Living under Nazi rule, 1933—1945 (OCR)
I. Establishing Nazi Control (1933-1934)
Hitler's Appointment as Chancellor (January 1933):
Exploited political instability and economic crisis to gain power.
Used propaganda and promises to appeal to a wide range of Germans.
The Reichstag Fire (February 1933):
Nazis blamed Communists, using it as a pretext to suppress political opponents.
Reichstag Fire Decree: Suspended civil liberties, allowing arbitrary arrests and censorship.
The Enabling Act (March 1933):
Granted Hitler's government the power to pass laws without Reichstag approval.
Effectively established a dictatorship, dismantling Weimar democracy. (
Gleichschaltung (Coordination):
Process of Nazifying all aspects of German society.
Political Parties: Banning of all political parties except the Nazi Party.
Trade Unions: Abolished and replaced by the German Labour Front (DAF).
Civil Service and Judiciary: Purged of Jews and political opponents.
Culture and Media: Censorship and propaganda controlled by the Ministry of Propaganda under Joseph Goebbels.
II. Nazi Propaganda and Censorship
Ministry of Propaganda: Led by Joseph Goebbels, it controlled all media, arts, and information.
Aims: To indoctrinate the population with Nazi ideology, promote the "Führer myth," and demonize enemies (Jews, Communists, etc.).
Methods:
Rallies and Mass Spectacles: Nuremberg Rallies, orchestrated events to showcase Nazi power and unity.
Radio: Mass produced cheap radios ("People's Radio") to disseminate Nazi messages.
Newspapers: Strictly controlled, promoting Nazi viewpoints and suppressing dissent.
Film: Used for propaganda, glorifying Nazi ideals and demonizing enemies (e.g., Triumph of the Will, The Eternal Jew).
Posters and Leaflets: Ubiquitous in public spaces, reinforcing Nazi messages.
Censorship:
Suppression of dissenting voices and information.
Burning of books deemed "un-German" in public book burnings.
Control over arts, music, and literature to align with Nazi ideology.
III. The Police State and Terror
SS (Schutzstaffel - Protection Squad): Originally Hitler's personal bodyguard, grew into a powerful instrument of terror.
Led by Heinrich Himmler.
Controlled the police, security services, and concentration camps.
Gestapo (Secret State Police): Secret police force, used surveillance, informants, and brutality to suppress opposition.
Operated outside the law, responsible for arbitrary arrests and imprisonment without trial.
Concentration Camps: First established in 1933 for political opponents.
Dachau was one of the first major camps.
Used for imprisonment, forced labor, and eventually extermination.
Informers and Denunciation: System of encouraging citizens to report on each other, fostering fear and suspicion.
IV. Nazi Social and Cultural Policies
Youth and Education:
Hitler Youth: Nazi youth organization for boys, aimed to indoctrinate and militarize young people.
League of German Maidens (BDM): Nazi youth organization for girls, preparing them for motherhood and domestic roles.
Education System: Curriculum Nazified, textbooks rewritten to promote Nazi ideology, teachers vetted for political reliability.
Aims: To create a generation loyal to Hitler and Nazi ideology.
Role of Women:
"Kinder, Küche, Kirche" (Children, Kitchen, Church): Idealized role for women as mothers and homemakers.
Encouraged to have large families to increase the "Aryan" population.
Restrictions on women in professional jobs and higher education, although this changed somewhat during wartime.
Culture and Leisure:
"Strength Through Joy" (KdF): State-controlled leisure organization providing subsidized holidays and activities for workers.
Art and Architecture: Promoted "Aryan" art, rejecting modernism and "degenerate art."
Sports: Emphasized physical fitness and militarism.
Control over Entertainment: Ensuring all cultural activities promoted Nazi values.
V. Economic Policies
Aims:
Reduce unemployment (initially successful through public works and rearmament).
Achieve autarky (economic self-sufficiency) to reduce reliance on imports.
Rearmament: Massive military build-up to prepare for war.
Policies:
Public Works Programs: Construction of autobahns (motorways) and public buildings to create jobs.
Rearmament: Massive investment in the military industry, creating jobs but distorting the economy.
Four Year Plan (1936): Focused on autarky and preparing for war, prioritizing heavy industry and synthetic materials.
Control over Industry and Agriculture: State intervention and direction of the economy to serve Nazi goals.
Impact on Living Standards:
Initial improvements in employment and living standards for some Germans.
However, focus on rearmament led to shortages of consumer goods and rationing, especially during wartime.
Benefits disproportionately favored "Aryan" Germans, while Jews and other minorities were economically marginalized.
VI. Racial Policies and Persecution
Nazi Racial Ideology: Based on pseudoscientific theories of racial hierarchy, with "Aryans" at the top and Jews at the bottom.
Antisemitism: Central to Nazi ideology, blaming Jews for Germany's problems.
Racial Purity: Belief in the need to purify the "Aryan race" and eliminate "inferior" races.
Persecution of Jews:
Early Discrimination (1933-1938):
Boycotts of Jewish businesses.
Nuremberg Laws (1935): Deprived Jews of German citizenship, prohibited marriage and sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews.
Exclusion from professions, education, and public life.
Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) (November 1938): Organized violence against Jews, synagogues and Jewish businesses destroyed, Jews arrested and sent to concentration camps.
Escalation of Persecution (1939-1945):
Ghettos: Jews forced into segregated areas in cities, living in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions.
Einsatzgruppen (Mobile Killing Squads): Units deployed in Eastern Europe to murder Jews and other "enemies" in mass shootings.
"Final Solution": Systematic extermination of Jews in extermination camps (e.g., Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka). The Holocaust.
Persecution of Other Groups:
Roma (Gypsies): Subject to racial persecution and genocide.
Disabled People: Forced sterilization and euthanasia programs.
Homosexuals: Persecuted and imprisoned.
Black Germans: Marginalized and persecuted.
VII. Resistance and Opposition
Limited Nature of Resistance: Nazi police state and terror effectively suppressed widespread opposition.
Forms of Resistance:
Political Opposition: Underground activities by socialists, communists, and some former politicians, but largely ineffective.
Youth Groups: "Swing Kids" and "Edelweiss Pirates" engaged in cultural resistance and minor acts of defiance.
Church Opposition: Some church leaders (e.g., Martin Niemöller, Dietrich Bonhoeffer) spoke out against Nazi policies, but faced repression.
Military Resistance: Small groups within the military plotted against Hitler, culminating in the July Bomb Plot (1944), which failed.
Individual Acts of Defiance: Helping Jews, hiding resisters, spreading anti-Nazi jokes.
Reasons for Limited Resistance:
Fear of Gestapo and SS terror.
Propaganda and indoctrination effectively brainwashed many Germans.
Initial economic successes and military victories boosted Nazi popularity.
Lack of organized and unified opposition.
VIII. Impact of World War II (1939-1945)
Initial Wartime Successes: Early victories boosted morale and reinforced Nazi propaganda.
Total War: As the war turned against Germany, the regime mobilized the entire economy and society for war effort.
Increased rationing and shortages of food and consumer goods.
Women mobilized into the workforce to replace men in the military.
Intensification of propaganda and repression.
Bombing Raids: Allied bombing campaigns devastated German cities, causing massive destruction and civilian casualties.
Impact on morale, infrastructure, and living conditions.
Defeat and Collapse (1945):
As Allied forces advanced into Germany, Nazi regime crumbled.
Hitler's suicide in April 1945.
Unconditional surrender of Germany in May 1945.
End of Nazi rule and legacy of destruction and genocide.