Intimidation & Humiliation

"Jewish store! Whoever buys here will be photographed! " People who shopped in Jewishowned stores were singled out for intimidation. NonJewish customers entering Jewish stores were photographed. Their names and pictures published in the local press or displayed on billboards, like the notice, opposite. Anyone not complying with Nazi decrees was labeled a "traitor to his people."

"Customers [of the Jewish-owned Schwarz department store in Salzburg] would sometimes wrap their items up with the paper inside out so no one could tell that they bad just been shopping at the Jewish store."

Writing on the WallThe Nazis used intimidation to instill fear in German citizens and humiliation to demean Jewish and other victims. The humiliation took many forms. Jews were forced to wear yellow stars of David on their clothing, and certain park benches in Berlin's "Tiergarten" were painted yellow, for Jewish use only. Religious Jews were often specifically targeted, with some men forced to scrub the streets or have their beards cut off in public. In the photo at left, a young Jewish boy is humiliated while others look on.

Dr. Michael Siegal, an eminent Jewish lawyer, lodged a complaint with the Munich police after the windows of a Jewishowned store were broken in March 1933. He was beaten, his trouser legs cut off, and he was marched through the streets wearing a sign, which read: "I am a Jew, but I will never again complain about the Nazis. "

Humiliation helped create a psychological distance between victims and perpetrators. The victims were made to seem less worthy and more like 'outsiders.' The process of intimidation and humiliation combined to create a climate, conducive to the oppression of one group by another.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing.  Edmund Burke, Irish Statesman and author, 1729-1797

Definitions

Examples

  1. Grounds for Divorce. June 16, 1938. The events in Germany as reported in the Victoria daily paper. Courtesy The Daily Colonist.
    Berlin, June 15 (CP-Havas). - Buying in a Jewish store is legitimate ground for divorce in German courts, a Nazi legal review revealed today. It reported a case in which a husband sued for divorce on charges that his wife had purchased from Jewish shopkeepers despite his express ban.
  2. Writing on the Wall. Vienna, 1938. A young boy is forced to paint  "Jew" on the wall of this father's store (see below). Courtesy AKG Photo.
  3. Deim Juden haben gekauft. August 1935. A public notice listing names of people caught buying From Jewish owned stores (see below). Translation:
    List of CustomersFrom Jews they have purchased on 31 July, 1935 at the Schoken Store, the employee Ilse Johanna Uhlmann, typist at the Electrical Company. On 31 July, 1935 at the Tietz Store, the employee Arno Richard Lutzner, city technician at the Electrical Company. On 8 August, 1935 at the BATA shoe store, the employee Johannes Weichert, Department Head at the Kuchwald Hospital. This offence against notice Number 2 reminds every German city employee of their duty and that they have been advised. The declaration shall be posted in all city work rooms until 15 September 1935.
    Signed by W. Schmidt, Mayor of Chemnitz, August 15, 1935.

The Tragedy of Reena Virk

Bullies often use intimidation tactics.  In 1997, fourteen year old Reena Virk was bullied and finally beaten to death in Sanich, British Columbia.  Two sixteen year olds stand charged with her murder, and other teenagers are charged with assault.  Several other students who were not directly involved in Reena's death, were aware of the ongoing intimidation and bullying and did nothing.  What might the students, who stood by, have done to prevent the tragedy?

Examine Artifacts and Discuss

Read the notice and describe its purpose. Why do you think the names of the three people were posted in this public way and not warned or punished privately? What is the difference between the Nazi use of intimidation to enforce the boycott decree and a democratic government, like Canada's, enforcement of its laws?

What is the effect of humiliation on its victims? Write a list of words describing some thoughts and feelings that the young boy in the photo might have had. In what way was the debasement of Jews a necessary part of the Holocaust? Could the segregation and eventual deportation of Jews have been accomplished otherwise?

During the Holocaust, there were perpetrators, victims, bystanders and rescuers. What do you think might have happened had bystanders resisted the Nazis' early intimidation and humiliation tactics?

Role Play

Intimidation often brings with it a threat of reprisal or violence. List and describe incidents of intimidation or humiliation that have occurred in your school or neighbourhood. Which groups were targeted by this intimidation or bullying? Form small groups and stage brief re-enactments of the incidents. What do these different incidents have in common? Brainstorm ideas of what students might have done to help in each instance.

American Slavery

Before the Civil War, African-American slaves were exploited for their labour. They were also dressed in special clothing, tattooed and branded. Few were permitted to keep their own names, languages, customs and beliefs. Why was their slave labour not enough? Why do you think their dignity was stripped away from them? What was the effect of this humiliation on both the slaves and the society around them?

Suggestions for Responding to Intimidation

Adapted from Choose Dignity, A Kit for Fighting Hate, written and produced by the Westcoast Coalition for Human Dignity, Vancouver, BC.