Control and Opposition

Question 1

Who controlled the SS?

Answer 1

Himmler

Question 2

Who controlled the Gestapo?

Answer 2

Himmler

Question 3

Who controlled the SD?

Answer 3

Heydrich

Question 4

what did the Gestapo do?

Answer 4

hunted down ‘Enemies of the State’ (Nazi opponents) and sent to concentration camps

Question 5

What did the SS do?

Answer 5

Used to keep the Nazis in power and deal with any opponents

Question 6

What did the SD do?

Answer 6

intelligence branch of the SS

Question 7

What did Himmler do?

Answer 7

ran the SS and Gestapo and general total control of all of Germany’s police forces - he had immense power

Question 8

When were the People’s Courts?

Answer 8

1934

Question 9

What were the People’s Courts?

Answer 9

Established to judge those accused of crimes against the State
They sentenced a lot of people for political crimes which could have prevented a rebellion against the Nazi State

Question 10

Name some inmates found in concentration camps

Answer 10

Jews, Communists, travelling community/Roma, Homosexuals

Question 11

List the ways that the police state impacted German’s lives

Answer 11

Everybody was watched - neighbours often provided intelligence to make arrests.

‘Clan responsibility’ - if one family member broke the law, everyone was guilty.

Germans were labelled ‘Enemies of the state’

Lost their civil rights in Law for the Protection of People and State

Question 12

Give evidence of Germans supporting the Nazi regime by choice

Answer 12

Turnout at Nuremberg rallies
Following of German Faith Movement
Elections - popular votes in elections and plebiscites
Popular plans eg. TOV, bread and work, benefits (cheap radios, KDF)
Nazi organisations appealed - eg HYM

Question 13

Give evidence of forced Nazi support by Germans

Answer 13

Creation of concentration camps
Control of the media - no criticism, censorship
Police State - intimidation into obedience
Peoples’s Court (1934) - scared Germans and executed ‘opponents’

Question 14

What was Goebbel’s role in spreading Nazi ideas?

Answer 14

Created the Reich Chamber of Culture

He couldn’t “brainwash” people, but did influence their decisions.

Question 15

How did the Nazis control Newspapers?

Answer 15

Most newspapers bought by Eher Verlag - Nazi publishers
Editor’s Law - held editors responsible for the content of their newspapers
Only government approved journalists could work in the media
Newspapers that printed content that was disapproved of were shut down.
Editors went to a daily Propoganda Ministry Briefing to be told what to print.

Question 16

How did the Nazis control Radio?

Answer 16

Nazis took control of all radio stations
Germans were encouraged to buy cheap Reich radios that could only pick up Nazi broadcasts. By 1939, 70% of households had one.
Loudspeakers erected in public places and workplaces.

Question 17

How did the Nazis control Film?

Answer 17

Cinema that didn’t reflect Nazi thinking was censored.

High-quality Nazi Films we’re produced by people like Leni Riefenstahl - Triumph of the Will (Nuremberg Rallies)

Question 18

How was Art censored?

Answer 18

A lot of art was banned to show.

Exhibitions of “degenerate art” were shown, showing people the ‘distorted’ work of modern artists.

Question 19

How was Music censored?

Answer 19

Jazz music was condemned as it was too ‘frivolous’ and was related to the Black community which the Nazis discriminated against.

Question 20

How was literature censored?

Answer 20

20,000 books were symbolically burned in Berlin, 1933. The books could be Jewish, Ethnic, Anti-Nazi, etc.

Question 21

Why were rallies important to Nazi propaganda?

Answer 21

Films were created about the 1936 olympics and Nuremberg rallies.
Rallies were huge and where organised to show how powerful their military was.

Question 22

How did propaganda and censorship affect German’s lives?

Answer 22

Young people were indoctrinated into the Volksgemeinschaft with propaganda
Nobody was brainwashed, but they were influenced - it persuaded Germans to let Nazis implement their policies.
News and propaganda were more accessible - loudspeakers, cheap radios

Question 23

What did the Roman Catholic Church think about the Nazi Regime?

Answer 23

Signed a concordat in 1933, the church doesn’t get involved in politics, and they could still run school and activities for young people.
Soon it realised it’s terms were being ignored and in 1937 Pope Pius XI condemned the Nazi regime.

Question 24

What did the Lutheran church think about the Nazi regime?

Answer 24

Split - ones who followed the Nazis were called German Christians, and were led by Ludwig Müller. The Lutherans that disagreed set up the confessional church.

Question 25

What was the Confessional church?

Answer 25

Protestant church in opposition to the Nazis, split from the Lutheran church.
Pastor Martin Niemöller was a leader of the Confessional Church. He was arrested in 1937 and sent to Dachau concentration camp.

Question 26

What was the German Faith Movement?

Answer 26

Church created by the Nazis. Movement sought to move Germany away from Christianity, and towards a religion based on Germanic Paganism (eg. Sun worship) and Nazi ideology.
Movement had around 200,000 followers at its height (<0.3% of population).
Instead of the bible, they used a combination of Indian and German literature.

Question 27

What was the Swing Movement?

Answer 27

Mostly middle and upper-class youths.
Grew their hair, wore fashionable clothes, listened to jazz and swing music.
Actions often led to clashes with HYM and security forces.
300 members arrested in 1941, clubs raided and participants sent to concentration camps.

Question 28

Who were the Edelweiss Pirates?

Answer 28

Working class movement of youths
Evaded and beat up HYM, distributed anti-Nazi leaflets
Nazi authorised between 1936 and September 1939.

Question 29

who was the leader of the DAF?

Answer 29

Robert Ley

Question 30

What is the name of the German official killed by a Jew in Paris?

Answer 30

Von Rath