Hitler's methods of control

Question 1

The SS (6)

Answer 1

Initially group of 500 who acted as Hitler’s own personal bodyguards
Led by Himmler
Developed into a 50,000 member group of Aryan race
Unlimited power to arrest without trial, search or confiscate property
Death Head Units ran concentration camps
Helped Hitler to crush SA and Rohm in Night of Long Knives

Question 2

Concentration camps (5)

Answer 2

Initially prisons set up by SS and SA for political prisoners eg communists
Inmates regularly tortured and ‘re-educated’
1933- Dacou
By 1939, had developed into slave labour eg weapons production
During WWII became mass extermination camps

Question 3

Gestapo (4)

Answer 3

Led by Goering
From 1936, led by Himmler, became the state secret service
Could tap telephones, conducted spying missions
Used torture to extract confessions from suspects

Question 4

Police, prison and courts (5)

Answer 4

Nazis took control of all courts
All court bosses were Nazis
Number of crimes punishable by death rose from 3 in 1933 to 46 in 1943 including listening to foreign radio
Courts displayed Nazi insignia eg Swastika and eagle of third Reich
All judges swore an oath of loyalty to Hitler

Question 5

Informers (4)

Answer 5

Each town separated into blocks
Block wardens would visit each month, collecting donations
Would report on the activities of locals, determined whether they could get a job or not
Reported on every activity eg telling an anti-Nazi joke or holding illegal meetings

Question 6

Propaganda (17)

Answer 6

Goebbels made Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in 1933
Newspapers and publishing-
All oppositional books burned
By 1939, 2/3 of newspapers controlled by Nazis
Established Nazi official publication house (Eher Verleg)
Threatened those who cancelled newspaper subscriptions
Radios-
6000 loudspeakers
Cheap radios (Volksempfanger)
From 1932-39 the number of families owning a radio rose from 25% to 70%
Cinema-
From 1933-42 cinema outings quadrupled
Anti-Semitic films eg Jud Suss (story of an evil Jew)
Berlin Olympics-
Aug 1936
Used to showcase Nazi ideas, well organised, civilised
Goebbels built brand new stadium, equipped with new technology eg television cameras and the largest stop clock ever built

Question 7

Hitler Youth organisations (8)

Answer 7

From 1936, membership compulsory
Boys -Little Fellows (6-9), German Young People (10-13), Hitler Youth (14-18)
Girls - League of Young Girls (10-13), League of German Maidens (14-18)
Boys trained as soldiers, many left Hitler Youth and joined army to fight in WWII
Girls taught cooking and cleaning skills
Fed anti-Semitic views
Indoctrination
By 1939- 80% members (8 million members)

Question 8

Hitler’s use of schools (9)

Answer 8

All teachers had to join Nazi Teacher’s organisations- 97% did
Subjects- maths involved sums regarding Jews
- geography focused on land lost due to TOV and lebensraum
- biology focused on Aryan race population
- girls taught basic house duty skills eg cooking, cleaning, eugenics (breeding)
- RE dropped in 1937 due to rising opposition of church leaders to Nazis
PE studied 15% of time, focused more upon physical skills rather than academic success
Leadership schools set up to prepare the best (Napolas)
Difficult for Jews, bullied and persecuted

Question 9

Ideal image of women (4)

Answer 9

Inspired by Gertrude Schlotz Klink, perfect Nazi woman, 4 children, Aryan
Follow 3 ‘ks’ - Kinder Kirche Kuche (children, church, cooking)
Traditional Aryan woman, broad-hipped, smoking and drinking banned, forbidden to wear eye-makeup
Expected to bring up children to support Fuhrer and join the Nazi Youth

Question 10

How Hitler controlled women (4)

Answer 10

Honour Cross for German Mothers- 8 for gold, 6 for silver and 4 for bronze
1933- Law for the Encouragement of Marriage passed, given 1000 marks, each child means 250 marks are kept
Women sacked or forced to leave their jobs eg all female doctors and civil servants sacked in 1935
1943- counteracted when 3 million 17-45 year old women were called up to work, only 1 million went, others claimed illness or deliberately became pregnant

Question 11

How Hitler controlled men (2)

Answer 11

Dr Robert Ley set up the Strength through Joy campaign, controlled the 3470 free hours of leisure for Nazi men eg free cruise ships, Volkswagen (people’s car)
1933- all trade unions merged into a large Nazi one - German Labour Front, had to be part of this in order to get a job, protected worker’s rights but prevented them protesting or striking or asking for more money, meant that workers were controlled

Question 12

Aims of Nazi economic policies (3)

Answer 12

Reduce unemployment (6 mill unemployed)
Autarky- self sufficiency so that they could not be blockaded in the event of war
Rearmament to build up their army again

Question 13

How Nazis dealt with unemployment (4)

Answer 13

By 1939 unemployment fell to 0.5 million
Unemployed put to work through construction of autobahns, building of Berlin Olympics stadium
National Labour Service- men given work for 6 months for free, provided with accommodation and food
Conscription for men to join army- by 1939 1 million had joined, 18-25 year olds had to do 2 years military service

Question 14

New Plan (4)

Answer 14

Ran from 1932-36 led by Schacht
Imports limited so Germany was not spending too much money
Trade agreements- Germany could trade materials they had too much of with materials they required, meaning goods were exchanged rather than money
Government put money into industry to produce more goods, however industry was not tightly controlled

Question 15

4 Year Plan (5)

Answer 15

Ran from 1936-40 by Goering
Increases production of raw materials eg rubber, fuel and textiles
Reduced imports even further so Germany was more self-sufficient
Used forced labour to allow production
Set up industrial Plants such as the Hermann Goering Works for mining and metal working

Question 16

Successes of economic policies (4)

Answer 16

Unskilled workers put to work by construction of autobahns, meant unemployment fell from 6 million to 119,000 (1939)
Farmers benefitted from rising food prices, income increased by 40%
Beauty of Labour improved working conditions eg hot meals, good ventilation
Strength Through Joy offered rewards eg Volkswagen (people’s car)

Question 17

Failures of economic policies (5)

Answer 17

Working week increased from 43 hours to 47 hours
Farmers suffered labour shortage due to men moving to work in cities and factories
Volkswagen turned out to be a swindle, Strength through Joy rewards never received
Cost of house and food prices cancelled out the increase in wages
Many men hated the National Labour Service work, unpopular

Question 18

Hitler’s treatment of the ‘undesirables’ (6)

Answer 18

Those who wouldn’t work - criminals, alcoholics, 500,000 sent to concentration camps
Those not perceived as normal - 5,000 homosexuals arrested, sent to concentration camps
Gypsies- from 1935 marriage between Germans and gypsies banned
July 1933- Sterilisation Law, those who were non Aryan sterilised, between 1934 - 45 350,000 sterilised
1939- Euthanasia campaign to exterminate mentally ill at places eg Grafeneck Asylum
Hashude- some of worst families sent to correctional camps where they were controlled and re-educated. Men made to work and women taught how to look after children and family, closed in July 1940, 66/ 84 families said to have improved

Question 19

Treatment of Jews (10)

Answer 19

1933- banned from ll public service jobs eg teachers
- non- Aryan children forbidden to play with Aryan children
1935 - Nuremburg Laws passed, could not be a German citizen, could not marry or have sex with German
1938- had to have the letter J stamped on their passports
- Kristallnacht, 100 Jews murdered, 1000s sent to concentration camps , shops smashed, synagogues burnt down
- Jews expelled from schools
1939 - had to add Sarah to female names and Israel to male names
- ghettos set up, Warsaw formed in Poland in 1940, biggest and most famous
1941 - Einsatzgruppen , SS members entered Poland and Russia and killed 500,000 Jews
1942 - Wannsee Conference led to Final Solution, extermination camps eg Auschwitz (1.1 million killed)

Question 20

Control over the church (6)

Answer 20

Roman Catholic Church- signed Concordat (June 1933), Nazis and Hitler would not interfere in church affairs if Pope promised to stay out of church politics
1939- Church schools abolished
1937- Christmas carols and nativity banned
1935- department for Church Affairs set up, 700 ministers arrested
Alternative church set up, Reich church, Swastika, sword of alter, Eagle of Third Reich
1938- Priests stopped teaching religious classes in schools

Question 21

Reasons for having/removing the church (5)

Answer 21

1/3 of Germans were Catholics, 2/3 were Protestants
Fear that people would worship God more
Church meetings may have become forum for anti-Nazi ideas
Many of those who supported the Nazis also supported Hitler, would lose support
Shared some common ground eg family life

Question 22

Were Nazis successful in controlling Church? (3)

Answer 22

Jehovah’s witnesses refused to follow Nazi demands
Niemoller and Bonhoeffer set up ‘Confessional Church’ to rival Nazis
Von Galen openly spoke against Euthanasia policy of those less desirable, led to the movement being halted

Question 23

White Rose Group

Answer 23

Sophie and Hans Scholl, distributed anti-Nazi leaflets and propaganda, killed by guillotine, Hans-“long live freedom”

Question 24

Edelweiss Pirates/Swing Kids

Answer 24

Avoided Hitler Youth, aimed to have fun

Question 25

Operation Valkarie

Answer 25

July 1944, bomb planted by Claus Von Staffenburg in Hitler’s headquarters, bomb went off, Hitler suffered minor injuries
Led to 5000 executions of known opponents

Question 26

Bonhoeffer/Niemoller

Answer 26

Formed the Confessional Church in order to challenge Reich Church set up by Hitler
Bonhoeffer spoke against Nazis, plotted to secretly overthrow Nazi State, eventually died in a concentration cap in April 1945

Question 27

Von Galen

Answer 27

Spoke against euthanasia policy of the undesirables, led to it being halted
Not fully controlled, could not eliminate opposition as he was well-liked by the public, would lose support

Question 28

Subtle opposition/ passive resistance

Answer 28

Listening to jazz music 
Anti-Nazi jokes
Failing to carry out Hail Hitler salute 
Anti-Nazi graffiti
Listening to BBC news