Aspects Of Life In Germany And West Germany Nazis Flashcards
What did a ‘racially pure’ Germany mean and how was this enforced?
- A Germany of Aryan Germans only
- Getting rid of elderly and disabled, even if they were pure-blood
- Violent persecution
- Laws to control breeding
What programme was started on what day and what did this consist of?
- 1 Jan 1934 –> Compulsory sterilisation programme
- Doctors and hospitals had to report those they saw as ‘unfit’ to breed to a Hereditary Health Court, which were set up all over Germany
Who was sterilisation initially aimed at, but who did it later extend to?
- Hereditary defects
Later included: - Jews
- Gypsies (Roma and Sinti)
- Criminals
- Black and mixed race people
How was the law widened and when did this happen?
- Jun 1935
- Allowed abortion of unfit people
Give examples to show how open sterilisation was:
- Publicised in press
- Taught at schools, using books and films
Give stats for sterilisation between 1934 and 1945:
- Between 1934 and 1945 –> About 400,000
- At least 5000 died from procedure, most of them women
- Unknown how many died after leaving clinics
What is sterilisation?
Making them infertile
In what two ways did the Nazis begin to separate Jews from the community?
- Legal separation –> Removing Jews from jobs + separating them from non-Jews in public spaces
- Bans and boycotts on Jewish shops and businesses –> imposed w/ escalating violence
When was the first national boycott, how did the SA enforce this, how successful was it and how did these boycotts escalate?
- 1 Apr 1933
- Stood outside roughly urging people not to enter
- Didn’t stop people from using shops and businesses
- Violence used escalated
What changes were made in 1933 that restricted Jews even further?
- Apr 1933 –> Series of laws restricting number of Jewish uni students, banning Jews from athletic and sporting grps & stopped people w/ Jewish names from sending telegrams
How many Gypsies, elderly, mentally ill and disabled people were killed in Holocaust?
- 200,000 Gypsies
- 200,000 elderly, mentally ill and disabled
What were the Nuremberg Race Laws of 1935?
Laws to exclude Jews from many areas of life
Which types of people counted as Jewish?
Anyone w/ 3 or 4 Jewish grandparents
Give examples of how the Jews were excluded by organisations even before the exclusion laws:
- Regional Govs had their own anti-Semitic laws
- Yellow star on Jewish-owned shops which encouraged random violence
- Propaganda urged separation of everything to prevent contamination eg. park benches, restaurants
What was one of the first large-scale organised acts of violence against Jews and their synagogues?
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht:
- Night of Broken Glass
- 9 Nov 1938
- Nazis organised attacks
- Over 260 synagogues burned + Jewish-owned homes and shops looted
- Over 20,000 Jews arrested and taken to concentration camps
- Taxed 1 bill Reichsmark for repairs that were never carried out
Between 1933 and 1939, what was the standard of living like?
- Sharply divided between pure Germans and the ‘undesirables’
Besides ethnic minorities, who else was seen as ‘undesirable’?
- Disabled
- Asocial families eg failure to pay rent, alcoholics
What did doctors, nurses and midwives have to do and when were they told this?
- 18 Aug 1939 –> All doctors, nurses + midwives had to report any babies under 3 showing physical/mental disability
What happened in Oct 1939?
- Oct 1939 –> Nazis mounted T4 campaign to get rid of disabled children up to 17
- Parents given chance to send them to specialist clinic, where they were killed
Later on, T4 was extended. To whom and when did this happen?
Jan 1940 onwards –> Extended to other hospitals and institutions for old, chronically sick and mentally ill
Overall how many died under T4 programme?
Over 70,000
What happened to asocial families and what did this include?
- Sent for around a yr to be re-educated at Hashude
- Included lectures and classes, living to schedule, visists at any time by officials
What percentage of population were the working class in 1933?
46%
What were the positives in terms of living standards for an ordinary worker when Nazis first came to power and how did this change?
Positives:
- Unemployment dropped
- Real wages rose
However:
- Wages regulated so little spending money as industry focused on arms rather than consumables
- Pay still did not reach pre-Depression levels between 1933 and 39
- Take home pay only increased because workers were putting in more hours
- They suffered due to destruction of TU movement
Why did Hitler want to curb the working class?
- Ensure rearmament runs smoothly w/ no disruption of strikes
- Independent organisations are the ones who ended Kaiser’s gov
Give some examples to show the drop in standard of living:
- Amount of milk, eggs, fish, tropical fruit and beer consumed fell between 1927 and 1937
- Avg working week rose from 43 to 47 hrs between 1933 and 1939
- Avg hourly wages were 3% lower in 1933 compared to 1932
- Avg hourly wages were 2% lower in 1939 compared to 1932
What did the Strength Through Joy (Kdf) programme provide the ordinary worker?
Subsidised:
- Sport training, gym classes, sailing lessons
- Theatre and opera tickets
- Hiking trips, weekend breaks and package holidays
- Set up art exhibitions
- Loans
By 1937 what was the Kdf’s budget and how many short holidays did it subsidise?
- RM29 mil
- Subsidised more than 1.7 mil
What were the negatives of Kdf holidays and entertainment?
- Basic facilities w/ no privacy and poor sanitation
- Little choice in entertainment
What social welfare programme was set up, when, what was its aim and what did it do?
- National Socialist People’s Welfare
- 1933
- Aimed to create a healthy nation rather than welfare
- Ran Mother and Child programmes, creches and kindergartens to influence childrens’ upbringing
- Responsible for housing
By 1939, how many voluntary workers did NSV have and block wardens who were responsible for how many households?
- Over a mil voluntary workers
- About 500,000 block wardens each reponsible for 30 - 60 households depending on the area
What did NSV run yearly and what did it do?
- Winter Relief Campaign
- Distributed food and clothing
- Ran soup kitchens at emergency centres
On the following day after Hitler encouraged donation on its launch, how much money had been donated? However, what was the implication of this?
- RM2 mil
- People were essentially forced to s block wardens would come dressed in SA uniform asking for donations
- Some factories took ‘voluntary’ donation from wages
What was the People’s Car Scheme, how could you sign up to it, what was the main purpose and how was this flawed?
- Scheme set up by DAF where workers saved money in a state-run bank account to buy a car
- Subscribe to 5 marks a week
- Purpose: Reduce danger of inflation by boosting savings and cutting domestic expenditure
- No-one received their cars or their money back as factories had been converted to war production
How many people entered the scheme and how much money was given to the bank as a result?
- 270,000 entered
- RM110 mil given
In 1938 what did the DAF organise and how many workers attended it?
- Vocational training courses
- Ordensburg Nazi Party training schools
- 2.5 mil workers
What slogan did the Nazis adopt and what were they against?
- Kinder, Küche, Kirche
- Against church membership
What did the Nazis believe the role of women was?
- Bear next gen of Aryan race
- Nurture children
- Responsible consumers –> women did 80% of domestic shopping
- No political role
- Sexually attractive w/ natural look
What was the Nazi organisation for women, when was it established, why, what was the wider movement of this and what did it do?
- NSF (National Socialist Womanhood)
- 1931
- Attract female support
- Movement: German Women’s Enterprise
- Organised activities for non-party members
What was provided for families with children, what were they granted and how did they select those who were suitable for it?
- Help w/ school frees and transport fares
- RM100 for each child
- Through an interview
BDM:
- League of German Girls
- Older female Nazi youth grp
How did the Nazis encourage women to have children?
Implemented laws
What law was introduced on in 1931, when was this amended and what changed?
- 31 Dec 1931 –> SS Marriage Order
- Members of SS can only marry Aryan women
- Amended in 1936 –> All SS men must have at least 4 children
What laws were introduced in Jun 1933 (w/dates)?
- 1 Jun –> Law to Reduce Unemployment
- 30 Jun: All married women in civil service w/ wage-earning husbands to be dismissed. Lower wages for the rest of the women
- 14 Jul: Law for the Prevention of Offspring w/ Hereditary Diseases
What was the Law to Reduce Unemployment?
- Interest-free marriage loan of RM600 to Aryan couples if woman gives up job + is fit to have children
- Loan reduced by a quarter for every child (loan cleared after 4)
What was the Law for the Prevention of Offspring w/ Hereditary Diseases?
Can sterilise those with:
- Mental/physical disabilities
- Women w/ many partners/illegitimate children
- Male/female alcoholics
What is the Law for the Protection of Hereditary Health of the German People?
- Fitness-to-marry certificate
- Proves neither couple is racially impure
What was the Blood Protection Law?
Forbade marriage between Germans and Jews (as well as black ppl + gypsies)
What was introduced in the years 1936, 37 and 38?
- 1936 –> Women excluded from working in the law, expect administrative posts
- 1936 –> Lebensborn programme
1937 –> Women can work and also be awarded marriage loan due to increasing war production - 1938 –> Marriage Law extends grounds for divorce to infertility, abortion and refusal to have baby
What was the Lebensborn programme, who ran it, how many clinics were there in GER and AUS and what support did it provide?
- Selected members (usually SS) mated w/ as many diff racially pure young women as possible (usually from BDM)
- Ran by special branch of SS
- 13 Lebensborn clinics
- Free maternity care for unmarried women and mistresses of SS
How were the children born there treated and what happened to them?
- Had its own hospitals, clinics and homes for these children
- Adopted by fit Germans who g had trouble conceiving
When the Third Reich programme expanded, what did the Lebensborn programme do?
- Took in suitable children from families in the lands they took over
- Put them in homes
What was introduced in 1939, when exactly was it introduced and when is it awarded?
- Mother’s Cross (award) for mothers w/ 4 (bronze), 6 (silver) or 8 or more (gold) children
- May
- Awarded on Mother’s Day
What other policies were brought about and why?
- Punishments for perming hair –> against traditional values
- University enrolment for females limited to 10%
- Contraception restricted
- Abortion made illegal
- Higher taxes for childless couples
- Reduction of income tax for families –> no tax for 6 or more children
- Greater maternity benefits
- Increased family allowances
- Propaganda glorified motherhood
- NSF established Mother Schools
Why was the Mother Schooling programme introduced, how many schools were there by 1936 and how many teachers were employed there?
- Needed to relearn skills to be a mother after Weimar
- 150 Mother Schools
- Over 1000 teachers
What did the curriculum in a Mother School include (w/ example)?
- Nutrition
- Cooking
- Clothes making
- Shopping tips eg. buy German apples rather than exotic fruits to help domestic economy
- Racial biology
What was another reason for so many policies to increase the birth rate?
Response to Nazi’s fear that Jews and Slavs were having more children than them
Give one example of policy that actually decreased the birth rate and how it did this:
- Agricultural policy
- Led to decline in farm incomes + stripped women of rights to inherit farmland
- As a result, female farm labourers worked longest hours of any grp in GER
- Birth rate in farming pop dropped
What was one significant effect of Nazi policy?
- Large number of women lost their jobs esp married women
- Single women found work but excluded from highest levels of it eg. teachers had to work at lowest levels
How were Aryan mothers treated differently to the normal woman?
- Higher level of health care and status
- Honoured on occasions like Mother’s Day
- Brought together w/ youth grps for coffee + cake
What was the Black Corps, what did it contain and why?
- Official SS Officers’ magazine
- Pics of young naked women in natural settings
- Image of being natural and healthy
What did the head of DAF set up and what were these?
- Bureau for Beauty
- Published beauty advice
- Houses of Beauty
- Salons selling beauty treatments
How was sexual deviancy dealt with?
- 1937, 38 –> Women believed to be prostitutes sent to workhouses to be redeemed
- Reeducation for lots of women
- Morals Police + Care Officers could incarcerate women w/ many partners and women at risk of being prostitutes
By 1937, how many women were imprisoned for sexual offences in Hamburg?
Rose to 2130
What did both the Morals Police and Care Officers agree on and why?
- Women who rejected monogamy were a danger to society
- Disease spreading
- Moral corruption
If the Morals Police or Care Officers decided someone was sexually deviant, what could they be denied?
Health services
How many were arrested in just Hamburg in the first 2 months and how many were serving prison sentences by Dec 1933?
- More than 3200 arrested
- By Dec 1933 –> Over 1500 serving sentences
How did childcare change by end of 1942 and how did the number of women in the workforce change?
- 31,000 kindergarten and crèches by end of 1942
- Number of women increased by 27% between 1933 and 39, 2% between 1939 and 1944
How did the increase in number of women in the workforce compare to other countries and WW1?
- Much lower than the increase in WW1 –> up by 27% between 1933 and 39, only up by 2% between 1939 and 44
- GBR –> increase was 50% over war yrs
What were the reasons for the smaller increase in German women entering the workforce?
- Many women were reluctant to work and organisations reluctant to have them due to effective Nazi propaganda
- Gov did not use women in all kinds of war work (preferred to replace smth like male teachers)
- GER had used of foreign labour so women were not needed as much
In 1944, what fraction of the workforce was in agriculture and war production were foreigners and who were they primarily?
- 1/3
- People from captured land
- Prisoners of war
Between 1939 and 1944, how did the proportion of women involved in farm work change?
- From 55% in 1939
- To 67% in 1944
From Oct 1940, what were women allowed to do and why?
- Allowed to join armed forces in women’s auxiliary services doing clerical and support jobs
- Free up men to fight
What did members of BDM have to do, what did the Nazis introduce and how rigorous was this?
- BDM had to serve in forces for 6 months
- Not rigorous at all (easy to be excused)
By 1944, what was the shortage of men like and what shows the severity of it?
- Very severe
- Women were being trained to operate anti-aircraft guns and sent to work in signal stations
How were foreign workers treated and who were the main ones employed in factories and homes?
- Discouraged from having children
- No rights to breaks
- No access to crèches
- No holiday allowances
- Forced to work night shift
- Mainly Russian and Polish women
Why did the Nazis invade Poland and what did they do to Poles after this?
- Wanted Lebensraum (living space) for Germans in east
- Poles driven out to make way for 200,000 German settlers
In 1940, what did Himmler do and why?
- Issued orders that women believed to be unfaithful could be sent to concentration camps for at least a yr
- Due to poor soldier morale if partner was cheating
In what two ways would indoctrination be achieved in Nazi Germany?
1) School
2) Nazi youth movement
How did the system of schooling change under Nazis?
- Private primary school education abolished
- Fee-paying secondary schools + unis remained but only for Aryan Germans
- Corporations became Nazi Comradeship Houses
- Students had to join Nazi student union
- 20 Apr 1933 –> 3 National Political Education Institutions (Napolas), which were free boarding schools to train elite grp of boys as future SS leaders
- Adolf Hitler Schools set up, which were boarding schools teaching Nazi ideology
- Order Castles, which gave serious training to become part of SS
How many NAPOLAS were there, what was it similar to and how many were only for women.
- 39 (only 3 for women)
- Traditional military academy
How many Adolf Hitler schools were set up in total, what ages was it between, who was primarily recruited and what skills did they have to have?
- 11
- 14 to 18
- Largely working + lower-middle-class children
- Had to pass physical and academic tests + be racially pure for more than 130 yrs
What ages were Order Castles for and who was it available to?
- 18 to 24
- Everyone
What was the Nazis’ agenda for teaching style?
- Should be active eg. engagement in activities
- No overt + crude racism as it can be counterproductive
When was the National Socialist Teachers League (NSLB) set up, how many members were there by Jan 1933 and what happened to ‘undesirable’ teachers?
- Apr 1929
- 6000 members
- Purged by law of Apr 1933 –> 20% of teachers sacked in 1933
What did the decree of 24 Sep 1935 do?
Gave Nazis control over appointments
What percentage of teachers had joined the union by 1937 and why?
- 97%
- Almost impossible to get a job w/out it as it ran courses teachers had to attend to absorb the ideas they were meant to teach
As a result of these changes and a lack of respect towards teachers, what happened to the number of teachers qualifying and vacancies in 1938?
1938:
- 2500 new teachers qualified
- 8000 teaching vacancies
What were the most important things to be taught in school?
- Physical fitness (15% of curriculum)
- Racial purity
- Loyalty to Hitler + GER
What did history, race studies and biology focus on?
History:
- Creating Volksgemeinschaft
- Past presented as struggle between races
Race studies:
- Aryans were superior
- Jews were source of all of GER’s problems
Biology:
- Race and eugenics
- Motherhood (for girls)
What youth groups were there, for what ages and what did they do?
Boys:
- Cubs –> 6 yrs old
- Young German Boys (DJV)–> 10 yr old
- Hitler Youth (HJ) > 14 - 18 yrs
Girls:
- Young Girls’ League (JM)–> 10 yr old
- Association of Young Women (BDM) –> 14 yrs
- Faith and Beauty –> 18 - 21 yrs
Reinforced messages taught in skl
Compare the number of children in youth grps in the south in 1934 to those in north:
- North–> more than 80% were members
- South –> less than 50%
In 1937, what did the Hitler Youth open their first schools for and how was it flawed?
- For future administrators
- Focus on physical training did not equip students to be administrators
What were members of Hitler Youth expected to do?
Report on anything teachers/families did against Nazi teaching
How were photographs and posters used to boost support for the regime?
- Used a lot
- Hitler had an official photographer
- Poses and expressions practised beforehand
What was the purpose of social policy and give examples of some schemes
- Transform people’s consciousness more than their social position
Schemes: - Volksgemeinschaft eg. Eintopf and Winter Relief Campaign
- KDF (Strength through Joy by DAF)
- People’s Car Scheme
Volksgemeinschaft:
- People’s Community
- Community of racially pure people
Why did the Nazis believe there was nothing wrong w/ class?
- All the different classes were united in serving Aryan race
- Encouraged that race was more important than class
Eintopf:
Eating a one pot meal one day in the week and donating the rest
In 1933, what purpose did the arts have to serve?
Serve as vehicles for transmission of Nazi ideology
Albert Speer:
- 1931 –> Joined NSDAP
- 1942 –> Minister of Armaments and War Production
- Organised Berlin and Nuremburg Rally, which attracted Hitler’s attention
- Became head of Beauty of Work section of DAF
- 1937 –> Responsible for rebuilding Berlin (Berlin master plan) as Inspector of the Reich but stopped due to WW2
- Tried at Nuremburg for slave labour and pleaded guilty
What type of art forms were forbidden, give an example of one of these in music and explain why
- Degenerate art
- Jazz
- Closely linked to culture of black Americans
What exhibitions were held in 1937, where and what were they called?
- 2 parallel art exhibitions held in Munich
- Great German Art
- Degenerate Art
Where did the Great German Art exhibition happen, what was its purpose, how many works were chosen and how many attended?
- Newly built museum
- Show German art
- 6,000/16,000 works chosen for inclusion
- More than 600,000 attended
What day of Degenerate Art, what was its purpose, how many exhibits did it display and how was it flawed?
- 19 Jul
- Displayed the disrupted values in the Weimar Republic
- 5000 exhibits
- More people attended and enjoyed this more than the other
What was set up in 1928 to remove degenerate art by who and what was it replaced with?
- Rosenberg set up Combat League for German Culture
- Healthy Aryan art
- All working artists had to be part of Reich Culture Chamber
What could be issued to remove a licence to teach, exhibit or paint?
A Malverbot
What decree was declared in 1934 about sculptures?
Declared all new public buildings to have sculptures conveying Nazi messages eg. sculpture of Aryan men
Why did Hitler prefer the neo-classical style for buildings?
It represented absolute authority as the individual was dwarfed in front of the building
How large was the complex built around Nuremberg and up to how many people did it hold?
- 30 km squared
How did architecture change between Weimar and Nazi Germany?
- More traditional Germanic style of homes
- Use of more modernist materials
What ceremony happened on 10 May 1933, where did it happen and what was it?
- Burning of Books Ceremony
- Berlin
- Students collected books between 6 Apr and this date to burn
- Held in public squares of 35 cities + big towns
- 25,000 ‘unsound’ books burnt to cleanse Germany
What happened to many novelists, playwrights and producers?
- Exiled
- Emigrated
- Imprisoned
- Banned
Who controlled music between what years, in what way was it controlled and how was it used?
- Reich Chamber of Music
- Between 1933 and 1935
- Experimental music banned as it was decadent
- Scrutinised to remove Jewish influences
- Used at rallies
Even near the beginning of the regime, how did Hitler convince the public of his huge popularity?
- Ensured a Nazi reported reaction to Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor
- Everyone listening on radio heard that there were huge, cheering torchlight processions
How did the Nazi Party make radios accessible, give stats to show this and explain the disadvantages of it
- Ensured cheapest and most widely available radio was the People’s Receiver
- By 1939 –> Over 70% owned a radio
- By 1943 –> 1/3 of all radios are People’s Receivers
Disadvantages: - Limited in range + could not pick up foreign radio stations (unless living near border)
When was radio taken over by Reich governors and what happened the following year after this?
- 1933 –> Taken over
- Apr 1934 –> NSDAP establishes unified radio system w/ no hostile elements
Give stats to show the state regulation of radio and who owned these?
- 51% owned by Ministry of Posts
- 40% owned by 9 regional broadcast companies, who controlled content
Why did the government subsidise the production of radios? (give stats)
Powerful tool for indoctrination –> 56 out of 70 mil were estimated audience for Hitler’s speeches in 1935
How were speeches transmitted?
- Speeches were announced by sirens
- All work stopped
- Radio workers responsible for organising this and reported on attendance
What happened to the film industry and give an example of a movie that shows this? What change was made to the industry by 1942?
- Used as propaganda
- Kongo Express (1939) emphasising superiority of Aryan culture to Africans
- By 1942 –> All film companies become state-owned + Reich Film Chamber checked content for foreign and domestic films
What was the focus of film, why and how did the number of filmgoers change between 1933 and 1942?
- Focus on relaxation rather than explicit propaganda
- This was more effective in keeping support for regime
- Number of filmgoers quadrupled
What did the Reich Film Chamber do?
Regulated content of films
How many feature films were made and what fraction of these were overly propagandist?
- Over 1000 feature films
- Only 1/6 was overly propagandist
When is the only time admission into films is allowed and why?
At the beginning of the programme to make newsreels compulsory
From 1933 onwards, how did the Nazi Party use propaganda to spread anti-semitic messages and show Nazi policies were working?
- Propaganda showed Jews to be greedy, dirty and subhuman
- Images of Jews crowded into ghettos where food, water and electricity was only sporadically available
What other events were used by Hitler to inspire enthusiasm for the regime?
- National festivals eg. Annual celebration of Hitler’s bday, Reich Harvest Festival
- 1936 Berlin Olympics –> 89 medals, w/ 33 golds (ahead of any other nation)
How were the 1936 Olympic Games used as propaganda?
- New stadium (Reichssportfeld) + Olympic Village constructed in modernist style
- Memorials to dead German soldiers
Who coordinated the various sporting bodies and who organised activities?
- Coordination –> Reichssports führer
- Organising activities –> Hitler Youth and DAF
