From the Nuremberg laws came the rules to know how “much” of a Jew someone was. Even though Judaism is now known by everyone as religion, the Nazis thought of it as something else. In 1930s Nazi Germany, Judaism wouldn’t be considered a religion but a race (“Nuremberg Laws”). Even if a person who didn’t practice Judaism or practiced a different religion but they had Jewish relatives, they still could be considered a Jew (“The Nuremberg Race Laws”). With Jews, there are Mischlinge, who were part Jew. There were two degrees of mischlinge. The first degree was if someone had two Jewish grandparents but didn’t practice Judaism, and the second degree is someone having only one Jewish grandparent (Berenbaum). The article, “The Nuremberg Race Laws” states that, “Many Germans who had not practiced Judaism for years found themselves caught in the grip of Nazi terror” (“The Nuremberg Race Laws”). The determination to eliminate Jews was clearly high as even if someone who doesn’t practice Judaism but is related to a Jew in any way makes them a Jew.
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