First of all, I belong to a Jewish congregation. I am merely reporting a sequence of historical events; I am not attempting to justify them.
So why even mention it in this context? Pat IS trying to justify, or at least rationaize, Hitler's actions. Don't cross that line.
The traditional line is "Some of my best friends are Jewish"...
Although we don't understand it, we're pretty familiar with the phenomena of self hating Jews here on FR.
the historic accommodation the Germans had shown for the Jewish people
ACCOMMODATION???
Ever wonder how "Einstein" became a nice name for a Jew?
German repression of the Christ-killer Jews goes back at least as far as the middle ages. Anyone with a Jewish name was banned from many jobs, including anything in banking, government, and owning many private sector businesses.
There was an 'out': if a Jew converted (even if only on paper) and changed his name to a 'decent German name' the restrictions were off.
Oh, one little thing? We have this list of approved names that are German enough. It's only a coincidence that all the names are double entendres.
Perfect. Win-win for the Krauts. Jews can't complain that they are totally locked out, we offered them a way to fully participate, and become German. That makes it OK to discriminate against the ones who won't swear loyalty to Germany. If they do take a funny name, and swear allegiance to Germany rather than Israel, we can still look down on them for their willingness to do anything for money.
Hitler didn't create German anti-semitism. He tapped into a deep wide and rich vein of hatred that was a core part of the German psyche for centuries.
And, Einstein? It means "One Testicle"...