Radicalisation Of The State Flashcards
What were the three distinct phases in the development of the Nazi regime?
- Legal revolution (1933-34)
- Creating the new Germany (1934-37)
- Radicalisation of the state (1938-39)
Where was social Darwinism prominent?
Not just in Germany, all over 19th century Europe after the publishing of the origin on the species and Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
What is social Darwinism?
Applying Darwin’s theory of natural selection to humans to create pseudosciences and unscientific theories that could justify ideas of racial superiority and the theory of eugenics
Which countries applied social Darwinist theories before Germany?
. Imperialist powers such as Britain used social Darwinism to justify the advancement and ruling of ‘backwards’ colonial peoples
. In Sweden, there were a group of scientists seeking to eliminate disabilities through population planning and birth control
- these ideas influenced Nazi ideology
What was Hitler’s idea of a ‘biological struggle’ between different races?
Saw humanity as a hierarchy of races:
. Inferior races: Jews, black people and Slavs
. Herrenvolk (master race): Aryan people’s of Northern Europe
How strict was Hitler’s concept of social Darwinism?
He believed there could be no compromises or exceptions as the inferior races were ‘poisoning’ the purity of the Aryan race and were a deadly threat to the German volk
- conversion to Christianity or medals won in WW1 couldn’t make a difference to the purity of your ‘racial hygiene’
Who are the Untermenschen?
Impure Nazis that are inferior and sub-human. They threatened the existence of the master Race
How does the 25 point programme show there was always a racist Nazi plan from the start?
- Only those of German blood may be members of the nation
- could lead all Jewish rights to going out the window - Foreign nationals should be deported from the Reich if livelihood can’t be provided for all pure citizens
How was Nazi race theory used to justify outrageous ideas?
. Ideas of ‘racial hygiene’ justified the sterilisation of the mentally and physically disabled, the Roma and Sinti and other ‘racial undesirables’
. Himmler used the idea of ‘racial hygiene’ and eliminating the impure germs to justify the killing of Jewish women and children as well as men (policy of no exceptions)
Nazi propaganda helped make these pseudoscientific ideas appear convincing facts
How did Nazis believe impure races could ‘infect’ pure Germans?
Through inter-marriage with ‘degenerate races’, leading to a policy almost like selective breeding
What are eugenics?
A pseudoscience with the idea of selective breeding to ‘improve’ the human race
How did Nazi propaganda make eugenics seem convincing?
Measuring facial features and eye colour using tools and equipment that make it seems scientific
Often Nazis dressed in lab coats would make them seem more scientific
In truth, it was all just a pseudoscience that lacked any scientific rigour
What does the volksgemeinschaft translate to?
‘People’s community’
How was the concept of a national community in the Volksgemeinschaft twisted to support Nazi racial policies?
Anti-semitism and racial thinking made it exclusive to certain groups in Germany
What was the origins of the Volksgemeinschaft used for?
During WW1 as Germans rallied to support the war effort. Idea of uniting people across all classes to achieve a national purpose and identity (the concept got very twisted and exclusive by the Nazis)
What was the ‘Volk’ part of Volksgemeinschaft in Nazi policy?
‘Volk’ is the membership in the people’s community
To be a member of the ‘Volk’ you had to be a true German in terms of racial purity and loyalty to Germany
How did Nazi racial policy protect the members of the ‘Volk’?
Ruthlessly eliminating all un-German elements, especially Jews, to protect the ‘Volk’
How did Nazis decide to identify members of the ‘Volk’?
By identifying and eliminating racial enemies that needed to be excluded from the Volksgemeinschaft rather than identifying those who naturally belonged to it
- this is somewhat where Nazi policy of extermination and sterilisation came from
How was the Volk and Volksgenossen difference?
. The Volk are the entire collection of racially pure Germans, simply excluding the undesirables
. The Volksgenossen (‘national comrades’) were members of the Volk who were perfectly aligned with the goals of the Nazis state (Aryan race) and worthy of membership in the Volksgemeinschaft
Who were excluded from the Volksgemeinschaft?
. Political enemies
. ‘Asocials’
. Racial enemies:
- those of a different race (gypsies and Jews)
- those with hereditary defects such as disabilities or disease
Where did the origins of Lebensraum come from?
Late C.19, many European thinkers proposed opening up space for the expansion of populations of the superior white race (prioritising white populations to create living space for them)
How were Germans easily convinced and supportive of the idea of Lebensraum?
. There was already widespread support for the idea that Germany was already over-populated and the industrious German farmers needed more land
. Many Germans believed the destiny of Germany lay in the east, conquering the inferior Slav peoples of Poland and the former Russian empire to get access to fertile farmland and raw materials
How did Hitler twist the idea of Lebensraum to align with Nazi ideals and racial theory?
.Lebensraum wouldn’t just allow the ‘Germanisation’ of the eastern lands and bringing the ‘lost Germans’ back to the Reich
. It would importantly provide the battleground for a war of racial annihilation, wiping out the inferior Slav races and smashing Bolshevism in Russia
Why were disabled people excluded from the Volksgemeinschaft?
Their hereditary conditions were a threat to the future of the Aryan race
Where did Nazi thinking on disabilities come from?
The pseudoscience of eugenics which became influential in Europe and USA from late C.19, especially after WW1
How did eugenicists propose improving a race?
Through selective breeding e.g sterilisation of those with hereditary conditions
How had sterilisation been on the cards in Germany even before the Nazis were in power?
State gov in Prussia had drawn up a draft to allow voluntary sterilisation of people with hereditary conditions
How did the Nazis very quickly drive the idea of sterilisation forward?
July 1933 - Law for prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Progeny (sterilisation law)
- compulsory sterilisation for certain categories of ‘inferiors’
- specified which ‘hereditary diseases’ sterilisation applied to
What were the examples of ‘hereditary diseases’ in the July 1933 sterilisation law?
. ‘Feeble-mindedness’
. ‘Epilepsy’
. ‘Chronic alcoholism’
. Hereditary blindness and deafness
How was the July 1933 sterilisation law later extended?
. To being allowed on children over 10 years, and the inviolable right to force the sterilisation after 14 years
. 2 years later, permitted abortions where people suitable for sterilisation were already pregnant
How were women Aryan vs non-Aryan treated in terms of sterilisation?
Non-Aryan: 1936 - x-ray sterilisation of women over 38 introduced due to higher risk of being born with disabilities
Aryan: ban on contraception and abortions for women and girls to increase birth rate of Aryan children
Where were decisions on sterilisation decisions made and what was wrong with them?
Hereditary health courts:
. Judges mostly all in favour of sterilisation policies
. Decision often took only 10 mins
How did sterilisation operations get away with it and how long did they take?
. The convincing nature of eugenics made it look scientific
. Parents were often told their child had an injury etc and needed to be hospitalised and tragically died
. Operation forcibly took place by 2 weeks of the decision
How else was sterilisation decisions determined aside from hereditary disease?
‘Moral insanity’ - excuse to prevent births among asocials and the ‘criminal underclass’
How is it clear that the people sterilised weren’t usually truly for hereditary reasons but simply for the advancement of the Aryan race?
60% of those sterilised were due to ‘feeblemindedness’ (suffered from idiocy or imbecility)
How many people sterilised during the course of the Third Reich?
400,000
What were the main Christian sects established by the time Nazis came to power and why were they questioned by Nazis?
. Jehovah’s witnesses
. Mormons
. Members of the New Apostolic Church
They were internationally linked and widespread religions now, making Nazis questions the religions loyalty to Germany
How did Nazis first make it clear that they weren’t happy with the huge number of Christian sects in Germany?
November 1933: most religious sects banned
How was the Nazis ban on religious sects adapted over time?
Bans were systematically lifted on sects that were willing to cooperate with the Nazi regime
- however, even those with the bans lifted had Gestapo agents attend sect meetings and report back to the Nazis on any anti-Nazi movements
Which religious sect were the biggest threat to the Nazi state?
Jehovah’s Witnesses
What were the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses and why were they a threat?
.They were only allowed to obey god, meaning this conflicted with the need for Nazis to swear the oath of loyalty to Hitler
- they also refused army conscription and refused to Nazi salute
How is it so surprising that the Jehovah’s witnesses were such a threat?
In 1933, there were only 30,000 members in Germany but they were extremely committed
How did typical Nazi policy not really work on Jahovah’s witnesses?
They believed persecution was a test of their faith so they were very resistant to it
- many went to prison and even there they refused to obey orders such as to remove their caps
How bad was persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses?
By 1945, around 10,000 had been imprisoned and many died
How did the Nazis fail to fully deal with Jahovah’s witnesses?
Their resistance couldn’t be broken and many were converted to their beliefs in the camps where they were imprisoned
How were the Seventh-Day Adventists very different to Jahovah’s Witnesses?
They were far less resistant to the Nazi regime, welcoming it as the beginning of Germany’s rebirth
How are the Seventh-Day Adventists an example of how following the Nazi regime was enticing?
The ban on this sect was removed within two weeks as it agreed to:
. Swastika flags in churches
. Conclude services with ‘Heil Hitler’
. Remove ‘Jewish language’ of Old Testament from services
Following Nazi policy seemed to allow your sect to continue, but really it was just in a Nazified way with no real control over sect policy
How were the Seventh-Day Adventists impacted by the Nazis outside of the church?
. It had a well-developed welfare organisation that provided food, and they agreed with the Nazis to exclude asocials, Jews and ‘other race enemies’ from this help
- how much did they agree? (Research this?)
How did other sects compromise with the Nazis to survive?
Mormons: selected members according to Nazi criteria
New Apostolic church: added SA and SS flags into church parades
How were homosexuals treated in the Golden Age?
Thrived, even Nazi members such as Ernst Rohm
- paragraph 175 of the penal code, criminalising homosexual acts, were applied less frequently
- process of complete decriminalisation for it seemed possible by 1929
Before 1933, what state were other European countries in in terms of homosexuality?
It was outlawed (illegal)
- this meant that when the Nazis held this view it wasn’t really seen as a huge thing
How did most Nazis view homosexuals?
. Degenerate
. Perverted
. Threat to racial health of German people
How did Nazis begin the purge of homosexual organisations and literature in 1933?
. Clubs closed
. Organisations for gay people banned
. Gay publications outlawed
. 6 May 1933 - Nazi students (influencing the young) attacked the institute for sexual science (homosexual organisation), burning its library and seizing the list of names and addresses of gay people
What was Nazi homosexual persecution like in 1934?
. Gestapo began to compile list of names of gay people
. SS eliminate rohm and other SA homosexuals in NOTLK
What was Nazi homosexual persecution like in 1935?
Laws on homosexuality changed to widen definitions of homosexuality and harsher penalties for those convicted
- after these laws between 1936-38, 22,000 ‘homosexual’ men imprisoned
. Redrafting of paragraph 175
Overall: 1935 was a legislative year for most of the Nazi party, ramping up persecution
How did persecution of homosexuals by Nazis change in 1936?
Himmler created the Reich Office for the Combatting of Homosexuality and Abortion
- clearly having to create a whole office for homosexual offences highlights the importance of the issue to Nazis
How many arrests of homosexuals were there in the Nazi’s power?
. Around 100,000 men arrested, 50,000 convicted.
- even when the arrested homosexuals had served their sentences, they were re-arrested by SS or Gestapo and held in concentration camps under ‘preventive custody’
What were conditions like for homosexuals in concentration camps?
. If not abandoning sexual orientation and sent to the camps, has to wear a pink triangle (dehumanising)
. Subjected to especially brutal treatment by guards, sometimes even beats to death
. Many were subjected to ‘voluntary castration’ to ‘cure’ their ‘perversion’
. 60% of gay prisoners died in the camps
How were lesbians treated compared to gays?
. When paragraph 175 of the penal code was redrafted, lesbians and trans were decided not to be included
Didn’t get the same level of persecution as they were seen as ‘asocial’ rather than degenerate
What happened to some imprisoned gay men during WW2?
When more German men were needed for the war effort, some gay men were released to go and fight, particularly on the Eastern front where it was most brutal :(
How did some gay men try to hide their homosexuality to avoid Nazi persecution?
Some went into heterosexual marriages just to conform to Nazi ideological norms
Why was Magnus Herschfeld’s Institute for Sexual science so important to Germany during the golden age?
. Acted as an important public centre for Berlin lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender life
. In led the world in a scientific approach to sexual diversity
German at the time seemed to be the most open out of pretty much any country in Europe in terms of homosexuality
How did Nazis justify the persecution of ‘asocials’?
Claims the behaviour of many of these groups was hereditary and needed to be removed for the interests of society. If they are allowed to survive, the Nazis believed their social norms will be allowed to spread and deviance will become encouraged
Who were regarded as asocials in the Third Reich?
. Criminals
. ‘Work-shy’
. Homeless
. Addicts
. Prostitutes
What was meant by ‘asocials’?
Individuals deemed to be social outcasts, meaning their social norms swayed agains what the Nazis deemed as ‘normal’
How were the police involved in the persecution of asocials, as with many of the other persecuted groups?
The Nazis wanted to give the police more power to enforce the tough measures they were introducing
How did asocial persecution really set off?
In September 1933, the Nazis carried out a mass-round up of ‘tramps and beggars’ (asocials), many of whom were unemployed young or homeless, and attempted to put them all into concentration camps
What problems did the Nazis run into when first persecuting asocials and how did they find a sort of solution?
Prior to their mass-round up, they realised not all 300k-500k asocials could be housed in concentration camps (surely they’d realise their policy was too harsh if this many people were being classed as asocials).
. Asocials split into ‘orderly’ and ‘disorderly’
- ‘orderly’ = fit and willing to work, given a permit and were forced to work for their accommodation
- ‘disorderly’ = sent to camps as habitual criminals
What did the Nazis do to asocials in 1936 that they genuinely believed was in the best-interest of the German image?
1936, before Berlin Olympic Games
- police rounded up large numbers of asocials to project a hard-working and unified image of Germany
How did Nazis attempt to reform asocials to the way the Nazis wanted them?
1936 - ‘asocial colony’ known as Hashude set up in northern Germany to ‘re-educate’ them so they could be integrated into society
When did asocial persecution start to get out of hand and how?
1938 - huge round-up of a widened definition of asocials, including ‘gypsies and pimps’
- most sent to Buchenwald concentration camp and very few survivied the harsh treatment there
What was the gypsy population of Germany in 1933?
Around 30,000
Was Nazi persecution of gypsies a new thing?
No, they had faced legal discrimination much before the Nazi’s were in power
- local authorities frequently harassed gypsies into moving away from the local area
- Nazis made the persecution much more systematic and somewhat brutal
How did 1935 add more legal persecution of gypsies?
Nazi’s ruled that the Nuremberg laws applied to gypsies despite not specifically mentioning it in the laws
What happened to Nazi gypsy persecution in 1936?
- SS set up Reich a central Office for the Fight against the Gypsy Nuisance
- Dr Robbert Ritter became expert ‘scientific adviser’ to the SS and ministry of health (uni psychologist)
What was the impact of Ritter becoming the expert ‘scientific adviser’ to the SS?
. He created criteria that the SS followed to locate and classify Gypsies
- SS collected classified files that were needed to get police action against the gypsies
. Ritter was most worried about the half-Gypsies who had managed to become fully integrated into German society as they were hard to spot but were threatening the purity of the Aryan race
How did Gypsy persecution escalate massively in 1938?
Himmler issued a Decree for the Struggle Against the Gypsy Plague = very systematic classification of Gypsies
What happened to gypsies once WW2 broke out in September 1939?
After such a long time locating and classifying them, they were able to be deported to Poland
How is the aktion t4 programme evidence of the Nazis liking of using euphemisms to describe their policies?
Euthanasia typically means ‘mercy-killing’, but in the T4 programme this euthanasia is just the systematic murdering of those with ‘mental illnesses’
