Germany At War Flashcards
What did successful Blitkrieg tactics mean German was able to do?
Take resources from conquered territories like Poland, Holland & Belgium
During the early period of the war, what did Allied bombing focus on?
Military and industrial targets
What was the positive impact of rationing in the early stages of the war?
Many Germans actually ate better during the war than before
When did the government take precaution to move women & children into the countryside?
1940
What was ‘area bombing’?
The Allied bombings, initiating from February 1942, which showed no distinction between combatants and non-combatants.
When did ‘area bombing’ start?
February 1942
What did evacuations to the country & a need for replacement housing create amongst the German people?
Discontent, class & religious tensions also emerged. Overall there was a drop in morale.
How many civilians’ lives were lost as a result of Allied bombings?
800 000
As well as the loss of many lives and many injuries, what was the impact of Allied bombings on the German public?
They became increasingly ‘war weary’ but the bombing campaigns did not fully succeed in breaking their will.
Why was the Nazi regime generally reluctant to make significant changes to the civilian population’s normal consumption levels?
Fear for increasing anti-war sentiment
Why did the number of German female workers decline between 1939 &1941, despite labour shortages?
Bringing women into the workforce went against Nazi idealogy
After 1941, how did the government fight against labour shortages?
In 1941 & 1943, the government issued decrees which sought to recruit childless women from 17-45 into the workforce.
When were women recruited into the workforce on a much larger scale?
Despite the 1941 &43 decrees, the government relied of foreign labour for much of the war and it wasn’t until the summer of 1944 onwards that women were recruited into the workforce on a much larger scale.
From 19433 onwards, women were also conscripted into ________________.
Auxiliary roles in the armed forces eg nursing
When did the RAF start bombing Germany?
1939
Describe how the RAF’s bombing targets changed throughout the war
-1939: Bombings started, initially attacking military targets.
-1940: Also bombed industrial targets like factories and oil refineries. However, these were hard to find and hard to hit, therefore of limited success.
-August 1940: First air raid on Berlin.
-February 1942: Area bombings started.
-Early 1945: Most of extreme air raids began.
When was Berlin bombed for the first time?
August 1940
Where was bombed in August 1940?
Berlin
What bombing was nicknamed ‘Operation Millennium’?
Cologne at 30 May 1943
What was the Cologne bombing nicknamed?
Operation Millennium
When was Operation Millennium?
30 May 1943
When was the Cologne bombing?
30 MAy 1943
What was the intention of the Allies deciding to switch from strategic bombing to the nighttime target of towns & cities?
To destroy German morale and thus their support of the war.
Which bombing made it compulsory for children to leave the city?
The Hamburg bombing
Why had the number of doctors in Berlin decreased in the war?
Many had joined the army & others had been lost because of the ban of Jewish & female doctors
What was the outcome of the first Hamburg bombing?
Approx 50 000 died and one million were left homeless
When was the first Hamburg bombing?
July 1943
Where was bombed in July 1943?
Hamburg
When was the second air raid on Hamburg?
August 1943
Where was bombed in August 1943?
Hamburg
What was the impact of the second air raid on Hamburg?
2/3 of the city’s buildings were destroyed and tens of thousands died
Where was bombed in February 1945?
Dresden
When was Dresden bombed?
February 1945
What was the impact of the Dresden bombing?
3/4 of the city’s buildings were destroyed and 150 000 civilians were killed.
Throughout the war, how many civilians are estimated to have died as a result of allied bombing?
3.5 million civilians
Out of ___________ refugees in 1945, around ___________ died from ______________________________.
16 million, 2 million, cold; hunger; disease; exhaustion.
When was rationing introduced?
1939
When did the rationing system work effectively between?
1939 & 1941
Why did the rationing situation change in 1942?
The economy had not been ready for a major war & the German army’s failure to secure victory over the USSR (Russia) meant the amount of rationing had to be increased and so did the artificial substitutes found for goods which were scarce.
In 1939, how much meat was each person entitled too? What about 1945?
700g in 1939, lowered to 250g in 1945.
What types of foods were rationed?
Breads, fats and sugar
What were used to grow vegetables?
Public parks and private gardens
What were the population encouraged to do when rationing was introduced?
-Use new recipes
-Use more unusual ingredients (eg aubergines and artichokes)
-Eat a one-dish meal on Sundays
Who were allocated extra rations?
Germans working in heavy industries (eg mining), pregnant women and blood donors
What was rationed from November 1939?
Clothes and footwear
How was hot water rationed?
Germans could only use it on 2 days
What two hygiene products were rationed?
Soap and toilet paper
When did the German people start to experience extreme food shortages?
1945
Where did most of the loot from countries the Nazis conquered go to?
Nazi Party members and the black market.
By early 1945, ration cards weren’t honoured anymore. What did people rely on instead?
The black market or scavenging for food
What were households who were suspected to have more than its share open to?
Investigation by Nazi officials
What items were easily obtained on the black market?
Foodstuffs, luxury clothing & perfume
What was Albert Speer in charge of?
Minister of Armaments
Who was the new Minister of Armaments?
Albert Speer
When Albert Speer became Minister of Armaments, what happened?
The production of civilian goods topped and all factories solely focused on production to support the war effort
Who were worked to death to support the war effort?
Jews & political prisoners
By May 1944, how many captured foreigners were forced to work on farms & in factories?
8 million
What types of roles did women play in the war?
-Conscripted into auxiliary roles in the armed forces (eg nursing)
-Some served refreshments at railway stations to servicemen and evacuees
-Others did Red Cross work
-Some helped to collect and sift scrap metal
By 1944, what percentage of women were in the workforce?
Over 40%, making up over half the workforce
How did women try to evade the call to work?
Pretending to be ill, deliberately getting pregnant, etc
When did forced emigration begin?
- It was overseen by the Reich Central Office for Jewish Emigration
What fraction of Germany’s Hews emigrated before the war?
About a half, others simply kept a low profile
When did the Nazis ban emigration?
1941
By the end of 1941, how many Jews had been shot?
After the invasion of Poland in 1939 and USSR in 1941l some 500 000 Jews had been shot.
What did Jews have to do to allow them to be easily identified?
So they could not escape after 1941, Jews had to wear a yellow Star of David and have a “J” stamped on their ration cards so they could be easily identified; they were also banned from public transport.
What was the Madagascar Plan?
-In 1940, the Jewish Department of the Nazi government came up with the Madagascar Plan.
-Meant the relocation the Jewish population of Europe to the African island of Madagascar.
-Proved a use the British navy was blockading German ports.
What was SS Einsatzgruppen?
-Between 1939-42 SS Einsatzgruppen squads (made up of four specially created SS units which totalled 3 000 men) followed the advancing German army into newly occupied territories of Poland and the USSR and executed thousands of Jews as well as burning the towns and villages were they lived.
-Some of the Special Action Groups killed Jews by locking them into Lorrie’s and pumping in carbon monoxide gas.
-Initially targeted Jewish makes but, after August 1941, they executed any Jew using information from informants.
-Many had to dig their own graves. Historians believed 2 million had died this was by 1943
What were ghettos?
Segregated areas where Jews were forced to live. At first they were opened but later they were walked and Jewish people were shit by guards if they attempted to leave. (Use examples & stats where necessary)
How many ghettos wet created in Eastern Europe?
1 000
Where was the largest ghetto?
Warsaw, where 400 000 Jews were forced to forced to live in an area of 3.4 square Kim. 2% of the city.
What were the conditions like in ghettos?
Ghettos were overcrowded; conditions were harsh and many died form disease. They survived on starvation rations and many froze to death or were executed. They lived for an average of 9 months before they died of disease, starvation or brutal beatings.
What was the final solution?
-In late 1941, when most of Europe was under amaze rule, the Nazis decided a more efficient method of eliminating the Jewish population would be needed.
-Goring gave Heydrich the task of devising the systematic destruction of the Jewish race.
-20th January 1942: a group of 15 senior Nazis met in Wannsee to decide how this would be done.
-Decided to establish Death Camps to execute Europe’s Jewish population in what became known as the final solution.
(Describe Death Camps if needed)
What was the most famous death camp?
The double-extermination camo of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland
What was the arrival process in death camps?
Jews travelled y train to the ghettos where upon arrival their possessions were confiscated. Those who were deemed unfit to work (eg old or ill) were sent to gas chambers immediately- 2 000 at a time.
What chemical was used in gas chambers?
Zyklon B, which is hydrogen cyanide.
What was done with the bodies of those in gas chambers?
Gold teeth were extracted and the bodies were burnt in ovens.
What was the relation of the Administrative and Business Office of the SS to death camps?
The Administrative and Business Office of the SS ran farms, clothing and armaments factories. The Jews were then forced to work here or in other companies for 3 Reichmarks a day. When they were too tired, they were sent to gas chambers.
In what camps were prisoners killed ingas chambers with exhaust fumes?
Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzac and Chelmno
What were destruction ghettos?
Towards the end of the war, the Nazi opened destruction ghettoes in Eastern Europe where they collected Jewish people before sending them to death camps.
Where was the last ghetto to be liquidated?
Lodz in August 1944
Where was used by Dr Mengele for medical examination?
Auschwitz
By the time the war had ended in 1945, approximately how many Jews had been murdered?
6 million by various means including medical experimentation, beatings and gassing.
Describe the opposition of German Conservatives to Nazi Rule:
-There was some opposition from German Conservatives in the form of Kreisau Circle.
-A group of aristocrats, academics, clergymen, etc led by Helmuth con Molkte and Peter von Wartenbeg
-Another group was known as the Beck-Goerdeler group.
-At secret meetings in the town of Kreisau, they worked out a plan to govern Germany by democratic and Christian principles after Hitler was overthrown.
-However, the Kreisau Circle was against the use of force (unlike the Beck-Goerdeler group).
Describe the opposition of German Left-Wing groups to Nazi Rule:
-Opposition from the Red Orchestra
-A resistance Frito set up by the communist movement which passed military information to the Soviet army.
-The biggest left wing group (led by Anton Saefkow) carried out sabotage, organised strikes and encouraged soldiers to desert from the army.
Who were Swing Youth?
-Middle class youths who wanted to dance and listen to swing music.
-Swing clubs sprang up in urban areas where members met in cafes and night clubs.
-They wore English style clothes (particularly sports jackets), girls wore makeup and Jews were accepted.
-Nazis were outraged and closed down locations which Swing Youth frequently visited.
-Harshly punished: eg Hasso Schutzendorff who (in 1942) was put in a concentration camp, had his hair cut off, was thrashed with an iron bar and forced to push trolleys full of earth uphill for a fortnight.
Who were the Edelweiss Pirates?
-Working-class youths who wore checked shirts and dark coloured trousers.
-Groups like the Roving Dudes and the Navajos all regarded themselves as Edelweiss Pirates.
-Mixed gendered
-At weekends they M went on hikes, sang and hoped to beat up HY patrols.
-In Cologne, they Navajos sheltered army deserters and concentration camp escapees & attacked military targets and Nazi officials.
-Distributed propaganda leaflets form Allied aircraft’s
-A group of them killed the head of the Cologne Gestapo but were soon caught & executed in November 1944.
Who were White Rose?
-Set up in 1942 and formed by Munich University students.
-Led by Hans & Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst
-During the war they distributed leaflets, put up posters and wrote graffiti on the walls; attacking the Nazis’ slaughter of the Jews & Poles and urged the Germans not to assist the war effort.
-In 1943, most of the leaders were captured and executed by the Gestapo after they were betrayed by a university caretaker who saw them placing anti-Nazi leaflets in university lecture theatres.
Name 2 Lutheran pastors who opposed the Nazis:
Niemoller and Bonhoeffer
Describe how Bonhoeffer opposed the Nazis:
-He believed Christianity couldn’t accept Nazism and that Christians had a duty to resist Hitler and defend those who were persecuted.
-Established the Comfessional Church.
-He passed secrets to the Allies and joined the underground resistance, as well as being involved in Hitler assassination plots in 1943 and 1944.
-He was arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo in 1942 in the Buchenwald camp before being transferred to Flossenberg.
-There, he was put on trial and sentenced to death by hanging in April 1945.
Describe how Niemoller opposed the Nazis:
-Established the Comfessional Church.
-Imprisoned in Sachsenhausen and then Dachau from 1938 to 1945.
-Hitler ordered his death shortly before the war ended but he survived.
How did Catholic figures oppose Nazism?
Some Catholic priests opposed Hitler by hiding Jews during the Holocaust and as a result thousands were sent to concentration camps.
Describe how Galen opposed the Nazis:
-The Catholic Bishop of Munster, Clemens von Galen, spoke out against the Nazis from as early as 1934.
-In 1941, he revealed that the Nazis were secretly killing mentally and physically handicapped people since 1939.
-He led a campaign which made Hitler call a halt to the euthanasia programme (which had led to the killing of 100 000 mentally ill patients)
-Galen also spoke out against sterilisation, concentration camps and the activities of the Gestapo.
-The Nazi Party did not want to make him a martyr so they took no action against him but 3 priests were executed for distributing Galen’s sermons to soldiers.
-Though he did live under virtual house arrest until the end of the war.
-Following the July bomb plot, he was arrested in 1944 but released in 1945.
-He was made a Cardinal by Pope Pius XII in February 1946 but he died in the following month.
How successful were the Nazi attempts to reduce the influence of religion in Germany?
-Despite no church speaking out as an organisation against the Nazis, many individuals opposed the regime.
-Included examples of Pope Pius, Galen, Bonhoeffer and Niemoller.
-Mention Reich Church and Concordat
-Attendancein Catholic Churches increased substantially under the Nazis, especially during WW2, showing Hitler’s attempts to reduce the influence of religion in Germany were ultimately unsuccessful.
-Both Protestant and Catholic clergy played a large role in opposing Hitler and the Nazis, for which they often paid a high price.
-Jehovah Witnesses also didn’t denounce their faith (more detail).
Describe the rebelling of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto:
-Example of armed resistance.
-April to May 1943.
-Fought for a month using makeshift weaponry.
-Killing 3 000 Germans and 13 000 Jews.
-When it ended, some fighters took their own lives while others escaped through the sewers.
Describe the armed resistance of ‘partisan’ resistance groups:
-Examples include the forests of Eastern Poland.
-From 1941-44, the Bielski brothers led a Jewish resistance group which attacked Nazis and helped more than 1 200 Jews escape.
Describe the armed resistance in death camps:
-Eg Treblinka in August 1943 and Solibor in October 1943.
-Jews attacked their guards and organised mass escapes.
-In Auschwitz (October 1944) the Sonderkommando Greek Jews stole some explosives amd blew up a crematorium.
Describe the emigration and hiding of Jews in WW2.
-More than half the Jews in Germany and Austria managed to emigrate or flee.
-A British stockbroker called Nicolas Winton organised Kindertransport trains which saved some 15 000 children.
-Many Jewish emigrants went to Palestine, where they worked to establish the state of Israel.
-Many hid- some in secret rooms like Anne Frank in Holland. Others hid in plain sight, pretending to be Christians. Thousands were able to survive this way including the Jewish Austrian Edith Hahn who fled to Munich and married a Nazi officer.
Describe the non-violent resistance of Jews in WW2.
-In ghettos, many Jews smuggled food, produced underground newspapers, forged papers and destroyed files.
-The Minsk Ghetto organised a hospital, welfare centre and school.
-In Warsaw, they assembled a record of the Holocaust as it happened.
Describe Kasztner’s resistance:
-Cooperation
-Sometimes Jews who seemed to be working with the Nazis were working against them, eg the lawyer Rezso Kasztner in Hungary.
-He was known as a friend of the Nazis but organised the Kasztner train which diverted 1 684 Jews from Auschwitz to Switzerland.
Describe Jewish Councils:
-Cooperation
-Everywhere they conquered, the Nazis sent up Jewish Councils to assist the running of ghettos.
-They were often denounced as collaborators but many were trying to reduce the suffering by cooperating.
-Eg in Holland where the Jewish Councils organised deportations to the death camps but arranged 15 000 exemptions and made sure there were endless delays and no brutality.
Describe the personal heroism and survival of Jews in WW2:
-In Kakow, imprisoned Jewish underground fighter Gusta Draenger wrote her story on toilet paper and smuggled it out to the world.
-The day before he was sent to Auschwitz, Warsaw headteacher Janusz Korezak was given a chance to escape; he refused, preferring to stray with his 200 pupils for their terrifying journey.
-For others, survival and holding onto their dignity was all they could do.
From 1935, how many times did assassins try to shoot or blow up Hitler?
At least 11
Who was head of counter intelligence?
Admiral Canaris
Who was Admiral Canaris?
Head of Counter-Intelligence
What did Canaris do in October 1939?
In October 1939, after the successful invasion of Poland, Hitler ordered plans to be drawn up for the invasion of r=France. Fearing the attack would fail, Canaris attempted to gain the support of the heads of the army for a coup against Hitler. It was difficult however to oppose Hitler whilst the war was going Germany’s way. A harsh winter postponed the plan and the idea’s support dissolved. As the war turned against the Germans, opposition to the Nazis within the ranks of the army increased.
By 1943, how many assassination attempted were there against Hitler?
By 1943, the war was going badly for Germany, particularly in the East against the USSR and resultant LY opposition to Hitler grew within the ranks of the army. In that year, seven attempts to kill Hitler were planned and failed as did 3 further attempts in early 1944.
In the July 1944 assassination attempt, a group of army officer tried to assassinate Hitler and replace him with a government led by who?
General Ludwig Beck and Dr Carl Goerdeler.
Initial attempts to assassinate Hitler via a bomb in 1944 came to nothing when Goerdeler was arrested but he evaded capture. Nevertheless, who planted the bomb in a suitcase on a third occasion?
Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, an army officer and member of German aristocracy.
Who was Colonel Stauffenberg?
Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, an army officer and member of German aristocracy.
What was Hitler’s headquarters known as and where was it?
The Wolf’s Lair in Rastenberg, East Prussia.
Describe Operation Valkyrie:
-A bomb in a suitcase was planted by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, at
a meeting in Hitler’s headquarters hidden deep in a forest on 20 July in a plan known as Operation Valkyrie.
-Stauffenberg was appalled by the conditions being endured by the German Army in its war against the USSR and the brutality of the SS.
-On two occasions previously he had taken bombs to Hitler’s headquarters but did not use them as Himmler and Goering were not present.
-Stauffenberg placed and primed the bomb in Hitler’s staff meeting on 20 July
1944 and left to return to Berlin.
-The plot leaders intended to use the Army to seize control of Berlin once Hitler was assassinated.
-However, someone moved the case further away from Hitler so when the bomb exploded Hitler survived because a thick leg of the table shielded him from the worst of the blast.
-Those involved in the plot failed to act quickly enough to gain control of Berlin and it was obvious when Stauffenberg arrived in the capital that the plot had failed.
-Retaliation was swift and decisive.
-Beck attempted suicide and was then shot. Stauffenberg was shot the same day and 5,746 people were executed in the crackdown on opposition that followed. -The great German military leader Field Marshal Erwin van Rommel and one of Germany’s most successful military commanders was accused of being
involved in the plot and was forced to commit suicide as punishment for his involvement.
-The members of the German Army had again to swear an Oath of Loyalty to Hitler as Fuhrer.
Describe the results of Operation Valkyrie:
-Retaliation was swift and decisive.
-Beck attempted suicide and was then shot.
-Stauffenberg was shot the same day and 5,746 people were executed in the crackdown on opposition that followed.
-The great German military leader Field Marshal Erwin van Rommel and one of Germany’s most successful military commanders was accused of being
involved in the plot and was forced to commit suicide as punishment for his involvement.
-The members of the German Army had again to swear an Oath of Loyalty to Hitler as Fuhrer.
Who attempted suicide and was then shot after the failure of Operation Valkyrie?
Beck
How many people were executed in the crackdown on opposition which followed Operation Valkyrie?
5 746
Who was accused of being involved in Operation Valkyrie and forced to commit suicide as a punishment?
Field Marshal Erwin van Rommel, one of Germany’s most successful military commanders.
