chapter seventeen Flashcards
the nazi regime could not act as it wished in the first years in power , nazi ideological aims could only be
implemented when it was politically possible
there were three distinct phases in the development of the nazi regime
- legal revolution 1933-34 , he depended on his political allies , could not prevent SA violence but controlled it as much as possible
- creating new Germany 1934-37 , by august ‘34 nazi regime was secure , but hitler did not have full control and concerned about public opinion home/abroad ie Berlin olympics ‘36
- the radicalisation of the state 1938-39 , end of ‘37 the nazi regime was far stronger than in ‘33 , economy had recovered , SS controlled police system , hitler felt Germany was ready for war. ‘38 and ‘39 hitler took bolder steps and took control of army sacking two most important commanders.
social darwinism was a theory that was widely discussed in the 19th century Europe , social darwinists adapted darwins scientific principles of natural selection to unscientific theories about
human society to justify racial superiority and eugenics
social darwinists also put forward the idea that ‘ advanced ‘ europeans had the right and responsibility to rule over …
’ inferior ‘ or ‘ backward ‘ colonial people
in Sweden there was an influential group of scientists seeking to
eliminate disabilities through population planning and birth control
- these ideas were incorporated into nazi ideology
hitlers obsession with biological struggle between diffrent races easily filtered with his view of jews , he viewed humanity as
consisting of a hiearahcy of races
the jews , the blacks , the slavs were inferior races
the Herrenvolk (master race) was the aryan people of Northern Europe
another key idea of the nazis was the need to ‘ purify ‘ the stronger races by eliminating
the ‘ germs ‘ that threatened to poison them through inter marriage with ‘ degenerate ‘ races
hitler believe it wad the destiny of
aryans to rule over the inferior races
in order to ensure their success in this racial struggle it was vital for
aryans to maintain their racial purity
hitlers own concept of social darwinism therefore on an all or nothing basis , biologically and culturally the jews were to be treated as
a deadly threat to the German Volk
there could be no compromises and no exceptions
the germ had to be eliminated
the nazi principles of ‘ racial hygiene ‘ justified the sterilisation of the …
mentally an physically diseased
the Roma and other ‘ racial undesirables ‘ ie homosexuals , pacifists and Jehovahs witnesses
hitlers concept of volksgemeinschaft was not inclusive of all people living in Germany , in a way that was typical of many other aspects of nazi ideology :
concept of national community was twisted by anti semitism and racial thinking
to qualify as a member of the Volk it was essential to be
a true German both in terms of loyalty and racial purity
to protect the Volk , it was essential to
ruthlessly eliminate all un German elements , especially the jews
the best way of defining the Volk was through
identifying racial enemies to be excluded for it , rather than people who naturally belonged to it
membership of the volksgemeinschaft - known as volksgenossen was reserve for those of
aryan race
members of which were expected to be genetically healthy , socially efficient , and politically reliable
the nazi idea of Lebensraum was another example of nazi policy being twisted by anti semitism , later in the 19th century many
European thinkers had proposed opening up space for the expanding populations of the superior white race
in Germany there was widespread support for the idea that the country was already overpopulat6ed and that
industrious German farmers needed more land
many argued that germanys destiny lay in the east , conquering the supposedly inferior slav peoples of Poland and the former
Russian empire to gain access to fertile farmland and raw materials
nazi ideology fitted in smoothly with these ideas about gemrnays expansion east wards , but hitlers Lebensraum had a particular focus on race , and would not allow for
the ‘ germanisation ‘ of the eastern lands and bringing back the ‘ lost germans ‘ back to the reich
- provide a background for a war of annihilation wiping out the inferior slav races and smashing bolshevism win Russia
in nazi ideology , the mentally ill and physically disabled were considered to be
’ biological outriders ‘ from the volksgemeinschaft because the hereditary defects made them a threat to the fortune of the aryan race
nazi thinking on the issues of mental and physical disabled borrowed much from the science of
eugenics which had become increasingly influential in Europe and the usa , esp after ww1
declining birthrates , the loss of millions of health young men in war and improvements in medicine that prolonged the lives of those suffering hereditary conditions all combined to raise concerns about
the long term health of nations
eugenicts proposed the involvement of a race through selective breeding , which might involve the use of
birth control and sterilisation of those who had hereditary ‘ defects ‘
even before the nazis came to power the state government of Prussia had drawn up a draft law to
allow the voluntary sterilisation of those with hereditary defects
in July 1933 , the nazis took it further by introducing the
law for protection of hereditarily diseased progeny (sterilisation law)
introduced compulsory sterilisation for certain categories of ‘ inferiors ‘
the sterilisation ale specified the ‘ hereditary diseases ‘ that sterilisation was to be applied to
cogntial feeble-mindedness
schizophrenia
manic-depressive illnes
epilepsy
chronic alcoholism
hereditary blindness
deafness
serve physical malfunction
later amendments to the sterilisation laws permitted the sterilisation of children over 10 and the use of force to carry it out after
14 years , with no right to legal representation
two years later , the sterilisation laws , was amended to permit abortions in cases where those deemed
suitable for sterilisation were already pregnant
in 1936 x-ray sterlisation of women over
38 years was introduced
in the opposite direction there was a ban on
abortion an contraception for aryan women and girls in an attempt to increase the birth rate
decisions about sterilisation were made at hereditary health courts most of the judges were
strongly in favour of the policy , and decisions usually took around 10 minutes
the operation took pace by force if necessary within two weeks 60% of those sterilised were
’ feebleminded ‘ categorised as suffering with idiocy (IQ OF 0-19) or imbecility (IQ OF 20-49)
the idea of moral insanity was also used as a basis for sterilisation. this was often merely an excuse to
prevent births among the ‘ criminal underclass ‘ or ‘ anti socials ‘
during the third reich x people were sterilised
400,000
the nazi desire to create their master race did not stop at sterilisation and banning sexual relationships between aryans and jews
- by October 1939 the regime had authorised
euthanasia for the mentally and physically disabled , ‘ unproductive burden ‘ on germanys resources and as a threat to ‘ racial hygiene ‘ and the ‘ biological strength of the Volk ‘
a recurrent theme of nazi propaganda was the idea that something had to be done about the ‘ burden ‘ of the long term ill and disabled
the openly stated solution was to
pass new legislation allowing mentally and physically disabled children to be ‘ mercifully ‘ put to death and so ‘ relive the burden on the national community ‘
the idea of euthanasia was closely linked to the policy of
sterilisation which by 1939 was a well developed policy , and had attracted quite a lot of support
the first euthanasia programme for disabled children originated from one speicifc case of a bad disabled child in 1939
- catalyst for the whole euthanasia programme
the Childs father wrote a letter to hitler asking for his child ‘ this creature ‘ to be put to sleep
Dr Phillip Bouhler chief of the Further party office made sure the letter was bought to hitlers attention
hitler sent a senior SS doctor , Karl Brandt to examine the baby
Brandts report advised euthanasia for the child
Hitler approved the report and issued a directive announcing that he would personally protect the prosecution of doctors who carried out ‘ mercy killings ‘
Hitler gave Phillip Bouhler authority to deal with similar cases in the future , all petitions were to go through the ‘ chancellor of the frurher ‘
Hitler also made it cleat that
any such actions were to be kept a secret
medical staff in hospitals and asylums had to report on children suffering from
mental illness or physical ‘ deformities ‘
on the basis of these reports , children were sent to special hospitals or starved to death or given lethal injections
parents were assured that children died in spite of receiving the very best treatment
the technical and administrative methods used to kill more than
5000 innocent children , deemed by the nazis to be ‘ incurable ‘ and worthless to society
- later applied to the jews who occupied Europe
Phillip Bouhler and Karl Brandt than used their authority to extend
euthanasia to adults
from October 1939 the programme was rapidly expanded , and moved to Berlin Tiergarten 4 , it was from this address that the name of the
euthanasia programme was best known
the basis of T4 was burecraucy and was paperwork , forms about patients were to be filled in at clinics and asylums and passed on to assertors who were paid on a
piecework basis to encourage them to process as many patients as possible
several doctors and nurses complained about the T4 programme however
their objections were ignored
by 1941 , rumours about the policy of euthanasia were spreading widely and aroused opposition , one public official filed a complaint with hew reich justice ministry and an accusation of
murder against Phillip Bouhler
these proceedings got nowhere but they worried the regime
from July 1940 there was also a groundswell of protests from churches , protestant pastor Braune wrote a long memorandum protesting about the T4 programme , on the 12th August however
Braune was arrested by the gestapo
this led to intevention on behalf of the pope
an official statement from Rome on 2 dec 1940 pronounced the direct killings of people with mental or physical defects was against ‘the natural and positive law of god ‘
on 3rd august 1941 catholic archbishop Galen of Munster preached a sermon making an emotive attack on euthanasia backed by specific evidence , thousand of copies of this sermon were printed and distributed
- nazi regime alarmed by hostile public reaction
24th August 1941
hitler halted the programme
this was an isolated success for public protest against nazi race polices , halting the T4 programme did not mean the end of the
drive to implement nazi racial ideology , it was a tactical pause , and in many respects provided the techniques and experience for the ‘ final solution ‘
the term asocial as used by the nazis covered a wide range of people who were deemed to be
social outcasts
these included criminals , the work shy , tramos bad beggars , alcoholics , prostitutes , homosexuals and juvenile delinquents
nazi policy was to introduce tough measure agsint these
groups and give police more power to enforce them
in September 1933
the regime began mass round up of ‘ tramps and beggars ‘ many of whom were homeless , unemployed people
since there was not enough space in concentration camsps to house the people (300,000-500,000) they began to differentiate from the orderly and the disorderly homeless
orderly = fit able to work , no convictions were given a permit and forced to work for their accom
disorderly = habitutal criminals and sent to concentration camps
in 1936 before the Berlin olympics
the police rounded up large numbers of ‘ tramps and beggars ‘ from the streets of the capital in order to project an image of a hard working and dynamic society to the world
in 1936 a further policy was introduced setting up a
asocial colony known as Hashed , in northern Germany
the aim of the colony was to re educate the asocials so that they could be integrated into society
in 1938 there was an even bigger
round up of ‘ beggars and tramps , pimps and gypsies ‘
most of these were sent to buchenwald concentration camps , where few survived the harsh treatment
in common with most other European countries at the time homosexuality was outlawed in gemrnay before
1933
in the relatively liberal climate of the Weimar Republic , however homesexulaity flourished in
berlin and other large cities
most nazis regarded homosexuals as
degenerate
perverted
threat to racial health of the German people
in 1933 the nazis began a purge of homosexual organisations and literature , clubs were close down organisation for gay people were banned and
gay publications were outlaws
in may 1933 nazi students attacked the
institute of sex research , a gay organisation , and burned its library
they also seized the institute’s list of names and addresses of gay people
- this was the start of a long sustained attack of gay people
in 1934 the gestapo began to
compile lists of gay people
in the same year the SS eliminated Rohm and other leaders of the SA who were homosexuals
the law on homosexuality was ammended in 1935 to
widen the definition of homosexuality and to impose harsher penalties for those convicted
after the law was changed in 1935 over 22,000 men were
arrested and imprisoned between 1936-38
in 1936 himmler created the
reich office for the combating of homosexuality and abortion
overall , some 100,000 men were
arrested for homosexuality of whom
50,000 were convicted
even when the men arrested has served their sentences , they were immediately re arrested by the gestapo or SS and held in concentration camps under ‘ preventive custody ‘
in the camps they had to
- wear a pink triangle ti dustingush them from others
- subjected to brutal treatment by guards
many of this imprisoned were subjected to
’ voluntary castartaion ‘ to ‘ cure ‘ them of their ‘ perversions ‘
gay men who would not agree to abandon their sexual orientation were
sent to concentration camps who were subjected to unusually harsh treatment
many were beaten to death , estimated 60% of gay people died in these camps
lesbians did not suffer the same degree of persecutions as they were considered to be
asocial rather than degenerate
there were a number of christian sects that had become established in Germany by the time the nazis came to power
Jehovahs witness
christian scientists
mormons
seventh day adventists
new apolisitic church
all religious sects had international links . which aroused nazi suspicions about their loyalty and in turn
most were banned by the regime in 1933
the ban on some sects however was lifted as they demonstrated their willingness to co operate with he regime , where sects were allowed to continue however
gestapo agents attended and reported on their services
the Jehovah witnesses were the only religious group to show uncompromising hostility to the the nazi state , with only around 30,000 adherents in Germany in 1933 , they were
a small but closely knit sect
their belief that they could only obey god led them to into conflict with the nazi regime as they refused to swear allegiance to hitler
they refused to give salutes march in parades etc
by 1945 around 10,000 Jehovah witnesses had
been imprisoned and many had died
however the regime had failed to break the resistance and the jehovah witnesses had , had some
converts to their beliefs in the camps
unlike the Jehovah witnesses the seventh day adventists gave a positive welcome to the nazi regime descibing it as
the beginning of germanys rebirth
the ban on the seventh day adventists was removed within two weeks as it agreed to
- display swatsitka flags in churches
- finish its services with ‘ heil hitler ‘
- remove the jewish language of the Old Testament from it services
- its well developed welfare organisation which provided food and shelter agreed to excluded asocials jews and other racial enemies
other sects also strove to make the necessary compromises with the regime in order to ensure their survival , the mormons welfare organsiation like that of the seventh day adventists selected its
recipients according to nazi criteria
the new apolisitic church incorporated SS and SA flags into its church parades
jews were not the only victim of the intensification of nazi race polices after 1935 , there was also growing persecution of
30,000 gypsis
roma and sinti people
known as Zigeuner
gypses had been subjected to
legal discrimination well before 1935
local authorities frequently harassed them into moving away
the nazis made the persecution much more problematic
in 1935 , nazi legal experts rules that the Numberg laws applied to gypsies even thought
they were not speicficlaly mentioned in these laws
in 1936 the SS set up a new reich central office for the
fight against gypsy nuisance
A university psychologist Dr Ritter came the expert scientific advisor to the
SS and ministry for health
using Ritters criteria the SS began the process of locating and classifying gyspsies
Ritter was partially concerned to identify and isolate those whose heritage was part gypsy and who had become
fully integrated into German society since they represented a threat to the aryan racial purity
in December 1938 himmler issued a decree for the struggle against the gyspy plague , which led to a
more systematic classification of gyspseis
after war broke out in spetmeber 1939 gypsies were deported from
Germany to Poland
