Nazis’ Own Figures Destroy Their Bogey of the Jewish ‘peril’

The rapid increase of the Jewish population, and the vast number of Jews from Eastern Europe who had become naturalized German subjects—these were two of the chief complaints of the Nazis and the basis of several of the planks in their platform. For years this danger had been drilled into the heads of the German people. The Jews were swamping Germany. They were increasing like rabbits. They had enormous families, and they were getting naturalized by the thousand. Unless something were done to stop it, the Jews would soon be in the majority, and Germany would become a mere Jewish colony.

The Voelkischer Beobachter, official Nazi organ, recently published a whole page of statistics, in order to prove the great danger from which Hitler had saved Germany. In view of the fact that the Voelkischer Beobachter can scarcely be suspected of understatement in favor of the Jews, these figures are of some interest.

INCREASE ONLY IN PRUSSIA

The article starts with the admission that, taking Germany as a whole, the percentages of Jews in pre-Hitler Germany had for decades been diminishing. But, taking Prussia by itself, the reverse was the case, and the Jews were increasing rapidly: whereas, over a period of 10 years, the percentage increase of the non-Jewish population was only 9.1, that of the Jewish population was as much as—10.

In other words, the percentage increase per annum was 0.09 greater among the Jews than among the Germans. As there were roughly 30,000 Jews in Prussia, this means they were increasing at the rate of 3,000 per annum, instead of at the rate of 2,730—an excess of 270 Jews, in a total population of 40,000,000. An increase more than cancelled by the decline in the rest of Germany.

The Nazi assertions concerning the enormous number of Jews from Eastern Europe who had been naturalized are shown to be equally absurd by a high Nazi official, Privy Councillor Hering. The Hitler Government recently passed a law enabling them to cancel the naturalization certificates of “undesirable elements.”

ONLY 10,000 NATURALIZED

In an article in the official “Government Gazette” on this subject, Herr Hering tells us that in the eleven and a half years ending February 1933, as many as 10,300 Jews from Eastern Europe were naturalized in Prussia. Not quite one thousand per annum. The total population of Prussia being about 40 millions, this means one Eastern European Jew to every 40,000 Prussians. It may be added that only such Jews were naturalized in Germany as had lived there for at least ten years. One in 40,000!

Taking Germany as a whole, the figures leave the Nazis with even less justification. Before the War, the Jews formed roughly 1 percent of the total population. By 1933, this figure had fallen to 0.93 percent.