(; "
mix-ling"; plural: ) was a pejorative legal term used in
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
to denote persons of mixed "
Aryan" and non-Aryan, such as
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, ancestry as codified in the Nuremberg racial laws of 1935. In German, the word has the general denotation of
hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
,
mongrel
A mongrel, mutt or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized breed and including those that are the result of intentional breeding. Although the term ''mixed-breed dog'' is sometimes preferred, many mongre ...
, or
half-breed
Half-breed is a term, now considered offensive, used to describe anyone who is of mixed race; although, in the United States, it usually refers to people who are half Native American and half European/white.
Use by governments United States
I ...
. Outside its use in official
Nazi terminology
This is a list of words, terms, concepts and slogans of Nazi Germany used in the historiography covering the Nazi regime.
Some words were coined by Adolf Hitler and other Nazi Party members. Other words and concepts were borrowed and appropriated, ...
, the term ''
Mischlingskinder'' ("mixed children") was later used to refer to
war babies born to
non-white
The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...
soldiers and German mothers in the
aftermath of World War II.
Nazi definitions of Mischling
![Nuremberg laws Racial Chart](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Nuremberg_laws_Racial_Chart.jpg)
Since the Nazis were unable to find a racial definition of a "Jew", they instead relied on one's ancestors' religious backgrounds to determine whether someone was of "German or related blood" ("Aryan") or a "Jew" ("non-Aryan"). Thus, the
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws (german: link=no, Nürnberger Gesetze, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of ...
in 1935 defined a "full
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
" (''Istjude'' or ''Volljude'' in Nazi terminology) as a person – regardless of religious affiliation or self-identification – who had at least three grandparents who had been enrolled with a Jewish congregation or were married to a Jewish spouse. A person with two Jewish grandparents was also legally "Jewish" (so-called ''
Geltungsjude'', roughly speaking, in en, "Jew by legal validity" or "to be deemed/reckoned as a Jew") if that person met any of these racial conditions created by Nazis:
*Was enrolled as a member of a Jewish congregation when the Nuremberg Laws were issued or joined later
*Was married to a "full Jew".
*Was the offspring from a marriage with a Jew, which was concluded after the ban on
mixed marriages.
*Was the offspring of an extramarital affair with a Jew, born out of wedlock after 31 July 1936''.
A person who did not belong to any of these categorical conditions, but had two Jewish grandparents was classified as a Jewish ''Mischling'' of the first degree according to the racial constructs implemented by Nazis. A person with only one Jewish grandparent was classified as a ''Mischling'' of the second degree.
Following the Nuremberg Laws, in November 1935 the Citizenship Law gained its first amendment stating that Jews were to be stripped of all civic rights including that of voting. Within the amendment the Law for the Defense of German Blood and Honor took effect, defining various forbidden marriage scenarios for Mischling specifically. Nazis claimed that it was acceptable for Mischling of the first degree to marry “full Jews” in turn becoming Jewish as well as marry other Mischling. However, according to this so-called Law it was inadmissible for Mischling to marry Germans and mix “races”. Hitler’s goal of this amendment was to have as many Mischling as possible become a “full Jew” through marriage. A month later a second amendment was added to the Citizenship Law on December 21, 1935, which continued the persecution against Jews by removing “full Jews” or Mischling from professions such as those in the education, health, and civic departments.
According to the 1939 Reich census, there were about 72,000 ''Mischlinge'' of the 1st degree, ~39,000 of the 2nd degree, and potentially tens of thousands at higher degrees, which went unrecorded as those people were considered Aryans by the Reich.
![Erhard Milch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Erhard_Milch.jpg)
According to historian
Bryan Mark Rigg
Bryan Mark Rigg (born March 16, 1971) is an American author and speaker.
Biography
Born and reared as a Baptist, Rigg studied at Phillips Exeter Academy, graduating in 1991 continued on to Yale University, and received his B.A. in 1996. He rece ...
, up to 160,000 soldiers who were one-quarter, one-half, and even fully Jewish served in the German armed forces during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. This included several generals, admirals, and at least one field marshal:
Erhard Milch
Erhard Milch (30 March 1892 – 25 January 1972) was a German general field marshal ('' Generalfeldmarschall'') of Jewish heritage who oversaw the development of the German air force (''Luftwaffe'') as part of the re-armament of Nazi Germany fo ...
.
Jewish identity in society
Soon after the passage of the
Enabling Act of 1933, the Nazi government promulgated several
antisemitic statutes, including the
Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service on 7 April 1933. Using this law, the regime aimed to dismiss—along with all politically-suspect persons such as social democrats, socialists, communists, and many liberals of all religions—all "non-Aryans" from all government positions in society, including public educators, and those practicing medicine in state hospitals.
As a result, the term "non-Aryan" had to be defined in a way that was compatible with Nazi ideology. Under the "First Racial Definition" supplementary decree of 11 April, issued to clarify portions of the act passed four days prior, a "non-Aryan" (''e.g.'' a Jew) was defined as one who had at least one Jewish parent or grandparent. Later, German citizens with only one Jewish grandparent were defined by the Nuremberg Laws as ''Mischling'' of the second degree. Their employment restrictions remained, but they were permitted to marry non-Jewish and non-''Mischling'' Germans, and were not imprisoned. This distinction was not applied to non-German citizens.
According to the philosophy of Nazi antisemitism, Jewry was considered a group of people bound by close, genetic (blood) ties who formed an
ethnic unit that one could neither join nor secede from. Early 20th-century books on
Nordicism
Nordicism is an ideology of racism which views the historical race concept of the "Nordic race" as an endangered and superior racial group. Some notable and seminal Nordicist works include Madison Grant's book ''The Passing of the Great Race ...
such as
Madison Grant
Madison Grant (November 19, 1865 – May 30, 1937) was an American lawyer, zoologist, anthropologist, and writer known primarily for his work as a eugenicist and conservationist, and as an advocate of scientific racism. Grant is less noted f ...
's ''
The Passing of the Great Race
''The Passing of the Great Race: Or, The Racial Basis of European History'' is a 1916 racist and pseudoscientific book by American lawyer, self-styled anthropologist, and proponent of eugenics, Madison Grant (1865–1937). Grant expounds a theo ...
'', had a profound effect on Hitler's antisemitism. He was convinced that the Nordic Race/Culture constituted a superior branch of humanity, and viewed International Jewry as a parasitic and inferior race, determined to corrupt and exterminate both Nordic peoples and their culture through ''
Rassenschande
''Rassenschande'' (, "racial shame") or ''Blutschande'' ( "blood disgrace") was an anti-miscegenation concept in Nazi German racial policy, pertaining to sexual relations between Aryans and non-Aryans. It was put into practice by policies like ...
'' ("racial pollution") and cultural corruption.
Hitler declared that
Marxism was constructed by International Jewry, with the aim of Bolshevising the earth, ultimately allowing Jewry to dominate/exterminate the Aryan race. With this in mind, Hitler viewed Russia as a nation of ''
Untermensch
''Untermensch'' (, ; plural: ''Untermenschen'') is a Nazi term for non-Aryan "inferior people" who were often referred to as "the masses from the East", that is Jews, Roma, and Slavs (mainly ethnic Poles, Serbs, and later also Russians). The ...
en'' ("subhumans" or 'Inferiors") dominated by their Judaic masters, which posed the gravest threat to both Germany and Europe as a whole.
The Nazis defined Jewishness as partly genetic, but did not always use formal genetic tests or
physiognomic
Physiognomy (from the Greek , , meaning "nature", and , meaning "judge" or "interpreter") is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face. The term can also refer to the general ...
(facial) features to determine one's status (although the Nazis talked a lot about physiognomy as a racial characteristic). In practice, records concerning the religious affiliation(s) of one's grandparents were often the deciding factor (mostly christening records and membership registers of Jewish congregations).
Reclassification procedures
Nonetheless, reclassification procedures of ''Mischling'' were conducted within society. These requests for reclassification (e.g., Jew to ''Mischling'' of 1st degree, ''Mischling'' of 1st degree to 2nd degree, etc.) or
Aryanization
Aryanization (german: Arisierung) was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. I ...
(see
German Blood Certificate
A German Blood Certificate (German: ''Deutschblütigkeitserklärung'') was a document provided by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to '' Mischlinge'' (those with partial Jewish heritage), declaring them ''deutschblütig'' (of German blood). This practice ...
) were rarely given, as each had to be personally reviewed and concurred by
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
. Once approved by the Nazi party chancellery and Hitler, it was recognized throughout the Nazi community as an act of grace (''Gnadenakt''). Other de facto reclassifications, lacking any official document, were privileges accorded by high-ranking Nazis to certain artists and other experts by way of special protection.
The second way of reclassification was through a
declaratory judgment
A declaratory judgment, also called a declaration, is the legal determination of a court that resolves legal uncertainty for the litigants. It is a form of legally binding preventive by which a party involved in an actual or possible legal ma ...
in court. Usually, the discriminated person took the action, questioning their descent from the Jewish-classified man until then regarded as their biological (grand)father.
Paternity suits aiming for reclassification (german: Abstammungsverfahren, links=no) appeared mostly with deceased, divorced, or illegitimate (grand)fathers. They usually sought to change the discriminated litigant's status from Jewish-classified to ''Mischling'' of first degree, or from ''Mischling'' of first degree to second degree. The numbers of such suits soared whenever the Nazi government imposed new discriminations and persecutions (such as the Nuremberg Laws in 1935,
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...
in 1938, and the systematic
deportations of Jewish Germans and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent to concentration camps in 1941).
The process was humiliating for the (grand)mothers who had to declare in court that they had committed adultery. The petitions were successful in the majority of cases. The high success rate recorded was a result of several factors. First, there was no risk in paternity suits since litigant classification cannot be downgraded. Consequently, lawyers were willing to represent litigants, though it was common practice to refuse hopeless cases. Some lawyers even specialized in this type of procedure. Second, usually, all the family members cooperated; including the sometimes still-living disputed (grand)father. Likely alternative fathers were often named, who either appeared themselves in court confirming their likely fatherhood, or who were already dead but were known as good friends, neighbors, or subtenants of the (grand)mother. Third, the obligatory and humiliating body examinations of those under suspicion were skewed by stereotypical Jewish perceptions. Expert witnesses would search for allegedly Jewish facial features, as conceived and understood by anti-Semites. If the doubted (grand)father was already dead, emigrated, or deported (as after 1941), the examination searched for these supposedly "Jewish" features in the physiognomy of the descendant (child). Since anti-Semitic clichés on Jewish outward appearance were so stereotyped, the average litigant did not show features clearly indicating their Jewish descent, so they often documented ambiguous results as medical evidence. Fourth, the judges tended to believe the accounts of the (grand)mothers, alternative fathers, doubted fathers, and other witnesses who had endured such public humiliation. They were not recorded for earlier perjuring, and judges would declare the prior paternity annulled, ensuring the status improvement for the litigant.
Standards of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
The
Schutzstaffel
The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe duri ...
(SS) used a more stringent standard. In order to join, a candidate had to prove (presumably through
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
al records) that all direct ancestors born since 1750 were not Jewish, or they would have to apply for a
German Blood Certificate
A German Blood Certificate (German: ''Deutschblütigkeitserklärung'') was a document provided by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to '' Mischlinge'' (those with partial Jewish heritage), declaring them ''deutschblütig'' (of German blood). This practice ...
instead. When the stresses of World War II made it impracticable to confirm the ancestry of officer candidates, the extended proof of ancestry regulation was diminished to the standard laws requiring certified evidence of non-Judaism within two generations.
Jewish ''Mischlinge'' as Christian converts
In the 19th century, many Jewish Germans converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
; most of them becoming
Protestants rather than
Catholics. Two-thirds of the German population were Protestant until 1938, when the
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
annexation of Austria to Germany added six million Catholics. The addition of 3.25 million Catholic Czechoslovaks of German ethnicity (
Sudeten Germans) increased the percentage of Roman Catholics in Greater Germany to 41% (approximately 32.5 million vs. 45.5 million Protestants or 57%) in a 1939 population estimated at 79 million. One percent of the population was Jewish.
German converts from Judaism typically adopted whichever Christian denomination was most dominant in their community. Therefore, about 80% of the
Gentile
Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym fo ...
Germans persecuted as Jews according to the Nuremberg Laws were affiliated with one of the 28 regionally-delineated Protestant church bodies. In 1933, approximately 77% of German Gentiles with Jewish ancestry were Protestant. In the 1939 census, however, the percentage dropped to 66%. This is due to the annexation of several areas in 1938, including Vienna and Prague, both of which have relatively large and well-established Catholic populations of Jewish descent. Converts to Christianity and their descendants had often married Christians with no recent Jewish ancestry.
As a result, by the time the Nazis came to power, many Protestants and Roman Catholics in Germany had some traceable Jewish ancestry (usually traced back by the Nazi authorities for two generations), so that the majority of 1st- or 2nd-degree ''Mischlinge'' were Protestant, yet many were Catholics. A considerable number of German Gentiles with Jewish ancestry were
irreligion
Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ...
ists.
Lutherans with Jewish ancestry were largely in northwestern and
northern Germany,
Evangelical Protestants
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...
of Jewish descent in
Central Germany (Berlin and its southwestern environs) and the
country's east. Catholics with Jewish ancestry lived mostly in
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
and
Southern Germany
Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and what is now the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
.
''Mischlinge''-founded organizations
On 20 July 1933, initiated by the actor Gustav Friedrich, Christian Germans of Jewish descent founded a self-help organisation, initially named ''Reich Federation of Christian-German Citizens of non-Aryan or not of purely Aryan descent'' (german: Reichsbund christlich-deutscher Staatsbürger nichtarischer oder nicht rein arischer Abstammung e.V.). The federation first counted only 4,500 members. In October 1934, the name was shortened to ''Reich association of non-Aryan Christians'' (german: link=no, Reichsverband der nichtarischen Christen). In 1935, members of the federation elected the known literary historian their new president. Under his direction the federation's journal was improved and the number of members rose to 80,000 by 1936. In September 1936, the federation was renamed the more confident ''St Paul's Covenant Union of non-Aryan Christians'' (german: Paulus-Bund Vereinigung nichtarischer Christen e.V.) after the famous Jewish convert to Christianity
Paul the Apostle.
In January 1937, the Nazi government forbade that organisation, allowing a new successor organisation named the ''1937 Association of Provisional Reich Citizens of not purely German-blooded Descent'' (german: Vereinigung 1937 vorläufiger Reichsbürger nicht rein deutschblütiger Abstammung). This name cited the insecure legal status of ''Mischlinge'', who had been assigned the revocable status of preliminary Reich's citizens by the Nuremberg Laws, while Jewish-classified Germans had become second-class state citizens (''Staatsbürger'') by these laws. The 1937 Association was prohibited from accepting state citizens as members—like Spiero—with three or four grandparents, who had been enrolled in a Jewish congregation. Thus that new association had lost its most prominent leaders and faded, having become an organisation solely for ''Mischlinge''. The ''1937 Association'' was compulsorily dissolved in 1939.
Pastor
Heinrich Grüber and some enthusiasts started a new effort in 1936 to found an organisation to help Protestants of Jewish descent (''Mischlinge'' and their (grand)parents, of whom at least one was classified as non-Aryan), but went completely neglected by the then official Protestant church bodies in Germany (see
Protestants of Jewish descent).
After the war some ''Mischlinge'' founded the still-existing ''Notgemeinschaft der durch die Nürnberger Gesetze Betroffenen'' (Emergency association of those affected by the Nuremberg Laws).
Prominent persons characterized as ''Mischlinge'' according to Nazi ideology
Some examples of Mischlinge:
* Paul Ascher, Commander, 1st-degree Mischling receiving the
German Blood Certificate
A German Blood Certificate (German: ''Deutschblütigkeitserklärung'') was a document provided by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to '' Mischlinge'' (those with partial Jewish heritage), declaring them ''deutschblütig'' (of German blood). This practice ...
*
Rudi Ball, ice hockey player and participant of the
1936 Olympic Winter Games, 1st-degree Mischling
* Erich Collin, second
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...
of the
Comedian Harmonists
The Comedian Harmonists were an internationally famous, all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1928 and 1934 as one of the most successful musical groups in Europe before World War II. The group consisted of Harry Fromm ...
, emigrated to the US in 1935, 1st-degree Mischling
*
Muriel Gardiner
Muriel Gardiner Buttinger (née Morris; November 23, 1901 – February 6, 1985) was an American psychoanalyst and psychiatrist.
Early life and career
Gardiner was born on November 23, 1901 in Chicago, the daughter of Edward Morris, president of ...
,
psychoanalyst and
psychiatrist, anti-Fascist activist, emigrated in autumn 1939 to the US, 1st-degree Mischling
* Horst Geitner, Iron Cross-awarded soldier, 1st-degree Mischling
*
Ralph Giordano
Ralph Giordano (23 March 1923 – 10 December 2014) was a German writer and publicist.
Life and career
Giordano was born to a Sicilian father and a German Jewish mother in Hamburg. He attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums from 1933 to ...
, writer and journalist, 1st-degree Mischling
*
Werner Goldberg,
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
soldier and Nazi model, 1st-degree Mischling
*
Hans von Herwarth, German
diplomat, providing the Allies with information prior to and during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, 2nd-degree Mischling, later considered full Aryan
*
Rainer Hildebrandt
Rainer Hildebrandt (born December 14, 1914 in Stuttgart, died January 9, 2004 in Berlin) was a German anti-communist resistance fighter, historian and founder of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. He was involved in the resistance to the communist reg ...
, anti-communist resistance fighter, historian and founder of the
Checkpoint Charlie Museum
The Checkpoint Charlie Museum (german: Das Mauermuseum – Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie) is a private museum in Berlin. It is named after the famous crossing point on the Berlin Wall, and was created to document the so-called "best bor ...
, 1st-degree Mischling
*
Walter H. Hollaender, Colonel, 1st-degree Mischling receiving the
German Blood Certificate
A German Blood Certificate (German: ''Deutschblütigkeitserklärung'') was a document provided by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to '' Mischlinge'' (those with partial Jewish heritage), declaring them ''deutschblütig'' (of German blood). This practice ...
*
Ingeborg Hunzinger, sculptor, 1st-degree Mischling
*
Helene Jacobs, member of the
Confessing Church
The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German ...
and of the
German Resistance against
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
, 1st-degree Mischling
* Helmuth Kopp, entered the Wehrmacht in 1941, grandfather and mother Jewish, but the grandfather did not see him as Jewish
* Helmut Kruger, "He did all he could to prove his loyalty to Germany by showing his bravery in battle. He won the EKII, the EKI, and the Golden Wound Badge," mother was Jewish
*
Karl-Erich Kühlenthal,
Abwehr spy, handler of
Alaric (double agent working for the British as Garbo), 1st-degree Mischling
*
Elisabeth Langgässer, author and teacher, 1st-degree Mischling
*
Emil Maurice
Emil Maurice (; 19 January 1897 – 6 February 1972) was an early member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) and a founding member of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). He was Hitler's first personal chauffeur, and was one of ...
, was an early member of the National Socialist German Workers Party and a founding member of the Schutzstaffel (SS).
* Anton Mayer, served in Adolf Hitler's army, wearing Nazi symbols, half-Jewish.
*
Helene Mayer
Helene Julie Mayer (20 December 1910 – 10 October 1953) was a German-born fencer who won the gold medal at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, and the silver medal at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. She competed for Nazi Germany in Berlin, despite ...
, world champion Olympic fencer and participant in the
1936 Summer Olympic Games
The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...
, 1st-degree Mischling
*
Harry Meyen
Harry Meyen (born Harald Haubenstock; 31 August 1924 – 15 April 1979) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 40 films and television productions between 1948 and 1975. In the 1960s he also worked as a theatre director in West Ge ...
,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
film actor, 1st-degree Mischling
*
Inge Meysel
Inge Meysel (; 30 May 1910 – 10 July 2004) was a German actress. From the early 1960s until her death, Meysel was one of Germany's most popular actresses. She had a successful stage career and played more than 100 roles in film and on televisio ...
, German actress and television performer, 1st degree Mischling
*
Erhard Milch
Erhard Milch (30 March 1892 – 25 January 1972) was a German general field marshal ('' Generalfeldmarschall'') of Jewish heritage who oversaw the development of the German air force (''Luftwaffe'') as part of the re-armament of Nazi Germany fo ...
,
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
Field Marshal (Jewish father and Christian mother, 1st-degree Mischling) reclassified as Aryan by Adolf Hitler
*
Ludwig Carl Moyzisch Ludwig Carl Moyzisch (born 1905) was a diplomatic attaché of the Nazi Germany, Nazi German Embassy in Ankara, Turkey in 1943. Under this cover, he led the work of the German secret services in Turkey, including Elyesa Bazna, codename 'Cicero'. Moyz ...
, diplomatic attaché of the
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
Embassy in
Ankara, Turkey
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, mak ...
in 1943, second degree mischling
*
Rudolf Petersen
Rudolf Hieronymus Petersen (30 December 1878 in Hamburg – 10 September 1962 in Wentorf bei Hamburg) was a German businessman, politician ( CDU) and First Mayor of Hamburg (1945–46).
Petersen's brother Carl Wilhelm Petersen was head of Ha ...
,
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
's first post-war
First Burgomaster (i.e. simultaneous mayor and governor of the
city state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
), 1st-degree Mischling
*
Bernhard Rogge
Bernhard Rogge (4 November 1899 – 29 June 1982) was a German naval officer who, during World War II, commanded a merchant raider. Later, he became a Konteradmiral in West Germany's navy.
Rogge became a ''Vizeadmiral'' (vice-admiral) by the end ...
, Kriegsmarine captain, commander of the auxiliary cruiser
Atlantis
Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...
, 2nd-degree Mischling
*
Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982.
Before becoming Ch ...
, group leader (Scharführer) in the Hitler Youth organization and later Chancellor of West Germany, Jewish grandfather
*
Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg
Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg (née Schiller; 3 January 1903 – 8 April 1945) was an aviator who served as a test pilot in the Luftwaffe before and during World War II.
She was the second German woman to be awarded the honorary ti ...
,
aviator, obscured ancestry, unveiled in 1940 as 1st-degree Mischling, received the
German Blood Certificate
A German Blood Certificate (German: ''Deutschblütigkeitserklärung'') was a document provided by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to '' Mischlinge'' (those with partial Jewish heritage), declaring them ''deutschblütig'' (of German blood). This practice ...
*
Otto Heinrich Warburg
Otto Heinrich Warburg (, ; 8 October 1883 – 1 August 1970), son of physicist Emil Warburg, was a German physiologist, medical doctor, and Nobel laureate. He served as an officer in the elite Uhlan (cavalry regiment) during the First World War, ...
,
physiologist, medical doctor and
Nobel laureate, leading
biochemist, 1st-degree Mischling
*
Helmuth Wilberg
Helmuth Wilberg (1 June 1880 – 20 November 1941) was a German officer of Jewish ancestry and a ''Luftwaffe'' General of the Air Force during the Second World War.
Military career
Wilberg joined the 80. Fusilier Regiment "von Gersdorff" (''K ...
, Luftwaffe general, 1st-degree Mischling declared Aryan in 1935 by Hitler
* Johannes Zuckertort, General for the Nazi army and Adolf Hitler, half–Jewish
Fate during the Nazi era
Discrimination in education, vocation and marriage
Those who were considered ''Mischlinge'' were generally restricted in their options of partners and marriage. ''Mischlinge'' of first degree generally needed permission to marry, and usually only to other ''Mischlinge'' or Jewish-classified persons; however, a marriage to a Jewish-classified person would re-categorize the ''Mischling'' as ''Geltungsjude'' (Full Jew). After 1942, marriage permissions were generally not granted any more—arguably due to the war—without further notice. ''Mischlinge'' of second degree did not need permission to marry a spouse classified as Aryan; however, marriage with ''Mischlinge'' of any degree was unwelcome. The reasoning behind this was that a ''Mischling'' marrying an Aryan would produce a child with an acceptably low amount of Jewish heritage, but a ''Mischling'' marrying a ''Mischling'' would just produce another ''Mischling''.
1st-degree ''Mischlinge'', more so than those of 2nd-degree, had restricted access to higher education and were generally forbidden from attending such schools in 1942. As for vocations, most jobs in the public sphere—such as journalism, teaching, performing arts, government positions, politics etc.—were inaccessible to ''Mischlinge''. Exceptions were granted for some prominent persons and those who acquired the necessary German blood certificates.
Mischlinge recruitment into the Organization Todt
Organization Todt
Organisation Todt (OT; ) was a civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi. The organisation was responsible for a huge range of engineering proje ...
served as a civil and military-based engineering program that was named after its founder,
Fritz Todt
Fritz Todt (; 4 September 1891 – 8 February 1942) was a German construction engineer and senior Nazi who rose from the position of Inspector General for German Roadways, in which he directed the construction of the German autobahns (''Reichsa ...
. This group became notorious for utilizing forced labor to develop large-scaled constructional projects throughout Germany and Nazi-occupied territories. Beginning in the autumn of 1944, between 10,000 and 20,000 half-Jews (''Mischlinge'') and persons related to Jews by a so-called
mixed marriage were recruited into special units of the
Organisation Todt
Organisation Todt (OT; ) was a civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi. The organisation was responsible for a huge range of engineering pr ...
.
Jewish Mischlinge in German-occupied Europe
While the classifications of ''Mischling'' also applied in occupied Western and Central Europe, and were well-documented for the Netherlands and
Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia
The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; cs, Protektorát Čechy a Morava; its territory was called by the Nazis ("the rest of Czechia"). was a partially annexed territory of Nazi Germany established on 16 March 1939 following the German occ ...
, this was not the case in Eastern Europe. Persons who would have been deemed Jewish ''Mischlinge'', in the East were classified as Jews in German-annexed Poland (
Danzig-West Prussia,
Warthegau
The ''Reichsgau Wartheland'' (initially ''Reichsgau Posen'', also: ''Warthegau'') was a Nazi German ''Reichsgau'' formed from parts of Polish territory annexed in 1939 during World War II. It comprised the region of Greater Poland and adjacent ...
, etc.), German-occupied Poland (
General Government), German-occupied parts of the Soviet Union, and the German-occupied Soviet-annexed
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
/Eastern Polish territories. Consequently, an unknown number of Christians of recent Jewish background from Poland and other occupied territories, primarily Catholics or Eastern Orthodox in this case, were killed as "Jewish" in the Holocaust.
[Hitler’s Shadow War: The Holocaust and World War II. Cooper Square Press, 2002 p. 244]
See also
*
Nazi eugenics
Nazi eugenics refers to the social policies of eugenics in Nazi Germany, composed of various pseudoscientific ideas about genetics. The racial ideology of Nazism placed the biological improvement of the German people by selective breeding of ...
*
Rhineland Bastard
Rhineland Bastard (german: Rheinlandbastard) was a derogatory term used in Nazi Germany to describe Afro-Germans, believed fathered by French Army personnel of African descent who were stationed in the Rhineland during its occupation by France a ...
*
Rosenstrasse protest Rosenstrasse (or Rosenstraße) is a street in Berlin.
It may more specifically refer to:
*Rosenstrasse protest Rosenstrasse (or Rosenstraße) is a street in Berlin.
It may more specifically refer to:
* Rosenstrasse protests, street protests, Be ...
*
Who is a Jew?
"Who is a Jew?" ( he, מיהו יהודי ) is a basic question about Jewish identity and considerations of Jewish self-identification. The question pertains to ideas about Jewish personhood, which have cultural, ethnic, religious, political ...
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
*
* Bothe-von Richthofen, Felicitas. ''Widerstand in Wilmersdorf, Memorial to the German Resistance'' (ed.), Berlin: Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand, 1993, (=Schriftenreihe über den Widerstand in Berlin von 1933 bis 1945; vol. 7), pp. 140seq. .
*
* Faust, Hans. "Vorläufer des Bundes der Verfolgten des Naziregimes Berlin e. V.", in ''Die Mahnung (periodical of the Bund der Verfolgten des Naziregimes.'' Berlin e. V., ie Berlin Federation of the Persecuted of the Nazi Regime), 1 September 1983.
*
* Genscher, Hans-Dietrich. "Leben und Wirken Dr. Rainer Hildebrandts", in ''Rabin-Gedenkkonzert mit Keren Hadar, Maya Zehden'' (ed.) on behalf of the Deutsch-Israelische Gesellschaft / Arbeitsgemeinschaft Berlin und Potsdam, Berlin: no publ., 2009, p. 32. No ISBN
* Gruner, Wolf (2006). ''Jewish Forced Labor Under the Nazis. Economic Needs and Racial Aims, 1938–1944.'' Institute of Contemporary History, Munich and Berlin. New York: Cambridge University Press. Published in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
* Lehrer, Steven (2000). Wannsee house and the Holocaust. McFarland. p. 74. .
* McKale, Donald, ''Hitler’s Shadow War: The Holocaust and World War II''. Cooper Square Press, 2002 p. 244* "Told French President of Jewish Origins – Helmut Schmidt's Revelation Reported". Los Angeles Times. 25 February 1988. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
* Messinger, Heinz. Langenscheidts Handwörterbuch Englisch, 2 parts, Teil II: Deutsch-English. Berlin (West) et al.: Langenscheidt, 1959.
* Talty, S. (2012). Agent Garbo: The Brilliant, Eccentric Secret Agent Who Tricked Hitler and Saved D-Day. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 104–05. . In his MI5 file, the British noted an anomaly: Kühlenthal was 'a half blood Jew.' Canaris had him legally declared an Aryan in 1941, but the conversion didn't sit well with Kühlenthal's peers.
External links
''Divided Lives: The Untold Stories of Jewish-Christian Women in Nazi Germany'' by Cynthia Crane
{{Authority control
Antisemitism in Austria
Antisemitism in Germany
Jewish Austrian history
Jewish German history
Law in Nazi Germany
Nazi eugenics
Religion and race
Nazi terminology
Multiracial affairs in Europe