GDS3b - What Was It Like To Live In Nazi Germany? Flashcards
Who benefitted most + least from the Nazi Regime?
Most = businessmen + farmers + young people
In the middle = workers
Least = women + clergymen
How did farmers benefit in Nazi Germany?
Reich Food Estate
Reich Entailed Farm Law
Blunt und Boden philosophy = Blood and Soil
-> this belief put farmers/rural workers above city workers
-> also romanticised the life of German peasants from medieval times
-> Hitler Youth members encouraged to work on the land for their year’s labour service
Nazis glorified the life of a farmer + claiming they were the backbone of the new German empire (gave farmers recognition + sense of importance)
Nazi economic policies led to a 20% rise in agricultural prices + agricultural wages rose more quickly than wages in other sectors
Reich Entailed Farm Law
All farms up to 300 acres + capable to sustain a family became HEREDITARY ESTATES —> so they couldn’t be sold + divided + mortgaged (gave farmers greater security)
Gave farmers state protection against banks -> they can’t seize land if farmers don’t pay loans on time —> this gave farmers a sense of security BUT meant banks were less willing to loan them money
Only the oldest child can inherit the farming land —> caused rural depopulation as not-eldest children began leaving to work in the city for higher pay
What did the Nazis want women to be and do?
Stick to the three Ks = Kinder + Kirche + Küche = Children + Church + Kitchen
Expected to have a more traditional appearance:
- wear plain peasant clothes
- hair kept undyed in plaits/buns
- only wear flat shoes
- no smoking (in public)
Discouraged from staying thin -> at the time people thought thin women had issues giving birth
What restrictions did the Nazis impose on women?
Contraception banned + illegal to talk about birth control
Unable to vote or sit in the Reichstag
Stringent medical requirements for abortion + harsh penalties for illegal abortions BUT non-aryan women were encouraged to have abortions
1936 banned from working as lawyers + judges
How did the Nazis try to increase the birth rate? Did it work?
Lebensborn Programme -> selected unmarried women encouraged to get pregnant with SS men then donate the child to Hitler (raised in a Nazi institution)
Law for the Encouragement of Marriage -> marriage loans worth 6 months of wages were given to newlyweds + for each child they had they could keep 250 marks of it
Family allowances -> families received a weekly payment per child
YES they worked —> birth rate + marriage rate increased BUT family size remained the same
Why did the Nazis want the birth rate to increase?
They wanted enough members of the Aryan race to be able to:
- create a large army
- occupy defeated territories
- populate new colonies
What were the rewards for women that lived up to the Nazi ideal?
Fertility medals called the Cross of Honour of the German Mother
- bronze = 5 children
- silver = 6 children
- gold = 8+ children
- presented in public ceremonies that promoted motherhood as the ultimate role of women
Why and how did Nazi attitudes change during WW2?
Nazi policy changed dramatically due to the decreasing male workforce (many men had gone to serve in the army)
Women were required to do a ‘duty year’ -> usually meant working on a farm or in a family home
Policy became contradictory -> they still wanted a high birth rate (meant women staying home) BUT needed people to work in factories (mainly women available) to keep up production
Eventually women were employed in the army -> worked in administration + communications + nursing
What was the proportion of Christians in German society?
45 million Protestants + 22 million Catholics = 1933
Almost all Germans were Christian = 2/3 Protestant + 1/3 Catholic
Hitler tried to introduce a new religion during the regime but it failed to gain any serious lasting support
What was the Nazi response to the Catholic Church?
Saw Christianity as a threat (emphasised peace which was against Nazi regime)
1933 Concordat - Hitler + Pope signed an agreement -> Hitler promised not to interfere with Catholic Church + Pope promised not to interfere with politics
Hitler broke this agreement later on:
- Catholic schools/organisations suppressed
- banned Catholic Youth Organisation
- Catholic newspapers banned
What was the Catholic Church’s response to the Nazis
1933 Concordat - agreement that Hitler wouldn’t interfere with Catholic Church + Pope wouldn’t interfere with German politics
Hitler broke this by banning the Catholic Youth Organisation (+ did other things)
1937 - Pope protested this by issuing a letter that had to be read in every church called “With Burning Anxiety”
After this letter, 400 priests were sent to Dachau (concentration camp) for speaking out against the Nazis
NOTE - during the regime, attendance at Catholic churches increased slightly
How did the Nazis try to create a new religion?
1936 - the 28 Protestant groups in Germany were forced to form the National Reich Church
Nazi was made Bishop of this Church + any non-Aryan ministers were suspended
Members of this church were called German Christians + they said they had “the swastika on their chest and the cross in their heart”
1937 - Hitler forced to give back control of the Church to the old Protestant leadership in return for the Church’s promise to stay out of politics
What was the Nazi response to Jehovah’s Witnesses?
Nazis saw them as a threat to the regime -> as they refused to swear allegiance to Hitler or join the army (peace-loving)
1935 - being a Jehovah’s Witness was made illegal —> over 8,000 people were sent to prisons/concentration camps
In these camps they had to wear purple triangles to identify themselves
How were large + small businesses affected by the Nazi regime?
Large businesses benefitted:
- rearmament boosted big weapons companies
- banning of trade unions meant labour could become cheaper + workers exploited more easily (higher profit margins)
- managers of major industrial companies’ wages rose by 50% between 1933 and 1939
- communist threat was removed
Small businesses suffered:
- rules on opening + running small businesses were tightened
- 20% of small businesses closed down during the regime
- Jewish small businesses were closed down/removed
How did the Nazis tackle unemployment? Did it work?
Autobahn building project - unemployed were given work to do on building this massive highway
All 18-25 year olds were enlisted in the National Labour Service for 6 months
Rearmament - many were conscripted into the army or worked making weapons
VERY SUCCESSFUL —> unemployment numbers were reduced from 6 million to a few hundred thousand
Strength Through Joy
Scheme designed to make workers support Hitler - by offering rewards for working + keeping them occupied outside of work with Nazi-organised leisure activities
Examples of activities = theatre trips, picnic, cheap/free holidays, evening classes
Savings scheme was also started to help people save up for a VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE <— known as the “people’s car”
Positive + negative outcomes for workers in Nazi Germany
+ Strength Through Joy —> gave rewards for working + leisure activities
+ Beauty of Labour —> helped motivate workers
- German Labour Front —> took away workers’ right to strike and bargain for wages
Beauty of Labour
Nazi propaganda organisation
Goal = make Germans see work as good + that everyone who could work should do so
Also encouraged factories to improve conditions for workers
German Labour Front
May 1933 - it replaced trade unions
Purpose = take away the ability of workers to interfere with Hitler’s plans
Run by Dr Ley (think leypeople)
Workers couldn’t:
- strike
- bargain for wages
- change jobs without permission
Max. working hours were increased
NOTE - this organisation almost always followed the employers’ wishes (instead of listening to employees)
What qualities did the Nazis want in young people?
Believe in Nazi ideology (Aryan supremacy, anti-semitism, etc.)
Physically strong + hardworking
Racially pure
Raised to play specific roles in society:
- boys = soldiers/workers
- girls = wives/mothers
Their unwavering support for the Nazi Party —> so they would make a new generation of Nazis
NOTE - to ensure parents raised their children “right”, children were encouraged to tell adults in the Hitler Youth if their parents said anything against the Nazis
How did the Nazis use education to indoctrinate young people?
It was used to enhance loyalty to Hitler + prepare boys to be soldiers
Nazi ideology was inserted into subjects:
- eugenics taught in biology
- history taught students about Germany being wronged by the ToV
Jewish + non-Nazi teachers bullied out of their jobs
What did the Hitler Youth involve?
It was an introduction to and a powerful force for Nazi propaganda
Other youth groups were banned or combined with Hitler Youth
Served 2 main purposes:
- physical training
- ideological indoctrination
They learned skills:
- hiking
- bushcraft
- gun and knife training
NOTE - this was an all male group, female equivalent was the League of German Maidens (taught girls to be housewives)
What young people rebelled? How did the Nazis respond?
Edelweiss Pirates
- groups of teenagers who rebelled by doing fun (+ illegal) things and meeting up with other like minded groups
- as WW2 progressed, they helped hide Jews/POW and attacked Nazis
- leaders of the cologne group were publicly hanged in 1944 (failed plot to blow up a Nazi building)
The White Rose
- university students who created and distributed anti-nazi pamphlets
- Sophie + Hans Scholl (leaders) were executed in 1943
