What is The Aryan Paragraph?

Early in the Nazi ascent to power, Hitler and his operatives created a declaration called The Aryan Paragraph which essentially institutionalized anti-Semitism as a fundamental element of the practices and operations of the Third Reich. It allowed, and in the eyes of many, including Bonhoeffer, virtually insisted upon, the removal of any and all Jews from positions of influence or any sort of political or legal status. The publication of the paragraph triggered the writing and publication of one of Bonhoeffer's earliest anti-Nazi writings.