Germany at War 1939-45: Opposition in Wartime Germany Flashcards
Aims of the Army
General Ludwig Beck
- Beck was opposed to Hitler’s aim to to attack Czechoslovakia because the army wasn’t ready for general war.
Army Officer: Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1907-44):
- an aristocratic soldier in the high army command by 1940 had a monarchist distatste for Hitler and horrified by the SS barbarities in the USS
- September 1942 at the army high command one general urged that they must tell hitler the truth about the military disaster to which Staufenberg replied “it is not a question of telling him the truth, but killing him, and I am prepared to do it”
The army officer: General Hans Oster (1887-1945):
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Membership of the Army
- At least 5000 people said to be involved in the planned bombing of Hitler were executed
Activities of the Army
General Ludwig Beck
- He tried to organise all the chiefs-of-staff ot threaten resignation but the new Commander-in-chief General failed to give support
- August 1938 Beck resigned
- Beck conceived a plan for a march on Berlin which he cancelled on hearing Hitler had gained Sudetenland
- 1944 he was shot for his involovement in the bomb plot
The army officer: Colonel Claus Schnek Graf von Stauffenberg
- July 1944 he took bombs into Hitler’s headquarter twice but did not use them because Himler and Goering were not present
- 29 July he went ahead anyway but Hitler was only wounded
The army officer: Gerneral Hans Oster (1887-1945):
- 1938 he advised britain to stand firm against Hitler and sent the British government details of Germany’s military plans
- he made contact with trade unions and socialists who were actively encouraging resistance
- was involved in the 1944 bomb plot
The Severity the Army’s threat posed to Nazi State
General Ludwig Beck
- Becks could not arrange all chiefs-of-staff to threaten resignation because the new Commander-in-Chief General Walther von Brauchitsch did not offer his support
- many of the generals, aware of Beck’s plottig, had a wait-and-see attitude to these activities
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Aims of Conservative opposition
Repeat:
Army Officer: Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1907-44):
- an aristocratic soldier in the high army command by 1940 had a monarchist distatste for Hitler and horrified by the SS barbarities in the USS
- September 1942 at the army high command one general urged that they must tell hitler the truth about the military disaster to which Stauffenberg replied “it is not a question of telling him the truth, but killing him and I am prepared to do it”
The Civil Servant: Carl Friedrich Goerdeler 1884-1945:
- was from a conservative prussian civil service family joined the government hoping to influence Hitler and was dissillusioned when he saw that hitler was leading Germany to war
Membership of the Conservative Opposition
Activities of the Conservative Opposition
The Civil Servant: Carl Friedrich Goerdeler 1884-1945:
- He frequently travelled abroad with his anti-hitler message and was arrested in the rounding up of opponnents to the regime after 1944 bomb plot, tortured and finally executed in February 1945
The Severity of the Conservative opposition’s threat posed to Nazi State
Aims of the Church
The pastor: Dietrich Bonhoffer 106-1945:
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Membership of the Church
Activities of the Church
The pastor: Dietrich Bonhoffer 1906-45:
- criticised nazism as incompatible with christianity and defended its victims
- had contacts with Generals Oster and Beck and other opposition elements.
- tried to get help for resistance from abroad but in 1943 was sent to Buchenwald and then to Flossenburg where he was executed in April 1945
The Severity of the Church’s threat to the Nazi State
Aims of the Youth
The Student: Sophie Scholl 1921-45:
- at munich university she joined the White Rose anti-nazi groupled by her brother hans and assisted by Professor Huber
Membership of the Youth
Activities of the Youth
The student: Sophie Scholl 1921-45:
- at munich university she joined the White Rose anti-nazi groupled by her brother hans and assisted by Professor Huber
- In 1943 she distributed anti-government pamphlets in the university
- she was arrested and tortured for over 17 hours but refused to give up information of others in the group she was sentenced to death and guillotined along with brother etc.
Aims of the Left
The Journalist: Carl von Ossietzky:
- he fought on the western front in the WW1 and was determined to prevent another war and to defend democracy in Germany
The Teacher: Adolf Reichwein 1898-1944:
- concerned over the growth of the terror state
Membership of the Left
Activities of the Left
The Journalist: Carl von Ossietzy 1889-1958:
- he was secretary of the german peace society and editor of liberal newspapers
- during the weimar republic he criticised nazism, militarism and communism
- 1931 sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment on a charge of treason and betrayal of military secrets for exposing secret funds outside parliamentary control given to the military for use in the USSR
- having been sent to a camp he was offered release if he signed a declaration to say he had revised his opinion to which he refused and thus died in the camp
The teacher: Adolf Reichwein 1898-1944:
- a teacher, he joined the SPD and in 1933 the nazis removed him from his professorship so he became a village school teacher
- concerned over the growth of the terror state, took an increasingly active part in the resistance
- became main link between the Kreisau Circle and other resistance groups, particularly with those among industrial workers
- used his office at folklore museum as a cover for many secret meetings and discussions but was betrayed by a police spy, arrested an imprisoned and condemned by the people’s court 20 october 1944
The Socialist: Julius Leber 1891-1945:
- a war journalist became leader of the Lubeck SPD.
- he was reichstag deputy from 1924-33 was arrested on 30 january 1933 and sentenced to 20 months imprisonment
- rearrested and sent to prison in 1937
- resumed political activity and became an outstanding leader of the resistance
- joined the Kreisau Circle
- June 1944 was arrested at a meeting trying to bring the communist opponent and the Stauffenburg conspirtors together- betrayed by a gestapo spy and in January 1945 he was hanged
