Nuremberg Laws

Audience

The audience for the Nuremberg Laws was twofold. First, the laws and supplemental decrees were directed at Jews. The laws represented a first official step on the part of the Nazi regime to deal with the “Jewish problem.” By stripping Jews of their political rights, the Nazis began to move toward the Jews' eradication. The other, larger audience was the German people. The laws represented a concrete application of the Nazi ideology that asserted the superiority of German blood to that of other, inferior groups. As such, it was a key part of the Nazi propaganda program designed to unite Germans in the belief that Germans were a race of Übermenschen, or “supermen,” who could assert Germany's rightful place in the world order. By declaring war on the Jews, Hitler in effect began his assault on Europe, an assault that would lead to World War II.