Life in Nazi Germany Flashcards
What did the Nazi’s want women’s appearance to be?
‘natural look’ - long skirts, no makeup and tied back or plaited hair
When + who was appointed as Reich Women’s leader to oversea all policies relating to women?
1934 Gertrud Scholtz Kilink
What did all women’s organisations have to merge with
German’s Women’s Enterprise
German word for German’s Women’s Enterprise
Deutsches Frauenwerk
How many women attended the DfW’s domestic activities by 1939?
1.7 million
How many members were there eventually in the DFW?
6 Million
How many births per year were there in 1933?
1 million - half the birth rate of 1900
What was the marriage law introduced in 1933?
The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage - loans of up to 1000 marks - 8 months wages
One what condition were the marriage loans available?
If the wife stopped work
When were the divorce laws changed?
1938 - if a wife couldn’t/wouldn’t have children or had an abortion, this could be used as grounds for divorce
When was the Lebensborn programme introduced?
1935
Example of one Lebensborn home
Between 1938 and 1941 - helped over 540 mothers give birth
When were women banned from professional posts - teachers, doctors, etc
1933
By 1934, how many women had given up work?
360,000
What were women banned from by 1936?
Being a judge, lawyer or doing jury service
When were grammar schools banned?
1937
How many students starting higher education in 1932 vs 1939
17,000 to 6,000
How many women were in work 1933 vs 1939
5 million vs 7 million
When were women were marriage loans allowed to work?
1937
Membership of Protestant church youth groups vs Nazi youth groups in 1932
600,000 vs 100,000
When were all sports facilities taken over by the Nazis
1936
Who was the Hitler youth leader?
Baldur Von Schirach
Lesson titles for Hitler youth to learn
‘German heroes’ ‘The evil of the Jews’
What did members of the Hitler Youth have to do?
Swear an oath of loyalty to the Fuhrer
When was membership of Hitler Youth made compulsory?
March 1939
By 1938, how many Hitler Youth were being trained in small arms shooting?
1.2 million
Part of oath of loyalty to Hitler of Jungvolk (10yr old)
‘I am willing and ready to give up my life for him, so help me God’
Why were Hitler Youth made to plunge into icy water, face harsh punishments or do exercise in wintry weather?
To build young Germans who obeyed orders unconditionally
Bernhard Rust
‘the whole purpose of education is to create Nazis’
How many headteachers did Rust sack in Prussia in April 1933?
180
How many teachers had attended political education courses by 1939?
200,000
Nazi propaganda in schools
Taught to do the Nazi salute, each lesson started and ended with ‘heil hitler’, nazi posters and flags decorated the classes
What happened to the amount of PE taught
It double - 1/6 of lesson time
Which book was made a compulsory school text?
Mein Kampf
What happened to all school textbooks in 1935?
Had to be approved by the Nazis
What were Napolas?
Boarding schools intending to train the future leaders of Germany
Who were selected for Napolas
The most intelligent, competitive, aggressive and racially pure children
Who taught children in napolas?
Selected members of the SA and SS
Where did children go once finishing school in a napola?
Army, SS or police as officers
Curriculum of napolas?
The same but with no RE and more sport
When were 25% of the labour force unemployed?
January 1933
What was the Nazi view on the unemployed?
A waste of resources and a burden on society
What was the unemployment in 1939?
1/2 million
What was the RAD?
Workers for public works - draining marshes, planting trees and repairing/building roads
How many people were in the RAD by 1935?
422,000
What is the German for the RAD?
Reich Arbeits Dienst
How was the RAD militaristic?
Workers wore uniforms, lived in camps, did military drills and parades
When was service in the RAD made compulsory
1935
By 1935, how many were employed in building autobahns?
125,000
How many km of autobahns had been completed by 1938?
3,500
Spending on public works 1933 vs 1938
18 billion vs 38 billion
Nazi public works schemes
Public buildings, bridges, coastal walls and sports facilities
Why were the autobahns particularly beneficial?
Quicker and cheaper transport for industry and agriculture = boosted sale of goods at home and abroad == more jobs for the rest of economy
When did Hitler announce military conscription?
1935
How many men were in the armed forces by 1939?
1,360,000
Gov spending on arms 1933 vs 1939
3.5 billion vs 26 billion
Impact of rearmament on unemployment
People employed in aircraft industry - in two years had increased 18x
How was invisible unemployment achieved?
Part time workers recorded as full time, women and jews who’d been forced to give up work were counted as unemployed
How did public works help the Nazis achieve invisible unemployment?
Amount spent was not sustainable - so they weren’t ‘real jobs’
Why was Nazi reduction in unemployment not particularly special?
Unemployment was falling everywhere as countries recovered from the great depression
Change in the working week 1933 vs 1939
43 hours vs 49 hours
Did real wages rise under Nazi rule
Not really for lower income workers - cancelled out by the higher costs of essentials
What was the KdF
To make the benefits of work more enjoyable - so Germans enjoyed working
How many members were there of the KdF by 1936?
35 million
How many workers went on holidays and cruises through KdF?
700,000
How many workers went to theatre performances through KdF?
11,000,000
How many marks did people pay a week for a Volkswagen?
5
What was the SdA
Campaigned for employers to provide better facilities - provided tax breaks to help building costs
By 1938 how many employers had improved their facilities through SdA?
34,000
Weaknesses of the SdA
Normal for the employers to expect the workers to do the building and decorating themselves - after hours and with no pay
What is eugenics?
The science of selective breeding
What did Hitler deem Jews and gypsies?
Lebensunwertes - unworthy of life
Why did some Christians hate Jews?
They blamed them for the execution of Christ
What did the Nazis threaten to do to Slav countries in Eastern Europe
Invade them for Lebensraum
Why did the Nazis hate the Roma people?
They didn’t work enough or contribute enough to taxes, posed a threat to racial purity
1939 - gypsies
Orders to prepare all gypsies for deportation - would be forcibly removed from Germany
1933 - gypsies
Arrested as social nuisances and sent to concentration camps
1936 gypsies
Some forced to live in special camps - one camp contained 600 with two latrines
1938 gypsies
Banned from travelling in groups, rounded up and tested for racial characteristics
What happened if gypsies failed the racial characteristics test?
They lost citizenship and social benefits
What did Nazis believe about homosexuals?
They lowered the moral standards and spoiled the purity of the German race
How many homosexual males imprisoned by 1938?
8000
How many homosexual males imprisoned by 1934?
766
How many German homosexuals died in concentration camps?
5000
In 1933 what law made it compulsory for people to be sterilised if they were mentally ill, alcoholic, deaf, epileptic or blind?
Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring
How many ‘hereditarily diseased’ people were sterilised by 1939?
400,000
What was the T4 programme?
Babies with severe mental/physical disabilities should be killed by starvation or lethal overdose - eventually up to 17yrs old
Which programme killed 5,000 children with disabilities?
T4 Programme
How many Jews were in Germany in 1933?
437,000 - less than 1% of the population
What did Nazi propaganda call Jews?
‘vermin’ ‘filth’ evil and scheming
Persecution against the Jews April 1933?
Banned from government jobs and civil servants and teachers sacked
When were Jews banned from the army?
May 1935
What happened of the 1st April 1933
Official boycott of Jewish shops, businesses, doctors and lawyers
What did the SA do during the Jewish boycott?
Painted the Jewish star or the word ‘Jude’ - Jew outside businesses, the stood outside with banners and discouraged people to enter
When were the Nuremberg Laws passed?
15th September 1935
What was the Reich Law on Citezenship
Only those of German blood could be citizens - Jews now ‘subjects’, lost right to vote, hold gov office or passports
What law prevented Jews from marrying German citizens and forbade sexual relations between Jews and citizens?
The Reich Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour
Jewish persecution - March 1938
Jews had to register all their possession - easier to confiscate
Jewish persecution - July 1938
Jews had to carry identity cards - easier to be persecuted
Aftermath of Kristallnacht
Jews fined 1 billion marks for damage, by 12th Nov 20,000 Jews rounded up and sent to conc camps
What did Goebbels do on 8th November 1938?
Ordered local papers of Hanover to condemn the paris shooting, used the SS/SS/Gestapo to attack local synagogues and houses
When did vom Rath die?
9th November 1938
What did Hitler and Goebbels turn von Rath’s death into?
A nationwide attack on Jews - attacks on Jews and their property
Police orders - Kristallnacht
Ordered to not prevent any violence by the public on Jews
Examples of violence at Kristallnacht
An 18 year old Jew being thrown from the 3rd floor window
Why were the SA and SS told not to wear uniforms (Kristallnacht)
So the violence would appear to be from members of the public
Statistics of the Kristallnacht destruction
814 shops, 191 synagogues and 171 houses destroyed
What happened on 7th Nov 1938?
Polish Jew, Grynszpan, went into German embassy in Paris and shot a random Nazi
Why did Grynszpan shoot vom Rath?
Anger at the way the Germans had treated his parents
