Nazi Opposition Groups

Vocabulary terms related to the various groups and factors involved in the opposition to the Nazi regime in Germany.

Enabling Law

The legislation that effectively crushed political opposition in Nazi Germany.

Edelweiss Pirates

Groups of working-class boys and girls aged 14–18 who formed gangs hostile to the Nazis, spread anti-Nazi propaganda, and sabotaged the war effort.

Cologne Execution (1944)

An event where 14 members of the Edelweiss Pirates were publicly hanged by the SS.

Swing Kids

A youth group that listened to banned American Jazz and swing music, accepted Jews, and sought to break free from Nazi youth organisations.

The White Rose

An opposition movement started by students at Munich University who distributed thousands of anti-Nazi leaflets on their campus.

Hans and Sophie Scholl

Munich University students and members of the White Rose who were reported to the Gestapo by a janitor and beheaded for their resistance activities.

Christoph Probst

A member of the White Rose opposition group depicted in memorials alongside Hans and Sophie Scholl.

The Jewish Underground

Resistance groups in Nazi-occupied Europe that smuggled food into camps and aided escapes into forests near death camps.

Warsaw Ghetto uprising (1943)

A Jewish resistance uprising that was crushed by the SS after brutal fighting.

Gestapo

The Nazi secret police who maintained files on opposition groups like the Edelweiss Pirates and arrested the leaders of the White Rose.

SS

The Nazi paramilitary organization responsible for hanging Edelweiss Pirates and crushing the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.