The Nazi regime Flashcards
Who opposed the Nazi regime?
Religious opposition
Opposition among the young
Military opposition
Political opposition
What was the Concordat of 1933?
The Catholic Church agreed not to interfere in Nazi policies, in return for the Nazis agreeing not to interfere in religion
Who broke the Concordat of 1933?
Hitler, and the Nazis were denounced as anti-christian by the Pope
Who was Pastor Neimoller?
He spoke out against the Nazis and spent eight year in a concentration camp for forming a rival church to the Nazi Reich church
What did Bishop Galen speak out against?
Euthanasia, forced sterilisation and concentration camps
Why were members of the “Swing movement” condemned by the Nazis?
They were interested in British and American popular music and dance, including banned jazz music
They also accepted Jews into their groups
What did the Edelweiss Pirates do agains the Nazis?
They mocked the Nazis through song, attacked members of the Hitler Youth, distributed broadsheets and scrawled graffiti on walls
During the war they spread anti-nazi propaganda in 1944 took part in an attack on the Gestapo during which an officer was killed.
What happened to the Edelweiss Pirates?
12 Pirates were publicly hanged in November 1944
Who were the White Rose Group formed by?
University students in Munich
Who were the leaders of the White Rose Group?
Hans and Sophie Scholl
What happened to the leaders of the White Rose Group?
They were executed in 1943 for anti-Nazi activities
What was the “July Bomb Plot”?
In 1944 a group of senior army officers planned to assassinate Hitler. It failed and led to 5000 executions
What political opposition did Hitler have after 1933?
The Enabling Act had given hitler power to ban all political parties
Many socialists and communists fled the country
Who was the SS lead by?
Heinrich Himmler
What power did the SS have?
They were able to arrest, detain without charge, interrogate, search and confiscate property
What were the SS responsible for?
Running the concentration camps
Implementing Nazi racial policies including the Final Solution
Who the Gestapo under the general control of?
The SS
What did the Gestapo do?
They spied on Germans by tapping telephones, intercepting mail and accessing information through a network of informers which made it unsafe for anyone to express anti-Nazi views
Who was sent to concentration camps?
The enemies of the Nazis
Gypsies
Beggars
Tramps
What were the concentration camps used for in the Final Solution?
The extermination of the Jewish population
How did the courts and judges help to get rid of Nazi opposition?
Judges had to take an oath of loyalty to Hitler
Jewish judges and lawyers were sacked
Capital offences were increased - Telling anti-Nazi jokes and listening to a foreign radio station was punishable by the death sentence
Who was the minister for propaganda?
Josef Goebbels
How did the Nazis use media to control the people?
All newspapers were under Nazi control
Stories favourable to the Nazis were only allowed
Nazi flags and posters were everywhere
Took over film industry, ensuring that what was presented reflected Nazi ideals and values
What was radio used to control the people?
All radio stations were brought under nazi control
Cheap radios were made available, which were unable to receive foreign broadcasts
Radios were installed in cafes, bars and factories, while loudspeakers were positioned in the streets so that important announcement and hItler’s speeches could be heard by everyone
What rallies were organised?
Mass rallies which included marches, torchlit processions, speeches and pageantry were organised
What were the Nuremberg rallies?
This was an annual rally that emphasised power, control and order
They also brought colour and excitement into people’s lives
At these rallies people could hear the extraordinary speaking abilities of Hitler
How did the Nazis use culture to control people?
All areas of culture were Nazified
This made it impossible to hear and read non-Nazi views
Literature, art and theatre were affected
Public book burning occurred to destroy unacceptable views and the work of Jews
How did Goebbels use the 1936 Berlin Olympics?
Advertised the achievements of the Nazis including the superiority of the Aryan race
The Germans topped the medals table, however the black American Jesse Owens was the star athlete
Who was the superior race in Hitler’s eyes, and superior in terms of what?
The Aryan race; they were the master race, superior in terms of intelligence, physique and work ethic
Why did the Nazis persecute many groups in German society?
Because of Hitler’s belief that the Aryan race is superior, and that he believed that to preserve the purity of the Aryan race, it was essential to maintain its separateness
What did the Nazis blame the Jews for?
- Losing the first world war
- The signing of the TOV
What were the Jews banned from in 1933?
The professions and government employment
What happened to Jewish shops?
They were boycotted
Those who shopped in them were intimidated
“Jews not wanted” signs were displayed in cafés and public places
What did the 1935 Nuremberg laws do to Jews?
They removed Germans citizenship from Jews and forbade marriage between Jews and non-Jews
When was Kristillnacht?
November 1938
Why was Kristillnacht organised?
As a reprisal for the shooting of a German diplomat by a Jew
What happened in Kristallnacht?
Nazi mobs attacked and burnt Jewish shops, homes, businesses and synagogues
Over 100 Jews were murdered
What were Jews forbidden from after Kristillnacht?
Jews were forbidden to attend German schools and banned from theatres and concert halls
How were other groups who were thought to inferior persecuted by the Nazis?
Gypsies violated the radical and efficiency requirements and were sent to concentration camps
Other undesirable groups suffered the same fate
What happened to the mentally ill following the Sterilisation Law of 1933?
They were compulsorily sterilised
In 1939, the mentally ill were killed in euthanasia programmes
What happens in a totalitarian state?
The government controls all aspects of public and private life through propaganda and terror
This includes the political system, the economy, and social, cultural and religious activities
Was Nazi Germany a totalitarian state? - Political system
Nazi Germany was a one-party state with a charismatic leader
Political opponents posed no threat
Virtually all aspects of political life in Germany were controlled
Was Nazi Germany a totalitarian state? - Economy
Overall, Nazi control was far from complete as the economy was largely in the hands of private enterprise which enjoyed a measure of independence
Was Nazi Germany a totalitarian state? - Society
Nazi control over German society was extensive but not complete
A significant minority of teenagers rebelled against conformity
Was Nazi Germany a totalitarian state? - Mass media an culture
In this aspect, Nazi control was more or less complete through the use of censorship
Was Nazi Germany a totalitarian state? - Religion
The Nazis never managed to control the Catholic church
Attempts to form the Reich Church were not successful
Was Nazi Germany a totalitarian state? - Government machinery
Nazi government was defined by power struggles, inefficiency, inconsistency and improvisation
Hitler used “divide and rule” to protect his position and prevent alliances rising agains thim
What happened in schools under the Nazi regime?
- Schools in Germany were controlled by the Nazi ministry of Education
- Teachers had to take an oath of loyalty to Hitler and join the Nazi Teachers’ League
- Jewish teacher were sacked
- All schools were to give a uniform message
- The curriculum was changed to ensure that Nazi ideas and racial beliefs were reflected in the teaching of subjects like biology, history and mathematics
- Religious education was scrapped
- Emphasis was placed on sport and physical education
- Girls were taught “home making” skills
When was the Hitler Youth founded, and when was it made compulsory?
Founded in 1926
Compulsory in 1936
Other youth groups were banned
What were children indoctrinated by in the youth group?
With Nazi ideas, learning about the evils of the jews and the injustice of the peace settlement
How was the Hitler Youth separated?
Between boys and girls and for different age groups
What were the boys taught in the Hitler Youth?
They were given basic military training and discipline including drill, camp-craft, map reading and looking after a rifle
Running, hiking and tracking enhanced physical fitness
What were the girls taught in the Hitler Youth?
They were prepared for motherhood, learning domestic skills such as cooking, sewing and managing the household budget
What did the Nazis believe was the role of women?
Wives and mothers
Why was the belief of the role of women the way it was?
The belief was partly because it gave stability
More importantly it provided the best prospect of raising the birth rate
Why did the Nazis want an increase in birth rates?
To provide men to fight for the military and to occupy defeated countries
What measures were introduce to encourage marriage and childbearing?
Loans, awards and family allowance welfare benefits
Why did women go back to work after 1937?
Women were needed to work in the armaments factories as demand could not be met from the pool of unemployed men
How did Nazi rule help the German economy?
- By 1938 there was almost no unemployment
- Introduced public work schemes, building autobahns, schools, hospitals and houses
- Rearmament created jobs as did the introduction of conscription to the armed forces
- Increased opportunities came from an attempt at introducing self-sufficiency to reduce the need for imports of raw materials and food
What impact did the Nazis have on workers’ rights and conditions?
- Workers had to join the Nazi Labour Front
- Wages were low while working hours increased
- The availability of consumer goods was limite
- The “Beauty of Labour” movement improved working conditions by introducing washing facilities and low-cost canteens
What were some of the free time activities the Nazis offered?
- Schemes such as “Strength Through Joy” gave workers cheap theatre and cinema tickets
- Workers were offered cut price cruises on the latest luxury liners
- Workers saved in a state scheme to buy a Volkswagen Beetle, although no worker ever received a car
When did food and clothes rationing begin?
Food rationing began in September 1939, clothes rationing followed in November
Where did Germany direct all its recourses in 1944?
In a “Total War”
What was the Final Solution?
A Nazi plan for the extermination of the Jews during World War 2
How many Jews were the SS responsible for shooting?
800,000 Jews
When was the Wansee Conference?
January 1942
What was decided at the Wansee conference?
The elimination of all European Jews
Captured Jews were taken to remote extermination camps in Poland
The death camps were equipped with gas chambers and crematoria
How many Jews were killed in the Holocaust?
6 million Jews, through gassing, shooting, working to death and starvation
