24 - Opposition And Resistance In Wartime Flashcards
What sentiment grew towards end of war
As defeat loomed and the German people experienced severe hardships in the final years of the war, there was a growing mood of disillusionment with the regime and its propaganda
However majority of Germans stayed loyal
How could individuals resist
Gave refuge to help them escape deportation to the death camps
Workers took unauthorised absent for their jobs
What increased absenteeism
In September 1939 after the regime cut wages and bonuses, increased hours and suspended paid holidays
Many workers refused to work overtime
Hwo did the regime stop absenteeism
They were so concerned about the subsequent loss of production that it withdrew many of the measures in October
Three main forms of opposition from young people
Edelweiss pirates
Swing youth
White rose group
Who was part of edelweiss pirates
Most working class youths aged 14-18
Active in Rhineland and Ruhr industrial areas
Sentiment of edelweiss pirates
Rejected the reg8mentation of the Hitler youth and tried to avoid conscription
Actions of the edelweiss pirates
In 1944 the cologne group linked to an underground group that helped army deserters and escaped prisoners of war
Obtained supplies by attacking army and depots
Regime dealing w edelweiss pirates
Many groups broken up by Gestapo
13 leaders of cologne edelweiss pirates were publicly hanged in Nov 1944 to make an example of them
What was the swing youth and what was there sentiment
A form of youth rebellion that involved unconventional clothes, hairstyles and tasted in music (eg listening to America jazz)
Not overtly political but their pleasure seeking lifestyle offended the moral code of the Nazi regime
Who joined swing clubs
Began in the 1930’s attracting middle and upper class young people in major cities including Hamburg, Berlin, Stuttgart and Frankfurt
What happened to swing youths
In 1941 police began mass arrests of swing club members, many were sent to concentration camps
Repression led some swing youth to become more political in their opposition
What was the white rose group
Student movement based in Munich
Led by Hans and Sophie Scholl
Supported by Professor Kurt Hubener
Emphasised the importance of individual freedom and personal responsibility
Attacked nazi treatment of Jews and Slavs
Issued pamphlets in 42-43 and painted anti Nazi slogans on walls
Six members were executed in 1943
What was common for working class youths
Long tradition for them to form independent youth groups such as ‘wild cliques’
Nazis never succeeded in eradicating entirely
What form did middle class youth opposition take
Unconventional behaviour and for some more active opposition
Did the Catholic Church speak out against the regime
No, was compromised by its support for many nazi policies such as the invasion of the USSR and by the need to protect its organisation
Only individuals churchmen opposed
Which bishop spoke out against the regime
Bishop Galen spoke out against the euthanasia programme in 1940
This led to halt the killings in August 1941
Opposition from an archbishop
What happened to hip
Archbishops Frings of Cologne spoke out against the killings of prisoners of war and against the persecution of the Jews
He was placed under the surveillance of the Gestapo
Opposition from protestant church
The Protestant confessional church in Prussia publicly protested about the treatment of Jews
One of the leading figures in this, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested in 1943 and executed in 1945
What was the Nazi Soviet pact of 1939;
What did the pact mean for communist resistance
Compromised communist resistance
What revived communist resistance
The invasion of the USSR 1941
What were the two main networks of communist resistance
One involved in spying for the USSR
the other more independent group collected information about Nazi atrocities and distributed anti-Nazi propaganda
How many secret cells in Berlin did the KPD have in 1941
89 secret cells
Where else did the KPD have secret cellls
Hamburg, Mannheim and central Germany
What happened to these cells
They were subject to Gestapo infiltration and many were destroyed by the end of 1943, including 22 of the communist cells in Berlin.
Why did KPD resistance not attract mass support
Under Gestapo pressure and with links to Germanys enemy, had no prospect.
What about the Nazis did many elites support
anti communist and anti democratic policies
However what did many aristocratic army officers and civil services increasingly come to believe
That the Nazi regime was morally repugnant and was leading Germany to disaster
What was the kreisau circke
A diverse group of aristocrats, lawyers, SPD politicians and churchmen.
They were United only in their belief in personal freedom and individual responsibility
Where did the kreisau circle meet
Had three meetings at the home of count Helmut Von Moltke in 1942-43
But was broken up by the gestapo
Did the army have any plans for a coup
Some plans to remove Hitler at the time of the Sudetenland crisis in 1938 but the plot was never activated and the conspirators were not discovered
What did a group of senior army officers conclude in 1943
After the crisis at Stalingrad concluded that Hitler had to be assassinated to pave the way for negotiated peace
What was the crisis at Stalingrad
Failed attempt to assassinate Hitler 1
An attempt to explode a bomb in Hitlers aeroplane in March 1943
Second attempt to assassinate Hitler
July 1944
Bomb placed in his headquarters by Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg
The bomb exploded but Hitler survived
The spconspirators were arrested tortured and executed
What happened to the army after the 44 assassination attempt
Put under control of the SS which restricted further opposition
Which of Hitlers promises at first won favour
He helped restore german pride, which had been shattered after ww1 and the ToV, giving German people new faith in their future
He provided political stability, economic recovery and a fair standard of living
What kind of physical destruction did Germany face post war
Towns and communties lay in ruins. Hamburg, cologne, Düsseldorf and Dresden were little more than rubble heaps
Communications had broken down as roads, railways and bridges disappeared
Industrial plants were smoking or idle, agricultural land was left barren or pock marked by shells and other war time debris
What human cost were there post war
6.5 million Germans killed and many more unaccounted for lost on the soviet German front
In the final months of war ,millions of civilians had lost their lives
Half a million or more perished in burning cities whilst others, largely in the east had been killed by advancing troops
What was the sentiment by 1945
The Nazi regime was something most Germans wanted to put behind them and forget
