chapter 5 nazi germany

Question 1

What was the ‘Final Solution’?

Answer 1

The ‘Final Solution’ was the decision made by senior Nazi officials to resolve what they saw as the Jewish problem, once and for all.

Question 2

When was the ‘Final Solution’ decision made to murder all Jews?

Answer 2

The ‘Final Solution’ was decided in January 1942 at the Wannsee Conference.

Question 3

Why did the Nazis decide on the ‘Final Solution’?

Answer 3

❖As they gained more territory it brought more Jews under their control. This situation was worsened when Nazi Germany invaded the USSR in June 1941, which brought another 4 million Jews under their control.
❖They wanted a more permanent solution.
❖They also needed an efficient solution. Using the Einsatzgruppen to murder Jews was no longer an option. It was viewed as a waste of bullets and took too much time.
❖Himmler was also concerned about the psychological impact it was having on the Einsatzgruppen.

Question 4

How were Jewish people murdered during the ‘Final Solution’?

Answer 4

Purpose-built extermination camps were created to murder Jews, including Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sobibor and Treblinka.

Question 5

What were the death camps?

Answer 5

The death camps were purpose-built camps used to carry out the systematic mass murder of Jews as part of the ‘Final Solution’.

Question 6

When were the death camps built?

Answer 6

Death camps were built from March 1942 onwards.

Question 7

Where were the death camps built?

Answer 7

Death camps were mainly located in Poland, including at Belzec, Auschwitz, Sobibor and Treblinka.

Question 8

What was the home front in Germany?

Answer 8

The vast majority of Germans reluctantly supported the war and signed up to play their part in the war effort. This eventually changed as it became clear Germany was not winning the war.

Question 9

What happened to those who opposed the Nazis on the home front in Germany?

Answer 9

During the Second World War, opposition to the Nazis increased as it began to have a greater impact on the lives of ordinary Germans.

Question 10

How were children evacuated on the German home front?

Answer 10

❖From 1942, about 2.5 million children were evacuated from major towns and cities to rural areas.
❖They stayed in camps that were supervised by Hitler Youth leaders and teachers.

Question 11

What was ‘total war’?

Answer 11

‘Total war’ meant that all Germany’s people and resources were needed to fight their way to victory.

Question 12

What was ‘total war’ like for Germany in the Second World War?

Answer 12

❖Workers were recruited from occupied countries. By 1944 there were over 7 million prisoners of war working in German industry.
❖From January 1943 onwards, men (16-65) and women (17-45) had to register for work.
❖Small businesses that were classed as non-essential were closed and their employees deployed for war work.
❖Holidays were banned from August 1944 and the working week increased.
❖Women were allowed to help with the war effort from 1943.

Question 13

What other measures did Germany use for ‘total war’

Answer 13

❖Places of entertainment were closed, except for cinemas which continued to show propaganda films.
❖There was a reduction in postal services.
❖The formation of a Home Guard, or Volkssturm, in 1944 of boys from the Hitler Youth and men unfit for the regular army.

Question 14

Who was in charge of the economy during ‘total war’ in Germany?

Answer 14

❖Göring was in charge of the Four Year Plan from 1936 to 1940, which aimed to make Germany self-sufficient for ‘total war’. However, by 1941 the army faced shortages in armaments.
❖In 1942, Albert Speer was appointed minister for armaments and war production to ensure the army had sufficient supplies.

Question 15

What did Albert Speer do for ‘total war’?

Answer 15

❖He increased the department’s control of the war economy and used slave labour to increase production.
❖He stopped the production of consumer goods.
❖All factories focused on producing goods for the war effort. The production of munitions increased rapidly under Speer.

Question 16

What was rationing in Germany?

Answer 16

Rationing was introduced to control supplies of food and other products

Question 17

When was food rationing introduced in Germany in the Second World War?

Answer 17

❖Initially, rationing was introduced in August 1939.
❖The amount of rations for meat, fat and bread were decreased in May 1942 when food shortages became greater.

Question 18

Why was food rationed in Germany in the Second World War?

Answer 18

Rationing was introduced to ensure all Germans had access to food, and that supplies were controlled to prevent discontent.

Question 19

What was rationed in Germany during the Second World War?

Answer 19

Rationing included items such as bread, meat, dairy products and soap. Clothing was added in November. The German people were provided with food stamps to purchase goods.

Question 20

Was Germany bombed during the Second World War

Answer 20

The British RAF carried out bombing attacks on German cities during the Second World War, at first targeting military and industrial production areas. From 1942, the Americans and the British bombed civilian areas to try and weaken German morale.

Question 21

What was the impact of the bombings on Germany during the Second World War?

Answer 21

❖43 German cities were severely damaged between March and July, 1943.
❖In the summer of 1943, Hamburg was hit by a bombing raid that killed 42,600 civilians. Around a million people had to leave the city.
❖Despite the use of propaganda to reduce the impact on German people, the bombing had a negative impact on their morale.
❖Around 600,000 Germans died in Allied bombing raids.

Question 22

Did the role of women change during the Second World War in Nazi Germany?

Answer 22

Although the Nazis believed a woman’s place was in the home, women were needed in industry to fill the shortages left by men joining the armed forces.
❖There were two ways the role of women changed during the Second World War.
❖From June 1941, women who had previously been in paid work and had no children were ordered to register for work.
❖From 1943, with the introduction of ‘total war’, all women aged between 17 and 45 had to register. This brought half a million women into the workforce.
❖By 1945, women made up 60% of the workforce.
❖It also affected them psychologically, such as living with the constant fear of hearing a loved one had died or dealing with food shortages.

Question 23

Who were the Edelweiss Pirates?

Answer 23

The Edelweiss Pirates were a working class movement that started in 1937. They hated the Hitler Youth.

Question 24

What happened to the Cologne Edelweiss Pirates?

Answer 24

A member of the Cologne Pirates was executed for planning to blow up a Gestapo building in 1944.

Question 24

What did the Edelweiss Pirates do?

Answer 24

They would beat up Hitler Youth members. They also wore clothing unacceptable to the Nazis and listened to music that was banned.

Question 25

What impact did the Edelweiss Pirates have?

Answer 25

While they were never a real threat to the Nazis, their activities increased as the war progressed. They provided shelter for army deserters and helped prisoners escape from concentration camps. They derailed trains going to the camps and stole food and supplies.

Question 26

Who were the White Rose Group?

Answer 26

The White Rose Group was started by students Hans and Sophie Scholl and Professor Kurt Huber at Munich University

Question 27

What did the White Rose Group do?

Answer 27

They criticised the continuation of the war and the treatment of Jews and Slavs and between 1942 and 1943, they published anti-Nazi leaflets and wrote graffiti on buildings in Munich.

Question 28

What happened to the White Rose Group?

Answer 28

In February 1943, Sophie and Hans Scholl were reported for distributing leaflets at Munich University to the Gestapo. They were both arrested, found guilty of treason and executed on 22nd February, 1943

Question 29

What was the July bomb plot?

Answer 29

The July bomb plot was an attempt by the German military to assassinate Hitler by planting a bomb in a leather bag on 20th July, 1944. It was called ‘Operation Valkyrie’.

Question 30

Who was involved in the July bomb plot?

Answer 30

General Ludwig Beck.
❖Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
❖Dr Carl Goerdeler, an anti-Nazi politician

Question 31

What was the plan for the July bomb plot?

Answer 31

The plan was to kill Hitler with a bomb, it would be left in a leather bag under a table inside Hitler’s headquarters in East Berlin. Once Hitler was dead, the army would take control of Berlin and make Carl Goerdeler chancellor.

Question 32

Why did the July bomb plot fail?

Answer 32

The plot failed because someone moved the briefcase that contained the bomb further away from Hitler. The bomb exploded, killing 4 people, and Hitler survived with minor injuries.

Question 33

What happened to those involved in the July bomb plot?

Answer 33

❖General Ludwig Beck attempted to commit suicide, failed and was shot.
❖Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg was shot.
❖Dr Carl Goerdeler was hanged.
❖Himmler was tasked with finding all those involved. In total 7,000 people were arrested, and 6,000 of them executed.

Question 34

Were there food shortages in Germany?

Answer 34

At the start of the war, goods were sent back to Germany from countries they had invaded to solve the problems of shortages. However, rationing was introduced in 1939 and shortages increased as the war continued.

Question 35

What impact did the war have on shortages in Germany?

Answer 35

At the beginning of the war goods were imported from other countries, but from May 1942 rations were reduced. There were many shortages with some items nearly non-existent, including toilet paper and tobacco.

Question 36

What was the impact of food shortages on the German people?

Answer 36

Towards the end of the war there were serious food shortages. Along with the destruction caused by Allied bombing, this meant some areas faced starvation in the last months of the war.