chapter fourteen Flashcards
hitler was determined that the nazi regime would not be bound by
the law and legal systems
the nazi concept of authority was based on the
leadership principle
as a “man of destiny” chosen to lead the third reich , Germany , and express the will of the people hitlers word was
law
after 1933 the nazis did not introduce a new
legal system or constitution
instead introduced some new laws to deal with political forces and forced
the existing justice system to adapt and bend to their will
also introduced new courts and new police organisations to ensure
political opponents were dealt with
meaning by 1933 the legal principles and on which Germany had been based on during the Weimar period …
no longer applied
consequences of the legal and constitutional reforms
no longer were citizens treated equal before the law
judges were not permitted to operate independently of the government
individuals could be arrested and imprisoned without trial
law was applied in a
arbitrary and inconsistent fashion
in the Weimar Republic individual state authorities controlled
the police forces
nazis did not abolish these seperate police forces but created a system of party controlled political forces answerable to
hitler , which gradually gained control over the whole police system
this proliferation of police forces created confusion and comepetion between
the various police forces and between the powerful men who controlled them
the ss was controlled by
Himmler
the SD was an
intelligence gathering offshoot of the SS
the SA was controlled by
Rohm
the SA also acquired
police powers to arrest and detain political prisoners
the gestapo was
the secret state police force in Prussia
during 1933 the remit of the gestapo was extended to cover
the whole country
between 1933 and 1936 there was competition between
Himmler , rohm and Goering for control over the police
Himmlers power was strengthened by
the night of the long knives in 1934
who was eliminated in the night of long knives
rohm , reducing the SA’s powers
Himmler was also able to exploit the rivalry between
Goering and the minster of the interior Wilhelm frick
situation was partially resolved when in 1936 when the
SS and SD and Gestapo were placed under Himmlers command
Himmlers victory was established in 1939 with the creation of
the Reich Security Department Headquarters which placed all party and state police organisation under one organisation supervised by the SS
The SS acted as
hitlers bodyguards
after the night of long knives and the nazis coming to power the police role of the SS expanded and became
the main Nazi party organisation involved in the identification and arrest of political prisoners
by 1936 after himmler had been appointed as chief of German police the
SS controlled the entire third reich police system and concentration camps
Under SS control the police system in Germany was an instrument of the
Fruher and the nazi party
Himmler intender for the SS too be
strictly disciplined
racially pure
unquestionably obedient
the key values for an SS member were
loyalty
honour
adherence to nazi ideology
after 1936 there was a noticeable tightening of control and an increase in repression as seen in the increase of
concentration camp inmates
whereas the SA had engaged in violence and terror through undisciplined street brawls the SS
operated in a far more systematic way
violence and murder were instruments off
state power
SS concentration camp guards were deliberately
brutalised to remove any feelings of humanity they might feel towards their prisoners
The SD wad established in 1931 as the
internal security service of the nazi party
SD was an offshoot of the SS and it was set up too
investigate claims that the party had been infiltrated by its political enemies
The SD was led by
Heydrich
after 1933 the SDs role was
intelligence gathering
one of the SDs most important roles was to monitor public opinions thus
identifying those who voted no in plebcites and to report these to hitler
by 1939 the SD had
50,000 officers
the large force of the SD shows
how successful Heyrich had been in establishing his own power base
The SD as the nazi party organisation worked
independently of the gestapo which was a state organisation , leading to overlap and confusion between the two organisations
The SD was staffed not by
professional police officers but by amateurs who were committed nazis
the gestapo developed a reputation of being
all knowing
ordinary germans believed that the gestapo had agents in
every workplace pub and neighbourhood
the reality of the gestapo wads different it was a fairly small organisation with
20,000 officers in 1939 to cover the whole country
most of the gestapos agents were office based not field agents and generally
were not members of the nazi party instead were professional police officers who wanted to serve their state
the gestapo relied on information supplied by informers , nazi activists were asked
to spy on neighbours , workmates as a source of information
every block of lates and every residential street had its
“block leader” who would report suspicious information
even more information came from denunciations of work mates and flat mates from
ordinary germans , most motivated not by political commitment but by personal grudges
volume of information was so overwhelming and was impossible to investigate all alleged crimes thus the gestapo resorted to
arbitrary arrest and preventive custody
despite its small size the gestapo was successful in instilling an atmosphere of
fear and suspicion in the German population
politcal criticism and debate was stifled
people believed that the gestapo was everywhere and thus
adjusted behaviour accordingly
judges and lawyers were generally conservative and very few belonged to
the nazi party in 1933
violence and intimidation carried out by the SA and SS was clearly illegal and a many prosecutions against storm troopers were begun by lawyers who were determined to uphold the law creating problems
as the long tradition of freedom from political interference for lawyers and judges created problems fro nazis
hitler was also angered by the fact that the Supreme Court acquitted all but one of the defendants in the
reichstag fire trial
a few judges and state prosecutors were
dismissed by the regime
the merging of the various professional associations of judges and lawyers with the league of national socialist lawyers creating the front of German law in April 1933 made it clear to
judges and lawyers that their career prospects depended on doing the regimes bidding
introducing new courts , special courts were set up in 1933 and the peoples court in April 1934 to run alongside the existing court system , was set up to deal with
political crimes
had three nazi judges alongside two professional judges
there were no juries and defendants had no rights to appeal against their sentences
with these measure backed by threats from the SA and the SS lawyers and judges fell into line although the old court system continued to exist
many non nazi judges continued in their jobs , the justice system had no power to interfere with the nazis use of terror
between 1934 and 1939
3400 people were tried by the people court , most of whom were former communist and socialist . many were given the death penalty which became increasingly popular in the third reich
when assessing the nature and extent of the terror state in nazi Germany it is important to acknowledge their was a
strong base of support for the regime
through the use of propaganda and gleichschaltung
the regime was able to gain acceptance to majority of people
the nazi SS police system was presented as the main instrument to protect the majority against
the cosrruprpting influence of minorities
the “peoples court “ and “popular justice” portrayed repression and persecution as something
that reflected the will of the people
to a large extent this propaganda appears to have been effective even with the gestapo having limited resources it still
instilled fear and sucsipicion to general public , largely thanks due to the cooperation of many ordinary citizens
on the whole there was little active opposition and there was evidence of hitlers popularity gaining , life in nazi Germany became depoliticised there was no
open and free debate about the regime or its policies .
historians generally agree that there was a widespread acceptance of the regime and most German subscribed to the view that
the third reich was preferable to the disorder of the final Weimar Republic years
the parties of left , the Spd and the kpd were expected to mount
the stiffest resistance to hitler
hitler himself feared that unions which were linked to the spd would
stage a general strike to thwart the nazi takeover in 1933 just as they had done in 1920 to defeat the kapp putsch
in the eventide left did not pose a serious threat to nazi regime partly because
it was bitterly divided with the kpd attacking the spd as “social facsists”
in January 1933 the spd was unprepared for a
nazi takeover
as a constitutional party committed to working within the states legal framework the spd was not equipped to
organise resistance to a regime that did not respect the law
spd activists continued to campaign openly for the election in march 19222 and suffered
SA violence as a result
Spd deputies bravely defied SA and SS intimidation to vote against the enabling act in the reichstag but
once the regime had acquired legal powers to establish a dictatorship it began to crush the spd
by the end of 1933 thousands of spd activists had been
murdered or placed into preventive custody and the spd leadership fled into exile
gradually the spd adapted to changed conditions in Germany organised in exile by Schumacher from a base in Prague the party estahlished
small secret cells of supporters in factories and some city based groups such as the Berlin red patrol
propagada booklets from the spd were
smuggled over the border from Czechoslovakia
the constant fear of exposure and arrest from the gestapo limited the scope of the spds illegal activities the priority for those involved was to
survive and be prepared for a future collapse of the regime rather then mount a serious challenge
with its background in revolutionary politics the kpd was much h better prepared than the
spd for engaging in underground activity
the kpd was however devastated by the wave of
repression unleashed upon communists in Germany after hitler came into power
the kpd was the first party to be banned and its leader Ernst thalmann was arrested at an earlier stage about
10% of the kpds membership was killed by the nazis during 1933
the kpd established an underground network in some German industrial centres , revolutionary unions were set up in
berlin and hamburg to recruit members and publish newspapers
all the networks formed by the kpd were however
broken up by the gestapo
secret communist activity was not completely eradicated by the gestapo in 1934-35 factory cells were established and contact between members was confined to word of mouth to reduce discovery as with the spd however
the priority of communist cells was very much on survival since the party had ceased to exist and no serious challenge to the regime was possible
before 1933 the German working class was the
largest and most unionised workforce in Europe
the largest unions in Germany were linked to the spd and had been consistently opposed to the nazi party after January 1922 however
union resistance crumbled surprisingly quickly
the ideology of class conflict had sustained the trade union movement before
1933
after there nazis came to power the trade unions were absobored into the DAF and nazi propaganda emphasised the
importamceof national as opposed to class solitary
taking strikes was very risking but
strikes did occur
in september 1935 – stikes were reported in Rhineland-westphalia , Silesia and Wurttemberg
37
in the whole of 1937 a total of — stikes were recorded
250
most of these strikes were reactions to the poor
working conditions or low wages
there was increased strike level in 1935-36 at a time where there was widespread
discontent over food prices
the regime viewed any expression of dissent as a challenge thus of the 25,000 workers who participated in stikes in 1935 —- spent short periods in prison
4000
after a 17 minute strike at Opel car factory in 1936
seven ringleaders were arrested by the gestapo and imprisoned
there were also less overt but effective meaning workers could express their disatisfaction , absenteeism was often a reaction against
the pressure to work longer hours
the regime was so concerned about abseentteeism in 1938 that it introduced new labour regulations laying down
severe penalties for “slackers”
in 1938 for example the gestapo arrested — workers at munitions plant in gleiwitz for absenteeism and slow working
114
another tactic by some workers was to deliberately damage their machinery , the regime was concerned enough to make
“sabotage” a criminal offence and there were an increasing number prosecutions in 1938-9
christian churches were the only organisations in nazi Germany that retained
an alternative ideology , independent of the regime , churches also retained some organisational autonomy .
the influence of the pastor or the priest in many communities was at least as important as the
nazi party
churches were well aware tho that in a sustained conflict with the regime they would
loose
churches leadership needed to protect their organisations if they wanted to survive at all leading to them
making compromises , inevitably issues that the churches were not prepared to compromise on
protestants and catholics felt it was necessary to draw a line under nazi efforts to force them
into conformity and this led them into resistance
the response of the christian churches to nazi regime therefore
was both complex and fluid and varied not only over time but even from one priest or pastor to another
the efforts of the nazi regime to co ordinate the protestant church into volksgemeinschaft led to
division within the protestant congregation
the establishment of the of the pastors league in 1933 and its acts of resistance was led by
pastors who were not members of the nazi party and who came largely from academic backgrounds
their refusal to accept being apart of a coordinated reich church was due to three main factors
trying to protect independence of protestant church from nazis
resisting the attempt to impose the aryan paragraph on the church , involved purging any pastor who had converted from judaism
trying to defend lutheran theology which was based purely on the bible
during 1934 there was a growing sturggle between the
confessional church and the nazi regime
pastors spoke out against the ‘ nazified Christ ‘ from their pulpits and many churches refused
to display swatsika flags in the churches
when two confessional church bishops were arrested there were
mass demonstrations in their support
- the nazi regime responded with increased repression
dissenting pastors had their
salaries stopped
banned from teaching in schools
many arrested
by the end of 1937 — pastors had been imprisoned
700
the nazi regime failed to silence the confessional church but for its part the
confessional church did not form full opposition to the regime
the majority of it members professed their love
to hitler and the third reich
much of their energies were expended in fighting the internal struggle against the official reich church with the result that
the protestant churches became rather inward looking although individual pastors risked their lives and liberty in speaking out against the barbatarties of the regime , the churches as a whole remained silent
there was no sustained defence of human right and no official condemenation of atrocities , issues on which the
churches might have been expected to give a moral lead
the catholic church was in a stronger position to retain its independence than the protestant church as the
Catholic church was more united , more centralised , and had more of a tradition of independence from the state.
catholic leadership in both Rome and Germany tried to
come to terms with the nazi regime
when the concordat of 1933 , the privileges granted to a Catholic Church , came under attack that the church
found itself increasingly at odds with the regime
in 1937 the pope issued the papal encyclical called
“with burning grief”
“with burning grief “ condemned
the nazi hatred upon the church
“with burning grief” was smuggled into Germany secretly printed and distributed by messengers on
bicycle or on foot
and read out from almost ever church pulpit in march 1937
“with burning grief “ was the only time that the Catholic church ..
placed itself in open conflict with the regime
the regimes response to “with burning grief” was to increase repression
charges against priests for ‘ abuse of the pulpit’ became regular occurrences
- was some resistance
the arrest of one priest led to noisy public demonstrations at his trial , a local government official reported in 1937 that
the clergy were beginning to show “cautious restraint”
many catholic priests and members showed greta courage in opposing aspects of the nazi religious policies however the church did not move beyond
a narrow defence of its independence to a wider opposition to nazism and catholic resistance was therefore partial , spasmodic and ineffective.
in the early years of the nazi regime the hitler youth was able to channel youthful energy and rebelliousness into officially approved activities but by the 1930’s
there were growing signs of disillusionment with the official movements among young people
the disillusionment was partly because
membership was made compulsory in 1936 and early because of growing regimentation in youth movements
membership of hitlers youth (HJ)and league of German girls (BDM) made great demands on a teenagers free time including
compulsory gymnastic sessions on Wednesday evenings , all day hikes on a Sunday and endlessness military drilling
these compulsory activities were the intention since the nazi policy of gleichschaltung was based on the premise that
individuals should have no independent activity
increasingly in the 1930’s the response of the young people was to opt out either by
allowing their membership to lapse or simply not attending weekly parades
those who did attend sometimes hummed the tunes that had been banned this non conformist behaviour amounted to
little more than normal teenage rebelliousness but under the nazis any assertion of independence was a threat
some young people formed cliques or gangs to show their independence some were
little more than criminal gangs but others were more overtly political
an example of an overtly political gang was the
Meuten gangs
which flourished in old communist strongholds in Leipzig in the late 1930’s
many members of the German conservative , traditional elites had serious misgivings about
the nazi party in general and in particular Hitler
some aristocratic general in the army and senior civil servants regarded Hitler as a
threat to old Germany even after the night of long knives
it is significant that the old aristocratic generals perceive hitler this way as after the death of hindenberg
a military coup was the only way to remove / get rid of the regime
the conservative elites however fatally compromised in their dealings with hitler the regime ,
consolidated its power in 1933 by its alliance with the army big businesses and conservative politicians
the conservative elites broadly shared hitlers aim for Germany even if
they disapproved of some of his methods
both the civil service and the army had a strong tradition of serving whoever was in charge and active opposition to nazi leadership therefore would involve
major intelectual and emotional shift on their part
the number of those who opposed the nazis within the civil service and the army was very small
opposition to hitler within the army and civil service came to head in the autumn of
1938
their had been growing discontent within the elites about the drift of nazi foreign policy the opposition agreed with
hitlers long term aims of rebuilding germanys military strength and expanding to the east but felt he was leading an unprepared Germany in to war
in November 1937 hitler outlined his secret thoughts to senior army commanders and leadings nazis such as gorging to make it clear that
he envisioned a union with Austria and an invasion of Czechoslovakia within a year
- at this meeting general Frisch and general Bloomberg expressed their doubts to hitler
within three months of this meeting in novermebr 1937 hitler
purged them both from the army leadership and replaced them with more complaint generals
in late September 1938 hitler ordered the
army to prepare plans for an invasion of Czechoslovakia
- it seemed clear if the invasion went ahead that Britain and France would support Czechoslovakia and war would result
the imminent threat of war caused —- and a number of senior army figures to plot to remove hitler from power in a military coup
General Beck
detailed plans were made for a march on Berlin if war was declared but the whole enterprise depended on
Britain and France standing by Czechoslovakia and making threats of war credible
an envoy was sent to inform Britain and French governments of this however was listened to sympathetically as
the governments would not risk war
the British and French agreed to a peaceful German takeover of the suddetenland area of Czechoslovakia and hitler had achieved another
“victory without bloodshed”
the conspiracy to over throw him receded quietly into the background
even non political dissent such as complaining about shortage of food could lead to an
arrest and criminal charges under the regime where full subservience and compliance was expected
propaganda indoctrination and repression had created an atmosphere in which
the vast majority of germans were prepared to support the regime
no basis for organised and sustained resistance in nazi Germany and
certainly not one with mass support
opposition to nazi regime was this hampered as even among those who were prepared on occasion to speak out against the regime there was a belief that
the nazi regime should be credited with having restored order prosperity and national pride and rid Germany of its internal enemies
through propaganda hitler and goebells were aiming for what goebells called the
“spiritualisation mopbilisation” of the German people
goebells had the power to control who could and could not be employed in the cultural field those deemed to be
racially impure or
politically unreliable
were purged
newspapers
jan 1933 4700 privately owned newspapers in Germany
socialist and communist banned under the decree for the protection of the people and the state
nazis = 27 daily newspapers , 2.4 million in circulation a day
news agencies became a state controlled organisation thus became bland and conformist
radio
effectively used in 1932/33 election campaigns
1933 hitler made over 50 broadcasts
sirens sound prior to speech for everyone to gather round and listen
goebbels promoted mass production of cheap radios by 1939 70% of germans owned one
purge of those working in radio by goebbels 13% dismissed on racial or political grounds
April 1934 all radio under control of reich radio company controlled by propaganda ministry
film
goebbels understand that film could work on subconcious , subliminal messages and reinforcing prejudices
goebbels responsible for approving every film after 1933
most American films banned bar Disney due to popularity
1933-1945 1000 feature films produced in Germany
only 14% of these had an overtly political message most common type , musical , comedies
all films to some degree had a political message leadership was glorified “blood and soil” demonising of jews and communists
parades and spectacles
theatricality of marches heightened by uniforms and medals , carrying of banners and choreographed singing of party songs
carrying off light touches in night time processions particularly effective
householders hang swatsiska flags from their window to show support
annual party at numberg in September were stage managed to achieve maximum theatrical effect , 1937 rally 100,000 attend
other forms of propaganda
hitler believed only aryans were capable of producing true art
6 may 1933 nazi students and stormtroopers made a huge bonfire in Berlin of about 20,000 books , followed on may 10th by similar actions in 19 other towns , burned books deemed ‘ un-german ‘
a weekly poster with a quotation expressing nazi ideas was displayed in offices and public buildings
nazis on occasion carried out plebiscites but as these were in no way
a form of free election
it is not na indication of genuine support for
attitudes to the nazi regime depended on a range of factors including
age
class
occupation
religion
nazi propaganda and indoctrination appears to have been most successful when it was aimed at
the young
who’s opinions were not yet strongly formed or whom their message overlapped with the traditional values of particular groups
aristocratic old conservatives shared with the nazis beliefs in the need for
order and their anti democratic sentiments
although many were relectuant to swallow the more radical nazi elements
germanys middle class shared the nazis hoisitilty to
communism and socialism and were sucespitable to the propaganda message that the nazis were only credible alternative to a left wing takeover in Germany
antsemitsm and nationalist resentment to the treaty of Versailles was prominent in all
groups of society and nazis were able to reinforce these attitudes through their propaganda
thus the third reich propaganda was most successful when
it built upon exsisting beliefs and values
where nazi propaganda challenged deeply held beliefs such as
religion it was less successful
nazi propaganda presented hitler as being unlike politicians he was presented as a
“man of the people”
in other words he symbolised the unity of the nazi party and the people
hitler was presented a man who was
- hardwokring tough and uncompromising
- a political genius who had mastered the political problems faced by Germany in 1933
- responsible for the nations awakening in 1933 restoring order and economic revival
- was dynamic and forceful in contrast with the weak politicians of the Weimar years
- lived a simple life and sacrificed personal happiness to devote himself to his people
- guardian off traditional morality and popular justice
the reality was in many ways very different from propaganda hitler was
- surrounded by officials who competed with each other to gain his attention and implement his vision , he was actually not very involved in decision making
- far from hard working hitler stayed up late watching films and would usually not get up to mid day
- days were spent eating walking in the grounds of his mouton retreat and delivering long rambling speeches to his subordinates
- disliked reading official documents and rarely got involved in detailed discussion’s on policy , his officials took great difficulty in getting him to make a decision
