The slogan ''Nur für Deutsche'' ( English: "Only for

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

s") was a German ethnocentric slogan indicating that certain establishments, transportation and other facilities such as

park benches ''Park Benches'' () is a 2009 French film directed by Bruno Podalydès, with an all-star cast. Plot ''Bancs Publics'' tells the story of a lonely man, observed by employees from an office across the street, onlookers from the Square des Francin ...

, bars and

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s were reserved exclusively for Germans. It was used during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in many German-occupied countries, especially

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

from 1939 until the defeat of Germany in 1945. Signs bearing the slogan were posted at entrances to parks, cafes, cinemas, theaters and other facilities. They were normally the best such facilities to show the indigenous population the alleged "superiority" of the Germans.

History

German-occupied Poland German-occupied Poland can refer to: * General Government * Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany * Occupation of Poland (1939–1945) * Prussian Partition The Prussian Partition (), or Prussian Poland, is the former territories of the Polish� ...

racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...

was nearly complete by 1940. In streetcars and trains, the first car was usually reserved for German administrative and military personnel, Nazi party members, and German civilians. Other nationalities were to use the remaining cars. Jews were refused any such usage. The segregation was repeated in other occupied countries, such as parts of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

for example. It was another way to intimidate local people, in addition to imposition of legal constraints,

curfew A curfew is an order that imposes certain regulations during specified hours. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to remain indoors during the evening and nighttime hours. Such an order is most often issued by public authorit ...

s and unfair

exchange rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

s. Jews were discriminated against in all occupied countries, as well as Germany itself, and some towns boasted of their

judenfrei ''Judenfrei'' (, "free of Jews") and ''judenrein'' (, "clean of Jews") are terms of Nazi origin to designate an area that has been " cleansed" of Jews during the Holocaust. While ''judenfrei'' refers merely to "freeing" an area of all of i ...

status. The constraints on Jews were the most severe of all, and they were refused ownership of

cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

radios Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to ...

and could go shopping only at limited times for example. They were forbidden to use park benches and then

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

s at all, notices included ''"Juden verboten"'' were commonplace across Germany. Such restrictions were applied gradually in Germany from 1933 on, but much more rapidly following invasion of a country. Thus Austrian Jews suffered extreme restraints faster after the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

in 1938, as did Poland from 1939 onwards after military conquest. The German attitude was based on its racial philosophy of being the "

master race The master race ( ) is a pseudoscientific concept in Nazi ideology, in which the putative Aryan race is deemed the pinnacle of human racial hierarchy. Members were referred to as ''master humans'' ( ). The Nazi theorist Alfred Rosenberg b ...

", to whom all other "races" were inferior, and thus to be exploited and enslaved. Similar signage was used in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

during

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

and in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

during

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...

, where bus travel for example was racially segregated. Discriminating signage was also used informally in the UK, notably in signs in

bed and breakfast A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...

accommodation barring Irish and blacks. Such signs are now illegal.

Reaction

In Polish partisan parlance, toxic or otherwise undrinkable

moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...

was jocularly called "nur für Deutsche". Partisans were also fond of painting the words "nur für Deutsche" on graveyard fences or street lampposts (a reference to

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nur fur Deutsche German words and phrases Poland in World War II Race in Nazi Germany Nazi terminology Germany–Poland relations Segregation 1933 quotations Political quotes Slogans

History

Reaction

See also

References

External links