[iowamark]

Probably many Jews just complied with all the new restrictions, not realizing the mortal danger that they were in. Anti-semitism had existed for centuries and the Jews had survived. It was not obvious to all that the Nazis were something entirely new.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Probably many Jews just complied with all the new restrictions, not realizing the mortal danger that they were in.

See my reply #3. The Nazi plan was not a secret, even at this early date. Maybe the world was just not able to digest that the Nazis meant what they said.

[Fiji Hill]

To most Jews, it was becoming obvious what the Nazis had in store for them, but leaving Germany could be difficult. First, one had to obtain an entry visa from another country, and then get an exit visa from Germany. In his book Not Peace but a Sword (1939), left-leaning journalist Vincent Sheean describes the crowds of Jews lining up at foreign consulates in Vienna in the early months of 1939, desperately hoping to get visas. German and Austrian Jews were even trying to emigrate to Fascist Italy, which had just passed a series of anti-Jewish laws, and Czechoslovakia, which everyone knew would soon be swallowed up by the Reich.

[SJackson]

Probably many Jews just complied with all the new restrictions, not realizing the mortal danger that they were in.

Most Jews were desparate to leave, but few countries would have them. Depending on whose numbers you trust, between 60% and 80% of German Jews left, but many of those were unable to leave the continent, so were swept up later. In 1933, only about a half million of Europe's Jews lived in Germany.