The Impact of the Nazi Regime on Life in Germany Flashcards
Reich Chamber of Culture
focused on aligning culture with Nazi ideology
- a lot of art from the weimar years was suppressed
- weimar art was seen as ungerman and corrupted by jewish and communist influence
- modernist and abstract art styles were not acceptable
- art should be traditional and german
- book burnings became common
- strict control on theatres and elimination of works by jewish writers, directors and actors
- jazz, blues and swing music banned due to black origins
- advertising became dominated with nazi iconography
- film was popular - nazis utilised this
- modern architecture was frowned upon
Nazis and the Catholic Church
Hitler viewed christianity with contempt but was aware of the power and influence of the church
In july 1933, the Nazis signed a concordat with the Vatican
Agreed that the Nazi government would respect the rights of the Catholic Church and the Church would stay out of politics
within a few years, the nazis broke their word, closing catholic schools and persecuting any catholic clergy who spoke out against the regime
Nazis and Protestants
Nazis wanted to organise the protestants by forming the Evangelical Reich Church under Ludwig Muller. this church sought to challenge traditional theology by removing the jewish old testament from the bible. It reinterpreted christianity to align with Nazi ideology
Opponents to the reich church formed the Confessional church, and key members including Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, spoke out against the regime
overall the church did little to oppose nazism
Impact of the regime on workers
workers were crucial to the regime, without them, Autarky, rearmament and lebensraum were impossible. however the nazis did not trust workers
hitler had solved the unemployment crisis and Germany achieved full employment
labour shortages in some industries
Strength Through Joy program gave workers benefits such as cheaper holidays
Volksgemeinschaft - made workers feel like a special part of a people’s community
workers were unable to strike or form trade unions
wages remained low despite low unemployment
impact of the regime on youth
nazis realised the importance of indoctrinating the youth
first Hitler youth group was created in 1922 and recruits were taught about notions of racial purity and patriotism. this group collapsed after the failed putsch
a new Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend) was created in 1926 and by 1931 Nazi youth organisations included sub-groups for various age groups as well as the Bund Deutscher Madel of League of German Maidens for girls
the groups brought a sense of importance and social cohesion to young people
groups included much political indoctrination. they were lectured in nazi ideology
quote on education as a tool of indoctrination
“The whole function of education is to create Nazis” - Bernhard Rust, Reich Minister of Science, Education and National Culture
nazi youth groups stats and numbers
in 1933, around 2.29 million German youth were members of Nazi youth organisations, and by early 1939, 7.28 million were
membership of such groups became compulsory in 1936, however, over a million still refused
nazi impact on women
nazi ideology presented a traditional view of women and saw them as inferior to men
women became restricted to a domestic sphere and were forced out of public service and not allowed into political leadership
their primary purpose was to have as many children as possible which led to prohibitions on abortion and limited access to birth control
nazi propaganda promoted “Kinder, Kuche, Kirche” - Children, Kitchen, Church - to clarify where women should spend their time
tax reliefs and reductions in mortgages were used as incentives for women to have more children
the motherhood cross was an award given to those women who had the most children and was handed out on Hitler’s mother’s birthday
women considered racially undesirable were sterilised, and by the end of 1934 almost 28,000 women had been sterilised
intentionalist vs structuralist arguments
debate about whether it was Hitler’s long term aim to wipe out the Jewish race
intentionalists agree that it was and evidence for this viewpoint includes early nazi propaganda and mein Kampf
structuralists argue that the Holocaust was a result of the steady radicalisation of the regime, and the structure was responsible, rather than a pursuit of a long term goal. evidence for this includes the lack of direction given by hitler, rivalry between Nazi leaders and the question of what to do with the millions of Jews under Nazi control in territory occupied by German forces
impact of the regime on Jews
attacked from the start
early propaganda made them scapegoats for all of Germany’s ills
initial regulations were demeaning and made life difficult. e.g. excluded from buses, parks and swimming pools, and school students were ridiculed as their racial inferiority was explained
April 1 1933 - the Nazis called for a boycott of all Jewish businesses
by mid 1935 formal legislation passed to exclude jews from certain activities including:
- mass sackings of jews from civil service in 1933
- september 1933 - jews were denied entry into the legal system
In september 1935 the Nuremberg Laws were announced. The Reich citizenship law stated that Jews were no longer citizens, and therefore could no longer vote, join the armed forces or fly the swastika emblem. the blood protection act stated that jews could not marry or engage in sexual relations with German citizens in order to maintain the purity of german blood
Kristallnacht occurred in November 1938 and was a mass attack on the jewish community. Jews were attacked, synagogues were burned and jewish homes and shops were smashed and burned. Afterwards, thousands of Jews were taken to concentration camps and forced to pay for the damage that was caused that night
Germany had a long history of anti-semitism
impact of the regime on minorities
disabled people were targeted due to strong belief in biological degeneration and eugenics. often subject to forced sterilisation or state sanctioned euthanasia. over a quarter of a million people were killed this way
Gypsies, also called Sinta or Roma, were also classified as racially inferior and subject to Nuremberg Laws
Jehovah’s Witnesses were singled out for their failure to comply with the Nazis, including their refusal to use the Nazi salute and their failure to accept conscription
A mishchlinge was a person who had only one jewish grandparent, and they escaped the worst of Jewish persecution after 1939
Hitler viewed homosexuality as degenerate. in particular, the regime targeted gay men, and up to 15,000 were sent to concentration camps
