What life was like for people living in Nazi Germany Flashcards
What were the main parts of the Nazi Police State
SS - protection squad
SD - Security service
Gestapo - Secret police
What were concentration camps used for at first
Suspected opponents of the Nazis or people in society that were not pure (Jews, gypsies and homosexuals)
How was the legal system used
To deliberately find suspected opponents of the Nazis guilty of a crime
How did the Nazis reach ‘agreement’ with the catholic church
they signed the concordat in July 1933 which promised the Nazi would not interfere with the catholic church if the catholic church accepted nazi rule
How did Hitler try to control protestant christianity
he out one nazi overall in charge of the independent protestant churches
Who was in charge of Nazi propaganda
Josef Goebbels
How did the Nazis use the press and radio
Censored storied that they didn’t want
Put Hitler’s speeches on the radio
Manufactured a cheap radio called the people’s receiver which meant everyone had access to a radio
How did the Nazis use rallies for support
they were made bigger and bigger and filmed to appear spectacular
What was the importance of the 1963 olympics for propaganda
They wanted to use they olympics to show off a strong and powerful government. They built a new olympic stadium in Berlin that could hold 110,000 spectators
how did the nazis use culture, literature and art to influence and control behaviour
The art of Otto Dix was burnt
They removed thousands of paintings from galleries
They censored and burned books that they did not agree with or what challenged the Nazis
What was the pastors emergency league
protestant leaders who did not want a Nazi put in overall control of protestant churches
what was the role of pastor martin niemoller
he opposed nazi ideas and rules, for example the ban on Jews becoming christians
his phone was bugged by the gestapo and he was sent to a concentration camp in 1938
what catholic opposition was there
increasing regret about the concordat
400 priests were sent to concentration camps
what were the limits of church opposition
lots of people stayed silent
many germans still kept going to church
what was the role of the edelweiss pirates
youth opposition who wore an edelweiss flower on their coat
they would hand around on street corners and beat up members of the hitler youth
what was they role of the swing youth
richer young people who admired american culture and would play swing music in defiance of the nazis who hated it
what was the role of thee white rose movement
the white rose group (led by siblings hans and sophie scholl) spread anti-nazi propaganda among students
what were the limits of youth opposition
the numbers were low, the different groups were not joined up and many plots and groups were found out about. hand and sophie scholl were executed
what was the nazi view on family
women should have a traditional role of raising a family and building a role
the three k’s
kinder, kuche, kirche
children, kitchen, church
what were two specific laws that were out in place that affected women
the law for the encouragement of marriage (1933)
this provided money for getting married and then no need to pay it back once a child was born
the 1938 divorce law
a woman could be divorced if she could not have a child
how were women specifically encouraged to fulfil their duties
the nazis introduced the mothers cross which was given to mothers depending on the number of children that they had
the lebensborn programme was also introduced. this provided financial aid to women who had children with members of the SS
the nazis also introduced a series of laws to remove women from the workplace
that did the nazis want for young people
they wanted young people to be brought up by germans
supporters of the nazi party
to be strong and healthy and to fight in the german armed forces - boys and to have children - girls
what were the youth groups for boys
the pompfe for 6-10 year olds
the deutsche jungvolk for 10-14 year olds
the hitler jugend for 14-18 year olds
what training did boys receive
they were taught about nazi ideas / were encouraged to report any nazi opponents / they also received military training in using weapons as well as physical training
what youth groups existed for girls
the jungmadel for 10-14 year olds
the bund deutscher madel for 14-21 year olds
what training did girls receive
they received training in domestic science and housework as well as nazi racial ideas
how did the nazis control teachers
1933 law - easy to sack teachers
all teachers had to swear an oath of loyalty to hitler
many teachers were sacked and replaced with SS guards to ensure strict discipline
how did the nazis control what children learnt in school
race studies
maths questions would be linked to war strategy
history would teach about the greatness of german past and the injustice of the treaty of versailles
why did the nazis hate unemployment
unemployment was politically dangerous for HItler because it could cause people to move away from the nazis towards the communists
hitler also believed the unemployed people were a burden on society and a waste of resources
what was the purpose of the labour service (RAD)
to give unemployment purpose by getting them to build roads and drain swaps
it was made compulsory in 1935
it was generally unpopular due to the difficult nature of the work
what was the point of the autobahn project
to build new motorways to make germany more connected and put people to work
how did rearmament reduce unemployment
it put people in the army as their job
who were the invisible unemployed
these people included people in prison, in the army, labour project and concentration camps
how did wages and hours worked go up once the nazi state was established
both the average wages of working people and the numbers of hours that they worked increased. the average working week rose from 43 hours in 1933 to 49 in 1939
what did the labour front do and not do for workers
did - it set out the rights of workers in the workplace, the maximum length of the working week and minimum pay levels
didn’t - it meant that workers had lost the right to negotiate improvements in pay, the maximum length of the working hours that is set went up by six hours per week and they punished the workers who disrupted production
what was the strength through joy
an organisation set up by the nazis to improve the condition of workers
it aimed to make work more enjoyable for workers so that they would be positive about their work and be more productive
how was strength through joy just propaganda
it ran a scheme through which workers could provide money per week which would eventually allow them to buy a new Volkswagen car
this proved to be a con and no workers ever actually got a car and did not get their money back
how did the beauty of labour affect standards of living
it campaigned to get employers to provide better facilities for workers
it gave employers tax breaks to help with creating these facilities
however workers were often expected to do the work and decorating themselves
what was the science of eugenics and racial hygiene
that science that certain races were stronger and worth more than others
what was Hitler’s view on the rank order of races
he thought that the aryan race was the master race, other races such as the slavs of eastern europe were subhuman and the worst sub-humans were gypsies and jews
he thought that these last two groups were the unworthy of life
why was anti-semitism particularly strong in germany in the 1930’s
germany had been the scapegoat for problems for hundreds of years - going back to medieval times
jews were blamed for the treaty of versailles being signed
some of the big rebel leaders against the kaiser in 1918 had been jewish
they stereotype was jews were rich and most germans were poor
how were homosexuals treated
homosexuals were faced with stronger and stronger laws against them
some were sent to concentration camps and the nazis also encouraged the voluntary castration of homosexuals
how were people with disabilities treated
the nazis passed the law for the prevention of hereditary diseased offspring in 1933 which made it compulsory for people to be sterilised if they were mentally ill, an alcoholic, deformed, epileptic, deaf or blind
they also decided by 1939 that babies with severe deformities should be killed at birth
