I wanted to thank you for making this thread. I read ITPOME earlier this year and I must say that I think it is one of Turtledove's better books- not more realistic books- but better books.
I know the parallelism about the attempted reforms can be tiring, but it does serve a narrative function. Because there are some reforms, we do not need to exist in a state of despair that the Reich will go on forever, inexorably grinding all its foes to dust. We are reminded that history does not end, even with a great tragedy. It allows the possibility of hope. But it does so while not being the most interesting event, if only because we've all heard this story before. One of the rules of writing is to ask of any scene: "Is this the most interesting thing we could be seeing right now?" And if the answer is no, to have a good reason why we are not seeing the most interesting thing. If the reform plotline was to be original, it would distract from the core plot of ITPOME; if it was not there, the story would take place, not in an (admittedly not supremely realistic) alternate history, but in a fantasy world constructed out of the trope of "those wacky Nazis" for history is always moving. The "We all know what happens" nature of the reform arc is what allows it to work.
And it is for the best that the story does not give it more focus. ITPOME is not a story about an alternate history, but rather a story set in one. ITPOME is a story about Judaism, family, and persecution. It therefore works better being focused on a family so that we can see them wrestling with the questions of how to preserve their way of life in the teeth of a society bent on their eradication, and how this influences them as they- as regular people, not powerful or important people- but as a family that endeavors to pass down their way of life just one more generation at a time, holding out not so much hope at first, but faith that one day they will be able to step back into the light, as Jews.