Germany Depth Study-Life during World War II

Question 1

When did World War Two break out?

Answer 1

September 1939

Question 2

What was one of the first things to happen in wartime Germany?

Answer 2

Rationing was introduced for food, clothes, soap, hot water.

Question 3

What happened to many of the luxury items in Germany?

Answer 3

Rationing meant that buying clothes involved a complicated points system, hot water was only permitted on two days a week, soap became hard to come by, tobacco became almost as valuable as money.

Question 4

What happened to propaganda during the War?

Answer 4

Several propaganda campaigns were launched to keep up morale and to get Germans to support the war effort. Other campaigns also tried to persuade Germans to save fuel, work harder and even try to avoid tooth decay.

Question 5

What is total war?

Answer 5

Total war is when every aspect of society is affected by war.

Question 6

What happened to anything in Germany that did not contribute to the war effort?

Answer 6

Anything that did not contribute to the war effort was shut down. By March 1943 professional sport ended, magazines closed, non-essential businesses were shut down, clothes production was suspended.

Question 7

What happened to the work force in Germany during the war?

Answer 7

Most men were in the army, so women were drafted into the labour force. In concentration camps prisoners worked to their deaths trying to keep up with the Germany war effort.

Question 8

When was the first air raid in Berlin?

Answer 8

August 1940

Question 9

What did many Germans do as a result of the air raids?

Answer 9

Many Germans were evacuated or left to live in rural areas.

Question 10

Could the Nazi Government cope with the destruction of Germany?

Answer 10

By 1945 the German administration was in chaos. Ration cards did not mean anything and people scavenged what they could.

Question 11

What happened to women during the War?

Answer 11

Women had to work but the Nazis also wanted them to still have children and to conform to the ideal Nazi women.

Question 12

What sort of work did women do during the Second World War?

Answer 12

Some served refreshments at railway stations, others did Red Cross work and some helped collect and sift scrap metal.

Question 13

How did life for women change after 1943?

Answer 13

More women were called to work. Three million women aged 17 to 45 were called to work. However only a million went to work. Some claimed to be ill, others got pregnant deliberately.

Question 14

How did War change the Hitler Youth?

Answer 14

Boys handed out ration cards, posted out draft orders to the Germany Army, they also went house to house collecting scrap metal and any other items needed for the war effort. The Hitler Youth was also used to make people still believe in Nazi ideas. Towards the end of the war, members of the Hitler Youth started to fight and man anti-aircraft guns in the cities.

Question 15

When did things start to go badly for Germany during the Second World War?

Answer 15

When the USA got involved in 1941 following Pearl Habour and when Germany attacked USSR in 1941.

Question 16

What happened to opposition during the Second World War?

Answer 16

It started to increase as the impact of war increased.

Question 17

What happened to the Hitler Youth as war continued?

Answer 17

Many older leaders went off to fight which left younger members in charge. As a result many Hitler Youth did not like getting told what to by people not much older than themselves. The Hitler Youth became less attractive and people started to form alternatives.

Question 18

Who were the ‘Swing Youth’?

Answer 18

Group of youths who wanted to listen to swing music and dress in western clothing. Jews were accepted into the group. The Nazis tried to stamp them out and in 1942 punished Hass Schutzendorff by sending him to a concentration camp.

Question 19

Who were the ‘Edelweiss Pirates’?

Answer 19

They were a youth opposition group who opposed the Hitler Youth and would do activities such as camping, sing, talk and beat up Hitler Youth. Some even killed the head of the Cologne Gestapo in 1944.

Question 20

What was the ‘White Rose Group’?

Answer 20

This was a group led by Munich students, in particular Hans and Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst. They distributed leaflets attacking the Nazi slaughter of the Jews. They urged Germans to not help with the war effort. In 1943, most of the leaders were captured and executed.

Question 21

Who was Dietrich Bonhoeffer?

Answer 21

Church leader who led underground opposition to overthrow Hitler. He also planned to help Jews to escape from Germany (Operation 7).

Question 22

What was Operation Valkyrie?

Answer 22

Led by Count Von Stauffenberg and a number of other leaders, they planned to assassinate Hitler. It was carried out on 11th July 1944, but it was unsuccessful. The leaders were executed.

Question 23

What was the Wannasee Conference?

Answer 23

The conference where the final solution was planned out. Here they discussed the large scale killing of the Jews.

Question 24

Who were the Einsatzgruppen?

Answer 24

Group of SS men who were sent to murder as many Jews as they could.