1933-39: Conformity, Resistance and Opposition in Nazi Germany Flashcards
Opposition from youth groups
The Nazi Party began influencing young people in the 1920s. It set up youth groups such as the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls as early as 1924. Being in a youth group was a normal part of German life and the Nazis offered something new and exciting to Germany’s young people. After 1933, Hitler made the youth programme of the Nazi Party even bigger, and in 1936, it was made compulsory for all children to join. Most young Germans conformed, a few resisted being in the Hitler Youth but some actively opposed the Nazi regime.
Some of these young Germans disliked living in Nazi Germany. Older teenagers had enjoyed the new freedoms, and modern lifestyle they were given in Weimar Germany. However, under the Nazis, these freedoms were taken away. Many young Germans at first enjoyed the exciting and rebellious nature of the Hitler Youth. However, over time, and as it become compulsory, many teenagers were put off. Some started to form their own ‘alternative youth groups’ who resisted the ideas of the Nazi Party. The two best known groups during this time were the Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing Youth.
The edelweiss pirates
The Edelweiss Pirates began in the late 1930s in the working class areas of large German cities. Groups from labelled themselves with names such as the Travelling Dudes or the Navajos - a group from the city of Cologne. All groups however used the symbol of the white edelweiss flower to show their unity to the Edelweiss Pirates. They were teenagers, both boys and girls who began to get fed up with the military style discipline of the Nazi youth movement.
They simply wanted their own freedom to chose. Boys
rebelled against the Nazi ideas by growing their hair
long and copied styles of clothing from America. They
would hang around street corners, bully or even attack
any Hitler Youth members they came across. They also
organised long hikes in the countryside. Here they
would camp out, sing anti-Nazi songs, mock Hitler and
generally just hang around with each other and have
fun – away from the eyes of the Nazis.
The swing youth
The Swing Youth were teenagers from wealthier middle class families. They admired the culture from America, especially American ‘Swing’ music. As they were wealthy, the Swing Youth owned record players and played illegally imported records from America. They liked to gather together to listen to swing and jazz music, drink alcohol, smoke and dance. They began to organise their own illegal dances which could be attended by up to 6,000 young people. Some preferred Jazz music, made popular by popular black singers such as Louis Armstrong. This was in clear resistance to Nazi ideas about culture and race. Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the SS even said that young people who listened to jazz should be ‘beaten, given severe exercise and then put to hard labour’.
Opposition from communists and trade unions
Trade Unions had been allowed in Weimar Germany. They had
helped workers fight for better pay and working hours. Even
though the Communist Party and Trade Unions were officially
banned, some members secretly continued. Brave individuals
used printing equipment hidden in their homes to print anti-Nazi leaflets which would then be given out in secret. They were often disguised as something completely normal such as recipe leaflets or Nazi song books.
Opposition from everyday people
There was very little that the average German worker could do to actively oppose the power of the Nazi regime. Small acts of resistance such as telling jokes about Hitler or refusing to raise the Hitler salute or wear the Nazi Party badge were enough to catch the attention of the Gestapo but never enough to challenge the rule of Hitler.
Opposition from social democrats
Remember, that in the 1920s, the Social Democrats (SDP) were the biggest and most popular political party. After 1934, they had been banned. However, like the Communist Party, some members
to continued in secret. In 1933, the SPD printed an
opposition newspaper called the Red Shock Troop.
It circulated 3,000 copies. However, the organisers were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Some SPD leaders who had escaped abroad, set up their own groups abroad in order to raise awareness of the Nazis and campaign against them in other countries.
Opposition from the military
After the death of Hindenburg in 1934, all men in the
armed forces had to swear an oath of allegiance to
Hitler and the military was nazified. However, some
army officers opposed the Nazis. General Ludwig Beck
was Chief of Staff of the German Army. In 1938, he tried
to get other officers to arrest Hitler. He even sent a message to the British saying that the German army wouldn’t fight back if the British invaded Germany. Beck also led plots to kill Hitler in 1943 and 1944.
