Nazi Germany: Totalitarian Control, Propaganda, Youth, and Social Policies

Vocabulary flashcards keying in on concepts, laws, key figures, and organizations described in the lecture notes on Nazi Germany.

Totalitarian State

A system of government where the state has total control over all aspects of people's public and private lives, leaving very little opportunity for political opposition.

People's Court

A central court established by the Nazis that operated with no juries and no right of appeal, where judges were expected to strictly enforce Nazi policies.

Heinrich Himmler

The Nazi leader who brought the SS and Gestapo together under his command in 1936, having previously dismissed 60,000 SS members between 1933 and 1935 for being homosexuals, alcoholics, or morally corrupt.

SS (Schutzstaffel)

An organization that originated as Hitler's personal bodyguard, adopted black uniforms with silver badges in 1932, and was responsible for state security, political arrests, and running concentration camps.

Gestapo

The Nazi secret state police force that grew to around 30,000 officers by 1942, held powers to search homes without a warrant, and relied on voluntary informers for at least half of its investigations.

Law on Malicious Gossip

A Nazi law that made it a criminal offense to express opposition to the regime, including telling jokes about Adolf Hitler.

Joseph Goebbels

The Minister of Propaganda and National Enlightenment appointed in 1933 to control the media, arts, culture, and sports, ensuring Nazi messages were systematically spread.

Reich Press Chamber

A professional body created by the Nazis that all newspaper owners, editors, and journalists were required to join in order to work.

Reich Radio Company

An organization established in 1934 that consolidated all German radio stations under state control and ensured manufactured radios could not pick up foreign broadcasts.

Reich Chamber of Commerce

An organization set up by Goebbels that all writers, actors, and musicians had to join; those deemed unsuitable were excluded and forbidden from working.

Degenerate Art

The term used by Hitler and the Nazis to describe modern art from the Weimar period, which they claimed damaged Germany and weakened Nazism.

Jesse Owens

An African American athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, disrupting Hitler's plan to demonstrate Aryan racial supremacy.

Race Studies

A mandatory subject introduced into the Nazi school curriculum to teach children that Aryans were superior and that Jews were the lowest racial type.

Lebensraum

The Nazi concept of 'living space' needed by the German nation, which was taught to children as part of the revised geography curriculum.

Nazi Teachers Association

A professional organization that teachers were required to join under threat of job loss, where they were trained in camps on how to pass Nazi values to students.

Hitler Youth Law

A law passed in 1936 that required all eligible young Germans to belong to Nazi youth organizations, with membership made fully compulsory by 1939.

Law for Encouragement of Marriage

A 1933 law that granted state loans to newly married young couples on the condition that the woman gave up her employment.

German Women's Enterprise

A Nazi organization established to train women in household skills, motherhood, and domestic management.

Block Leader

A local Nazi party functionary appointed to oversee a block of flats, responsible for monitoring residents and reporting any suspicious behavior or political criticism to the Gestapo.