Life in Nazi Gemrnay 1933-39

Religion

• Nazis threatened by people’s loyalty to religion; most Germans were Christian

• Christian beliefs of equality and peace challenged Hitler’s persecution and violence

• Hitler wanted religion to comply with the state

• Set up Nazi-controlled “Reich Churches” to promote Nazi idea

Concordat

• Nazis worried Catholics would oppose Hitler; loyal to the Pope

• 1933 Concordat: Catholics allowed to worship & run schools in exchange for staying out of politics

• Hitler broke the Concordat; priests sent to concentration camps

• Schools forced to remove Christian symbols

Reich Church / Confessional Church

• Cross replaced with swastika; Bible replaced with Mein Kampf

• Increased state control over religion

• Led by pro-Nazi pastors; promoted Nazi ideology

• Tried to unify Protestant churches under Nazi control

• Supported Hitler’s policies

• Formed in response to Nazi control (~2,000 churches)

• Led by Martin Niemöller – initially voted Nazi but opposed their policies

• Niemöller sent to concentration camp; church repressed by Nazis

Edelweiss pirates

• Working-class boys; copied American fashion

• Formed late 1930s as a reaction to forced Hitler Youth membership

• Activities: Hikes to escape Nazi control, read banned books, listened to banned music, anti-Nazi graffiti

• Around 2,000 members

some publicly hanged after anti Nazi leaflets

The Swing Youth

• Mainly wealthy teenagers; copied American fashion

• Listened to jazz, watched films, smoked, drank alcohol, danced illegally

• Had money to buy records and record players

• Rebelled against strict Nazi rules and Hitler Youth

Wealthy background some sent to cc

Women

Women – Kinder, Küche, Kirche -

• Kinder (children): having and raising families

• Küche (kitchen): cooking and housework

• Kirche (church): religion and moral life

• Taught Nazi morals; be good wives & mothers

• Aryan, non-smoking, non-drinking preferred

• Encouraged not to work → 360,000 left jobs by 1934

• Law for encouragement of Marriage loans- if wife stopped working; portion repaid per child -For every child born, 25% of the loan was cancelled (written off)

• Mother’s Cross for large families; 10 children = Hitler as symbolic godfather

• Women without children risked divorce

• Sterilised if hereditary disease; Lebensborn supported “racially pure” babies with SS

• Lebensborn was a programme in Nazi Germany run by the SS (Schutzstaffel) to encourage women who were seen as “racially pure” to have children.

• It provided maternity homes and support, and aimed to increase the number of babies that fit Nazi ideas of “Aryan” racial purity under Adolf Hitler.

Hitler Youth

• Brainwashed youth to create loyal, devoted soldiers

• Founded 1926; compulsory 1936; wore military uniforms

• Activities: exercise, camping, sports competitions → built loyalty and self-worth

• Taught racial superiority and Nazi ideology

not popular- joined due to threating letters / some ignored the brainwash

League of German maidens

Female branch of Hitler Youth

• Taught domestic skills: sewing, cooking

• Sometimes went camping and hiking → new opportunities usually for boys

Education

• Teachers in Nazi Teacher Association; students reported non-compliance

• Subjects rewritten: Biology – Jews inferior; History – Jews caused WW1 loss

• PE prioritized; propaganda: say “Heil Hitler” 100×/day

• Jewish teachers sacked; university book burnings

Were the women or young better off?

• Women: Restricted to home & family; some rewards for children; limited careers/education / highly valued by society

• Grammar Schools that prepared women for university banned - girls starting higher education fell from 17000 in 1932 to 6000 in 1939

• Youth: Activities, camping, sports; indoctrinated; some freedom but highly controlled

• Youth had more opportunities and experiences; women faced more restrictions

SPD

Secret Army Oppostion

• Some opposition groups in Nazi Germany produced illegal anti-Nazi material, including leaflets/newspapers (e.g. “Red Shock Troop”), with around 3,000 copies circulated to spread resistance ideas.

• Some German army officers opposed Adolf Hitler and even considered arresting him, but plans failed because support was uncertain and fear of punishment stopped them.

• General Beck tried to get his fellow officers to arrest Hitler.

Why was their so little opposition?

• Ignorance/Censorship – Reliable information limited; foreign radio banned; many unaware of major problems

• Fear – Gestapo, SS, and concentration camps; people avoided trouble and conformed

• No legal opposition – Opposition suppressed or impossible

• Minor complaints – People focused on trivial issues, unaware of bigger problems

• Feeling powerless – Nazis seemed invincible; people believed they couldn’t act

• Propaganda – Portrayed Nazis as doing good things; boosted perception of regim

propaganda definition

Information spread in a biased or misleading way to influence people’s opinions or promote a cause.

Unemployment policies

• Unemployment seen as political threat and social burden

• Public works: large projects (e.g., 7,000 km autobahn, Olympic stadiums); pay low, long hours

• Rearmament: secret stockpiling, weapon production; 4 billion marks spent by 1933–34; created industrial jobs

• Invisible unemployment: stats excluded Jews, women, unmarried men under 25

National labour service -

• Compulsory for 6 months

• Job creation schemes

• Pay low, hours long

• Public works

Standard of living

• Strength Through Joy (KdF): Boost productivity by making workers happy; low-cost concerts, holidays, activities

• Beauty of Labour: Improve workplaces (reduce noise, canteens, swimming pools); unpopular as workers had to build them

• People’s Car (Volkswagen): Promote car ownership; weekly payments, but by 1939 no one had paid enough → funds went to rearmament

Did standard of living improve?

• Pros: More jobs, higher wages, more leisure activities, car ownership promoted

• Cons: Invisible unemployment still high, cost of food rose → wage gains cancelled, trade unions banned → fewer rights, longer hours, only high earners could afford cars

Eugencis

• Based on selective breeding to create a “master race”

• Aryans encouraged to have children together

• Those deemed genetically “unsuitable” were sterilised

How wer eminortities treated

• Hierarchy: Aryan (white Western Europeans) at top; Eastern Europeans, Black people, Gypsies, Jews considered “subhumans”

• Gypsies (~260,000): Seen as a threat; sent to camps

• People with disabilities: Sterilised under Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Diseased Offspring; babies sometimes killed; later juveniles targeted

• Jews (~1% of population): Propaganda called them “vermin”; shops boycotted; had to wear yellow star, carry ID card A; restricted by Nuremberg Laws

Why Jews were persecuted why it was allowed to happen

• Jews associated with Communism; some were successful in business → jealousy

• Used as scapegoats for Germany’s defeat in WW1 and Treaty of Versailles

• Long-standing historical distrust of Jewish people

• Nazi propaganda reinforced antisemitic ideas

• Fear of Gestapo and SS prevented people from speaking out

Nuremberg laws

• Only German blood could be citizens

• Jews were subjects → could not vote or hold certain jobs

• Jews had to wear yellow Star of David

• No marriage or sexual relations between Jews and Germans

Kristallnacht

Night of Broken Glass (Nov 1938)

• Triggered by German diplomat assassinated in Paris by a Polish Jew

• Goebbels used this to stir resentment against Jews

• Nationwide attacks on Jewish homes, shops, and synagogues

  • 100 Jews killed

  • 191 synagogues destroyed

• Planned by the government, but ordinary Germans also took part

• Jews blamed for the violence, fined 1 billion marks

• Led to deportation orders in 1939