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What was life like for different groups of people in Nazi Germany? Flashcards

1
Q

What did the Nazis believe society should look like?

A

The Nazis believed Race was crucial to a person’s destiny. Hitler and the Nazi Party wanted a pure master German Race (Aryan), destined for expansion and conquest.

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2
Q

In terms of resources, what did Hitler and the Nazis want?

A
  • State would have total control over how resources would be built up and supplied.
  • They thought this would allow little waste & maximise how Germany’s supplies could directly benefit its growth.
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3
Q

What did Hitler believe made a country strong and what kind of influence did Hitler want for Nazism to have on Germany?

A
  • Leader must command complete loyalty; had to be an unquestioning following of leader from the people- Fuhrerprinzip, seen as a way of stirring national pride in Germany.
  • Wanted Nazism to be all-consuming.
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4
Q

What did the Nazis want to do to improve the economy?

A
  • Free Germany from reparations, reducing debt burden on Germany.
  • Reduce unemployment to 0%
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5
Q

How did Hitler reinforce the influence of Nazism on Germany and its people?

A
  • Banned organisations like choirs, churches, swimming clubs, etc.
  • Freedom of speech was stopped- all conversations monitored in case of anti-Nazi talk.
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6
Q

Did Hitler think that the military was important in helping him and Nazism to dominate Germany?

A

Military organisation = crucial to Germany restoration as a world leader and for securing Lebensraum. Hitler believed only war could bring this restoration about.

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7
Q

What was Lebensraum?

A

Hitler wanted a strong Germany with living space for all German Speaking people.

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8
Q

What was a way of life that everyone had to adhere to?

A

The Nazis wanted Germans to feel strong in their pride. They wanted to abolish all ‘classes in society’.

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9
Q

Why was Hitler so interested in taking over Russia?

A

Hitler saw taking over land to the east of Germany, Russia, as Germany’s destiny.

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10
Q

Why did Hitler and the Nazis hate Jewish people?

A

The opposite to the Aryan Race was, to Hitler and the Nazis, the Jewish “Race”, from the beginning, they sought marginalisation of Jews in Germany.

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11
Q

What did the Nazis want overall in terms of people?

A

The purity and excellence of the “Volk” (people)

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12
Q

Overall, what did the Nazis expect of women?

A

Women should have a traditional role of raising a family and building a home- instead of employment- and follow Kinder, Kuche, Kirche (Children, Kitchen, Church).

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13
Q

The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage (1933)

A

Women were provided up to 1,000 marks (8 months wages) for getting married and with each birth, a quarter of the loan was wiped out (hence 4 being seen as ideal)

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14
Q

The 1938 Divorce Law

A

A woman could be divorced if she could not have a child.

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15
Q

How did the Nazis ensure that women were ‘prepared’ for their ‘ideal’ role?

A

From a young age in school, women were given specific lessons to train them for motherhood.

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16
Q

What was the name of the award given to women for having children?

A

The Mother’s Cross:

  • Bronze- 4 (4 kids was ideal)
  • Silver- 6
  • Gold- 8
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17
Q

What programme did the Nazis introduce to persuade women to have children?

A

The Lebensborn (Fountain of Life) programme was introduced to encourage women to earn money by having children with strong, Aryan, SS soldiers.

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18
Q

What lessons were taught to everyone in school?

A
  • History (focused on greatness of Germany + injustice of TOV).
  • Race Studies (focus on identifying Aryan race).
  • Geography (taught about land that was “rightfully Germany’s”)
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19
Q

What types of lessons were only taught to schoolboys?

A
  • Maths focusing on war strategy/military education
  • PE involving lots of sprinting and lifting.
  • How to report anti-Nazis.
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20
Q

What types of lessons were only taught to schoolgirls?

A
  • Domestic (Home) Science (focused on cooking and cleaning).
  • PE with focus on staying strong for motherhood.
  • Further education in Race Studies (how to identify perfect husband)
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21
Q

Outside of schools, what did girls and boys have to join?

A
  • Boys would join the Hitler Youth.

- Girls would join the League of Maidens.

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22
Q

What did the Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD) provide?

A

Workers for repairing roads and draining marshes.

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23
Q

How did the Reichsarbeitsdienst gain employees?

A

From 1935, it was made compulsory for all young men to serve in the RAD for six months.

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24
Q

What was one example of a public building scheme in Nazi Germany?

A

Autobahn building began in 1933. One of many public building schemes designed to create jobs in construction industry. Much too expensive to afford for long; jobs it created were not real.

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25
How did the Nazis expand the German military?
- Many employed in making army much bigger than before the TOV's terms - By 1939 many jobs depended on rearmament orders, in peace-time, these jobs wouldn't exist. - By 1939, over 1.3 million in armed forces, in peace-time, most of these men would need jobs.
26
How many people were involved in solely building aircraft for the military?
72,000 by 1935.
27
Who was Gertrud Scholtz-Klink?
Reich Women’s Leader from 1934 onwards: - Set out to make women servants of State - Insisted all women's orgs should amalgamate as the German Women's Enterprise - through activities of group, Nazi message for women could be easily spread.
28
Nazi ideal appearance for women
- Natural look - no makeup, no hair dye - Wear long skirts. - Perfect hairstyle: tied back hair or simple plaited hair. - Should endeavour to stay strong so hips would be strong enough to sustain lots of births.
29
Women in Employment 1933
- Banned from professional jobs- 1933 - End of 1934: ~360,000 women had given up work. - 1936- No woman could become a judge, lawyer or even do jury service. - 1937- Female grammar schools banned; no. female students in h.education= 6,000 in 1939, 17,000 in 1932.
30
Were there any women who weren't persuaded by the Nazi ideal?
Some believed that Nazi ideas made them inferior to men + harmed family & even degraded women.
31
Were there any women who disliked Gertrud Scholtz-Klink?
Some viewed her as a slave of the Nazi state that didn't represent the true spirit of womanhood.
32
Who was Bernhard Rust?
Made Education Minister in 1934, saw purpose of education to “make Nazis” and all lessons were designed with this purpose in mind.
33
How were teachers controlled in Nazi Germany?
- April 1933: teachers began being sacked - Had to swear loyalty to Hitler - Teach political education courses that set out Nazi ideas, and make it clear they supported Nazis. - Expected to begin & end each lesson “Heil Hitler” & decorate their classrooms with swastikas.
34
What was the expectation of young people outside of schools?
- Expected to attend youth groups & camps to demonstrate they were putting their duty to country ahead of private pleasures/pursuits. - Eventually, attendance was made compulsory.
35
Organisations for boys outside of school
6-10 year olds Pimpfe (Little Fellows) 10-14 year olds Deutsche Jungvolk (German Young People) 14-18 year olds Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth)
36
Organisations for girls outside of school
10-14 year olds Jungmadel (Young Maidens) | 14-21 year olds Bund Deutscher Madel BDM (League of German Maidens)
37
Activities for boys outside of school
- Character training - swearing oaths of loyalty from the age of 10 onwards. - Military training - map-reading and signalling. Endurance exercise in wintry weather. - Naval, Motor, Gliding and flying divisions of the Hitler youth.
38
What extra lessons outside of school were boys given?
- Extra lessons on the heroes of Germany | - Learning how to report parents and teachers if they were suspected of betraying the Nazis.
39
Activities for girls outside of school
- Lessons on importance of racial hygiene; they should keep German Race pure by only marrying Aryan men. - Girls were trained to cook, iron and make beds. - Athletics- to remain strong and ready for motherhood.
40
Were girls seen as inferior to boys by Hitler?
No- The Nazis believed that boys and girls were equal, but different with different strengths.
41
Why did the Nazis want to reduce the unemployment rate to 0%?
Hitler saw unemployment as danger for Nazis; it'd lead to Communist. Also, unemployment was a “waste of resources” for German society. So people were put to work no matter what.
42
How many people were employed by the Reichsarbeitsdienst?
422,000 in 1935.
43
Why was the Reichsarbeitsdienst unpopular with people?
- Organised like army - Very low rates of pay - Poor food and camps. - Some men saw the RAD as a service not real jobs - ~500,000 unemployed in labour service didn't appear in unemployment figures.
44
What was spending on public works like in 1933 compared to 1938?
- 18 billion marks in 1933 | - 38 billion marks in 1938.
45
What was spending on the military like in 1933 compared to 1939?
- 3.5 billion marks in 1933 | - 26 billion in 1939
46
Who were the "Invisible Unemployed"?
- Women and Jews - Nazis forced them to forfeit unemployment - Invisible Unemployed not shown in unemployment rates and charts.
47
How did prisons make unemployment look lower than it would in normal times?
Nazis put hundreds of thousands into prison or concentration camps.
48
Why are Nazi statistics considered unreliable?
They changed the way that unemployment statistics were calculated after 1933. E.g. from 1935, people in part-time jobs counted amongst full-timers.
49
How many people were unemployed in 1933 compared to 1939?
- 1933- 4.8 million | - 1939- 300,000
50
What replaced Trade Unions?
The German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront)
51
What were wages like?
They generally got better, but were better between 1936 and 1939 than 1933 and 1936.
52
Whose wages rose faster: the Reichsarbeitsdienst or the rearmament front?
If you worked making weapons, then your wages rose quicker than in the Labour Service.
53
Why were the wage rises considered arbitrary?
Prices of items went up as a higher earner you ended up with more money, lower earner you got more money than before, but had to spend more on more expensive food.
54
What was Strength Through Joy (Kraft durch Freude)?
Provided leisure activities for workers to keep them happy, including sports events, films and theatre shows. The most loyal workers could win holidays.
55
What did Hitler ask Porsche to do?
Design a Volkswagen car that the average German could afford. KdF encouraged workers to give 5 marks a week eventually they'd get given the car.
56
Did the workers ever see the car they'd been spending 5 marks a week for?
No- in 1938, the factory that made the car switched to making weapons, so no workers ever saw the car or got their money back!
57
What was Beauty Of Labour?
Part of KdF improved living standards. SdA gave companies opportunity to pay less tax, if they improved conditions of workers facilities e.g toilets & canteens, but workers expected to do improvements for no extra pay!
58
Eugenics
A pseudoscience from 1880s that said it was possible to breed a perfect human by selecting the “best” parents.
59
Racial Hygiene
Eugenics one step further. Nazis believed “best” parents came from Aryan Race. Schools taught Aryans should only breed with other Aryans; laws were gradually put in place that forced this.
60
Where did Hitler express his own views on race?
Mein Kampf, 1925
61
What were Hitler's own views on race?
Claimed Aryan Race were superior (Herrenvolk) and other races, e.g Slavs = sub-human. Also said Jews & gypsies = Lebensunwertes - which means unworthy of life.
62
Who were Slavs?
Europeans whose ancestors were from the east. By the 1930s, many Eastern Europeans lived in Germany.
63
How were Slavs treated?
- School children told Slavs = sub-human. - The Nazis threatened to invade Eastern Europe for more living space. - Slavs persecuted less than some minorities.
64
Why did the Nazis hate homosexuals?
Believed they had lower moral standards because of their sexuality.
65
How were homosexuals treated?
- In 1935 stronger laws against being gay which led to over 8000 gay people in prison by 1938. - 5000 homosexuals died in Concentration Camps. - Nazi laws encouraged voluntary castration of homosexuals.
66
Who were "Gypsies"?
Nazi name for the Roma people. Travelled from place to place and didn't pay many taxes. Nazis believed they posed a threat to racial purity.
67
How were the "Gypsies" treated?
- After 1933, they were often arrested & sent to concentration camps. - From 1936 they were put in seperate living areas and in 1938 banned from moving in groups. - In 1939, there was mass deportation.
68
Why did the Nazis hate disabled people?
Believed they were a burden on society and weakened racial purity.
69
How were disabled people treated?
- 1933- passed law for prevention of hereditarily diseased offspring, forcing people to be sterilised if they were mentally ill, alcoholic or deformed. - 1939- T4 programme began, ordering killing of any babies with severe mental/physical disabilities. Eventually expanded to include children up to 17 years old.
70
What did Hitler consider to be the most important thing for him to do as Chancellor?
The destruction of the Jews. He wanted to see Germany cleansed of all Jews.
71
How many Jewish people were there in Germany?
There were only 437,000 Jews in Germany, less than 1% of the population.
72
April 1933
Hitler ordered a boycott of Jewish shops and Jewish people were excluded and banned from govt. jobs.
73
September 1935
- Nuremberg laws- marriage between Jews and non-Jews banned. - Reich Citizenship Laws- Jewish people no longer considered citizens.

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