Violation of Jewish Human Rights
"First the Jews weren't allowed on the trams anymore, or on the buses, in parks, or in shops. Rules like that were printed in the newspapers, and they were displayed on the trams and in shop windows. It was an enforced limitation of freedom for Jews in all kinds of ways. Next, Jews weren't allowed to visit most places in the city anymore; they had to stick to their own Jewish areas and shops. And though Herman and his family did not live in the Jewish area of the city, they, like all Jews, were no longer allowed to visit non-Jewish people ."-Diet Eman (Things We Couldn't Say)
"You are not here because of your religion, but because of your blood!' said the SS."--Sophie Yaarie (To Save a Life)
GEORGE Cassutto
This is a clip of our interview with George Cassutto. His mother and father were both Jews in the Holocaust and had to go into hiding.
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"After May 1940 , good times rapidly fled: first the war, then the capitulation, followed by the arrival of the Germans, which is when the sufferings of us Jews really began. Anti-Jewish decrees followed each other in quick succession. Jews must wear a yellow star, Jews must hand in their bicycles, Jews are banned from trams and are forbidden to drive. Jews are only allowed to do their shopping between three and five o'clock and then only in shops which bear the placard "Jewish Shop." Jews must be indoors by eight o'clock and cannot even sit in their own gardens after that hour. Jews are forbidden to visit theaters, cinemas, and other places of entertainment. Jews may not take part in public sports. Swimming baths, tennis courts, hockey fields and other sports grounds are all prohibited to them. Jews may not visit Christians. Jews must go to Jewish schools, and many more restrictions of a similar kind." -Anne Frank
For more information, go to Jewish Rights Timeline ->
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After May 1, 1940, when the occupation of the Germans began, all rights were taken away from the Jews. They were treated unfairly and cruelly. They were forced to follow a number of rules, one of them was that every Jew had to wear a gold star on their shirt that said 'Jew.' But this wasn't the end. Many, many more cruel things were going to happen and were yet to come. |
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"I can't believe they made us pay for these things," said my mother as she walked into the house. She had just been to the local Nazi food office to purchase enough yellow stars to be sewn into all our cloths. The stars were sixteen cents apiece. Mother's face looked worn and tired. George and I were in the living room, taking a sort of inventory. Along with the edict making it law for us to wear the yellow star at all times, all Jews had been ordered to turn in their valuables, things like jewelry and artwork. My mother watched us take down paintings for a couple of minutes. I imagine she was trying to get used to the idea that they were not hers anymore. Then she bit her lip and went straight to work at her sewing machine. I heard her fiercely humming a big band tune. Within a few minutes and one chorus of a Glenn Miller song, she had the first star sewn into my jacket, right over the left breast pocket."
--Ernest Cassutto (The Last Jew of Rotterdam)
"Life began to be very hard for the Jewish people. Slowly more and more things changed. It didn't all happen in '33, but in '34, '35, every few months there were new prohibitions, and we felt them deeply."
-Sophie Yaari