Germany Topic 5 Germany during WW2

Question 1

Nazi Policies towards captured jews

Answer 1

Ghettos - sealed off areas with poor housing, bad food, and poor conditions - disease spread fast
Warsaw Ghetto 3.5m wall. 4k died per month
July 1942 final solution decided
6 million jews killed overall by holocaust

Question 2

Ghettos

Answer 2

Made genocide easier
July 1942 final solution decided
jews transported from ghettos to camps. Warsaw ghetto saw 250k jews leave to conc camps
6 mill killed overall - gassed

Question 3

Death Squads

Answer 3

Killed jews
killed 3 mill in 1941 when germany invaded ussr
helped in mass shootings - concerns about efficiency and affect on shooters - led to gas chambers instead
-> july 1942 final sol…. -> 6 mil killed

Question 4

Final Solution

Answer 4

Decided july 1942
ghettos -> conc camps
warsaw 250k
6 mill killed - gas
propoganda films showing good conditions in conc camps
april 1943 warsaw ghetto uprising - 56k arrested 7k shot
1945 germany tried to hide what they had done - destroying records

Question 5

WW2 on Women

Answer 5

return to work in factories
1939 conscription for factory work
1943 total war policy meant all women 17-45 must work
by mid 1943 5000 more women
1945 45% of labour force women
fear of husbands/sons dying
as end of war drew near fear of revenge rapes and killings, millions raped - suicides

Question 6

Total war

Answer 6

women 17-45
men 16-64 had to work
russian prisoners of war sent
1944 - 7 mil working
august 1944 holidays banned and working week upto 60 hours
prof sports teams shut down
only leisure remained open theatres for propoganda
Volkssturm formed to protect germany - by end of war boys as young as 12 in it

Question 7

Rationing on Germany WW2

Answer 7

1939 bread meat dairy rationed
food stamps issued - theft meant sentenced to forced labour
other things restricted like toilet paper, clothes, shoes
tobacco very rare
cigarette restrictions on women.

Question 8

Allied bombing

Answer 8

from aug 1940 onwards bombing occured - intially just industrial targets but after 1942 civilian cities
1943 raids of Hamburg killed 42.6k and forced 1 mil to evac
Destroyed factories - Ruhr valley raids decreased metal prod by 40%
1945 destroyed railways to make transporting tanks difficult

Question 9

Edelweiss pirates

Answer 9

disrupted nazi plans
attacked hitler youth
gave shelters to prisoners from conc camps
Listened to jazz and british music, dressed abnormally
nazis punished them with execution sometimes

Question 10

White Rose group

Answer 10

formed 1941 by sibling Hans and Sophie Scholl
passive resistance - published leaflets named “the white rose”
members painted “freedom” and “down with hitler” on walls
they were punished badly - caught in feb 1943 throwing leaflets off roof - arrested and beheaded shortly, associates arrested in following months

Question 11

July bomb plot

Answer 11

attempt to blow up hitler in conference room july 1944
codenamed operation valkyrie
failed as an officer pushed suitcase with bomb out of his way - hitler way out of blast
Himmler put in charge of finding plotters, 7k arrested 6k executed