“Juden Raus!” (Jews Out!) – History's most - Board Game Studies
“Juden Raus!” (Jews Out!) – History's most - Board Game Studies
“Juden Raus!” (Jews Out!) – History's most - Board Game Studies
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48<br />
B OARD G AME S TUDIES 6, 2003<br />
Cultural Background<br />
The persecution of the <strong>Jews</strong> and other minority groups in Nazi Germany began as<br />
political repression, and ended as perhaps the worst genocide in human history. In 1933<br />
Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of the so-called Weimarer Republik and the first<br />
concentration camp for political dissidents was established at Dachau. In September<br />
1935 the Nuremberg laws deprived <strong>Jews</strong> of all political rights in Germany, and in<br />
October 1937 Jewish property was confiscated. In 1938 Jewish passports were revoked,<br />
trapping hundreds of thousands of Jewish people within territories controlled by<br />
Germany. In November 1938, a nation-wide pogrom, the “Reichspogromnacht<strong>”</strong>, which<br />
the Nazis called “Reichskristallnacht<strong>”</strong> began against Jewish people. This event, better<br />
known as “Kristallnacht<strong>”</strong> (Crystal Night) refers to the smashing of windows of Jewish<br />
shops and synagogues during these actions carried out by the organizations of the<br />
NSDAP. Soon after, the deportation of tens of thousands of <strong>Jews</strong> to concentration camps<br />
began (Barnavi 1992). It was in this cultural context that <strong>“Juden</strong> <strong>Raus</strong>!<strong>”</strong> was made available<br />
to the public. On December 5, 1938, one month after “Kristallnacht<strong>”</strong> the distribution<br />
firm of Rudolf Fabricius offered a 33.1/3% discount on <strong>“Juden</strong> <strong>Raus</strong>!<strong>”</strong> at the price<br />
of RM 4.50.<br />
Description of the game<br />
<strong>“Juden</strong> <strong>Raus</strong>!<strong>”</strong> is a race game that instills values of a totalitarian fascist regime. It has<br />
both the theme of racial hatred and employs racist images in the game design. The object<br />
of the game is to deprive the German <strong>Jews</strong> of their property and to make them leave the<br />
city. The game board clearly states that the first player to remove six <strong>Jews</strong> from the city<br />
wins the game. In this way the game clearly foreshadows the policy of racial genocide that<br />
was to follow.<br />
Gaming material<br />
The dimensions of the board are 50 x 60 cm, the board is cardboard with cloth<br />
hinges. On the board are 13 specially marked circles with pictures of Jewish storefronts.<br />
On reaching these places a hat representing a Jew is awarded to the player.<br />
The game board has three areas of text. The first sentence says: “Zeige Geschick im<br />
Würfelspiel, damit Du sammelst der Juden viel!<strong>”</strong> (Display skill in the dice game, so that<br />
you collect many <strong>Jews</strong>!). The second reads: “Gelingt es Dir 6 Juden rauszujagen, so bist<br />
Du Sieger ohne zu fragen!<strong>”</strong> (When you succeed in driving out 6 <strong>Jews</strong>, you will be winner<br />
beyond all question!). On the lower portion of the game board can be seen caricatures<br />
of a man, a woman and a child, in the style in which <strong>Jews</strong> were stereotyped at that<br />
time (figure 1). The writing below them reads: “Auf nach Palästina!<strong>”</strong> (Off to Palestine!).<br />
This graphic echoes a description given by Victor Klemperer in his diary (Klemperer<br />
1995: 398). Under March 1st 1938 one reads: “Sie [i.e. the Nazis] haben keinen Sinn<br />
für ihre eigene Komik... Ihre bewußte Komik ist Niedertracht gegen Wehrlose: Hier in<br />
Dresden ist heute ein Faschingsumzug: “Auszug der Kinder Israel<strong>”</strong> (They have no sense<br />
for their own humor... Their deliberate humor is meanness towards the helpless: Today<br />
there is a carnival’s procession here in Dresden: “Exodus of the children of Israel<strong>”</strong>). This