Social policy and Practice in Nazi Germany Flashcards
What did teachers have to join or be sacked?
Teachers had to join the German Teachers League and teach what the Nazis wanted or be sacked.
How did History lessons change in Nazi Germany?
History lessons were concentrated on:
- the Treaty of Versailles
- the rise of the Nazi party
- the weakness of German before the Nazis
- the evils of Communism and the Jews
What was taught in biology lessons in Nazi Germany?
- taught abut eugenics and the supposed dangers of mating with other ‘weaker’ races
- it taught how to measure facial features in order to identify racial types
What was taught in geography lessons in Nazi Germany
- taught about the land lost under the ToV
- taught about the need to Lebensraum (living space)
How did the Nazis use books/textbooks to indoctrinate children with their ideology?
- children were given books explaining how Jewish people were ‘evil’ and and how they were causing all of Germany’s problems
- textbooks would have problems that reinforced Nazi beliefs
What were ‘ Napolas’?
Students who were identified as potential future Nazi leaders were sent to special academies known as ‘Napolas’.
How did universities change under the Nazis?
- 15% of Nazi lecturers were replaced for racial or political reasons
- the nazis did not regard university education as important and fewer Germans attended university during the Nazi era
- universities had to change their courses to reflect Nazi ideals
- all students had to train as a soldier for a month each year
When was the Hitler Youth founded?
1922
In what year were all youth groups banned except the Hitler Youth?
1933
In what year was membership of the Hitler Youth made compulsory?
1939
What did boys do at the Hitler Youth?
- they learned how to march, fight with knives, fire a gun and keep fit
- the Nazis wanted to prepare boys for a military future
-used to indoctrinate children with Nazi ideology
How was girls’ education different under the Nazis?
- had to take subjects seen as feminine eg singing, history of Germany, German geography, German, Race study, domestic science, Nazi Party beliefs
- Hitler wanted to prepare young women to be wives and mothers
What was life like for women in the 1920s during the Weimar era?
- German women had many rights and freedoms. eg they could vote and if they worked for the government, there pay was equal to men
- many women attended university and became lawyers and doctors
Why were the Nazis worried about the increased freedoms women had?
- as more women worked, the birth rate fell
- in 1900 there had been over 2 million births per year but in 1933 there were under 1 milllion
- the Nazis felt that a low birth rate didn’t fit with their plans to expand Germany’s territory and settle Germans in other areas of Europe
What did the Nazis feel women should do?
- stay at home, have lots of children’s and support their husbands
- women should stick to the 3 is: Kinder, Kirche and Küche (children, church and kitchen)
What policies did the Nazis have concerning work and women?
- many female doctors.teachers, lawyers and judges were sacked
- working was discouraged as it might hinder producing children
How were women expected to behave in N azi Germany?
- in many cities, women were banned from smoking because it was ‘unladylike’
- wearing trousers or high heels was also frowned upon for the same reason
- dieting was also discouraged because it might make it harder to get pregnant
What was the ‘Law for Prevention of Diseased Offspring’?
It allowed forcible sterilisation of women with a history of mental illness, hereditary diseases pr antisocial behaviour (like alcoholism)
In what ways did the Nazis encourage women to have more children?
- contraception and abortion were banned
- generous loans were given to newly married couples to encourage them to habe children
- mothers with 8 children received the ‘Gold Cross’
Why was it important that the Nazis kept the Christians happy?
most Germans were Christians
How did Nazi ideas differ from Christian ones??
- Nazis though strength and violence were glorious whereas christianity promoted love and forgiveness
- Nazis hated the weak and vulnerable whereas christians encouraged helping the weak and vulnerable
- the Nazis believed some races were superior to others but christina’s believe all people are equal
- Hitler was a God-like figure for the Nazis but christian’s believe in God and worship him only
Why did some Christians support the Nazis?
- the Nazis believed in the importance of marriage, the family and moral values - most christian’s believe in the importance of these too
- Hitler had sworn to destroy communism which appealed to Christina’s as communism was anti-religious
- Hitler promised to respect the church
What was the Confessional Church?
- formed by Pastor Martin Niemöller
- Protestant church that openly criticised the Nazis
- the nazi arrested around 800 astors of the Confessional Church
- Niemöller was sent to a concentration camp and the Confessional Church was banned
What were the ‘German Christians’?
group of Protestants who admired Hitler and wanted to see their Church under Nazi control
How did Hitler’s relationship with the Catholic church breakdown?
- he signed an agreement with the Pope that the Nazis would not interfere with the Catholic Church
- Hitler soon broke this agreement by having Catholic priests harrassed and arrested and Catholic youth clubs and schools closed down
- the Pope issued a statement thats aid that the Nazis were ‘hostile to Christ and his Church’
- the Nazis continues to persecute Catholic priests
What happened to Jehovah’s Witnesses during the Nazi era and why?
- they were pacifists who refused to serve in the army
- 1/3 of Germany’s Jehovah’s witnesses were killed in concentration camps
What racial groups were persecuted by the Nazis?
- Jews
- Gypsies
- Slavs
- black people
- Indian people
What groups of people did the Nazis class as ‘undesirables’?
- people with mental and physical disabilities
- homeless people
- beggars
- alcoholics
- prostitutes
- homosexuals
- ‘problem’ families
What early policies were there against Jews?
- all Jewish shops were marked with a yellow Star of David or the word Juden. Soldiers stood outside shops turning people away
- Jewish children were forced out of German state schools and ‘Eugenics’ was introduced in schools
- the Nuremberg Laws banned marriages between Jews and non-Jews. It also removed German citizenship
- all Jewish lawyers, judges, teachers and later doctors were sacked
What was Kristallnacht?
- November 1938
- Jewish homes, synagogues and businesses were attacked all over Germany and Austria
- about 100 Jews were killed and 20,000 sent to concentration camps
How did persecution of the Jews intensify when war broke out in 1939?
- Jews were rounded up in some of the countries under Nazi occupation and forced to live in ghettos in major cities or sent to work in labour camps
- Execution squads (Einsatzgruppen) went out into the countryside and shot or gassed Jews
What was the Wannsee Conference and what was decided at it?
- 1942
- Nazi leaders planned what they called ‘a final solution to the Jewish question’
- they decided on the mass murder of every Jew in Nazi-controlled territory
In what ways did some Jews resist the Nazis?
- they formed resistance groups
- attacked German soliders
- blew up railway lines that the German were using
- there was resistance in some ghettos - the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 which lasted 43 days
- there were occasional rebellions in death camps
