Germany and the occupied territories during the Second World War

Question 1

How did the outbreak of World War Two change Nazi attitude towards ‘the Jewish question’ (three points)

Answer 1

• It allowed persecution of the Jews without concern for world opinion.
• Early German success meant the Jews under German control increased, and the areas that they hoped to use for forced emigration were now theirs.
• The Nazis had to come up with more extreme solutions.

Question 2

Explain the three phases that eventually led to the Final Solution. (i.e. ghettos, death squads, death camps)

Answer 2

• The first solution was the Ghetto. They gathered all the Jews into ghettos. Walls were built to keep them in. The Germans allowed only starvation rations and thousands died from hunger, the cold or typhus.
• The Einsatzgruppen was set up in 1941. They were special murder squads who moved into the USSR behind the German armies to round up and kill Jews. By 1943, it is estimated that they murdered two million Russians.
• In the Summer of 1941 saw a decision taken by senior Nazi leadership to seek a permanent solution to the Jewish question. Although Goering signed the order for the death camps, it’s thought to be Himmler’s idea. In January 1942 they met again in Wannsee to work out the details of the Final Solution. The death camps were built far away from Germany, in occupied territories. The first camp at Belzec began operating in March of 1942. By 1943 Jews from all over Europe were going to these camps.

Question 3

Outline the impact of Allied bombing raids,

Answer 3

• By the end of the war, 3.5 million civilians had been killed.
• The centres of many German cities were ruins.
• The German government brought in food rationing in 1942
• German civilians were forced to work longer hours with the introduction of a 60-hour work week.
• Bombing raids also disrupted daily life for civilians, especially communication and travel.

Question 4

Outline the impact of food rationing on civilians.

Answer 4

Food rationing was introduced at the beginning of the war, however, as Allied bombing raids began to affect domestic production and the war began to go against the Germans in the east, a more severe rationing programme was introduced.

• Extra rations were given to men involved in heavy industry
• Starvation rations were given to Jews and Poles.
• In April 1942, bread, meat and fat rations were all reduced. This was explained by a poor harvest, a lack of manpower for farming and the increased need to feed the armed forces. There were also millions of forced labourers (POWs) and refugees in Germany.

The Forced Labourers were kept in basic barrack huts which required scarce materials to build. They were mainly POWs and civilian workers, who had been brought to work in key industries and on the land. Many died from bad living conditions, mistreatment and malnutrition.

• Food was rationed immediately the war started in 1939 and meats and fats were soon in short supply and food consumption fell per person by 25 per cent, by 1941 cigarettes, soap, clothing and shoes were also restricted
• People were encouraged to use unfamiliar food products, and parks and gardens in cities were dug up and used as vegetable patches

Question 5

Explain the importance of Wartime propaganda.

Answer 5

Manipulation of the public opinion was given very high priority in Nazi Germany. Strict laws were passed to control the media, and extensive censorship was put in place. The Nazi Party took early control of the press and radio through the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.

A very cheap radio set, the People’s Receiver, was made available. The Ministry funded theatre performances and the making of films, which increased their control over what was seen.

Before the war, the Nazis were very good at staging mass rallies but as manpower was consumed by war these became less and less frequent. Furthermore, Hitler began to shy away from being seen in person, but was seen in films and through the radio. By 1943 confidence had begun to slip as the war was evidently turning against Hitler, and he had failed to keep his promises of glory. Josef Goebbels ordered in 1943 ‘Total War’ in which all non-essential businesses were to be closed. By the last months of the war, people were very cynical about official news.

Question 6

Explain how the Nazis changed their policies on women in Wartime.

Answer 6

• In 1939 young women up to the age of 25 were required to participate in the Labour Service.
• Marriage loans were abolished.
• Divorce law was changed to allow coupled to divorce if they couldn’t have a child.
• In 1943 conscription was introduced for women aged between 17 and 45 years of age. By 1944 40 percent of the workforce were women.
• Live improved for women in some ways. They were paid two-thirds the wage of men, meaning employers preferred hiring women instead of expensive men. Their wages increased faster than food prices so they could afford more too.

Question 7

Outline the development of opposition to Hitler.

Answer 7

• The Edelweiss Pirates were gangs who wore a metal badge of the edelweiss flower. They weren’t only concerned with having fun; they were anti-authority and anti-Nazi. During the war, the Edelweiss Pirates collected propaganda dropped by the Allies and pushed it through letterboxes.
• The White Rose Group was established by Hans and Sophie Scholl, with Professor Kurt Huber at Munich University in 1941. They believed that if they publicised Nazi brutality, then Germans would support them in opposing the Nazis. The white rose was a symbol of their belief in justice. They issued different pamphlets trying to make people aware of Nazi atrocities. They also painted anti-Nazi messages on walls at night. In 1943, they were caught giving out leaflets and hanged.
• The July Plot was an attempt by army leaders General Ludwig Beck and Count von Stauffenberg to assassinate Hitler with a bomb. Von Stauffenberg had witnessed the defeats on the Russian front where, in 1942, he lost his left eye, right arm and two fingers of his left hand. He was also appalled by the brutality of the SS. Operation Valkyrie took place on 20 July 1944 where von Stauffenberg took a briefcase to a military conference in East Prussia. He placed it under the table, two metres from Hitler. The bomb went off but the heavy table saved Hitler from death. Hitler took terrible revenge and a total of 5746 people were executed.

Question 8

Describe the events that led to the fall of the Third Reich.

Answer 8

• The invasion of the USSR in June 1941, although at first successful, eventually failed. This was due to extreme weather conditions and other things, too.
• The Soviet armies drove the Germans back all the way to Berlin, which they reached on the 22nd of April 1945.
• The USA entered the war against Germany in December 1941. They now had to compete with two of the greatest empires, and of course, the British Empire too.
• In June 1944 Allied forces landed in Normandy. Now Germany had to fight on two fronts. Their forces became outstretched, and the replacements weren’t adequate enough to fight the juggernauts’ armies. The replacements were either young teenagers who were fanatics or civilians from occupied countries who were forcefully conscripted and had low morale. Most of the experienced soldiers and resources of the Reich were consumed by the Eastern Front.