Social policies and persecution
Totalitarianism
“All within the state, none outside the state, none against the state.” – Benito Mussolini
Totalitarianism is a political system in which the state seeks to control all aspects of life — political, economic, social, cultural, and even private thought.
Under such a regime, opposition is crushed, individual freedom is limited or non-existent, and the government uses censorship, propaganda, and terror to maintain power.
In Nazi Germany, this meant that everything — from the media and education to work, religion, and family life — had to serve the interests of the Nazi state.
Hitler aimed to create a completely unified “Volksgemeinschaft” (people’s community), in which citizens existed only to strengthen and obey the regime.
Evidence of totalitarian control in Nazi Germany included:
The suppression of opposition through the Gestapo and concentration camps.
Propaganda and censorship under Joseph Goebbels.
Indoctrination of youth through education and Hitler Youth.
Persecution of minority groups to purify the German race.
The replacement of individual rights with loyalty to the Führer.
The Nazi Vision for Germany
The Nazis wanted to create a new society based on their racial and ideological principles. This vision had three main aims:
A strong Germany: Hitler wanted to rebuild Germany’s power by overturning the Treaty of Versailles, rearming the nation, and creating a self-sufficient economy capable of waging war.
An Aryan Germany: The Nazis believed the Aryan race (blonde-haired, blue-eyed northern Europeans) was superior. They sought to remove or destroy “inferior” races, such as Jews, Roma, and Slavs, to protect Aryan purity.
A People’s Community (Volksgemeinschaft): All Aryan Germans were to be united in loyalty to the Führer and the state. Class and religious divisions would be replaced by collective national identity. The Nazi slogan “Gemeinnutz geht vor Eigennutz” (“The common good before personal gain”) summed up this idea.
Nazi Social Policy: Women
During the Weimar Republic, women had gained political and social freedoms — the right to vote, access to education, and employment in professional roles.
The Nazis, however, rejected these modern ideas. They viewed women as central to their racial and population policies but confined to traditional roles of wife and mother.
Role and Expectations
Hitler saw women as the “bearers of the nation,” vital to producing the next generation of Aryans.Women were expected to follow the motto “Kinder, Küche, Kirche” (Children, Kitchen, Church).
They were discouraged from working or being politically active and encouraged to focus on motherhood and family life.
Marriage and Motherhood Policies
The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage (1933) gave newly married couples a loan of 1,000 marks, with a quarter written off for each child born.
The Mother’s Cross was awarded to women with large families — bronze for 4 children, silver for 6, and gold for 8 or more.
The Lebensborn Programme (1936) offered unmarried “racially pure” women the chance to have children fathered by SS men. During the war, it expanded to include the kidnapping of “Aryan-looking” children from occupied countries to be raised in German families.
Abortion was banned for healthy Aryan women, but encouraged for those deemed “racially inferior.”
Contraception was discouraged, and women were urged to have as many children as possible to strengthen the nation.
Employment and Education
The Nazis dismissed women from professional jobs — by 1936, 15% of female teachers and all female doctors and civil servants were fired.
The Law for the Reduction of Unemployment offered financial incentives for women to leave the workforce.
Girls’ education focused on domestic skills rather than academic subjects. In 1937, grammar school education for girls was abolished; they were banned from studying Latin, which was required for university. Female university enrolment dropped from 17,000 in 1933 to under 6,000 by 1939.
However, as war demands grew, many women were drawn back into work, particularly in industry and agriculture. By 1939, there were 2.4 million more women employed than in 1933.
Appearance and Behaviour
Women were expected to dress modestly and naturally — no makeup, dyed hair, or trousers. Smoking and drinking were frowned upon. Ideal women were strong and healthy but not thin, as slimness was believed to hinder childbirth.
While many women embraced these ideals, others felt restricted by Nazi gender roles, particularly those who had enjoyed independence in Weimar Germany.
Nazi Social Policy: Youth and Education
Hitler understood that shaping the minds of young people was key to the regime’s survival. The Nazis aimed to raise a generation that would be completely loyal to the Führer and willing to die for Germany.
Aims of Nazi Youth Policy
To indoctrinate children with Nazi values.
To prepare boys for military service and girls for motherhood.
To weaken the influence of parents, churches, and other authorities.
Education System
Schools became instruments of Nazi propaganda. Classrooms were decorated with swastikas, Nazi flags, and portraits of Hitler. Lessons began and ended with “Heil Hitler,” and textbooks were rewritten to promote Nazi beliefs.
Teachers had to join the National Socialist Teachers’ League and swear loyalty to Hitler. 97% had joined by 1936.
Teachers attended camps to be trained in Nazi ideology.
Curriculum changes:
History glorified German heroes and military victories while portraying Jews and communists as traitors.
Biology taught eugenics and racial theory, reinforcing Aryan superiority.
Geography emphasised Germany’s right to Lebensraum (living space) in Eastern Europe.
Physical Education was expanded to five hours a week to promote strength and endurance.
Religion was gradually phased out — by 1939, religious education was banned.
Girls learned domestic skills and childcare, while boys were trained in discipline, leadership, and combat readiness.
Jewish children were expelled from German schools in 1938, completing the racial segregation of education.
Youth Organisations
Outside of school, children’s lives were dominated by Nazi youth movements.
Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend) – for boys aged 14–18, founded in 1926 and led by Baldur von Schirach. It trained boys for military service through camping, marching, athletics, and weapons drills. Membership became compulsory in 1936. By 1939, 90% of German boys were members.
League of German Maidens (Bund Deutscher Mädel) – for girls aged 14–18, focused on preparing girls for motherhood and domestic life. Activities included gymnastics, community service, and instruction in health and childcare.
Both groups taught racial purity, discipline, and loyalty to Hitler.
Youths were encouraged to report parents or teachers who criticised the regime.
Resistance and Effectiveness
While many young people were successfully indoctrinated, some resisted. Groups such as the Edelweiss Pirates and Swing Youth rejected Nazi values, listening to jazz, wearing non-uniform clothing, and mocking Hitler Youth activities.
By 1939, Nazi control over youth was strong but not absolute. Most children had internalised Nazi values, but older youths often showed apathy or rebellion.
Persecution: Nazi Racial Beliefs and Aryanism
At the heart of Nazi ideology was the belief in a racial hierarchy. Hitler believed that all human history was a struggle between races for survival — a social Darwinist idea.
Racial Hierarchy
At the top: Aryans (Nordic Germans and Scandinavians), seen as intelligent, brave, and destined to rule.
Middle: Other Europeans (French, British, Italians), viewed as culturally advanced but racially diluted.
Bottom: Jews, Roma, Slavs, and Black people, considered subhuman (Untermenschen) and fit only for enslavement or extermination.
The Nazis believed that intermarriage and “racial mixing” would weaken Germany. To prevent this, strict racial laws were introduced, and propaganda constantly warned against “polluting Aryan blood.”
Persecution: Anti-Semitism and the Jews
Early Persecution (1933–1935)
Boycotts of Jewish shops, dismissal of Jewish civil servants and teachers, and the banning of Jewish books.
Jewish authors, artists, and musicians were excluded from cultural life.
Nuremberg Laws (1935)
Reich Citizenship Law – stripped Jews of citizenship, reducing them to “subjects.”
Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour – banned marriages and relationships between Jews and non-Jews.
These laws formalised racial discrimination and made Jews legally inferior.
Intensified Persecution (1938–1939)
Jews barred from professional work as doctors, lawyers, or teachers.
Required to add “Israel” or “Sara” to their names and carry passports stamped with a “J.”
Jewish businesses forcibly closed or taken over.
Jewish children banned from schools.
Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass, November 1938)
After a Jewish youth killed a German diplomat in Paris, Goebbels incited “spontaneous” anti-Jewish riots. Nazi mobs destroyed 7,500 Jewish businesses and over 250 synagogues, killing at least 91 Jews. 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Jews were fined 1 billion Reichsmarks for the damage.
By 1939, Jewish life in Germany had been destroyed. Jews were economically isolated, socially excluded, and stripped of rights, paving the way for genocide.
Persecution of Other Groups
Disabled People
The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring (1933) mandated the sterilisation of people with mental or physical disabilities, epilepsy, and chronic alcoholism. Over 400,000 people were sterilised.
The T4 Euthanasia Programme (1939–1941) expanded this policy to mass murder. Around 70,000 people were killed in gas chambers disguised as showers. Despite protests, killings continued unofficially until 1945, totalling roughly 250,000 victims.
Roma (Gypsies)
Persecuted for being “racially inferior.” Himmler’s Decree for Combating the Gypsy Plague (1938) required Roma registration. Many were sterilised or sent to concentration camps. Around 500,000 were murdered during the Holocaust.
Homosexuals
The Nazis viewed homosexuality as a threat to reproduction and racial purity. Thousands of gay men were arrested under Paragraph 175 of the penal code and sent to concentration camps, where they were forced to wear pink triangles.
Religious Minorities and Political Opponents
Jehovah’s Witnesses were imprisoned for refusing to swear allegiance to Hitler.
Political opponents, especially communists and socialists, were imprisoned or killed in early camps like Dachau (1933).
The Second World War and Its Impacts
The outbreak of war in 1939 changed life in Germany dramatically.
Hitler’s ambitions for conquest and racial purification became fully realised during the conflict, while ordinary Germans faced increasing hardship as the war dragged on.
Initial Success (1939–1941)
Germany’s early victories in Poland, France, and Western Europe brought confidence and economic gain.
Propaganda portrayed Hitler as invincible.
Rationing of food and clothing was introduced in 1939, but shortages were initially limited.
Employment remained high due to wartime production.
Turning Points (1941–1943)
The invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 opened a brutal Eastern Front.
The entry of the United States into the war in December 1941 and the defeat at Stalingrad in February 1943 marked the beginning of German decline.
Bombing campaigns by the Allies increased dramatically, and morale began to collapse.
Total War (1943–1945)
Joseph Goebbels announced “Total War” in 1943, calling on every German to devote themselves entirely to the war effort.
Civilian luxuries were banned, and factories shifted entirely to arms production.
Non-essential businesses closed, and all leisure activities were halted.
Impact on German Women and Children
As men went to fight, women were increasingly called upon to work, reversing earlier Nazi ideology.
By 1943, women aged 17–45 were required to register for work. Over 1.5 million joined the industrial labour force.
Many worked in munitions factories, agriculture, and civil defence.
Bombing raids forced women to take charge of households and care for the elderly, injured, and displaced.
Mothers struggled to feed families due to rationing and food shortages. By 1945, the average calorie intake had fallen below subsistence level.
Children were also affected by the war.
The Hitler Youth became more militarised; boys were trained for home defence, and girls in the BDM worked in hospitals and farms.
From 1943, children were evacuated from major cities to rural areas under the Kinderlandverschickung (KLV) scheme.
By 1944–45, teenage boys were drafted into the Volkssturm (People’s Militia) to defend Germany against invasion, suffering heavy losses.
Impact on German Society
The war transformed everyday life in Germany, especially after 1942 as defeats and bombing intensified.
Rationing:
Introduced in 1939; grew harsher as the war went on.
Meat, fats, and dairy were scarce, and substitutes became common.
By 1942 many relied on the black market.
Food quality declined and malnutrition spread, especially among children and the elderly.
Air Raids:
From 1942, Allied bombing caused widespread devastation in cities such as Hamburg, Dresden, and Berlin.
Around 500,000 civilians were killed and millions made homeless.
Daily life revolved around air raid sirens and shelters.
Schools, factories, and transport were often disrupted.
Refugees and Evacuation:
Millions fled from the east to escape the advancing Red Army.
Around 10–12 million Germans were displaced by 1945.
Children were evacuated from cities but often faced poor conditions and long separations from their families.
Employment and Labour:
Men left for military service, leading to labour shortages filled by women and foreign workers.
By 1943, over half of women aged 16–45 were working.
Forced labourers from occupied countries faced brutal conditions.
Working hours increased, and morale fell.
Social Consequences:
Wartime hardship broke down the sense of unity.
Wealthier Germans could access goods on the black market, while workers suffered the most.
By 1945, cities were in ruins, families scattered, and confidence in Nazi leadership destroyed.
Impact on the German Economy
At the beginning of the war, economic mobilisation was inefficient. Many resources were wasted due to rivalry between Nazi agencies.
By 1942, Albert Speer became Minister of Armaments and restructured the economy.
He introduced central planning, rationalised production, and used forced labour from occupied territories.
Armaments production tripled between 1942 and 1944 despite bombing.
However, by 1945, German cities lay in ruins, industry had collapsed, and infrastructure was destroyed.
Around 8 million foreign labourers and concentration camp inmates were forced to work in German factories — conditions were brutal, with many dying from starvation and exhaustion.
By the end of the war, the economy had completely disintegrated. The currency collapsed, and barter replaced money in many areas.
Escalation of Persecution during the War
War radicalised Nazi racial policy. With conquest came millions of new victims — Jews, Poles, Soviet prisoners, and others — all subjected to extermination or enslavement.
Einsatzgruppen (1941 onwards)
Mobile killing squads followed the army into the USSR, massacring Jews, Roma, and communists.
By the end of 1942, over 1.2 million people had been murdered.
Ghettos and Concentration Camps
In occupied Poland, Jews were forced into ghettos such as Warsaw and Lodz, where starvation and disease killed hundreds of thousands.
Final Solution (1942)
At the Wannsee Conference, Reinhard Heydrich and other senior Nazis planned the industrial extermination of Europe’s Jews.
Death camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, and Sobibor were established, using gas chambers to kill on a mass scale.
By 1945, around 6 million Jews had been murdered in the Holocaust, along with millions of others, including Roma, Poles, Soviet POWs, disabled people, and political prisoners.
The camps were liberated in 1945 by Allied forces, revealing the full horror of Nazi crimes.
Timeline Summary
1933: Hitler becomes Chancellor; boycott of Jewish businesses; sterilisation law introduced.
1935: Nuremberg Laws legalise racial discrimination.
1936: Lebensborn Programme begins.
1938: Kristallnacht; intensified anti-Jewish measures.
1939: War begins; ghettos established; T4 Euthanasia Programme launched.
1941: Invasion of the USSR; Einsatzgruppen begin mass killings.
1942: Wannsee Conference; Final Solution implemented.
1943: Defeat at Stalingrad; Goebbels declares Total War; women mobilised for labour.
1944: Allied bombing devastates German cities; July Bomb Plot fails.
1945: Collapse of Nazi Germany; liberation of concentration camps; revelation of the Holocaust.