Mischling
Mischling ("crossbreed" in German) was the German term used during the Third Reich era in the German Empire to denote persons deemed to have partial Jewish ancestry. The word has essentially the same origin as the Spanish mestizo and the French métis, and literally means "mixed person."
The Nuremberg laws
As defined by the Nazi Nuremberg laws in 1935, a Jew was somebody who had at least three Jewish grandparents, regardless of religious affiliation or self-identification; or somebody with two Jewish grandparents who either belonged to the Jewish religion or was married to a Jew. People who did not belong to the Jewish religion but had two Jewish grandparents were Mischling of the first degree; those with only one Jewish grandparent were Mischling of the second degree. [R. Hilberg, "Perpetrators, Victims, Bystanders", p. 150ff]
Who is a Jew
The first anti-Jewish legislation to be passed was the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service Act of 4/7/33. The Nazi party dismissed all non-Aryans from all government positions in society, including public educators, and those practicing medicine in state hospitals. It was at this time that the Jew had to be defined. Four days after the passing of this act, a Jew was defined as one who has three or more Jewish grandparents.
Standards of the SS
The SS used a more stringent standard: In order to join, a candidate had to prove (presumably, through baptismal records) that all direct ancestors born since 1750 were not Jewish, or they could apply for a German Blood Certificate.
"Mischlings" were often Roman Catholics
In the 19th century many German Jews converted to Christianity, almost all becoming Roman Catholics rather than Protestants; they and their descendants often then married Christians. As a result many Roman Catholics in Germany had some traceable Jewish ancestry by the time the Nazis came to power, so that many 1st or 2nd degree Mischlinge were Catholics.
Reclassification procedure
Requests for reclassification (e.g., Jew as Mischling 1st degree, 1st degree as 2nd degree) or Aryanization (see German Blood Certificate) were personally reviewed by Adolf Hitler himself. Apparently, he considered the issue important enough to him that he found time to review a few thousand such files.
Comparison with Jewish law
All streams in Judaism agree that there are two routes to Jewishness: ancestry and conversion.
Regarding ancestry, Orthodox and Conservative Judaism consider the offspring of a Jewish mother to be Jewish (matrilineal descent): the ancestry of the father is irrelevant. In the postwar era, Reform Judaism adopted the innovation of patrilineal descent: a person with a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother may still be considered Jewish if (s)he identifies as such.
Regarding conversion, the various streams of Judaism apply different levels of stringency with respect to the prospective convert's level of observance and commitment, but all agree that the ancestry of the convert is irrelevant. People of all parentage and backgrounds have joined and continue to join the Jewish religion.
The modern State of Israel allows anyone who does not practice a religion other than Judaism to settle in Israel as a beneficiary of the Law of Return, provided that the person has a Jewish mother, grandmother, or spouse, or that the person is a convert to Judaism (regardless of denomination).
Finally, a person of Jewish ancestry who converted to another religion is still considered Jewish in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, while Reform Judaism and the State of Israel consider such people not to be Jewish.
Numbers of people considered "Mischlings"
According to the 1939 Reich census, there were about 72,000 Mischlings of the 1st degree, some 39,000 of the 2nd degree, and tens of thousands more of higher degrees. [D. Bankier, in: Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Volume 3, Number 1 (1988), pp.1-20.]
According to SMU history professor and Israeli Army and U.S. Marine veteran Bryan Mark Rigg thousands of one-quarter and one-half Jewish men served in the German armed forces during World War II, including several generals and at least one field marshal (see external links below).
Prominent "Mischlings"
Some examples of Mischlings:
- the future federal chancellor Helmut Schmidt, 2nd degree Mischling
- Kriegsmarine captain Bernhard Rogge, 2nd degree Mischling
- Wehrmacht soldier and Nazi model Werner Goldberg, 1st-degree Mischling
- Luftwaffe builder Erhard Milch (Jewish father and Christian mother, 1st degree Mischling) reclassified as Aryan by Adolf Hitler.
- Luftwaffe general Helmut Wilberg, 1st degree Mischling and declared Aryan in 1935 by Hitler.
- last rank general Johannes Zukertort, 1st degree Mischling receiving the German Blood Certificate.
- Colonel Walter H. Hollaender, 1st degree Mischling receiving the German Blood Certificate.
- Commander Paul Ascher, 1st degree Mischling receiving the German Blood Certificate.
- Iron Cross-awarded soldier Horst Geitner, 1st degree Mischling
Modern German usage
In modern German usage the word is no longer used to designate persons of partial Jewish ancestry, but instead refers to people of mixed-race background. The word has lost most of the negative connotations it once had.