Part 3 - The Experiences of Germans Under the Nazis

Question 1

What was the National Labour Service (RAD)?

Answer 1

Every man aged between 18 and 25 had to spend 6 months in the RAD. This led to unemployment to drop rapidly.

Question 2

Unemployment figures in the 1930s?

Answer 2

1933 - 6.1 million
1934 - 4 million
1939 - 0.4 million

Question 3

Were the unemployment figures accurate?

Answer 3

No! Jews and women were excluded from all of the data.

Question 4

What Nazi schemes reduced unemployment?

Answer 4

Public Work Schemes:
Men created autobahns, new schools and hospitals. This gave work to 100,000 people.

Rearmament:
Hitler wanted to build the army this gave jobs to factory workers. Conscription was also introduced, within 5 years the army grew from 100,000 to 1.4 million

Question 5

How did Hitler improve the German economy?

Answer 5

• Hitler appointed Schacht when he came to power in 1933. Schacht signed pacts with countries to supply Germany with raw materials.
• In 1936 Goering introduced a scheme called the Four Year Plan to prep Germany for war.

Question 6

Were ordinary Germans better off under the Nazi rule?

Answer 6

The wages of people didn’t rise but at least they had jobs.

Workers could not quit without government permission.

Food prices were still high.

Question 7

What was the German Labour Front (DAF)

Answer 7

The DAF ran 2 schemes which aimed to improve German lives:
- The Beauty of Labour (SDA) tried to improve the working environment.
- The Strength Through Joy (KDF) organised leisure activities to encourage hard work.

Question 8

What rewards did the KDF give people?

Answer 8

• Cheap holidays
• Trips to the theatre
• Tickets to football matches.

Question 9

What was life like in Germany during WW2?

Answer 9

All food and clothing was rationed. Soap and toilet paper where also in short supply.

Anything that didn’t contribute to the war effort was stopped; beer houses, dance halls and shop were closed.

Many German cities were bombed which meant people had no water or electricity.

Question 10

What was school life like under the Nazis?

Answer 10

Children were taught that Jews, disabled people and political opponents of Hitler were crippling Germany.

These beliefs were taught in Eugenics.

Question 11

How did life outside of school change for young boys?

Answer 11

German boys would join the Hitler Youth at 14. They would go to the HY several times a week where they learnt to march, fight with knives and fire guns.

In 1939 the HY was made compulsory.

Question 12

How did life change outside of school for girls?

Answer 12

Girls had to join the League of Maiden when they were 14. Here they learnt how to keep fit, cook and prepare for motherhood.

Question 13

What Nazi policies were introduced to change the lives of women?

Answer 13

1) Women were banned from smoking or wearing trousers.
2) Nazis banned contraception + abortion.
3)Female professionals were sacked.

Question 14

What Nazi policies were aimed to encourage women to have children?

Answer 14

1) Loans were given out to newly married couples. On the birth of 1 child they could keep the first quarter of the money, another quarter for the next child and so on.
2) Every year on the 12th of August the Motherhood Medal was awarded to women that had the most children.

Question 15

What polices were made about the Catholic Church?

Answer 15

• Hitler signed the Concordat with the Pope so they wouldn’t interfere with one another but Hitler soon broke that agreement
• Hitler closed Catholic youth clubs and schools.

Question 16

What was the relationship like between Hitler and the Protestant Church?

Answer 16

• Some Protestants agreed with Hitler, the Nazis named the ‘German Christians’
• However the Confession Church was created which openly criticised the Nazis. The leader Niemoller was sent to a concentration camp.

Question 17

What was Hitler’s relationship like with other religious groups?

Answer 17

Hitler put all of the following groups in concentration camps:
- Jehovah Witnesses
- Salvation Army
- Christian Scientists

Question 18

Which racial groups were persecuted other than Jews?

Answer 18

• Gypsies
• Slavs
• Black and Indian people

Question 19

What did Hitler do to ‘undesirables’?

Answer 19

Anyone incapable of work was ‘undesirable’ here are some examples of what Hitler did to these people:
- 0.5 million tramps, beggars and alcoholics were sent to concentration camps.
- Prostitutes, homosexuals and ‘problem families’ were also sent to camps.
- 350,00 disabled men and women were forcibly sterilised. 200,000 people were murder in special ‘nursing homes’

Question 20

Laws against Jews in 1933-35

Answer 20

• All Jewish lawyers and judges sacked.
• All Jews banned from sports clubs.
• Eugenics introduced
• All Jewish shops marked with the Star of David.

Question 21

Laws against Jews in 1938-39

Answer 21

• Jewish doctors sacked.
• Male Jews must add the name ‘Israel’ and female Jews much add ‘Sara’
• Jewish children banned from German schools.
• Jewish homes, synagogues and businesses attacked.
• Jews can be evicted form their homes for no reason.

Question 22

What was Kristallnacht?

Answer 22

Known as the Night of the Broken Glass. Around 10,000 Jewish shops had their windows broken, around 100 Jews killed and 20,000 were sent to concentration camps.

Question 23

What was the Final Solution?

Answer 23

• At the Wannsee Conference of 1942 Nazi leaders met to discuss the Final Solution. Which was the planned murder of every Jew in Germany.

Question 24

How many Jews were killed?

Answer 24

6 million.

Question 25

Main features of the Nazi police state?

Answer 25

• Concentration camps
• The SS
• The Gestapo
• The regular police

Question 26

Who was in charge of the police forces?

Answer 26

Himmler

Question 27

What was the Gestapo?

Answer 27

They tapped telephone called and opened mail. They had power to arrest anyone and they set up a huge network of informers.

Question 28

Who was in charge of propaganda?

Answer 28

Joseph Gobbels

Question 29

What propaganda did Gobbels use?

Answer 29

• He controlled newspapers only positive stories of Nazis written.
• There was mass rallies
• Writers forced to write positive books about Hitler

Question 30

How were the arts and culture affected y Nazi rule?

Answer 30

There were strict rules around art and culture. Only traditional things were allowed to be created.

Question 31

How did Hitler use the Olympics as propaganda?

Answer 31

In 1936 the Olympics was held in Berlin. Antisemitic messages were stopped. And the film maker Riefenstahl filmed the games.

Question 32

Opposition to Hitler?

Answer 32

There was different levels of opposition against Hitler:
- Grumblings
- Passive resistance
- Open opposition
- Assassination attempts

Question 33

What were grumblings?

Answer 33

In private people may criticise the Nazis - this was dangerous because of the Gestapo.

Question 34

What was passive resistance?

Answer 34

• Outward resistance one example is not giving the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute. Or not giving money to the HY.

Question 35

What was open opposition?

Answer 35

There were a few groups that openly declared their dislike of the Nazis:
- The Swing Youth
- The White Rose Group
- The Edelweiss Pirates

Question 36

How many attempts were their on Hitler’s life?

Answer 36

around 50

Question 37

What was the July Bomb Plot?

Answer 37

The 1944 plot was the closest that anyone got to killing Hitler. Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg said he would detonate a bomb near Hitler. However the bomb failed to kill Hitler.