Germany and the occupied territories during the second world war Flashcards
(5) why were jews persecuted?
- used as scapegoats
- associated with communism (Karl Marx was Jewish)
- suspicious of a different religion
- jealous of their success as many profitable business men were Jewish- stereotyped as rich and greedy
- blamed for t o v and defeat of ww1 as some politicians involved had been Jewish
- ideas about Aryan superiority and the purification of the German race
what was the reasoning behind nazi racial policies?
Hitler and the Nazis had firm views on race. They believed that certain groups were inferior and were a threat to the purity of the Aryan race. There were many groups who were targeted for persecution, including Slavs (Eastern Europeans), gypsies, homosexuals and the disabled - but none more so than the Jews.
The Nazis’ racial philosophy taught that Aryans were the master race and that some races were ‘untermensch’ (subhuman). Many Nazi scientists at this time believed in eugenics, the idea that people with disabilities or social problems were degenerates whose genes needed to be eliminated from the human bloodline. The Nazis pursued eugenics policies vigorously.
what were the 3 Nazi’s policies of persecution?
- Sterilisation - In order to keep the Aryan race pure, many groups were prevented from reproducing. The mentally and physically disabled, including the deaf, were sterilised, as were people with hereditary diseases.
- Euthanasia - Between 1939 and 1941 over 100,000 physically and mentally disabled Germans were killed in secret, without the consent of their families. Victims were often gassed - a technique that was later used in the death camps of the Holocaust.
- Concentration camps - Homosexuals, prostitutes, Jehovah’s Witnesses, gypsies, alcoholics, pacifists, beggars, hooligans and criminals were often rounded up and sent away to camps. During World War Two 85 per cent of Germany’s gypsies died in these camps.
increasing persecution of the jews 1933-1938 (nuremberg laws etc.)
April 1933: Official one-day boycott of Jewish shops, lawyers and doctors all over Germany.
1934: Anti-Jewish propaganda increased
May 1935: Jews forbidden to join the army
September 1935: The Nuremberg Laws:
Law for Protection of German Blood and Honour- banned marriages between Jews and Germans, and forbade sexual relations outside marriage.
Reich Citizenship Law - this made Jews ‘subjects; rather than citizens i.e they lost certain rights. Such as: voting, passport ownership, being a civil servant. Had to wear identification in terms of a yellow star.
September 1937: More Jewish businesses were confiscated
April 1938: Jews had to register their property, making it easier to confiscate
June-July 1938: Jewish doctors, dentists and lawyers were forbidden to treat Germans.
increased persecution of jews 1938 -1939 (kristallnacht)
9-10 November 1938: Kristallnacht- Nazis destroyed synagogues, Jewish homes and shops. Goebbels and Hitler ordered SA and SS men to dress as civilians and commit violence as ordinary German people.
-1000s taken to concentration camps
-100 Jews killed
12 November 1938: Much of the property damaged on Kristallnacht was only rented by Jews from German owners. The Nazis fines the Jews one billion Reichsmark for the damage.
15 November 1938: Jewish students only allowed to attend Jewish schools.
12 March 1939: First mass arrests of Jews took place and nearly 30,000 Jewish men and boys were taken to concentration camps.
September 1939: the Invasion of Poland-
3 Nazi policies toward Jews - how were Jewish lives made difficult?
Ghettos:
3 million Jews living in Poland and even more in the USSR. They were put into ghettos- sealed areas where they were segregated in order to make more space for the new German settlers. They suffered starvation rations, miserable sanitation and were used for slave labour. By 1942, 50,000 Jews had died of hunger, cold and disease in the Warsaw ghetto.
Death Squads:
Prior to the German Invasion of the USSR Einsatzgruppen were set up. These troops were to follow the invading troops and kill any Jews and ‘undesirables’.
Examples include the massacre at Babi Yar (33,771 killed in 2 days) and the Rumbula massacre (25,000 killed in 2 days).
Almost all of the people they killed were civilians, beginning with the Polish intelligentsia and swiftly progressing to Soviet political commissars, Jews, and Gypsies throughout Eastern Europe.
Operated in territories occupied by the German armed forces following the invasion of Poland (September of 1939) and Operation Barbarossa (the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941)
It is estimated that the Einsatzgruppen and related auxiliary troops killed a total of more than 2 million people, approximately 1.3 million of them Jews.
The Final Solution:
After their invasion of the Soviet Union in June of 1941 the Nazi leaders were concerned with the vast number of Jews they were about to come across- there were approximately 4 million Jews in the western Soviet Union.
Some Nazi leaders such as Hermann Goring, argued against systematically killing the Jews. Their argument was that Jews provided cheap labour vital to the war effort.
However others, such as Himmler (head of the SS) said that ghettos, camps and death squads were too expensive to run and used up precious men who were needed more in the army.
Eventually, Himmler’s view prevailed, and so it was decided that all Jews under German control would be exterminated in death camps. This policy was called the Final Solution.
the wannsee conference
On 20 January 1942, a conference was held in Wannsee- this ensured the coordination of plans to exterminate Jews.
Death camps were established at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Treblinka and Sobibor. The sole purpose of these camps was to kill Jews, gypsies and other ‘undesirables’ in as speedy, cost-effective and secretive manner as possible. The majority were sent to chambers where they were gassed with CO or Zyklon B.
It is estimated that 6 million Jews had been murdered during the Holocaust.
(8) what kind of opposition to the nazis was common?
The Growth of Opposition to Hitler: This only grew when the regime was collapsing due to the war effort.
Underground resistance and open opposition:
- There was sabotage of factories, railways and army depots.
- Military and industrial secrets were passed on the Allies by spies.
However, there was very little open resistance as the Nazis were simply so brutal and efficient in wiping out any of their opposition. Furthermore, normal people were simply not willing to risk their lives in order to overthrow the Nazis.
- Passive resistance and non-cooperation was relatively common:
- Refused to join the Party
- Refused to salute
- Refused to contribute to funds
- Met in secret; this was mainly banned political parties.
-Private grumbling was very widespread:
Ordinary Germans greatly resented many aspects of the regime. The show of support became increasingly elaborate pretence.
(7) why was there not more opposition to the Nazis?
Why:
- Germans were afraid
- The opposition was divided
- People did not realise what was happening e.g the Final Solution and Death camps
- People liked Nazi policy
- Only minor quibbles
- Unpopular policies (though only a few) were dropped
- No organised opposition
the edelweiss pirates - who were they?
Edelweiss Pirates:
- This was a group of working class teenagers who wanted to be free of Nazi control but this was not an organised political movement.
- They went camping on weekends but also taunted and attacked Hitler Youth groups.
- In 1944, they sheltered army deserters and escaped prisoners. They stole armaments and took part in an attack on the Gestapo.
The Nazis handled them differently from other minority groups as they needed workers for industry and soldiers so they could not kill all of them.
However, in 1944, the Nazis rounded up the ring leaders and publicly hanged 12 of them.
the white rose movement - what was it?
The White Rose Movement:
- Sophie and Hans Scholl wrote leaflets opposing Nazism and the war which they sent to all universities in southern Germany in 1943.
- The students during a lecture, by the Gauleiter of Bavaria, howled him down, ejected the SA from the hall and marched in demonstration through Munich.
The Nazis reacted brutally: Hans and Sophie Scholl were arrested, beaten up and hauled before the ‘People’s Court’. There they were condemned to death by guillotine.
the July bomb plotters - who were they?
The July Bomb Plot:
- In July 1944, several generals of the army thought that the war was lost and that Hitler was leading Germany to ruin. Therefore, they wanted to remove him.
- Count Von Stauffenberg left a bomb in Hitler’s conference room and they planned to close down the radio stations and round-up the remaining Nazi leaders in order to take over Germany.
- It failed due to poor planning.
- Hitler survived and took revenge by killing 5,000 in reprisal.
the changing role of women and labour shortages during the war
Changing Role of Women and labour shortages:
Due to Germany rearming men were needed in the army. Hence women were encouraged to work all of a sudden.
- They abolished marriage loans
- Introduced a ‘duty year’ for all women joining the labour market
- A duty year meant that they would work and receive full board but no pay. However, the pressure to have children was still in place which meant many women felt frustrated with the Nazi Regime.
- Political prisoners and Jewish concentration camp inmates were worked to death through penal labour.
- They worked to supply food, clothes and weapons for the army.
- Prisoners of war were also subject to forced labour.
- The domestic labour market meant there were increased working hours up to 60 hours a week.
- Shortage of doctors and skilled professionals as they were occupied with the war.
- This was worsened with the loss of Jewish and Communist doctors.
rationing during the war
Rationing:
- In September 1939, rationing was introduced for food stuffs and other items such as meat, bread, fats and sugar and clothes.
- Extra rations were introduced for workers of heavy industry, expectant of nursing mothers, the sick etc
- At first 2 out 5 Germans ate better than before the war.
- However, the diet became increasingly monotonous and ration amounts were cut as the war progressed.
A black market developed to exchange goods. Tobacco became so valuable that it became a kind of currency.
- People also had to make do without hot water or soap- using instead pine needles.
- `It diminished the populations’ resources, led to a weaker workforce, the more rapid spread of diseases, and disenchantment with the regime.
total war during the war
Total War: 1943-45
- In June 1941, the German army invaded the USSR however, this was a crucial turning point as now the army became bogged down in a four year battle that would end with the end of the Third Reich.
- Total War meant that every aspect of the German society was geared towards the war effort, producing arms, growing food, caring for the sick or fighting.
- Anything that did not contribute to the war effort was eliminated: civilian clothes production, sport, magazines and non-essential business was closed.
- However, Propaganda was the only non-essential aspect that increased. This shows perhaps that the Nazi government was concerned that people were losing disenchantment with the regime and wanted to continue to portray their wins.
- The film ‘Kolberg’ which cost 8.5 million marks to produce, showed the heroic German resistance to Napoleon.
