Control and Opposition

Question 1

How did the SS develop?

Answer 1

• In 1929, Heinrich Himmler became its leader and transformed it into an elite group with a reputation for obedience and commitment.
• The SS uniform was black and it’s logo was a double S that looked like 2 lightning bolts.
• After proving its worth in the Night of the Long Knives it became an independent organisation.
• Over the next few years, spies, police, courts and concentration camps all began to be controlled by the SS and Himmler.

Question 2

What was the SD (secret service)?

Answer 2

• The main intelligence-gathering organisation.
• Focused on opposition to the party itself, particularly from the church.
• It was lead by Reinhard Heydrich and there were only a few hundred full-time agents.

Question 3

What was the Gestapo?

Answer 3

• The most famous organisation in the SS; it’s reputation was fierce.
• Focused on political opponents, Jewish people and gay people.
• Originally a branch of pression police, it was never directly controlled by the party.
• Only 15,000 active officers at its height.
• It tapped phones and opened mail.
• Interrogation of potential enemies was ruthless, with torture techniques being used.

Question 4

What were informants?

Answer 4

• Most intelligence was gathered from the public, people who informed the SS of potential enemies.
• All tip-offs were investigated by the SD or Gestapo.
• The Nazis also used the Block Leaders as informants. The Block Leaders job was to deliver news to the 40-60 houses in their area. They also spies on these people.

Question 5

How did the Nazis use the justice system to destroy potential enemies?

Answer 5

• The Orpo (ordinary police) and crypto (criminal police) continued work as they did before Nazi rule but they also provided intelligence and rounded up potential enemies including Jewish people.
• Judges had to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler and sentences in the years of Nazi rule became far harsher.
• The number of crimes punishable by death rose from 3 in 1933 to 46 in 1943; 40,000 Germans were given the death sentence.
• The Peoples Court, which was directly run by the Nazis, was the most harsh type of court that dealt with political opponents.

Question 6

What were Concentration Camps?

Answer 6

• The aim of concentration camps was to concentrate enemies of the state, not kill them (death camps would come later).
• Between 1933 and 1939, the Nazis mostly imprisoned political opponents but by the end of the period of the work-shy, religious opponents and Jewish people were also imprisoned.
• The SS developed the system to run the camps, led by their ‘Death’s Head Units’.
• In the camps there were strict rules, and even minor offences could result in harsh punishments including flogging or beatings.
• In 1937, Himmler declared that guards couldn’t be sent to prison for their actions at camps and as a result the number of deaths in the camps rose dramatically.
• Prisoners were kept in barracks and made to do manual labour.

Question 7

How did the Nazis use newspapers to spread their message?

Answer 7

• The Nazis controlled newspapers through the Reich press chamber.
• They closed down existing papers and by 1939 owned two-thirds of the newspapers.
• They published their own newspapers, like the very antisemitic Der Stürmer.
• Content in newspapers was tightly controlled and censored. Journalists and editors had to join the Reich Association of the Press and were told what they could and couldn’t write about.

Question 8

How did the Nazis use radios to spread their message?

Answer 8

• All national and local radio stations were controlled by the Reich Radio Company.
• To ensure that people received their broadcasts the Nazis made cheap radio sets that everyone could afford - the Peoples Receiver.
• 1.5 million People’s Receivers were made in 1933 and by 1939 70% of people had a radio in their home.

Question 9

How did the Nazis use Posters to spread their message?

Answer 9

• The Nazis were masters at visual image and posters were put up in all towns and villages.
• They often portrayed Hitler as God-like.
• Men and women were nearly always had blond hair and blue eyes, emphasising their Aryan ideal.

Question 10

How did the Nazis use Rallies to spread their message?

Answer 10

• The Nazis held large rallies to show their strength.
• They were like festivals with marches, speeches, and parades.
• The annual rally at Nuremberg was the largest. In 1934 over 250,000 attended. Lights around the field shed up into the sky and looked like a ‘cathedral of light’.

Question 11

How did the Nazis use culture to spread their message?

Answer 11

• The Reich Culture Chamber supervised and regulated all culture, including art, theatre, literature and architecture.
• Culture that emphasised Aryan strength was promoted; abstract culture (art that just used shapes) was deemed degenerate.
• Traditional German culture was seen as superior (composers like Wagner); American popular culture like jazz was discouraged.
• There was even a preferred Nazi architectural style - pointed roofs were more Germanic.

Question 12

How did the Nazis use film to spread their message?

Answer 12

• Film was the most modern type of media and the Nazis controlled it through the Reich film Chamber.
• The Nazis tried to limit foreign films coming to Germany so that German films were shown in cinemas.
• By 1939 two-thirds of films were paid for by the state. They promoted films that showed Hitler to be great or that criticised Jewish people.

Question 13

How did the Nazis use the Berlin Olympics to spread their message?

Answer 13

• In 1936, the Olympic Games were held in Britain and were used as an important piece of Nazi propaganda.
• Olympic flags and swastikas covered Berlin, including the new 100,000-seat stadium.
• Anti-Semitic signs were taken down and German newspapers toned down their stories.
• The Games promoted Aryan superiority and the nearly all-Aryan German team emerged victorious, winning the most medals.
• The notable exception was the African American athlete Jesse Owens, who won 4 gold medals.

Question 14

How did the Social Democrats oppose?

Answer 14

• After 1933, most SD leaders fled to Prague, leaving those that remained without clear leadership.
• Despite this, many formed into resistance groups who produced anti-Nazi leaflets and posters.
• Many were effectively hunted down by the Gestapo.

Question 15

How did the Communists oppose?

Answer 15

• They were more visibly active than the SDs, with meetings propaganda and newsletters.
• They produced 10,000 copies of newsletters The Red Flag every month.
• Due to their visibility they were easy targets for the Gestapo.

Question 16

What was the religious opposition?

Answer 16

• The Church was the largest non-Nazi organisation in Germany. There were 22 million Catholics, 40 million Protestants and other smaller denominations at this time.
• Christian teaching about love and forgiveness was obviously opposite to Nazi ideas and so opposition was unsurprising.
• Initially, Hitler promised to not interfere with the Church.
• Hitler made an agreement with Pope Pius XI (a Concordant) to leave the Catholic Church alone.
• With the Protestants, a new Reich Church was set up and pastors had to sign an oath to Hitler.
• These promises were broken. In 1936, all Church youth groups were banned and by 1939 all Church schools had been closed. Priests who spoke out against this were arrested.

Question 17

Who was Martin Niemöller?

Answer 17

• Refusing to join the Reich Church, Niemöller founded an alternative, the non-Nazi Confessional Church.
• By 1934, 6000 pastors had joined, leaving only 2000 in the Reich Church.
• Niemöller preached against Nazi racial policy and was arrested and sent to a concentrated camp.

Question 18

Who was Pope Pius XI?

Answer 18

• He wrote a letter called with Burning Anxiety which was smuggled into Germany and read out in all Catholic churches on Palm Sunday.
• The letter condemned Nazi beliefs and methods. The next day the Gestapo raided every Catholic Church, seizing all copies of the letter.

Question 19

How did the Jehovah’s witnesses oppose?

Answer 19

• Due to the rules of their faith, they refused to give the Hitler salute and refused compulsory military service.
• They began writing anti-Nazi leaflets. A special Gestapo unit to combat them was created and 6000 were imprisoned in concentration camps.

Question 20

Why did youth opposition groups emerged?

Answer 20

• Young people often question authority and this was no different in Nazi Germany, although there was not a single national movement but lots of small groups.
• Young people opposed the Nazis for a variety of reasons. Some didn’t agree with Nazi politics. Some were angry about religious interference. Some were frustrated at enforced Nazi youth groups.
• The one similarity if all these groups was their refusal to conform to the Nazi ideal as promoted by the Hitler Youth.

Question 21

How and why did Young Communists resist the Nazis?

Answer 21

Why: Politically they were opposed to Nazi ideology, like their adult counterparts.
How: - Joined into gangs or meuten (one gang in Leipzig was 1500 strong).
- Dressed differently, in leather shorts and bright scarfs.
- Wrote anti-Nazi flyers.

Question 22

How and why did Christian Youth resist the Nazis?

Answer 22

Why: There were 2.5 million members of Christian youth organisations in 1933. When these organised were banned this angered some.
How: - illegal pilgrimages

Question 23

How and why did Swing Kids resist the Nazis?

Answer 23

Why: Angry at the Nazis imposing German culture and banning American culture.
How: - Listened to American jazz music.
- Grew long hair and wore baggy trousers.

Question 24

How and why did Edelweiss Pirates resist the Nazis?

Answer 24

Why: In the Rhine region these young people were opposed to Nazi politics and the enforced Hitler Youth groups.
How: - Went on excursions and hikes.
- Wore a white edelweiss flower or white pin badge as a sign of resistance
- Picked fights with the Hitler Youth