The Nazi ideology was heavily influenced by Benito Mussolini’s Fascist party, but different in at least one important regard: it mixed in a good dose of racism. Hitler was convinced that the decadence of Europe and other nations came from the population mixing with lesser races. Only the Roman-descended Aryan bloodlines were true men; the rest were inferior, subhuman. And among those, the lowest were Jews. That was why, just two months after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, he organized a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.

On this day, April 1, in 1933, likely prompted by a Jewish boycott of Nazi goods, the Nazis declared a one-day boycott of Jewish-owned businesses in Germany.

It was a portend of things to come. Nazi Sturmabteilung (SA) political members stood in front of Jewish stores and offices, placards in hand reading “Don’t Buy from Jews” and “Go Back to Palestine.” Antisemitic graffiti was scrawled on the buildings and doors to the businesses, along with the six-pointed Jewish star. Jews in Germany would see much more of that in the years to come.