Photos reveal rising anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany in 1935

Eighty years ago, a Dutch photographer went into Nazi Germany to collect evidence of the raging anti-Semitism in the country, sent by Jewish journalists who were hoping to alert the world to the situation in the Third Reich, before it was too late.

• Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter
  

The photographer crossed Germany on a motorcycle in 1935 and documented signs along the way, all with one unified message: "Jews are not wanted here."

Jews are not wanted here (Photo courtesy of the National Library)

The Dutch motorcyclist photographed 22 signs along the road connecting the border town of Bad Bentheim to the capital Berlin, some 500 kilometers away. He found them on the sides of the road, in entrances to villages and in front of picturesque houses.

Jews, immigrate to your own country (Photo courtesy of the National Library)

But the photos, which were distributed to media organizations all over the world - including in the Land of Israel - did not produce the desired reaction.

Those buying from Jews are betraying the country, written next to a notice board (Photo courtesy of the National Library)

"It was a war that was doomed from the start," according to the National Library in Jerusalem, where the photos have been kept all these years.

We don't want to see Jews. They're our problem (Photo courtesy of the National Library)

Nazi party signs in a German village: 'Jews are our problem' (Photo courtesy of the National Library)

The Dutch photographer, who remained anonymous, was sent into Nazi Germany by a news agency formed by two Jews who escaped Germany to the Netherlands - Hans Richman and Alfred Viner. They had one main goal: To expose the true face of the National-Socialist Party that came to power in those days.

The route the photographer took (in red) from the border, through Hanover, to Berlin (Photo courtesy of the National Library)

"The photographs were meant to stir as much publicity as possible, to make people aware of what's going on in Germany, but even in the Land of Israel they didn't understand what they were being warned from," said archivist Gil Weissblei.

Jews are not welcome here, written on a sign in a wooded area (Photo courtesy of the National Library)

In January of 1936 Richman and Viner also sent an album with copies of the photographs to the National Library in Jerusalem, in the hopes of raising awareness in the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel.

The road to Palestine is not through here (Photo courtesy of the National Library)

The photo album was filed at the National Library, where it collected dust over the years and was seen by only a handful of people. The newspapers in the Land of Israel did not print the photos.

Jews are our problem (Photo courtesy of the National Library)

"It's possible the journalists then didn't think this was a story," Weissblei said. "They were used to displays of anti-Semitism and it didn't seem like something special to them. They didn't imagine where this would lead."

Members of the community want nothing to do with Jews (Photo courtesy of the National Library)