Why did the Jews have to wear a yellow star?

Answer 1

They were forced to do it under Nazi law and there were penalties for not doing so. The point was to make them easily identifiable as members the hated minority.

The yellow Star od David, inscribed with the word "Jude," has become a symbol of Nazi persecution, possibly even the "icon #1" of the Holocaust. It abounds upon Holocaust literature and materials - book covers, movie posters and the like. But the Jewish badge was not instituted in 1933 when Hitler came to power. It was not instituted in 1935 when the Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their citizenship. It was still not implemented by Kristallnacht in 1938. The public labeling of the Jews by use of the Jewish badge did not begin until after the start of the Second World War. And even then, it began as local laws rather than as a unified Nazi policy.

Answer 2

Obviously, it immediately marked them out as members of the hated race ... (After all, they don't all have dark, curly hair and hooked noses)

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Hitler made the Jews wear the Star of David so that they would be easier to identify at concentration camps.

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From September 1941 on, Jews in Germany had to wear the yellow star in public. It was not simply a concentration camp badge. (The compulsory Star of David for Jews in public places was first introduced in occupied Poland in November 1939 and was originally blue).

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The yellow star, often inscribed with the word "Jude," has become a symbol of Nazi persecution. Its likeness abounds upon Holocaust literature and materials. But the Jewish badge was not instituted in 1933 when Hitler came to power. It was not instituted in 1935 when the Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their citizenship. It was still not implemented by Kristallnacht in 1938. The oppression and labeling of the Jews by use of the Jewish badge did not begin until after the start of the Second World War. And even then, it began as local laws rather than as a unified Nazi policy.

Answer 3

From about 1300 till about 1800 the Jews in many parts of Europe had to wear a yellow star or two red circles as a badge to mark them out. When Venice dropped this requirement in 1729 it was one of the very first states to do so. For the Nazis, red was the colour they used for political opponents (Communists, Social Democrats, liberals) and so it was already taken, as it were.