Studied by 3 people
Ghettos
Many Jews suffered in ghettos
Jews were crammed into “Jewish quarters” in cities with poor and crowded housing
About 4000 died per month in 1941 due to disease/starvation (e.g. typhus spread quickly)
Food was restricted so many starved and the Jews had to pay for the walls around the ghetto
Jews were then transported to concentration camps
Jews were resettled easily to concentration camps in the Final Solution
Over 250 000 Jews from Warsaw were taken to camps in eastern Poland to work/be killed
In total, 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust in concentration camps (e.g. Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen)
Death squads
They killed many eastern Europeans
Thousands came under Nazi rule when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941
They rounded up Jewish men/women/children and shot/gassed them
They killed 1.2 million Soviet citizens by 1943, burying them in mass graves
The Nazis killed other undesirables
They were used to kill other opponents in the Soviet Union to purify the population
Local communist leaders & gypsies were killed as they went against Nazi ideology
Soldiers removed valuables (like jewellery, watches and clothes) from the bodies, profiting from them
Final Solution
Jews were sent to concentration camps for forced labour
Those fit enough to work had to work all day for little food and inadequate accommodation
There were forced to work in fields or build buildings to help the war effort
They were subject to experimentation and frequent beatings
Undesirables and those unfit for work were killed
From January 1942, the Nazis decided to kill 6 million Jews at these camps
5 million gypsies, homosexuals, priests, disabled people were also killed and valuables (hair, teeth, glasses) were taken
They used propaganda to show the camps as having good conditions and so Germans were happy to help run the camps and support them
The changing role of women
Women were reluctantly encouraged to return to the workforce
More women were at work in 1929 than 1939 due to Nazi policies on being good mothers
In June 1941, Goering ordered childless women who had been in unemployment to work again
After total war was declared in 1943, all women 17-45 had to register to work and women made up 60% of the labour force by 1945
Women helped with the war effort
Total war led to a war-driven economy by 1943 and 500 000 more women were working
Many were auxiliaries in the armed forces, operating searchlights and anti-aircraft guns
Nazi propaganda encouraged women to see the Soviets as brutes who would treat them badly so were encouraged to help with the war effort
Total war
Many citizens were encouraged to work to help the war effort
Following the failed Operation Barbarossa (invasion of the Soviet Union), Goebbels told Germans they had entered total war (they were committed to victory)
Prisoners of war had to help work (7 million used as slave labour by 1944)
Men aged 16-65 and women 17-45 had to work: holidays were banned and hours were increased
Unnecessary services were shut down
Sports teams and places of entertainment were closed so more could focus on work (though cinemas remained open for propaganda)
Postal services were reduced to save fuel and a Home Guard was established (with boys aged 12)
Small businesses which weren’t essential were closed so employees could do war work
Rationing
Products were limited
From August 1939, food stamps were introduced to buy food (meat, dairy products, soap)
From November, there were clothing restrictions; people had a basic level of nutrition but it was not ideal and so many turned to the black market for supplies
Theft of stamps was serious with a punishment of going to a labour camp
There were shortages of products
Tobacco was rare and could be traded for other goods; there were shortages of toilet paper too
In 1939-40, there were shortages of coal and shoes so people were cold and discontented
In May 1942, the Government cut rations further: half a loaf of bread per person per day and just 40g of meat
Allied bombing
German morale deteriorated
The RAF bombed civilian targets like cities with large populations to destroy German morale
Between March-July 1943, 43 cities were bombed, damaging houses; 42 600 died in Hamburg
The Government used propaganda to increase morale and set up welfare organisations, but many felt the strains of war very strongly
War production decreased
From 1944, the Allies focussed on targets like railway lines, bridges, and motorways (transport)
Raids on the Ruhr valley reduced metal production by 40% (less for guns) in 1944
By destroying railway lines, war production was reduced by only 1% (although some goods didn’t make it to the front line)
Edelweiss Pirates
Many youths engaged in anti-Nazi activities
They daubed anti-Nazi graffiti on the walls, listened to forbidden music, and mixed sexes
By 1939, there were 2000 members (it started in the Rhineland) and they objected to army conscription – but they were very loosely organised
They hated members of the Hitler Youth and bullied them as they hated military training
They helped the Allies
They sheltered army deserters/escaped prisoners from camps and distributed Allied propaganda
After rationing increased, they stole food from trains alongside guns and smashed factories
Whilst they were never a serious threat to the Nazis, several young people from the Cologne Pirates were publicly hanged in 1944
White Rose Group
Leaflets were sent out to spread anti-Nazi messages
Hans and Sophie Scholl (alongside several others) in 1941 printed anti-Nazi messages, sending them to lecturers and business owners in Munich
They criticised the Nazis and promoted democracy, saying Hitler would be defeated in the war
They campaigned against the war and the persecution of the Jews, writing graffiti on walls
The Nazis made an example of the Scholls
In 1943, the leaflets were left in prominent places (e.g. Munich University), but Sophie was seen
The Gestapo tortured the Scholls who confessed to treason against the Nazis and Hitler
They were executed in private and 80 other associates were arrested too, reminding the public not to go against the Nazis
July bomb plot
The Army were seen to be dissatisfied with the war
On 20th July 1944, von Stauffenberg (a colonel) was one of several officers who believed Germany was going to be defeated and wanted to stop Hitler
He took a bomb in a briefcase to a meeting with Hitler (but Hitler survived the bomb)
The group wanted to take control of Berlin, but were unable to with Hitler still alive
Thousands of conspirators were killed or arrested
Von Stauffenberg was shot and Himmler was put in charge of rounding up the plotters
7000 people were arrested, including many senior officials, so many were anti-Hitler
Thousands of these were executed, including 19 generals and 27 colonels (showing dissatisfaction with Hitler in the senior ranks of the Army)
Hitler’s death
Morale was lost
With British forces advancing from the West and Soviets from the East, defeat seemed immanent
Nazi propaganda showed the Soviets as brutes and many were scared of the invasion
Resources ran low with continued bombing and 1 million died from hunger, disease, and cold
Germany quickly surrendered to the Allies
Germany was squeezed from both sides and couldn’t resist for much longer
More German troops died in the last 4 months of the war than in 1942-43 (they fought hard)
But Hitler committed suicide on 30th April 1945 and Germany surrendered to the Allies on 7th May 1945. The Third Reich had ended.
