna II

August 23, 1946 Beginning

In attendance:

Judge: Higher Regional Court Councillor Gruchol

Secretary: Court clerk Gusti Desarsch

Criminal proceedings against Rosa Schnedlitz

The accused is urged to give distinct, clear, and truthful answers to the questions that are to be submitted. The accused states with regard to [her] personal circumstances:

First name and surname (for women, also maiden name): Rosa Schnedlitz, née Schandl, formerly Schwarz

Name usually used or byname:

Parents’ names: Josef and Marianne Schandl, maiden name unknown

Husband’s first name: Matthias Schnedlitz

Day, month, year of birth: February 20, 1895

Place (district, region) of birth: Vienna

Home town (district, region): Vienna

Religious affiliation: Roman Catholic (1922–1938, Jewish)

Marital status: Married

Occupation and occupational status: Household; maker of straw hats

Last place of residence (street address): 11th [district of Vienna], Simmering, 85/I/2 Hauptstr.

Formal education: 5th grade of elementary school 8 k

Assets and income: no, no income (one half)

Obligation to care for: no

Prior convictions: no—-

“I acknowledge that preliminary proceedings have been instituted against me due to suspicion of commission of a crime under §7/3 of the KVG [War Criminals Act], and that detention pending trial is imposed on me in accordance with §§175.2.3 and 180/2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

I was never a member of the NSDAP1 or one of its organizations. In 1922 I married the Jew Michael Schwarz and also converted to Judaism. I had been an Aryan and am a Roman Catholic. I was married to Michael Schwarz for 22 years. In 1942 I met Jos. Scholz. After I had previously been forced by the NSDAP1 to leave my husband Michael Schwarz. I was nagged by the Party to renounce the long-term relationship with the Jew. At the instigation of my domestic partner Scholz, I directed a letter to my husband Michael Schwarz, asking him to agree to a divorce. Because he was not willing to agree to the divorce, I wrote again at Scholz’s urging, reminding him [Schwarz] that in 1928, when the communists in the Lobau region were hunting down Nazis, he also took part in this and beat up Nazis. I asked Mr. Scholz to give this letter only to my husband in person. But Scholz, behind my back, took this letter to the police, and I was summoned to the police on the basis of these facts. What happened to my husband was not known to me at that time. I learned only later, when I got out of the Lainzer Hospital in January 1944, that my husband had died. Not until I was at the Gestapo office did I learn that my husband was in Auschwitz and died there from angina and inflammation of a muscle. That he was gassed, about that I knew nothing.

As concerns my middle daughter, Hilda, all I said about her at the Simmering police station was that she did not want to wear the Jewish star. I was not ill-intentioned, and all I wanted was for the police to caution her, because she was unwilling to heed my admonitions. My daughter Hilde was summoned to the police station, and nothing happened to her there.

My oldest son, Erwin, was denounced by the plant manager of the Persil firm because he was a Jew, and he [the manager] also wanted to fire him for that reason.”

sources

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nuremberg-laws

https://perspectives.ushmm.org/item/trial-testimony-of-rosa-schnedlitz

https://us-holocaust-museum.medium.com/the-wife-who-sent-her-husband-to-auschwitz-e2a97ad02993