Frontsheet 6 Flashcards

Question

Labour shortages USSR counterattack

Answer 1

Brought labour shortages to a head threatened supply of vital materials Gauleiters tried to keep labourers in own areas frustrated Fritz Todt's attempts to take labour away from civilian work Stalingrad defeat led to more drastic measures Jan 13 1943 Decree for the Comprehensive Deployment of Men and Women for Reich Defence Tasks ↳All men 16-65 & women 17-45 had to register to work - goes against ideology ↳Non-essential businesses closed & workers transferred ↳Identify all remaining men for military service

Answer 2

June 1940 - Spring 1942 guest workers (voluntary) recruited from Western Europe Oct 1941 Hitler agreed Russia PoW used as slave labour March 1942 Hitler established Plenipotentiary General for Labour Allocation led by Fritz Sauckel - organised foreign labour 1942-45 Sauckel forced transfer of 2.8M workers from East By 1944 7M foreign workers in Germany & 7M working in other countries All large companies used foreign labour eg. IG Farben By 1944 est. 1/4 labour force foreign labourers

Answer 3

Guest workers from Europe same wage/living conditions as German workers Eastern Europeans low wage (approx. half) harsh icing conditions severe discipline PoW/[camp] inmates used as slave labour not paid lived on starvation rations eg. Mittelbau Dora

Answer 4

Edelweiss Pirates mainly active in Rhineland/Ruhr regions 14-18 yr olds Anti-HJ & rejected its militaristic culture tried to avoid conscription 1944 linked to underground groups helped army deserters/escaped PoW/[camp] inmates Obtained supplies by attacking military depots caused chaos w/ bombing/destruction Group crushed many arrested & sent to labour camps Leaders arrested 1944 leaders of Cologne Group publicly hanged

Answer 5

'Swing' youth groups less political - wanted to have good time ↳listened to American jazz/wore English style clothes ↳operated in major cities ↳listening to 'negro music' as defined by Nazis put them in opposition to regime ↳regime wanted leaders sent [camp] for 2-3 yrs 'White rose' group based in Munich more political ↳led by Hans & Sophie Scholl ↳influenced by Catholic theology ↳promoted individual freedom/personal responsibility of mortality ↳attacked treatment Jews/minorities ↳distributed pamphlets 1942-43 ↳1943 became bolder - painted slogans eg. 'Hitler: Mass Murderer' on buildings ↳leaders caught by Gestapo & executed

Answer 6

Individual churchmen raised concern Bishop Galen condemned euthanasia programme in sermon 1940 led to temporary halt Archbishop Frings of Cologne spoke out against killing of PoW Galen not persecuted but many who spoke out were

Answer 7

Protestant Confessional Church of Prussia only Christian body to publicly protest treatment of Jews Dietrich Bonhoeffer outspoken critic of regime called for wider resistance banned from publicly speaking 1940 ∴speeches not reach wider audience arrested by Gestapo 1943 & executed 1945

Answer 8

Weakened by Gestapo 1930s 1939 Nazi-Soviet pact undermined resistance as KPD struggle to justify this agreement Invasion of USSR galvanised opposition KPD had 89 underground cells operating in Berlin & others in Hamburg/elsewhere Gestapo destroyed 22 Berlin cells destroyed by 1943 Spread ideas though leafleting Movement lost momentum & had no realistic chance of gaining support

Answer 9

Kreisau was home of Count von Moltke Prussian Junker 1940 formed secret group inc. lawyers/SPD politicians/churchmen (inc. Bonhoeffer) All believed in personal freedom & individual responsibility Did not believe in violent resistance Held 3 meetings 1942-43 before broken up by Gestapo Von Moltke arrested by Gestapo Jan 1944 & executed Jan 1945

Answer 10

Gen. Beck & 2 others involved in plot against Hitler 1938 ↳Discussed acts against regime & trying to persuade senior gen. to arrest Hitler ↳had links to Bonhoeffer of Kreisau Circle ↳contacted British gov hoping for commitment to negotiate peace if Hitler removed ↳no efforts worked ↳by 1943 group decided only alternative assassination

Answer 11

Bomb placed on Hitler's plane Mar 1943 failed to explode plot not discovered but arrest of Bonhoeffer/members Kreisau Apr 1943 warning Gestapo getting close 1943 conspiracy joined by Col. von Stauffenberg bomb planted in Hitler's East Prussian HQ July 1944 known as July Bomb Plot Exploded - Hitler escape w/ minor injuries Plans made for military coup codenamed Operation Valkyrie planned take over Berlin after assassination if successful - establish provisional gov then try negotiating for peace coup not materialise ↳confusion among conspirators failed to seize control of radio stations ↳Hitler broadcasted to prove still alive Himmler placed in control rounding up conspirators 7000 arrested & 5746 executed army virtually placed under SS control Plots gained little popular support plotters vilified as traitors Beck committed suicide Stauffenberg shot

Answer 12

Jan 1942 15 high ranking officials from Nazi party attended Hitler & Himmler not attend Heydrich led conference

Answer 13

Heydrich received orders from Goering to organise preparations for a 'final solution' to 'Jewish problem' ↳some believe Heydrich acting on unofficial orders from Hitler Heydrich told ultimate aim to exterminate 11M European Jews All European Jews brought to Poland those fit enough would work & other would be exterminated

Answer 14

Heydrich convened to inform & secure support from gov ministers Discussed implementation of policy already decided Eichmann became responsible for planning & implementing 'final solution' Zyklon B (provided by IG Farben) used for mass killing Operation largely kept secret Turning point institutional planned approach to mass extermination

Answer 15

6 camps purpose built Auschwitz (largest - capacity kill 20,000 a day) Treblinka Chelmno Belzec Sobibor Majdanek Other camps adapted eg. Bergen-Belsen & Buchenwald 1942 all had railway platforms/gas chambers/adjacent crematoria except Chelmno ↳killing done via mobile vans

Answer 16

Goebbels intensified propaganda war against Jews after each defeat

Answer 17

Think they'll lose war so want to finish ideology plan? Convinced their right to stop would be admission they're wrong? By summer 1944 clearly faced inevitable defeat escalated 'final solution' rather than abandon Only in Nov 1944 attempted to destroy evidence of crematoria at Auschwitz soviet troops advanced into Poland 1942-44 over 2.5M Jews died in Auschwitz

Answer 18

From autumn 1944 regime carried out frantic evacuation Some camps shut down & prisoners forced to march long distances westward Hundreds died of malnutrition/illness/effect of cold weather Many shot by guards Estimated 250,000 - 400,000 died on marches

Answer 19

Jan 1945 Soviet forces liberated Auschwitz following months American troops liberated Dachau & Buchenwald By May 1945 Hitler was dead Germany had surrendered Full horrors revealed Over 6M Jews killed total Over 7M non-Jews killed