this post was submitted on 31 May 2026
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The thing about the Nazis was their methods. They were bureaucrats and kept book meticulously (that's one way we know how many people were killed). Their (primary) goal wasn't terror but preservation of the "Aryan" race by eradicating "lesser" people. It would've been counterproductive to allow people to accuse others willy-nilly. Hence the Ariernachweis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_certificate
Of course, I'm sure there were people who would've been considered "Aryan" by descent but simply couldn't present the necessary documentation being accused of being Jewish and killed. But that wasn't the usual procedure.
I’m going to assume you’re a German national based on your instance so please correct me if you see any issues with my statement. It’s my understanding that while one may not inform on their neighbor who is clearly a gentile by accusing them of being a Jew, but they very well may accuse them of being a labor organizer or any other manner of threat to the reich. Farmer with a land dispute? Well, your neighbor can’t contest that if he’s been rounded up by the police for being an enemy of the state. I know there were children that reported their own parents for criticizing the Nazi leadership at the dinner table.
Yes, hi, German here, correct :) not a historian though, just had loads of classes on the 3rd Reich and have lived here all my life.
True, they also persecuted political enemies of all kinds, like communists and socialists (nb!) as well as any other people they found disagreeable, like homosexuals, disabled people etc. etc. But they had categories for all of them, not everybody was treated the same (the Jewish yellow star is by far not the only such badge they created). Also, while, as I said, I'm not a historian, from what I know about their methods, I'd assume they would have thoroughly checked any such accusations, especially for people of well-documented Aryan descent. Anything else would've been wasting precious German blood, wouldn't it?