Comparison of Canonical Laws
with Nazi Measures Against Jews
The following table is from William Nichols’ Christian Antisemitism: A History of Hate (pp. 204–206), and was originally published by Raul Hilberg. It compares the laws of the medieval church in Europe to laws of the National Socialist Regime under Adolf Hitler. The Jew who composed it meant to show that Christians are evildoers like Nazis, but what it really shows is that the Nazis were following the lead of the Church in suppressing the wicked Jews.
| CANONICAL LAW | NAZI MEASURE |
|---|---|
| Prohibition of intermarriage and of sexual intercourse between Christians and Jews, Synod of Elvira, 306. | Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor, September 15, 1935 (RGB1 I, 1146). |
| Jews and Christians not permitted to eat together, Synod of Elvira, 306. | Jews barred from dining cars (Transport Minister to Interior Minister, December 30, 1939, Document NG-3995). |
| Jews not allowed to hold public office, Synod of Clermont, 535. | Law for the Re-establishment of the Professional Civil Service, April 7, 1933 (RGB1 I, 175). |
| Jews not allowed to employ Christian servants or possess Christian slaves, 3rd Synod of Orleans, 538. | Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor, September 15, 1935 (RGB1 I, 1146). |
| Jews not permitted to show themselves in the streets during Passion Week, 3rd Synod of Orleans, 538. | Decree authorizing local authorities to bar Jews from the streets on certain days (i.e., Nazi holidays), December 3, 1938 (RBG1 I, 1676) |
| Burning of the Talmud and other books, 12th Synod of Toledo, 681. | Book burnings in Nazi Germany. |
| Christians not permitted to patronize Jewish doctors, Trulanic Synod, 692. | Decree of July 25, 1938 (RGB1 I, 969). |
| Christians not permitted to live in Jewish homes, Synod of Narbonne, 1050. | Directive by Goring providing for concentration of Jews in houses, December 28, 1938 (Bormann to Rosenberg, January 17, 1939, PS-69). |
| Jews obliged to pay taxes for support of church to the same extent as Christians, Synod of Gerona, 1078. | The “Sozialausgleichsabgabe” which provided that Jews pay a special income tax in lieu of donations for Party purposes imposed on Nazis, December 24, 1940 (RBG1 I, 1666). |
| Prohibition of Sunday work, Synod of Szabolcs, 1092. | |
| Jews not permitted to be plaintiffs, or witnesses against Christians in the courts, 3rd Lateran Council, 1179, Canon 26. | Proposal by the Party Chancellery that Jews not be permitted to institute civil suits, September 9, 1942 (Bormann to Justice Ministry, September 9, 1942, NG-151). |
| Jews not permitted to withhold inheritance from descendants who accepted Christianity, 3rd Lateran Council, 1179, Canon 26. | Decree empowering the Justice Ministry to void wills offending the “sound judgment of the people,” July 31, 1938 (RGB1 I, 937). |
| The marking of Jewish clothes with a badge, 4th Lateran Council, 1215, Canon 68. (Copied from the legislation by Caliph Omar II [634-44], who had decreed that Christians wear blue belts and Jews, yellow belts.) | Decree of September 1, 1941 (RGB1 I, 547). |
| Construction of new synagogues prohibited, Council of Oxford, 1222. | Destruction of synagogues in entire Reich, November 10, 1938 (Heydrich to Goring, November 11, 1938, PS-3058). |
| Christians not permitted to attend Jewish ceremonies, Synod of Vienna, 1267. | Friendly relations with Jews prohibited, October 24, 1941 (Gestapo directive, L-15). |
| Jews not permitted to dispute with simple Christian people about the tenets of the Catholic religion, Synod of Vienna, 1267. | |
| Compulsory ghettoes, Synod of Breslau, 1267. | Order by Heydrich, September 21, 1939 (PS-3363). |
| Christians not permitted to sell or rent real estate to Jews, Synod of Ofen, 1279. | Decree providing for compulsory sale of Jewish real estate, December 3, 1938 (RGB1 I, 1709). |
| Adoption by a Christian of the Jewish religion or return by a baptized Jew to the Jewish religion defined as a heresy, Synod of Mainz, 1310. | Adoption by a Christian of the Jewish religion places him in jeopardy of being treated as a Jew. Decision by Oberlandesgericht Kénigsberg, 4th Zivilsenat, June 26, 1942 (Die Judenfrage [Vertrauliche Beilage], November 1, 1942, pp. 82-83). |
| Sale or transfer of church articles to Jews prohibited, Synod of Lavour, 1368. | |
| Jews not permitted to act as agents in the conclusion of contracts between Christians, especially marriage contracts, Council of Basel, 1434, Sessio XIX. | Decree of July 6, 1938, providing for liquidation of Jewish real estate agencies, brokerage agencies, and matriage agencies catering to non-Jews (RGB1 I, 823). |
| Jews not permitted to obtain academic degrees, Council of Basel, 1434, Sessio XIX. | Law against Overcrowding of German Schools and Universities, April 25, 1933 (RGB1 I, 225). |