In September 1935, the Nazi government in Germany passed two laws, the “Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour” and the “Reich Citizenship Law”, that are together commonly known as the Nuremberg Laws. These laws are most well-known for forbidding marriages and extramarital intercourse between Jews and “Aryan” Germans; forbidding the employment of German females under 45 in Jewish households; and declaring that only those of German or related blood were eligible to be Reich citizens, with Jews reclassified as merely “state subjects” without any citizenship rights.
There is another thing that these laws did that has been less discussed, but really ought to be given more attention, especially in light of events that have transpired in the past year.
The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour banned Jews in Germany from flying or displaying the National flag (meaning the Nazi flag), but stated they were “permitted to display the Jewish colors”. Several months later, the Nazi government issued a further statement clarifying that this language refers to the flag used by the Zionist movement at the time.
Per the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on January 2nd, 1936:
“It is up to the Jewish nation,” the decree states, “to decide for itself which are to be the colors of the Jewish national flag, but until then the Zionists’ blue-white flag, together with the symbols of all the different Zionist groups, is valid in the Reich as the Jewish flag and as such will be enjoying State protection.”
The “Zionists’ blue-white flag” referenced here featured a white background with two blue stripes and a Star of David in between them. It is the same flag that is now used as the flag of Israel.
I learned this from reading Zionism During the Holocaust by Tony Greenstein. Positively eye-opening.
(edit: corrected a grammatical error)
It’s really good not to forget these facts. But it really should be more common knowledge that the Zionest has indeed been antisemitic
So, in more simple phrasing, the Zionist flag enjoyed state protection in Nazi Germany?