People Who Stood Up to The Nazis

Question 1

Secret trade union opposition- the workers

Answer 1

KPD continued to encourage workers to oppose the Nazis.

Question 2

How did workers try to undermine the Nazis?

Answer 2

• By staying off work

- Industrial sabotage (small scale)

Question 3

Secret political opposition- How did the SDP oppose the Nazis?

Answer 3

In 1933, they printed an opposition newspaper, the Red Shock Troop. It had a circulation of 3,000 copies.

Question 4

What did the Nazis do in response to the SDP’s opposition?

Answer 4

Arrested organisers, sent them to concentration camps.

Question 5

What did the SDP do after the Nazis shut down their newspaper?

Answer 5

After they were exiled, they went to Prague and set up the SOPADE (SDP abroad) to campaign against the Nazis.

Question 6

Why did religious leaders- both openly and secretly- begin to oppose the Nazis?

Answer 6

The Nazis tried to control religion in Germany by closing religious schools and other measures.

Question 7

Why were there youth groups who opposed the Nazis?

Answer 7

• Opposed to Nazi youth groups

- Opposed to Nazi social policies

Question 8

Other than youth, political and religious opposition, was there any other types of opposition against the Nazis?

Answer 8

Yes- military opposition. Some army officers opposed the Nazis.

Question 9

What was the name of one of the main army generals who opposed the Nazis?

Answer 9

General Ludwig Van Beck- He was Chief Of Staff of the German Army.

Question 10

What did Ludwig Van Beck try to do in 1938?

Answer 10

• Tried to get fellow officers to arrest Hitler.

- Sent message to British where he said that the German army would not fight back if they attacked.

Question 11

What did Ludwig Van Beck do in 1934 and 1944?

Answer 11

Led assassination plots against Hitler until he was executed for being a conspirator in the Stauffenberg Bomb Plot.

Question 12

What was the Pastors’ Emergency League?

Answer 12

Group of Protestant pastors who protested against
amalgamation of regional churches into one German Christian Church and Nazi attempts to stop Jews becoming Christians + ban the Jewish Old Testament.

Question 13

What was the Confessing Church?

Answer 13

This Church refused to cooperate with the Nazis.

Question 14

When was the Confessing Church set up and by who?

Answer 14

The PEL set up the Confessing Church in 1934.

Question 15

What happened to the Pastors who joined the Confessing Church?

Answer 15

6,000 German Pastors joined and 800 were arrested and sent to Concentration Camps.

Question 16

Was there any Catholic opposition against the Nazis?

Answer 16

Some Catholic Priests spoke out against the Concordat and Nazi ideas and policies.

Question 17

What happened to the Catholic Priests who opposed the Nazis?

Answer 17

Around 400 Catholic Priests were imprisoned in the “Priests’ Block” at Dachau, the first Concentration Camp, opened in 1933.

Question 18

Who was Martin Niemoller?

Answer 18

A WW1 veteran and a Protestant Pastor.

Question 19

Did Martin Niemoller fully oppose the Nazis?

Answer 19

He was not 100% against them.

Question 20

Why did Martin Niemoller not fully oppose the Nazis?

Answer 20

In the 1920s, he had opposed the Weimar Republic as a nationalist because he believed Germany needed a strong leader and that democracy could not offer this.

Question 21

Did Martin Niemoller do anything that directly supported the Nazis?

Answer 21

He voted for the Nazis in the 1933 elections and was happy when Hitler was made Chancellor in 1933.

Question 22

Which policies of the Nazis did Martin Niemoller oppose?

Answer 22

• Nazi interference in Protestant Church

- Opposed ban on Jews becoming Christians

Question 23

What did Martin Niemoller discover in 1934?

Answer 23

Discovered his phone had been “bugged” by the Gestapo and realised that Germany had become a Totalitarian State.

Question 24

How did Martin Niemoller publicly oppose the Nazis personally?

Answer 24

Gradually spoke out against the Nazis more and more.

Question 25

How did the Nazis respond to Martin Niemoller's opposition?

Answer 25

Sent him to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in 1938 after finding him guilty of treason.

Question 26

After being sent to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, did Martin Niemoller still have some support for the Nazis?

Answer 26

He continued to have mixed feelings about the Nazis and asked to be released from prison to fight for the Nazis in 1939.

Question 27

Did the Nazis do anything after Niemoller revealed his support for them?

Answer 27

Later transferred him to the Dachau Concentration Camp where he remained until he was freed in 1945.

Question 28

What made Church Opposition very difficult?

Answer 28

The power of the German Police State and the presence of the Gestapo made it very difficult for opposition to organise itself into a big movement.

Question 29

How did ordinary Germans partake in "muted" opposition to the Nazis?

Answer 29

Attended Church Services in large numbers, in defiance of the Nazis.

Question 30

Did any ordinary Christians oppose the Nazis openly?

Answer 30

Yes, but only a few as few Christians were brave, or foolish enough, to oppose the Nazis openly.

Question 31

What were the three main youth groups that opposed the Nazis?

Answer 31

- The Edelweiss Pirates - The Swing Youth - The White Rose Movement

Question 32

Where did the Edelweiss Pirates emerge from?

Answer 32

The poorer districts of Germany in the late 1930s, which was their main location of operation.

Question 33

What other name did the Edelweiss Pirates call themselves?

Answer 33

The “Travelling Dudes” of “Navajos”

Question 34

How did the Edelweiss Pirates identify themselves?

Answer 34

Each wore a white flower called an Edelweiss.

Question 35

What type of youth were the members of the Edelweiss Pirates?

Answer 35

Teenagers (boys and girls) influenced by American culture.

Question 36

What did the Edelweiss Pirates do when they saw members of the Hitler Youth, their opponents?

Answer 36

If they found members of the Hitler Youth they would taunt and even attack them.

Question 37

What did the Edelweiss Pirates actually do?

Answer 37

They would get together and camp and sing songs that mocked the Hitler Youth, as well as play jazz in the streets of Germany.

Question 38

Where did the Swing Youth emerge from?

Answer 38

This group emerged in richer districts of Germany.

Question 39

How where the Swing Youth similar to the Edelweiss Pirates?

Answer 39

They also admired American culture.

Question 40

Apart from emerging from different class areas, how were the Swing Youth different from the Edelweiss Pirates?

Answer 40

They would listen to American “swing music” such as the Glenn Miller Orchestra i.e. orchestral jazz, whereas the Edelweiss Pirates listened to regular jazz.

Question 41

Which high-ranking Nazi Official in particular despised both the Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing Youth, and why?

Answer 41

Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, believed that any young person who listened to jazz should be beaten and made to do hard labour.

Question 42

Why were the Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing Youth not seen as a direct threat to the Nazis?

Answer 42

They resisted Nazi expectations, but apart from anti-Nazi graffiti, telling anti-Nazi jokes or attacking members of the Hitler Youth, they didn't do anything organised.

Question 43

Did either the Edelweiss Pirates or the Swing Youth attack Nazi politics?

Answer 43

After 1939 the Edelweiss Pirates did begin to attack the government, however it was mainly to do with Nazi culture; they disliked it. They were not directly opposing Nazi Politics.

Question 44

What did the existence of these two groups show?

Answer 44

German youth remained unconvinced by Nazi expectations, but the Pirates + the Swing Youth weren't typical of normal Germans and they did not pose a direct threat to the Nazis.

Question 45

What was the level of membership in these groups like?

Answer 45

Compared to membership of the Nazi youth organisations, membership of these groups were very small.

Question 46

How many members did the Nazi youth organisations have from 1932-1939?

Answer 46

- 1933- just over 2 million - 1935- 4 million - 1939- nearly 9 million