Legal Persecution in Nazi Germany and Austria, 1933-1939

Once the Nazis took power in Germany in 1933, persecution of Jews escalated through clearly defined legal stages. In April of that year the NSDAP organized an official boycott of Jewish-owned businesses, followed soon after by the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, which expelled Jews from state positions. Over the following years Jews were progressively excluded from the liberal professions, from universities, and from cultural life, as the regime worked systematically to isolate them from German public life.