Germany in War Flashcards
When did Hitler announce the invasion of Poland & the start of WW2?
1st September 1939
What was Operation Barbarossa?
June 1941, launched to invade Russia.
Germans were very successful killing hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers. However, distances caused logistical problems - Russian troop numbers underestimated & their will to fight stayed strong. They counterattacked forcing the Germans onto the defensive - Hitler’s 1st defeat.
Who joined the war in 1941?
The USA
Why did Germans have to resort to rationing?
Spring 1940- War economy led to serious food shortages.
People were allocated points due to their age & occupation & were given colour coded ration cards (Jews were marked with a red ‘J’)
From 1939, women aged under 25 had to…
Complete 6 months Labour Service before being allowed to enter full employment.
People in many cities were faced with air raids _ or _ times each week so the RAF began a _______ _______
3
4
bombing campaign
The bombing campaign allowed them to set up raid ______
shelters
The nazis worried for the safety of the children so introduced ___ where all children under _ were eligible for a _ month stay in a rural area.
KLV
14
6
When was the July bomb plot and who led it?
1944
Von Stauffenberg
What was the July bomb plot?
Stauffenberg (army officer) started to disagree with Nazi leadership & Jew policy. He thought the only way to stop this was to remove hitler.
Joined a resistance group & started to plan an assassination attempt. They wanted to initiate Operation Valkyrie (an emergency order allowing plotters to use the reserve army to remove SS and Gestapo.
Appointed Chief of Staff of reserve army putting him in a position of direct contact with Hitler.
The plan was to bring explosives in a case to a meeting with Hitler &” escape before it exploded.
He made 2 attempts & on 20th July he made another attempt. He believed he was successful after hearing it explode but it failed - power of bomb was less than expected.
What happened to Stauffenberg?
The evening he heard Hitler was still alive on the radio, him and those involved were arrested then executed by the firing squad. He was buried but the next day the SS dug up his body & removed the medals.
Who was Bonhoeffer & what did he do?
Protestant Pastor.
1930s- Preached against them and trained new pastors to join him.
Secretly joined German resistance & joined Military Intelligence (army soldiers who secretly opposed & resisted)
Relayed messages for underground resistance & helped organise escape of Jews to Switzerland.
1943- Arrested
1945- Killed in concentration camp
What was the Rosenstrasse?
1943- One group of Jewish men (considered ‘half-jewish’ were taken to the Rosenstrasse
Many of the men had Aryan wives and the women gathered in the building, protesting “give us our husbands back’
The SS threatened to shoot but they stood chanting for several days.
Who were the White Rose Group?
Hans and Sophie Scholl.
Influenced by Galen’s sermons & produced series of anti-nazi leaflets distributing to students.
5th leaflet written for broader audience “Appeal to all Germans” “Hitler cannot win the war he can only prolong it”.
Produced 6th leaflet & brought suitcases of them dropping them in corridors & lecture rooms - seen by a caretaker who alerted the Gestapo.
Arrested, Sophie tried to take all responsibility but most faced the People’s court and were executed.
Who were Otto and Elise Hampel? What did they do?
A couple from Berlin.
1940- Elise’s brother was killed in action which encouraged them to resist.
They hand wrote over 200 post cards urging people to refuse military service, to stop donating money & to overthrow Hitler.
Nearly all of them were handed in to the Gestapo.
It took years to identify the couple, they were executed in 1943.
