THE OPTION OF DIVORCE: CHOICE OR COERCION?

The National Socialists, much like the Democrats in the American South, abominated “race mixing” and miscegenation. Whereas state and local governments in the United States had managed to restrict marital and sexual relationships between races by means of violence, legislation, and judicial decisions, Hitler's regime faced the problem of dissolving tens of thousands of established marital unions. The most logical approach was to induce Aryans to divorce their Jewish wives or husbands, a scheme that could be implemented by promises of job security, bribes, social pressure, and threats. And because the divorce rate of mixed marriages was already disproportionately high in Germany, there was reason for the Nazis to anticipate more than a modicum of success. In the early years of Hitler's regime, the available evidence suggests that a number of intermarried couples did dissolve their marriages, although the exact figures have never been determined. The grounds of those seeking divorce appear to have ranged from despair to purely selfish reasons. In some cases, an “Aryan” husband or wife would attempt to save family assets or facilitate the emigration of a partner; in others, the petitioner might seek to salvage a position or advance up the career ladder. In still others, individuals would go to court under Gestapo pressure or simply to end an unhappy relationship.