Chapter 2: establishment of Nazi dictatorship and its domestic policies Feb 1933-39 Flashcards
How was Hitler able to consolidate his power in the period up to the death of Hindenburg in August 1934?
Reichstag Fire
March elections
Enabling Act
Gleichschaltung
Night of the Long Knives
The death of Hindenburg
Reichstag Fire
Communists = threat to Nazis
27th Feb: van der Lubbe set fire to the Reichstag & Hitler able to portray the communists as undemocratic since they burnt a building representing democracy
also claimed it = part of a communist plot to take over & so said needed repressive measures against them => decree passed
How it helped to consolidate power:
- Decree for the Protection of the People and the State signed by Hindenburg
- > Hitler granted emergency powers due to apparent danger (took away many civil & political liberties but justified by Hitler)
=> Nazis seen to be acting quickly and decisions unlike old gov
removed threat from left
March elections
Fire -> fear and intimidation towards Nazi opponents
-> Nazis: 44% of votes but no majority (288 seats)
needed 52 seats of nationalist support to secure majority
How helped to consolidate power:
-limited Hitler’s freedom of action in order to change constitution needed 2/3 majority
limited power
Enabling Act
Passed on 23rd March
Absence of communists due to intimidation meant Hitler could get 2/3s of majority
only SD voted against the measure and it was passed with 444 votes to 94
How helped to consolidate power:
- allowed Hitler to end parliamentary democracy and transfer full power to himself
- > creation of dictatorship based on legality
promise to Catholic Centre Party enabled majority -> religious ties
dismantled Weimar Constitution & allowed for creation of one-party state
-> enabled what was to come
Gleichschaltung
Removed federal government
Supremacy over trade unions
Other political parties
Removed federal government
31st March 1933: regional parliaments dissolved and replaced by Nazi-dominated state governments
Reich governors, usually local party Gauleiters, created
January 1934; regional parliaments abolished. federal government and governors subordinated to central government
Supremacy over trade unions
1st May 1933: Labour Day (declared an national holiday)
2nd May 1933: Union premises occupied, funds seized and leaders sent to concentration camp
May 1933: independent unions banned and replaced by German Labour Front (DAF)
Supremacy over other political parties
22nd June 1933: SD banned and assets seized. most other remaining political parties, even the nationalists, agreed to dissolve themselves
July 1933: Centre Party accept and dissolved
July 14th 1933: Law Against the Establishment of Parties. Nazis = only legal political party
Background to the Night of the Long Knives
Ernst Rohm: leader of SA. wanted to merge SA w/ army but Hitler believed co-ordination had gone too far. SA= undisciplined and too politicised
Hitler backed the army as SA leadership suspicious of him
Hitler attempted to reach compromise but did not happen -> NOTLK on 30th June 34
Aims of TNOTLK
aimed to get backing of army as Hindenburg = close to death and Hitler did not want army to replace him with monarchy
end SA as military and political force
increase role of SS
secure dictatorship
How successful was the NOTLK?
Achieved aims:
- Hitler win support of army
- Rohm and other leading members shot by SS. 200 killed including Schleicher & Strasser
- Hitler destroyed left-wing if party and old conservative right wing
- SA = limited influence but SS = potent force
- Hitler legally killed enemies with no opposition - indication of what to come
- Hitler = man to bring order
How did the NOTLK help Hitler to consolidate his power?
SOCIAL:
- now see as powerful leader who can bring order -> removed lawless SA
- served as a warning that those who rebel will be punished
- army = traditional elites & their backing allow for more acceptance of Nazis
POLITICAL:
-removed enemies
TERROR:
- fear into society & enemies
- fear established within party
The death of Hindenburg
Died 2nd August 1934
Hitler able to merge role of President with Chancellor -> fuhrer => supreme leader
Lawfully made himself supreme leader
Why was Hitler able to establish his dictatorship?
weakness of opposition (left wing destroyed)
legality (use of partial law justified Nazi actions)
terror (discouraged resistance)
propaganda (Hitler= saviour and justified Nazi actions)
deception (Hitler misled powerful groups to destroy them)
How effectively was Nazi Germany governed?
Hitler aimed to create totalitarian government and establish leadership principle
overall gov = chaotic but manageable chaos as it never failed
Two areas to assess;
- the role of Hitler and system of gov.
- administration
The role of Hitler and system of gov. (effective)
Propaganda gave image of all-powerful leader
Hitler = in charge of everything
Working towards the Fuhrer (ministers make decisions they think Hitler would like)
Radicalisation of policy (terror, genocide, foreign policy)
The role of Hitler and system of gov. (not effective)
gov. not coordinated and based on informal convos
rival power structures overlapped and created more confusion.
rivalry between diff. factions of date and party
Hitler lacked experience, absent from Berlin a lot, lifestyle was unsuited
impossible for individual to control all aspects of gov. and Hitler did not co-ordinate it
no clear gov. in 3rd Reich -> law = haphazard
Hitler did not like paperwork, committee meetings and declined the role of cabinet
Administration (effective)
Germany in theory = powerful centralised state based on principles of hierarchy and Fuhrerprinzip
1938: attempts to increase party influence
- Hess: all civil servants have to be party members
- supervision of party members increased
- Bormann; created Department for Affairs of State which disciplined party structure and aimed to secure party supremacy over state
1939: party strengthened position.
Organised chaos that didn’t crumble
Administration (not effective).
Limits to Nazi power
-> established state institutions remained
Bureaucracy of state = established with effective staff.
Old institutions not destroyed
-> did not take full control which created confusion due to overlap
SS = party organisation but had state functions
Reich Chancellory found it diff to coordinate diff institutions
gov. ministries under pressure from Nazi institutions (eg. 4 year plan)
judiciary faced interference due to establishment of other courts (e.g Peoples Court)
SS acted above law -> role of judiciary limited
Gauleiters = dominant and main concern to preserve party state
Confusion and not effective
how efficient was gov?
NOT
state= too structured so couldn’t reach total control
confusion and rivalry within party
Gauleiters etc. not concerned with Hitler -> preserve themselves
Censorship
Censored all that the Nazis wanted hidden
Theatres had to have licenses
Reich Chanber of Lit. listed banned books
Raids carried out on libraries etc. & books burnt at rallies
Socialists and communist papers closed
modern art banned (only paintings depicting German heroes / countryside allowed)
Weekly Review contained political info that had to be included in all film showings
How effective was censorship?
Effective:
censored all aspects of society and controlled them in order to promote the Nazi message
removed any other political/ social ideas and pushed the Nazi message instead
Not:
over-saturation has ability to bore people
Propaganda:
Goebbels made Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
Controlled broadcasting, newspapers, the arts)
Reich Radio Company created:
-produced own cheap radio sets and ownership of radios rose from 25% to 70% by 1939
=> radio reached housewives and rural areas
-loudspeakers installed in public places -> no escaping Nazi message
Newspapers brought under control
- Editor’s Law of 1933 ensured papers closed
- daily press conference told editors what to write
- news agencies brought under Nazi control
- press = tightly controlled (journalism quality fell and newspaper sales declined)
Arts controlled
Created social ritual (Heil Hitler, Nazi salute, Horst Wessel anthem, festivals)
Propaganda effective and not
EFFECTIVE :
- played important role in creating Hitler myth
- helped create impression of Hitler as supreme leader
- no escaping Nazi message => helped to infiltrate it into society
- highly organised and high volume (far reaching)
NOT EFFECTIVE :
- too much propaganda bored people
- quality of journalism declined so newspapers dropped in sales > less people receiving constant message
- less successful in creating Nazi culture or winning over working classes
- success depended on purpose
- successful in some places and failed in others -> terror more important
The machinery of terror
Courts
SS
Gestapo
Courts
removed opponents and gave the semblance of legality to Nazi actions
new courts established under Nazi control and influenced to do regimes bidding -> Peoples Court tried enemies of state
judges had to issue harsher sentences to discourage others
new laws regarding political offences brought in
judges who did not carry our Nazi wishes fired and officials replaced by Nazis
increasingly difficult for opponents of regime to revive fair trial
SS
State within a state
key part of police state and crucial in upholding regime : ran conc camps and arrested people
Waffen-SS (armed military unit that played important role in WW2)
SS-Totenkopfirebande (Deaths Head Units who ran conc camp)
Role: policing, intelligence, security, ideology, race, economy and military issues
Head = Himmler who was brutal
-> by 1939 all police and security officials collected under Reich Security Office (RSHA) under Himmler and Heydrich
Krippo, Gestapo, SS, SIPO
Gestapo
put forward reputation of being a-seeing and knowing to encourage fear => worked
small organisation (20000-40000 agents)
many = office workers who relied on informers or block wardens for info (often gossip)
focused on Jews
Concentration camps
used firstly against political enemies
Himmler took responsibility for them in 1934
1936: had those who did not fit Nazi ideals
Reputation made them a warning
Effectiveness of the machinery of terror
EFFECTIVE:
- people too afraid to rebel - constantly being watched
- rep. of conc camps made them intimidating
- creation of New Order Nazis imposed on occupied Europe allowed power to expand and develop
- conc camps allowed Hitler to establish Nazi ideology
- took control of leg system
- enabled totalitarian rule
NOT EFFECTIVE:
Gestapo = small and relied on public
Opposition to Hitler
Opposition was limited due to
- terror
- the economic miracle (Nazi’s provided most people with jobs and so they were therefore willing to accept Nazi policies)
- the Nazis abandoning or hiding unpopular policies (control oversees of Kristallnacht & euthanasia campaign) and opposition was divided
some groups did rebel (church, SD, TU, communists, youth and conservatives)
How did the Communists oppose Nazi regime?
- Most support in working-class areas
- produced pamphlets
- Red Orchestra spy network sent info to the Soviet Union
Effective:
-had support
Not effective:
- impact = limited as leadership arrested after Reichstag Fire
- pamphlets = limited
- communists concern = avoid arrest
- Gestapo infiltrated network
SD opposition
- had support among working-class
- produced pamphlets
- Underground party in Prague gathered info & spread discontent
Effective:
-support
Not effective:
- much leadership been arrested & party banned
- did not co-op w/ communists -> weak
- concerned w/ self-preservation
How did trade unions rebels?
- working-class support
- strikes in 35-36 w/ working-class identities enabling opp. to survive
Effective:
-had support
Not effective:
- industrial action not effective
- weakened following arrests in 33-34 & establishment of DAF
How did churches rebels?
- criticisms of some Nazi policies from pulpits of Prot. & Cath. churches
- 1941: Bishop of Munster (von Galen) condemned euthanasia
Effective:
-most pragmatic in response to preserve religious practices
Not effective:
- Galen = temp. suspension
- lower levels of clergy who spoke out were sent to camps
How did youth rebel?
- Swing Youth & Edelweiss Pirates opposed to Hitler Youth during war
- resisted conformity by playing jazz & some attacked members of Hitler Youth
Effective:
-attack on members of Hitler Youth & Gestapo offices
Not effective:
- limited & of little significance
- many just wanted to listen to music & disliked military emphasises
How did the conservatives rebel?
Members of civil service who disliked radical moves
Effective:
-shared information
Not effective:
- little direct action taken before war
- resistance developed later
Why was there so little opposition to Nazi rule between 1933-39?
regime built on surveillance and censorship which limited those who opposed due to fear
People aware individual actions would have limited impact and the state had the ability to ruin lives
terror, torture, brutality => fear
concentration camps
Did Nazi policies achieve their aims?
Challenged Christian ideals of peace, love and protecting the weak in society
Jesus = Jewish rather than Aryan -> went against ideals
Protestant churches, Catholic church, opposition from the churches and the German Faith Movement
Protestant churches
Aims:
- wanted to co-ordinate the church and try to control it
- One United Reich Church was established in 1933 under Ludwig Muller (fanatical Nazi)
- gradually resulted in the alienation of many Protestants & in 1934 two bishops were arrested for opposing the Reich Church
Successes:
- many Protestants were willing to support the Nazis due to their family values
- a number of pastors spoke in favour of them & encouraged their congregations to vote for them and were willing to allow their churches to be used as Nazi base
- United Reich Church in 1933 established
Failure:
- policies alienated many
- 1934 two Protestant bishops arrested for opposing the Reich Church
- pastors established the Confessional Church which was independent of the state under the leadership of Martin Niemiller and attracted the support of 7000 of the 17000 pastors (Nazis = ineffective)
Catholic church
Aims:
- concerned by threat so did not want to provoke a conflict
- signed Concordat with state in July 1933
Success:
-Concordat seemed to guarantee religious freedom (the church could run itself and appoint ministers and parents were able to request Catholic schools for Children. In return, they kept out of politics and Nazis agreed not to interfere with meg properties rights of the Church) => prevented conflict
Opposition from the churches
-Nazis interfered as they were only able to achieved limited success in controlling the churches and this caused opposition in both churches
Aims :
- closure of some church schools
- removal of crucifixes from schools walls &their replacement with swastikas
- banning of nativity plays and carols
- attack on Catholic Youth Movement
- arrest of pastors and priests
- confiscation of church funds
Failures:
- papacy criticised regime with it public letter of 1937, ‘With Burning Concern’
- sent leaders like Bonhoeffer and Niemoller to concentration camps but popularity of such individuals made it difficult for Nazis to do anymore
The German Faith Movement
Aims:
- establish an alt. to Christianity based on belief in superiority of the Germanic races in ancient history. Based on the four keys themes:
- > belief in superiority of Germanic races and opposition to the Jews
- > replacement of Christian ceremonies, such as marriage with Pagan versions of Jesus = Jew
- > rejection if the Christian ethics of mercy and forgiveness
- > belief in the cult of Hitler’s personality
Success:
- after military success, the church was confident enough to persecute the churches
- monasteries were closed, church property attacked and church activities restricted
- church willing to compromise to survive
Failure:
- Faith Movement failure
- did not destroy church, only restricted it
- church played important role during bombing so could not destroy
Nazi economic policies aims
reduce unemployment
develop an industrial economy and improve agricultural output
prepare the country for war
ensure social stability
Public work and the creation of jobs
AIM: solve unemployment crisis within 4 years PLAN: public work schemes for working-class men
ACTIONS:
- One billion Reichmarks invested in public work schemes (saw building of roads, canals and houses)
- car indicates encouraged by tax concessions => 40% increase in production
- conscription in 1935 absorbed a large number of the young unemployed
- Voluntary Labour Service => employed 500,000 men by 1935
- Law for Reduction of Unemployment -> took women out of labour market by offering loans to those about to marry if they gave up work
Successes & failures of public work schemes
Reduce unemployment successes:
-by 1938 virtually full employment
Reduce unemployment failures:
-unemployment fell to 2.5 million by 1934 & did not fall again until 1936 when conscription
Develop industry successes:
-rearmament etc.
Prepare for war successes:
-conscription and rearmament
Social stability failures:
-poor working conditions and pay
Schacht’s New Plan
AIM: economic recovery with heavy state spending and develop industry
PLAN: New Plan in 1934 (September) - deficit financing
ACTIONS:
- Gov. had control over all trade, tariffs, capital and currency exchange. enabled gov. to control which imports were allowed and face priority for heavy industry
- series of bilateral trade agreements were signed (with SE Europe & S America) through which German purchases were paid for in Reichsmarks, which the countries then had to use to buy German goods
- Mefo bills -> credit notes to pay manufacturers of military equipments Raises funds by offering them at 4% interest rate on money markets. Banks were forced to invest in them
- Schacht wanted to reduce arms expenditure and the production of industrial goods increase but Hitler rejected this and made Goring Commissioner for Materuals and currency
Successes and failures of Schacht’s Plan
Reduce unemployment success:
-saw a fall in unemployment
Develop industry successes:
- control and priority given to heavy industry
- bilateral trade treaties
Develop industry failures:
-importing more than exporting ££
Prepare for war successes:
- rearmament
- military equipment
Social stability successes:
-Mefo bills
Social stability successes:
- shortage of money
- balance of payment problem was worsening by 1936
Goring’s Four Year Plan
AIM: increase armaments production and achieve autarky
PLAN: increase agricultural and industrial production, develop eraate and regulate imports and exports so armaments were favoured over agriculture => total war economy
ACTIONS
- Goring given responsibility in November 1937 over rearmament
- increase production in key war industries (e.g synthetic rubber, fuel, oil and iron ore)
- large plants built and in 1938 Austrian companies were taken over
- followed by a take over of Skoda works in the Sudetenland after annexation
Successes and failures of Goring’s 4 Year Plan
Develop industry successes:
- industrial production rose and at a considerable rate in some industries
(e. g aluminium)
Develop industry failures:
-most targets were not met (particularly for oil and rubber) and the demand of armed service not satisfied
Prepare for war successes:
-focus on rearmament
Prepare for war failures:
-when war broke out still relied on foreign supplies for 1/3 of raw materials => not ready for total war
Constriction, rearmament and preparations for war
AIM: prepare the economy for Blitzkrieg wars by 1943
PLAN: create jobs in war, prepare the economy and get ready for major conflict by 1943
ACTIONS:
- conscription was reintroduced in 1935 and helped to reduce unemployment levels
- large scale rearmament took place which created many economic problems
- 2/3s of German investment was directed towards preparations for war and rearmament so by 1939 the economy was dominated by war prep.
Conscription, rearmament and preparations for war
Reduce unemployment:
-conscription reduced unemployment levels and rearmament involved 1/4 of workforce
Reduce unemployment failure:
-there were labour shortages (particularly among skilled workers) which pushed up wages during rearmament
Develop industry failures:
- shortages in many areas including food, consumer goods & raw materials
- balance of trade was in a perilous state
- gov. finding it difficult to fund expenditure and deficit
Prepare for war successes:
- conscription & rearmament
- 2/3s of economy = rearmament
Prepare for war failures:
-preparations for Blitzkrieg wars (not ready for 6 years)
Social stability failures;
- discontent among working class
- not ready for war fought
German Labour Front
AIM: replace independent unions to arrange wages and working conditions
PLAN: control workers salary etc. through centralising trade unions role.
ACTIONS:
- established DAF (under Nazi control & mandatory)
- arranged wages and working conditions (often poor & any unrest dealt with harshly)
- some attempts to improve conditions in factories (good ventilation and hot meals campaigns)
- in return for a job, people had to deal with conditions
DAF successes and failures
Develop industry successes:
-some working conditions improved
social stability failures:
- poor working conditions
- wages only rose above 1929 levels in 1938
- take-home pay deteriorated (large contributions -> DAF & insurance) and working hours rose from 43-49 per week
- more overtime pressures to prepare for war
Strength through Joy (KdF)
AIM: win the support of the workers
PLAN: improve conditions and moral in workplaces in order to win support
ACTIONS:
- KdF = state welfare organisation
- offered real benefits (sports faculties, cultural visits and holidays)
- benefits = only available to loyal workers & had limited impact (e.g People’s Car: workers contributed but no cars were actually delivered)
Successes and failures of KdF
Social stability successes:
-improve morale and conditions
Social stability failures:
-failed to have an inpact
Economy summary
their main aim was originally to develop industry but it then changed to war economy
They were able to reduce unemployment and achieve social stability through their development of industry and war economy
Industry overview
Success:
-rearmament developed heavy industry
-deficit financing provided the funds that the Nazi’s needed to develop industry (built infrastructure)
-Schacht’s Plan gave priority to heavy industry (which also allowed them to create jobs and prepare for war)

Failure:
- Schacht’s Plan had the government importing more than exporting (lost £)
- Most targets were not met in regards to Goring’s Plan (particularly in regards oil and rubber)
- still importing => failed autarky
- production bottle necks
- cannot get tax back due to lack of exports (not making money from heavy industry like they could be)
War economy overview
Success:
- 2/3s of Germany was focused on rearmament and the building of military equipment (Goring’s 4 year plan focused on rearmament)
- 1/4 of workforce in conscription
- built roads etc.
- by 1939, economy = dominated by war prep.
Failure:
- were prepared for the Blitzkrieg wars they wanted, not for the total war they had to fight
- still relied on foreign supplies for 1/3 of raw materials when war broke out
- lost funds for rubber (cannot make tanks etc.)
- women = unemployed (can’t work during war to make guns etc.)
Social stability overview
Success:
- reduced unemployment to 2.5 million in 1934 through public work schemes and conscription (by 1938, virtually full employment)
- rearmament involved 1/4 of the workforce
- women not meant to be at work (therefore unemployment ‘fell’)
Failure:
- reduced unemployment for men but it increased in women
- DAF & KdF did not improve work conditions
- take home lay deteriorated under DAF
- Law for the Reduction of Unemployment
How consistent were Nazi racial policies in the period to September 1939?
Ideology = consistent - discrimination & persecution
Policy = not consistent (becomes more violent)
Race doctrine
- division of human race: master (Germans, Scandinavians - culture creators), middle and inferior
- Jews = another ‘anti-race’ (culture destroyers)
- scientific: justified Arianism through Darwinism
- > wanted to cleanse human race of ‘unpure’ blood
-characteristics seen as hereditary => avoid mix of ‘pure’ and ‘impure’ -> bring about destruction
Roots of Nazi ideology
biological and racist ‘dangerous, parasites, devils, inhuman’
scientific : Darwinism, eugenics
Christian anti-Judaism
Anthropology etc.
Modern racism
eugenics
modern antisemitism (Jews = destructible race)
policies: ideologically based on Nazi world view
Nazi ideology
wanted a racially pure state and wanted the exclusion of some from the peoples community/ Volksgemeinschaft
policies not consistent
Policies towards the Jews 1933-37
stop and start persecution
Why did some people agree with Nazi racial policy?
believed legal discrimination against Jews was no more than they deserved and accepted that Jew’s had been to blame for Germany’s defeat in WWI
also believed they were making vast profits while ordinary Germans suffered from the Depression
others were open to Nazi propaganda that mixing with Untermenschen had weakened the German race => wanted to remove them to achieve racial purity
Why did some Germans not agree with Nazi racial policy?
believed it was offensive
people did not know how to register their abhorrence => dictatorship made it difficult
-> showed the Nazi’s that they needed to be careful with their policies in order to not create social issues
Why did approaches to racial policy caused division within the Nazi party?
many radical Nazis wanted to take immediate actions but party leadership was concerned that this would create disquiet and get out of hand
-> therefore had to take many factors into account when developing their policies
Why did Hitler have to abandon his early approach to Nazi racial policy?
at first Hitler did not issue any directives on the Jewish question so individual members of the SA were violent against some Jews and their property
=> Hitler was forced into actions
1st April; boycott of Jewish businesses with SA outside businesses to deter people away
HOWEVER this was not popular/ accepted and caused bad publicity abroad so Hitler had to abandon it
-> attempted to appease radicals by expelling Jews from civil service, university and journalism
(this removed some radicals on the NofLK)
What happened in 1935?
Summer 1935: further widespread violence against Jews and local party activists wanted further measures taken (Hitler concerned the regime was losing support)
NUREMBURG LAWS 5th SEPTEMBER 1935
- last minute announcement
- regulated status if Jews in Germany by removing citizenship rights
radicals were still not satisfied
What impact did the Nuremburg Laws have on Jews?
- ensured that antisemitism became more embedded in German society and led to Jews being increasingly discriminated against
- they were often banned from places such as restaurants or swimming pools
- sex between Germans and Jews resulted in prosecution at special courts and new forms of public humiliation
vastly limited their human rights and increased antisemitism
propaganda and indoctrination reinforced them e.g newspapers ‘Der Strutmer’
Why did policy have to change again in 1936?
1) Berlin hosted 1936 Olympics -> wanted to avoid international condemnation, put across positive Nazi message and showed it was tolerant and unified
2) Conservatives were still able to exert a retraining influence and argued that anti-Semitic action wind have a detrimental impact on the economy (e.g Schacht)
Major laws passed that targeted the Jews
7th April 1933: Law for the Restoration of the Civil Service
-> Jews excluded from civil service
4th October 1933: Law for the exclusion of Jewish journalists
5th September 1935; Nuremberg Race Laws
5th September 1935: Reich Citizenship Act
- > only Germans etc. are Reich citizens
- > Jews lost citizenship
5th July 1938: decree prohibiting Jewish doctors from practicing medicine
28th October 1938: decree to expel 17,000 Polish Jews resident in Germany
15th November 1938: decree ti exclude Jewish pupils from schools and universities
3rd December 1938: decree for the compulsory closure and sale of all Jewish businesses
1st September 1939: decree introducing curfew for Jews
Why did Nazi persecution towards the Jews intensity from 1938?
party activists demanded more radical action and they were aided by Goring who wanted to confiscate Jewish assets to help pay for rearmament
pressure was reinforced by a growing nationalist feeling and the Anschluss with Austria
tensions had been growing in the Sudetenland
the increasing likelihood of war encouraged people to demand the Jews (‘enemy from within’) were removed
How did persecution intensify from 1938?
violent attacks (or pogrom) on 9-10th November
Kristallnacht
->appeared to replicate the large-scale attacks there had been on Jews in March following the Anschluss
-> resulted in the destruction of Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues and the death of over 100 Jews, 20,000 Jews were also taken to concentration camps
=> claimed actions were in response to the murder of Ernst von Rath (German diplomat) in Paris by Herschel Grynszpan (Jew)
Why was Kristallnacht a turning point in the persecution of Jews?
pogrom was followed by a series of anti-Jewish laws
=> expelled from school, business and curfew
Jews were fined for the damage
Violence = ramped up and persecution/ segregation being written far more heavily and obviously into law (asserts taken, jobs removed etc.)
What was the forced emigration policy?
events in Vienna led to the establishment of the Central Office for Jewish Emigration
=> forced Jews to emigrate, with money from the seizure of their goods used to fund it
under Adolf Eichmann some 45,000 left within 6 months
Success meant the Reich Central Office for Jewish Emigration was set up in 1939
=> 1/2 Jewish population left before the war
What did Hitler decide by 1939?
From November 1938, fate of Jews was sealed and Hitler said “Jewish question (should) be now once and for all co-ordinated and solved one way or another” => he claimed, however, to be avoiding a Jewish massacre
However, in 1939 he told Czech Foreign Minister that he would “destroy the Jews” and told in Reichstag in January 1939 that if war broke out he would make it result in the “annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe”
Historians have argued that there was no clear policy planned (after analysing policy between 1933-39)
clear that his antisemitic legislation was going to increase with very violent persecution
Why did the Nazis persecute Gypsies?
viewed as outsiders
did not fit Nazi Aryan standards and were work-shy
=> did not fit Nazi ideal
there had been persecution of gypsies during the Weimar period and in 1929 the Central Office for the Fight against the Gypsies had been established
How did they persecute the Gypsies in 1935, 1938 and 1939?
1935: they had to comply with Nuremberg race laws and were banned from marrying or having relations with Germans
1938: Decree for the Struggle against the Gypsy Plague - they had to register the ensure there was racial separation
1939: with the outbreak of war, 30,000 were deported to special sites in Poland
How did Nazis persecute those with hereditary diseases?
Sterilisation Law 1933: the Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Diseased Offspring
=> allowed the ‘simple-minded’, chronic alcoholics and suffers of schizophrenia, hereditary blindness and deafness to be sterilised
Euthanasia Campaign was launched in 1939
=>killed those affected with hereditary diseases and who were mentally ill
-> organised by special government departments but popular unrest about the disappearance of relations meant that the programme was halted but resumed more covertly
How did the Nazis persecute criminals?
The Law against Dangerous Habitual Criminals was introduced in 1933
=> compulsory castration for some sexual offenders and indefinite sentences or incarceration in concentration camps for repeat offenders
How were homosexuals persecuted in Nazi Germany?
Male homosexuality was already illegal before 1933 but their persecution increased with the establishment of a department within the Gestapo to deal with them
-> 50,000 homosexuals were arrested
What happened in 1936?
work-shy, tramps, beggars, prostitutes, homosexuals and juiciness delinquents were being sent to concentration camps
Euthanasia campaign
launched 1939
- > killed those affected with hereditary diseases and who were mentally ill
- > organised by special government department but popular unrest about the disappearance of relations meant that the programme was halted but resumed more covertly
Did ordinary Germans benefit from Nazi rule?
Assess looking at different categories:
- industrial workers
- farmers
- small businesses
- big businesses
- woman and youth
Industrial workers
before the Nazis:
-hit hardest by the Depression and lost jobs
did benefit:
- provided with work
- gov. schemes = a lifeline that allowed people to care for their families
- KdF brought some benefits
did not benefit:
- some of the work had low pay and poor welfare conditions
- Worker’s rights were lost (no TU) and so they could not ask for better wages and conditions
- food consumption among working class saw a decline in quality and more emphasis on cheaper, staple food
- little investment in housing for people
- Volkswagen = propaganda
Farmers
before the Nazis:
-badly hit by the collapse in the food prices
did benefit:
-gov. wrote off debt and fixed prices at which produce were sold to increase prices
did not benefit:
- 1935 -> the gov. introduced price controls so farmers did not benefit from food shortages and agriculture remained unprofitable
- rural labour shortage developed
- Reich Entailed Farm Law 1933 added to rural problems as it prevented efficient, large-scale farms from farming
Small businesses
before the Nazis:
-believed they were losing it to large stores (propaganda said that these = Jewish)
did benefit:
- laws passed to ban new department stores and stop those that existed from expanding (cosmetic changes)
- value of trade of those craftsmen that remained double
did not benefit:
- many craftsmen were earning less than those working in large factories
- department stores not closed down and actually helped by gov.
- decline in small craftsmen
- once war started their position decreases further as they were unable to keep going due to lack of resources
Big business
did benefit:
- value of German industry rose
- 70% wage rise for many managers
- brought profit to many businesses
- rearmament programmes brought benefits
did not benefit:
- gov. controlled prices, wages and imports and decided what industry should produce and how it should produce it
- forced to invest in research into synthetic rubber etc.
- > not best quality @ best price
Woman and youth
before the Nazis:
-prospered in 1920s for women
did benefit:
- depended on status of educational changes and attitude
- status of motherhood increased
did not benefit:
- gain and freedoms for women lost
- could only return to work due to labour shortage
Conclusion did ordinary Germans benefit from Nazi rule
small farmers, small businessmen and mothers/women did not benefit
others did make some gains
many willing to go along with policies as they brought stability following the Depression
-> people hoped that they would also provide employment/did provide employment so people ignored the regime’s excesses
people benefited as much as they would within the confines of terror and Nazi control
