Why were Jewish people reluctant to leave Germany?

Answer 1

The majority of German Jews had lived in Germany (the German states) for a very long time, were highly assimilated into German society and most of them loved the country deeply ... It turned into a truly tragic love affair for some. For some of the most highly integrated German Jews, especially in places like Berlin (where Jews were quite popular) it was very hard to understand what was really happening. Moreover, one had to have somewhere and something (if possible a job) to go to, and at that time - the Great Depression - most countries were very reluctant to admit many foreigners.

Answer 2

A large percentage of German Jews did flee. Not long after his Machtergreifung ("seizure of power"), Hitler made agreements with Jewish groups to allow refugees to leave, mainly to go to the Middle East in what is now Israel. However, part of the plan was that the Nazis would seize these Jews' property in Germany before they left, so it still wasn't very nice.

Many Jews also fled to neighboring countries in Europe, especially France and the Netherlands. However, this became a problem because the Germans later attacked and occupied these countries. So these people who had just fled were suddenly back under the control of the same horrible people who they had just left! By that point, the Holocaust was already underway and these refugees were often victims as well.

Another complication was that many countries would not accept Jewish refugees- including the USA. There was a notorious incident where a ship with about a thousand refugees left Germany and was denied entry at Cuba (which was a close ally of the US at the time), the US, and Canada. The ship was forced to return to Europe. About half of these died in the Holocaust.

The Jews who were able to successfully leave tended to be those who were either well-connected politically or were wealthy, or both. Others were those were who already out of country for some reason, and were able to stay where they were- such as Albert Einstein, who was already a famous scientist and happened to be visiting the US when Hitler came to power. Those unfortunates who were not were often stuck, and had to endure whatever suffering the Nazis inflicted upon them. Once the war began, it became virtually impossible to flee, except for when a brave individual risked their own life to save them, individuals such as Oskar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg, and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, to name a few.