Emulating the Nazi Nuremberg Laws, the puppet government of the Czech Protectorate today proclaimed a Law for the Protection of Czech Blood which imposes racial legislation upon the Czech population.
Signed by Emil Hacha, President of the Protectorate, the new law prohibits intermarriage between Jews and citizens of the Protectorate who are neither Jews nor partly Jewish. “Jews” are considered to be those who have at least three “racially Jewish” grandparents.
The new law also forbids Jews in the Protectorate to employ “Aryan” maids under the age of 45. It provides punishment of up to fifteen years penal servitude for the man participating in “illicit sexual relations” between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens of the Protectorate, but leaves the woman unpunished. Punishment is also provided for Jews flying the Czech colors. Hitherto, these “racial laws” were only applied to Germans in the Protectorate.
In announcing the new law, the Nazi-controlled Prague radio added that “racial purity is now safeguarded and the Czech genius will thus be able to express its creative forces without Jewish interference.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
