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chapter 5
By 1942, what did the Nazi policy of persecution of Jews change to?
Genocide
What happened in WW2?
- Germany took control of much of Europe, only Britain and Soviet Union prevented total domination.
- By this time there were fewer than 200,000 Jews in Germany.
- But as new territory was occupied, millions more Jews came under Nazi control.
But as new territory was occupied, millions more Jews came under Nazi control.
What year did Germany occupy Poland?
How many Jews were there in Poland?
3 million.
What was ghettoisation?
- All the Jews were forced to move to ghettos in Poland.
- Germans called these 'Jewish Quarters'.
What was the standard of living like in the ghettos?
- Jews were crammed into poor housing.
- Food was restricted and starvation was common.
- Very overcrowded and many diseases spread.
- In Warsaw, the Jewish ghetto was surrounded by a 3.5 metre high wall, topped with barbed wire and broken glass.
- The wall was built by a German company but the local Jewish community was forced to pay for the construction.
How many Jews died each month from disease and starvation between January 1941 and July 1942?
4,000
What date did the Germans invade the Soviet Union?
June 1941
What were the death squads (Einsatzgruppen)?
- They followed the German army in the invasion and had special orders to put Jews to death.
- They rounded up Jewish men, women and children (as well as Communist Party leaders and gypsies) and confiscated any valuables they owned.
- The victims were forced to remove their clothing and march to fields or forests on the outskirts of towns.
- Here the Jews were shot or gassed and their bodies thrown into mass graves.
How many civilians in the Soviet Union were murdered by the Death Squad (Einsatzgruppen) in 1943?
1.2 million civilians
What plan did the Nazis come up with in July 1941 for the Jewish problem?
The 'Final Solution'.
Where were the concentration camps built?
Eastern Poland
What did the Nazis decide in a conference in Berlin in January 1942?
Some of these concentration camps would be converted into extermination camps.
How many Jews were killed in the Holocaust?
6 million
How many non-Jews were killed in the Holocaust?
5 million
When the Jews were sent to camps, they were divided into two groups, what were they?
- People who were fit enough to work were given jobs to do until they were too weak to perform them. Or some were forced to take part in medical experiments.
- People who were not fit enough to take part in work were killed.
What method did the Nazis use to kill many of the people?
- Huge showers were built and up to 2,000 Jews at a time were sent into these showers supposedly for 'delousing'.
- Poison gas was then released into the chambers.
- After all the victims were dead, other prisoners removed the bodies.
- The bodies were then transported to huge ovens to be burned.
How did the Nazis keep the concentration camp torture a secret?
- Propaganda films were made showing that resettlement camps were no more than labour camps.
- The videos showed that the people were treated well and lived in good conditions.
- Stopped the Germans reacting badly.
- Also meant that Jewish people were willing to help organise the resettlement of fellow Jews.
What happened in April 1943?
- There was an uprising in the Warsaw ghetto against transportation to the camps.
- After a month of fighting, 56,000 Jews were arrested.
- 7,000 of them shot and the rest sent to the camps.
What happened to Hoess (the commandant of Auschwitz camp) in 1947?
He was hanged for war crimes.
What countries did Germany conquer in September 1939?
Poland
What countries did Germany conquer in April 1940?
Denmark and Norway.
What countries did Germany conquer in May 1940?
France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.
What countries did Germany conquer in April 1941?
Yugoslavia and Greece.
How did the evacuation of children start in Germany during the war?
- Children were moved away from major centres of population, such as Berlin.
- They were sent to rural areas such as Bavaria.
- About 2.5 million German children were evacuated into rural areas as part of the KLV programme.
- The children were placed in one of 9,000 camps supervised by Hitler Youth leaders and teachers.
When did the first rationing begin in Germany and what was rationed?
The first rationing began in August 1939 and included bread, meat, dairy products and soap.
How did food stamps work?
- Food stamps were issued to civilians and the appropriate number of stamps had to be handed over when food was bought
- Theft of stamps was a criminal offence.
When did the government make further cuts to rations?
- May 1942
- Bread was restricted to about half a loaf per person per day, and meat to just 40 grams per day.
What did Hitler launch in June 1941?
- Operation Barbarossa.
- The invasion of the Soviet Union.
What happened in Operation Barbarossa?
- At first the Germans launched rapidly and by November they were threatening Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev.
- But in late November, the temperatures dropped and the soldiers were short of both winter equipment and supplies.
- The soviet forces had adopted a scorched earth policy which ,want they destroyed crops and resources that may have been helpful to the Germans.
- Over 2 million German soldiers died in the battle.
What did Goebbels tell the German people in February 1943?
- They were now involved in 'total war'.
- So all of Germany's resources and all of its people had to be fully committed to fighting for victory.
What was one of the problems Germany had fighting the war?
Labour shortages for factory work.
What measures were put in to tackle the problem of labour shortages in factories?
- In 1941, Hitler announced the Russian prisoners of war could be transported to Germany to act as slave labour.
- By 1944, over 7 million prisoners were working for German industry.
- From January 1943, all men aged 16-65 and all women aged 17-45 had to register as available for work.
- Small businesses were closed.
- In August 1944, a ban on holidays for workers was introduced and the working week increased to 60 hours.
- By 1943, Hitler had to allow women to help the war effort.
What other things in Germany were shut down to help fight Germany's 'total war'?
- Professional sports teams.
- Places of entertainment.
- Postal services reduced to save fuel.
What date did the British RAF start bombing attacks on German cities?
August 1940
Between March and July 1943, how many German cities were bombed?
43
How many people died in the Hamburg bombing raids in summer 1943?
42,600 German civilians and 1 million others had to flee the city.
From 1944, what areas did the Allies start to target with their bombing?
- Railway lines.
- Bridges.
- Motorways.
- Ruhr valley (reducing metal production by around 40%)
By the end of the war, women made up what percent of Germany's labour force?
60%
What role did women play in the armed forces?
- They operated searchlights and anti-aircraft guns.
- Worked as nurses.
What happened to many German women during the war?
- many were killed in air raids.
- many were made homeless.
- many were forced to leave their homes to move to safer areas.
As the war came to an end why did the German women live in fear?
- The Soviet army was nearing Germany.
- Propaganda had led Germans to believe the Soviets would treat women brutally.
- Soviet soldiers did rape millions of German women in East Prussia and Berlin and tens of thousands of women died from the attacks.
What party was the main opposition to the Nazis during the war?
- German communist party.
- Following the invasion of the Soviet Union, the party stepped up its secret campaigning against the government and set up more than 100 underground cells across Germany.
- But the Gestapo managed to shut the party down.
What was the opposition like from churches during the war?
- Roman Catholic Church supported the invasion of the Soviet Union.
- But, individual priests spoke out against the Nazis policies towards those with mental or physical disabilities.
- Members of the Protestants Church read a statement in 1943 criticising the treatment of Jews.
What group was made to oppose the Nazi regime?
Kreisau Circle.
What did the Kreisau Circle do and what happened to it?
- They met a number of Tim's in 1942/3 to discuss how to oppose Nazism.
- The group was made up of German nobility, lawyers and politicians that did not like the way Nazism crushed personal freedoms.
- The Gestapo broke up the group.
Was there an increase in Nazi opposition as the war went on? And what did the people do to show this?
- Yes there was an increase.
- As the Allied advance began to reach major German cities, there was increasing sabotage of the defence measures.
- The people just wanted the war to end.
Who showed more opposition to Nazism , old or young people?
Young people.
Who were the Swing Youth?
- Generally middle-class Germans who wanted to listen to American and British 'swing' music.
- They particularly liked jazz which the Nazis did not like because of its links to black Americans.
- Many Swing Youth groups started in major German towns.
- Some of the leading members were arrested and served short sentences in concentration camps.
What date did the Edelweiss Pirate movement start?
1937 in Rhineland.
What were the main views of the Edelweiss Pirates and what did they do?
- They hated Hitler Youth and frequently bullied it's members.
- They objected to conscription and training for military service.
- Their dress and musical tastes did not follow Nazi fashion.
- They were suspected of producing anti-Nazi and anti-war graffiti.
What activities did the Edelweiss Pirates do as the war progressed?
- They gave shelter to escaped prisoners from concentration camps.
- They stole food and supplies from stores or freight trains.
- They derailed train cars full of ammunition and supplied adult resistance groups with explosives.
Who was the leader of the Edelweiss Pirates ans when was he arrested?
In 1944, Schink was executed for planning to blow up a Gestapo building in Cologne.
Who was the White Rose Group founded by?
Hans and Sophie Scholl
What were the White Rose Group's views?
Criticised the treatment of the Jews and campaigned against the continuation of the war.
What activities did the White Rose group do to show their opposition?
- In 1942-43 the group published 6 leaflets criticising the Nazis.
- They painted anti-Nazi messages on buildings in Munich.
- Eventually the Scholls were caught and executed.
What year was the July bomb plot?
1944
Did all of the German military support Hitler?
Most of them did, but some army leaders opposed his brutal methods and anti-Semitic policies.
Who lead the military opposition group?
- General Ludwig Beck, Von Stauffenberg and anti Nazi politician, Goerdeler.
- The plan was that Goerdeler would be chancellor once Hitler had been killed.
What happened on 20th July 1944?
- Von Stauffenberg took a bomb in a briefcase into a meeting at Hitler's military headquarters in East Prussia.
- He then said he had an urgent phone call so left the meeting.
- After he had left, one of the other army leaders moved his briefcase.
- Four people were killed when the bomb went off, but Hitler survived.
What happened to the people involved in the July Bomb Plot?
- Beck and Von Stauffenberg were shot.
- Goerdeler was hanged.
- Himmler was in put in charge of rounding up the plotters.
- 7,000 were arrested and almost 6,000 of them executed.
What did the German people do in October 1944?
There was an uprising in Cologne against Gestapo and Nazi officials which resulted in dozens of Germans being publicly hanged.
Was the opposition to Nazi rule a big problem?
- Despite their being 11 attempts on Hitler's life, the opposition was not a threat to their rule.
- The Nazi opposition was more in little things such as not attending work, buying on the black market and failing to report anyone seen to be opposing Nazi policies.
What happened towards the end of the war in 1945?
- Allied forces were advancing on Germany from the West and the Soviet Red Army was approaching from the East.
- The allies had increased bombing of German cities.
- More soldiers died in the last 4 months of the war than the whole of 1942 and 1943 put together.
- Huge numbers of refugees fled to cities to avoid bombing or the advancing Red Army in the East.
How many civilians died from hunger, disease or cold?
Up to a million.
How did WW2 end for Germany?
- On 28th April, Hitler married his long term girlfriend, Eva Braun.
- Two days later he shot himself and Eva took her own life.
- Hitler left control of Germany to Admiral Doenitz.
- Doenitz surrendered to the Allies on 7th May 1945.
- The Third Reich had come to an end.
