6. Life in Nazi Germany 1933 - 39

What was the Nazi view on how women should look?

Modest, no make-up, wear long skirts and flat heels.

Define the three K's in Nazi Germany.

Kinder (children).

Kirche (church).

Küche (cooking).

Women were expected to only focus on the three K's.

True or False? Women's organisations that did not join the German Women's Enterprise (DFW) were banned.

True.

All had to join, members enrolled in courses about childcare, cooking and sewing.

Who was Gertrud Scholtz-Klink?

Appointed leader of the National Socialist Women's League. Women's wing of the Nazi Party. She oversaw all policies related to women.

When was the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage passed?

1933. Gave loans to women if they were married and did not have a job.

Define the Lebensborn Programme.

Created by SS leader Heinrich Himmler. Aimed at pairing SS men with single women to produce 'genetically pure' children.

True or False? A woman who had seven children would receive the Gold Mother's Cross.

False.

Eight or more children to receive the Gold Mother's Cross. Were saluted in public by the Hitler Youth.

What year were women banned from becoming lawyers, judges and taking part in jury service in Nazi Germany?

1936.

What were the Nazi laws that encouraged divorce?

Granted if a spouse refused or was unable to have children, had a hidden hereditary illness or mental disorder, or if they were Jewish.

What evidence suggests that the Nazi laws on divorce were successful?

Number of divorces increased.

Why did the Nazi policies on women's employment only have short-term success?

Second World War. ~2.4 million women returned to work by the start of the conflict.

Did Hitler increase or decrease unemployment in Germany?

Decrease.

By 1939, to around half a million people.

Define invisible unemployment that made unemployment data unreliable.

Excluded women, Jews and minorities and prisoners in concentration camps. Members in armed forces were counted as employed (by rearmament).

Define National Labour Service (RAD).

Est. 1933, provide paid work for the unemployed.

What did the RAD provide the unemployed with?

Public jobs like repairing roads and planting trees. Later compulsory for unemployed young men to join.

By 1935, how many people were employed in the Autobahn (motorway) project?

25,000 men had been employed to build the Autobahn. Around 3,500 km had been completed by 1938.

How did rearmament help to reduce unemployment?

Created additional jobs in the armed forces and factories. By 1939, ~1.4 million men in the German armed forces.

Why did an increase in wages in Nazi Germany not positively impact unskilled workers?

Food prices also rose, they struggled to pay the increased food prices and were worse off in Nazi Germany.

Did the Nazis increase or decrease working hours?

Increase.

43 hours in 1933 to 49 hours in 1939 on average.

True or False? The Labour Front (DAF) was created to support and strengthen trade unions.

False. Replaced trade unions.

What rights did workers lose?

Lost rights:

• to strike.

• negotiate pay.

• reduce their working hours.

Define Strength Through Joy (KdF).

Programme aimed at making work more enjoyable for workers.

What did the KdF provide?

Provided:

• affordable leisure activities.

• trips and holidays to workers.

• scheme to purchase a Volkswagen.

What was a significant disadvantage to the Beauty of Labour (SdA) programme?

Many workers were expected to build and decorate the new facilities themselves, no extra pay or time off for doing this.

Define the term eugenics.

Pseudoscience that aimed to improve the genetic quality of a human population.

What did Nazis believe about race?

Racial hierarchy with Aryans as superior to all other races.

Define the term Untermenschen.

Means "sub-humans". Races of Eastern Europe like Slavs were seen as Untermenschen. (Jews were seen as worse, as a "counter-race", Gegenrasse.)

How were disabled people treated in Nazi Germany in 1933?

Treated poorly in 1933. Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring - compulsory for people with varying disabilities to be sterilised.

True or False? To 'clean up' Berlin before the 1934 Nuremberg Rally, Roma in Berlin were arrested and moved to the Berlin-Marzahn concentration camp.

False.

Roma were moved out of Berlin before the 1936 Olympics. Roma were believed to not have worked enough or contributed enough taxes.

Define the term Anti-Semitism.

Hostility to, or prejudice against Jewish people.

What happened to Jewish people in Nazi Germany in April 1933?

Jewish civil servants and teachers were sacked.

Name three ways that the Reich Law on Citizenship (a part of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935) impacted Jewish people.

Three ways:

• Forcing them to wear the Star of David

• Removing their German citizenship

• Losing their right to travel outside of Germany and to vote

When did 'Kristallnacht' (Night of Broken Glass) happen?

November 1938. Jewish shops, homes and synagogues were attacked.

Did German people speak out or do nothing about Jewish persecution in Nazi Germany?

Do nothing. Many were horrified at the acts of discrimination towards Jewish people, but were too scared of SS and Gestapo to help.