2. control & opposition (1933 -39) Flashcards
what were the SS known for?
-blind obedience & total commitment to hitler
-being hitler’s protection squad
what type of people were selected for the SS?
aryans & pure blood germans
what event led to the SS rising in power?
the NOTLK
when did himmler become chief of german police?
1936
what was the SD?
intelligence gathering agency
who was in charge of the SD?
heydrich
who did the SD spy on?
nazi opposition, jews, all aspects of education and looked out for spy networks serving other nations
what did the SD use the information they got for?
-wrote extensive reports on germans
-passed information onto the gestapo who took action
what was the gestapo?
-hitler’s secret police
-did not wear uniforms
what did the gestapo do?
-spied on the public to remove any opposition
-then arrested and imprisoned any suspected person.
how many officers did the gestapo have at its height?
15,000
who did the gestapo focus on?
early years: nazi’s political opponents
later years: jews, homosexuals, religious dissenters
who were block wardens?
-an official who provided a link between the population and the nazi authorities
-on each street and in each apartment block
-got to know the people in the local area
where did tip offs to the Gestapo come from?
-general public
-SD
-interrogation
what were the gestapo’s methods of interrogation?
torture:
-beatings with bamboo canes
-sleep deprivation
police & law courts
-run by the nazis
-judges swore an oath of loyalty to hitler
concentration camps
a place where civilians were imprisoned for crimes against the state
what did concentration camps do?
-made prisoners do hard labour
-limited prisoners food
-gave them hard discipline (beatings and random executions)
who were concentration camps run by?
nazi germany
how did concentration camps fit into hitler’s plans?
no one would go against nazi’s in fear of concentration camps
types of resistance
open opposition - taking action against nazi rule
passive resistance - refusing to co-operate with the nazis
swing kids
-disliked the strict control and conservative traditions promoted by the nazis
-listened to banned music
-drank alcohol, socialised with inferior groups (went against nazi ideal)
-were arrested and taken to conservation camps
edelweiss pirates
-working class youths who rejected nazi values
-members wore an edelweiss flower
-listened to foreign radio & spread news
-beat up hitler youth members
-did anti-nazi graffiti and wrote leaflets
-were arrested and hanged in public
pope pius XI
-wrote “with burning anxiety”
(condemned nazi’s) which was smuggled into germany & read in all catholic churches on palm sunday
consequences:
-next day gestapo raided every catholic church
-pope did not face consequences
cardinal galen
-catholic bishop who preached sermons against racism & the murder of the disabled
-galen was too high profile to remove from power and the need to keep german catholics on side meant galen continued to provide resistance
martin niemoller
-he refused to join the reich church and instead founded the confessing church
-by 1934, 6000 pastors had joined, leaving only 2000 in the reich church
-the confessing church preached against the nazis
-over 800 pastors were arrested and sent to concentration camps including niemoller, who survived the ordeal
jehovah’s witnesses
-refused to join the army or salute hitler
-wrote anti-nazi leaflets
consequences:
-special unit made by gestapo to combat them
-6000 were in concentration camps by 1939
communists
-visible resistance with meetings, propaganda and newsletters
-ester planted a time bomb in hall hitler was going to speak in, hitler left 13 minutes before explosion
consequences:
-easily identified & arrested by gestapo
-ester was caught, sent to a cc camp for 5 years and executed
limitations of opposition
-opposition was largely ineffective as the different groups did not work together, making them easier for the gestapo to infiltrate and stop
reich church
hitler tried to unite the different protestant churches in to one reich church
concordat
-agreement made between the pope and hitler in july 1933
-hitler realised that the catholic church posed a potential threat to his control so he offered a promise to leave the catholic church alone if the catholic church stayed out of politics
-despite his promise, hitler soon closed church youth groups and arrested priests who spoke out against him
rallies
-public displays of support for nazism through music, speeches, -demonstrations of strength
nuremberg rallies
-annual rally of the nazi party in nuremberg, germany
-held every year between 1933 - 1938
-large propaganda event which showed the size and organisation of the party and its support
newspaper
all controlled by the government and could only print stories favourable to the nazi regime
radios
-sold cheap, all germans could buy one
-all radio output was controlled by goebbels
terror
use of extreme fear and punishment to make the public obey the nazis
propaganda
information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a point of view
censorship
-suppression of any information that was considered unacceptable to the nazis
-nazis burnt books written by jews and communists
-jazz music was banned, because it originated with the african-american community
-anti-nazi jokes and stories were forbidden and could result in imprisonment
berlin olympics
1936
-nazis hosted the olympics
-hitler wanted to use this as an opportunity to show the superiority of his master race
-during the olympics many arican-americans won gold medals proving race theory incorrect
-most famously jesse owens won 4 gold medals
