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Nazi Germany - Politics, Society, and Key Events - History
Nazi Germany - Politics, Society, and Key Events - History
U a
Nazi Germany is a reference for the twelve-year period in German history (1933-1945)
during the totalitarian dictatorship of Adolf Hitler through the Nazi Party, which was
founded in 1919 as the German Workers’ Party. The group grew in retaliation to the terms
of the Treaty of Versailles and promoted German pride and anti-Semitism, two traits that
infused Nazi Germany.
Scroll down to see articles about the post-World War One events that caused Nazi Germany
to form, along with posts on Nazi society, politics, propaganda, and the major events that
occurred in Nazi Germany, leading up to the events of World War Two and its eventual
downfall.
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Timeline
Date Event
of Normandy
The Sudetenland was taken away from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and
given to Czechoslovakia. The region contained Czechs, Germans, Slovaks, Hungarians, Poles
and Ruthenians. Although American President Woodrow Wilson had wanted people in
disputed regions to be allowed to decide where they would live this did not happen.
When Adolf Hitler came to power he promised to rip up the treaty of Versailles and claim
back land that had been taken away from Germany. In 1936 he had marched soldiers into
the Rhineland region and reclaimed it for Germany. In March 1938 German troops marched
into Austria. The Austrian leader was forced to hold a vote asking the people whether they
wanted to be part of Germany. The results of the vote were xed and showed that 99% of
Austrian people wanted Anschluss (union with Germany). The Austrian leader asked Britain,
France and Italy for aid. Hitler promised that Anschluss was the end of his expansionist
aims and not wanting to risk war, the other countries did nothing.
Hitler did not keep his word and six months later demanded that the Sudetenland region of
Czechoslovakia be handed over to Germany. Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Britain,
met with Hitler three times during September 1938 to try to reach an agreement that would
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prevent war. The Munich Agreement stated that Hitler could have the Sudetenland region
of Czechoslovakia provided that he promised not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Hitler was not a man of his word and in March 1939 invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Despite calls for help from the Czechoslovak government, neither Britain nor France was
prepared to take military action against Hitler. However, some action was now necessary
and believing that Poland would be Hitler’s next target, both Britain and France promised
that they would take military action against Hitler if he invaded Poland. Chamberlain
believed that, faced with the prospect of war against Britain and France, Hitler would stop
his aggression. Chamberlain was wrong. German troops invaded Poland on 1st September
1939.
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The Rhineland
Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles 1919 Germany was not allowed to have any
military force, building or armaments in the Rhineland area. To ensure German compliance
the area was occupied by British and French troops.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Locarno 1925 Germany, France, Britain and Italy agreed
that the Rhineland should remain a demilitarised zone permanently. By June 1930 British
and French troops had evacuated the area.
In January 1936 Adolf Hitler began to make plans to re-occupy the Rhineland. He argued
that the move was needed as a defence strategy especially as France and the Soviet Union
had renewed their alliance in 1935.
The date for occupation was set for 7th March 1936 and in the early morning 32,000 armed
German troops entered the Rhineland.
Although Germany had been steadily building up her army since 1933 it was not strong
enough to hold the Rhineland if France or Britain counter-attacked. Hitler later commented
“The forty-eight hours after the march into the Rhineland were the most nerve-racking in
my life. If the French had then marched into the Rhineland we would have had to
withdraw..”
France was on the verge of elections and politicians were unwilling to take steps that would
be unpopular with the population. French politicians and leaders knew that taking military
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action against Germany would be expensive and could lead to a full-scale Franco-German
war.
The French appealed to the British for support but many British politicians felt that
Germany was simply re-claiming what was theirs anyway. Additionally, popular feeling in
Britain was totally against another major war.
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The League of Nations, established by the Treaty of Versailles to deal with acts such as this,
condemned Hitler’s action but did not enact economic or military sanctions.
Although the group only had around 40 members in 1919, the authorities were concerned
that it may be a Communist group and so sent an army intelligence agent, Adolf Hitler, to
investigate.
On September 12th 1919, Adolf Hitler attended a meeting of the German Workers’ Party.
During the meeting a point was raised with which Hitler disagreed and made a passionate
speech against. Anton Drexler was impressed with Hitler’s ability to speak well and invited
him to join the party. After some persuasion Hitler agreed. He was the fty- fth person to
join the group. (Later he changed his membership card to show that he was the 7th
person).
On 24th February 1920 the name of the group was changed to Deutsche
Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei NSDP National Socialist German Workers’ Party, known
as the Nazi Party. As part of its re-launch the party published its 25 point programme:
1. We demand the uni cation of all Germans in the Greater Germany on the basis of the
right of self-determination of peoples.
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2. We demand equality of rights for the German people in respect to the other nations;
abrogation of the peace treaties of Versailles and St. Germain.
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3. We demand land and territory (colonies) for the sustenance of our people, and
colonization for our surplus population.
4. Only a member of the race can be a citizen. A member of the race can only be one who is
of German blood, without consideration of creed. Consequently no Jew can be a member of
the race.
5. Whoever has no citizenship is to be able to live in Germany only as a guest, and must be
under the authority of legislation for foreigners.
6. The right to determine matters concerning administration and law belongs only to the
citizen. Therefore we demand that every public o ce, of any sort whatsoever, whether in
the Reich, the county or municipality, be lled only by citizens. We combat the corrupting
parliamentary economy, o ce-holding only according to party inclinations without
consideration of character or abilities.
7. We demand that the state be charged rst with providing the opportunity for a livelihood
and way of life for the citizens. If it is impossible to sustain the total population of the State,
then the members of foreign nations (non-citizens) are to be expelled from the Reich.
10. The rst obligation of every citizen must be to work both spiritually and physically. The
activity of individuals is not to counteract the interests of the universality, but must have its
result within the framework of the whole for the bene t of all Consequently we demand:
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11. Abolition of unearned (work and labour) incomes. Breaking of rent-slavery.
12. In consideration of the monstrous sacri ce in property and blood that each war
demands of the people personal enrichment through a war must be designated as a crime
against the people. Therefore we demand the total con scation of all war pro ts.
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16. We demand the creation of a healthy middle class and its conservation, immediate
communalization of the great warehouses and their being leased at low cost to small rms,
the utmost consideration of all small rms in contracts with the State, county or
municipality.
17. We demand a land reform suitable to our needs, provision of a law for the free
expropriation of land for the purposes of public utility, abolition of taxes on land and
prevention of all speculation in land.
18. We demand struggle without consideration against those whose activity is injurious to
the general interest. Common national criminals, usurers, Schieber and so forth are to be
punished with death, without consideration of confession or race.
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19. We demand substitution of a German common law in place of the Roman Law serving a
materialistic world-order.
20. The state is to be responsible for a fundamental reconstruction of our whole national
education program, to enable every capable and industrious German to obtain higher
education and subsequently introduction into leading positions. The plans of instruction of
all educational institutions are to conform with the experiences of practical life. The
comprehension of the concept of the State must be striven for by the school
[Staatsbuergerkunde] as early as the beginning of understanding. We demand the
education at the expense of the State of outstanding intellectually gifted children of poor
parents without consideration of position or profession.
21. The State is to care for the elevating national health by protecting the mother and child,
by outlawing child-labor, by the encouragement of physical tness, by means of the legal
establishment of a gymnastic and sport obligation, by the utmost support of all
organizations concerned with the physical instruction of the young.
22. We demand abolition of the mercenary troops and formation of a national army.
23. We demand legal opposition to known lies and their promulgation through the press. In
order to enable the provision of a German press, we demand, that:
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a. All writers and employees of the newspapers appearing in the German language be
members of the race:
c. Non-Germans are forbidden by law any nancial interest in German publications, or any
in uence on them, and as punishment for violations the closing of such a publication as
well as the immediate expulsion from the Reich of the non-German concerned. Publications
which are counter to the general good are to be forbidden. We demand legal prosecution of
artistic and literary forms which exert a destructive in uence on our national life, and the
closure of organizations opposing the above made demands.
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24. We demand freedom of religion for all religious denominations within the state so long
as they do not endanger its existence or oppose the moral senses of the Germanic race.
The Party as such advocates the standpoint of a positive Christianity without binding itself
confessionally to any one denomination. It combats the Jewish-materialistic spirit within and
around us, and is convinced that a lasting recovery of our nation can only succeed from
within on the framework: common utility precedes individual utility.
25. For the execution of all of this we demand the formation of a strong central power in
the Reich. Unlimited authority of the central parliament over the whole Reich and its
organizations in general. The forming of state and profession chambers for the execution of
the laws made by the Reich within the various states of the confederation. The leaders of
the Party promise, if necessary by sacri cing their own lives, to support by the execution of
the points set forth above without consideration.
On 28th July 1921 Adolf Hitler became leader of the party. By the end of 1921 the party was
fairly well established with a membership of 3000 people. The party had adopted the
swastika as its symbol, the Hitler Youth had been formed for the children of party members
and the SA, stormtroopers had been created as the party militia group.
Following the failed Munich Putsch – attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government, in
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win power by non-violent, legitimate means. The SA were separated from the main party
and took on the role of a support group. The SS, Hitler’s personal bodyguard, took on a
similar role.
The Nazi party stood for election but initially only gained a small number of seats in the
Reichstag (German Parliament). They gained much more support when Germany su ered a
nancial crisis due to the Great Depression and after Hitler had been appointed Chancellor
of Germany in January 1933.
1,918,300
May 1924 6.5 32
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810,100
May 1928 2.6 12
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13,745,800
July 1932 37.4 230
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17,277,000
March 1933 43.9 288
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The banning of the Communist party following the Reichstag re on 27th February gave the
Nazis a clear majority in parliament. The Enabling Act passed in March 1933 gave Hitler the
power to make laws without consulting parliament.
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During 1933 all political parties other than the Nazi party were banned, membership of the
Hitler Youth was made compulsory for all teenagers, local government was taken over by
the Nazis and trade unions were banned. The secret police, The Gestapo were also formed.
One year later the Night of the Long Knives saw the murder of all SA leaders who disagreed
with Hitler’s policies.
Following the death of President Hindenburg in August 1934, Hitler combined the post of
Chancellor and President to become Fuhrer of Germany. From this point until the Nazi
downfall in 1945 it was Hitler as Dictator rather than the Nazi party that held true power.
Members of the Nazi Party retained their positions so long as they remained in the favour
of Hitler.
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The repayments led to a devaluation of the German mark against foreign currencies and to
hyperin ation in Germany. In 1923, when Germany defaulted on its repayments France
occupied the Ruhr industrial region of Germany.
With popular feeling against the government, Hitler believed that the time was right for his
National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party) to overthrow the government.
On 8th November with the support of other Socialist groups, and former World War One
General Ludendor , Hitler ordered 600 of his Stormtroopers under the command of
Herman Goering to surround a Beer Hall in Munich where Conservative politician Gustav
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von Kahr was making a speech to 3,000 people. Also present were the local army
commander, Lossow and the Bavarian police chief, Seisser. At about 8.30pm Hitler entered
the hall, stood on a chair and red a pistol shot into the ceiling. He announced to the crowd
that the revolution had begun then ordered von Kahr, Lossow and Seisser into an adjoining
room. After about ten minutes the group returned to the hall and Hitler announced that he
had the support of all three men. When the meeting ended, Hitler immediately began
planning his takeover of Munich. Von Kahr, Lossow and Seisser went straight to the
authorities.
The next morning Hitler and 3,000 Nazi supporters began a march on Munich. However, it
soon became apparent that the authorities had been alerted when they encountered a
road block manned by 100 armed police. Shots were red killing sixteen Nazis and four
police o cers. Both Hitler and Goering were injured and ran to take cover. Other Nazis also
ran. Ludendor however continued to march on, he later branded Hitler a coward and
refused to have anything more to do with him.
Hitler was arrested on 12th November and charged with treason. He was found guilty at his
trial in February 1924 and given a ve year prison sentence. While in prison Hitler wrote his
famous book Mein Kampf
In 1920 the newly formed German Workers’ Party needed its own militia group to protect
party members from hecklers and opponents. Some Freikorps members joined the party
and took on this role. One such person was Ernst Röhm, a former Bavarian Army Captain.
Originally called Ordnertruppe, they were re-formed as the Turn-und Sportabteilung (Sport
and Gymnastic Division).
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On 4th November 1921 the Nazi party held a large meeting. Large numbers of
demonstrators against Hitler and the Nazi Party were prevented from disrupting the
meeting by the Turn-und Sportabteilung. Following this event they became known as Sturm
Abteilung (Stormtroopers) abbreviated to SA.
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Hitler’s Stormtroopers wore a uniform of khaki brown shirts with swastika armband on left
arm, khaki brown trousers with, brown belt, brown combat boots and khaki brown peaked
cap with red trim. They were often called by the nickname Brownshirts because of the
brown shirts they wore.
Following the failed Munich Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923 and the subsequent
imprisonment of Adolf Hitler, the SA were banned from April 1924 to February 1925. To
combat the ban the SA changed its name to Frontbann. Ernst Röhm who had not been
imprisoned but had been discharged from the army became leader of the Frontbann. When
Hitler was released from prison Röhm, who disagreed with some of his policies handed
over the leadership to Wolf Graf von Helldorf and three years later, in 1928, emigrated to
Bolivia.
In November 1926 Franz Felix von Pfe er von Salomon took over the leadership. Von
Salomon wanted to increase power for the SA by securing seats in the Reichstag. Hitler
refused to allow the SA to play any part in government and von Salomon resigned in August
1930.
In 1931 Hitler asked Röhm to return and lead the SA. Röhm agreed and upon his return he
quickly increased the membership of the SA. After the Nazis came to power in 1933 Röhm
began to make moves towards merging the SA with the German army. It was his intention
to become the head of the military forces in Germany. In January 1934 Röhm sent a
message to the Minister of Defence, Werner von Blomberg, demanding that the SA replace
the Reichswehr. Blomberg, who was already concerned about the growing power of Röhm
and the SA joined forces with Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goering and Reinhard Heydrich
against Ernst Röhm. A dossier was compiled that o ered evidence that Ernst Röhm was
secretly plotting to over throw the Nazis and take power for himself and the SA.
Presented with the ‘evidence’, Hitler had no choice but to take action and on 30th June 1934
the Night of the Long Knives saw the murder of leading members of the SA. The action,
which saw the deaths of leading SA members was legalised by Hitler on July 13th when he
made a speech, which was approved by the cabinet, stating that the Night of the Long
Knives was an act of self-defence against the state.
After the Night of the Long Knives, the SA continued in existence but with a much reduced
membership as young men chose to join the regular army rather than the SA. The rise of
the SS, Schutz Sta einel, led by Heinrich Himmler saw the elimination of the SA’s power.
In the early 1920s, the Nazi party had established a youth movement led by Kurt Gruber,
with the aim of attracting young men who could be trained to become members of the SA
(Stormtroopers). On 4th July 1926 the group was renamed the Hitler Youth, League of
German Worker Youth and became attached to and run by the SA.
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The Hitler Youth (Hitler Jugend) wore uniforms and attended meetings and rallies where
they were indoctrinated with Nazi views.
Adolf Hitler believed that the support of the youth was vital to the future of the third Reich
and aimed, through the Hitler Youth programme, to produce a generation of loyal
supporters of Nazi views.
Posters were used to attract more members and membership rose from 5,000 in 1925 to
25,000 in 1930.
When the Nazis came to power in 1933 other youth groups were forcibly merged into the
Hitler Youth and by the end of 1933 membership stood at just over 2 million.
In December 1936, membership of the Hitler Youth became virtually compulsory for all
boys and girls aged over 10 years – membership could only be avoided by not paying
subscription fees, but this ‘loophole’ was relaxed in 1939 and membership increased to 8
million members by 1940.
There were separate Hitler Youth groups for boys and girls:
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Boys aged 6 – 10 years joined the Little Fellows (Pimpf). They did mainly outdoor sports type
activities such as hiking, rambling and camping.
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Boys aged 10 – 13 years joined the German Young People (Deutsche Jungvolk). They still did
sporting activities but these had a more military emphasis such as parading and marching
as well as map reading. They also learnt about Nazi views on racial purity and anti-semitism.
Boys aged 14 – 18 years joined the Hitler Youth (Hitler Jugend). They were prepared to be
soldiers by doing military activities.
Girls aged 10 – 14 years joined the Young Maidens (Jungmadel) where they were taught
good health practices as well as how to become good mothers and housewives. They also
learnt about Nazi views on racial purity and anti-semitism.
Girls aged 14 – 21 joined the League of German Maidens (Deutscher Madel) where they
were further prepared for their roles as the mother of future Germans.
SchutzSta el (SS)
The SS was considered to be an elite force and membership was restricted to those who
were pure Aryan Germans.
On 6th January 1929 Heinrich Himmler was appointed leader of the SchutzSta el. Himmler
was an ambitious man and set about building up membership of the SS.
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From 1932 the SS wore black shirts with the runic symbol SS on the collar to distinguish
them from the SA who wore brown shirts.
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In April 1934 Heinrich Himmler took over as Head of the Gestapo. Under Himmler’s
leadership the Gestapo was responsible for seeking out and eliminating opposition to the
Nazi Party. They frequently used torture to extract confessions.
In 1935 the Gestapo was given the task of establishing concentration camps for the
incarceration of ‘undesirables’, Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Communists, unemployed,
disabled etc.
After the outbreak of war in 1939 members of the Gestapo made up some of the
membership of the Einsatzgruppen, mobile death squads that followed the army into
Poland and Russia to rid those countries of Jews and other ‘inferior’ people.
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After Hitler became Chancellor of Germany he ordered the creation of an armed force
which would protect both himself and leading members of the Nazi Party from attack.
The rst recruits, 117 men, were given the name SS-Stabswache Berlin. This was changed to
SS-Sonderkommando Berlin shortly afterwards and on 3rd September Hitler re-named the
group Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.
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In 1934 the Leibstandarte played a prominent role in the Night of the Long Knives which
saw the murder of leading members of the SA.
By 1935 membership of the Leibstandarte had increased signi cantly to more than 2,000.
When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 the Leibstandarte played a key role.
Initially attached to both infantry and panzer divisions, the Leibstandarte became an
independent force, the SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler in 1941.
From 1941 to 1944 the Leibstandarte was engaged ghting on the Eastern Front before
being moved to the Ardennes in late 1944. Pushed back by the advancing allied forces, the
Leibstandarte ended its days ghting in the Battle of Berlin in 1945.
SS-VT regiments played a pre-war role in the Anschluss with Austria, the occupation of the
Sudetenland and the invasion of Czechoslovakia.
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In 1941, at the same time as the Leibstandarte SS were made an independent force, the SS-
VT were re-named the Wa en SS. The Wa en SS played key roles ghting in the European
and African theatres of war.
Eicke set about streamlining the organisation of the camp. Many of those who had been
trained by Eicke at Dachau went on to sta the camp at Sachenhausen.
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In 1936 sta working in the camps were given the title SS Totenkopfverb?nde, known as SS-
TK. The SS-TK had a reputation of being harsh masters, meting out tough punishments on
those who did not show loyalty to the Nazi ideals.
When war broke out in 1939 the SS-TK was expanded to provide sta for all camps
established in Germany, Austria and Poland.
In early 1945 when it became clear that Germany would lose the war, members of the SS-TK
were given orders to destroy evidence of the camps’ existence. Camps were destroyed and
surviving inmates were taken on forced ‘death marches’.
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At the end of the war many leading members of the SS committed suicide. Those that were
captured were tried and the Nuremburg war crimes trials, many of those found guilty were
executed. Some members of the SS escaped Germany and ed to South America.
A young communist Marinus van der Lubbe was discovered on the premises clad in just
trousers and footwear.
A number of small res had been started around the building but most failed to take hold
except the re started in the great chamber.
Van der Lubbe and four other communists, Ernst Torgler, Georgi Dimitrov, Blagoi Popov,
and Vassil Tanev were arrested and charged with arson and attempting to overthrow the
government.
Although van der Lubbe confessed to the crime, many people believed that the real culprits
were the Nazi Party, probably members of the SA.
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It is questionable whether Marinus van der Lubbe would have been able to start res which
caused so much damage alone.
Marinus van der Lubbe had a history of claiming sole responsibility for things he had been
involved in
Karl Ernst, leader of the Berlin SA was overheard saying that if he had played a part in
starting the re he would be foolish to admit it.
The Consequences
On 28th February 1933 Adolf Hitler went to see President Paul Hindenburg and informed
him that the re was the result of a Communist plot. Hindenburg was convinced and signed
the Order of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State, known as the
Reichstag Fire Decree.
Hitler used the Reichstag Fire Decree to arrest thousands of Communists and to ban all
Communist publications. The Communist party was outlawed and not allowed to take part
in the March 1933 elections (the Communist Party had gained 17% of the vote in the 1932
elections).
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Without Communist opposition the Nazi Party gained 44% of the vote in the March 1933
elections. The German National People’s Party, who supported the Nazi Party gained 8% of
the vote. This gave Hitler a majority in the Reichstag.
With a majority in the Reichstag Hitler was able to pass the Enabling Act 23rd March 1933.
The Enabling Act gave Hitler the power to pass laws independently of the Reichstag for a
period of 4 years. This e ectively made him Dictator of Germany.
In July 1933 Marinus van der Lubbe, Ernst Torgler, Georgi Dimitrov, Blagoi Popov, and Vassil
Tanev were tried on a charge of arson and attempting to overthrow the government. Van
der Lubbe, who confessed to the crime, was found guilty but the others were aquitted as
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there was insu cient evidence against them. Marinus van der Lubbe was beheaded on
10th January 1934.
Hitler believed so strongly in the power of propaganda that he created a post in his new
government for a Minister of Propaganda and National Enlightenment. Joseph Goebbels
(left) was the man appointed to the post.
One of the rst things that Goebbels did was to establish the Reich Chamber of Culture.
This new organisation was established to deal with all aspects of culture. It was sub-divided
into seven departments that dealt with literature, news, radio, theatre, music, visual arts,
cinema. the media, the arts and literature. Each department issued instructions as to the
themes and styles that were acceptable and unacceptable to be produced. In all areas the
only material that was allowed to be produced was that which promoted Nazi ideals.
The Reich Broadcasting Company had been founded in 1925 and was a network of nine
German radio channels. In 1933 the company was nationalised and came under the control
of Joseph Goebbels.
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Goebbels saw that radio had a great potential for spreading the Nazi’s message.
Loudspeakers were installed in factories and public places and the Nazi’s made it a priority
to produce an inexpensive radio receiver.
The People’s Receiver 301, named after the date Hitler became Chancellor (30th January),
was produced in August 1933 costing 76 Reichmarks. A cheaper version costing just 35
Reichmarks was later produced and radio ownership rose from 4 – 16 million households.
Both radio sets were con gured to only receive Nazi radio broadcasts but in case people
were tempted to listen to other stations the Nazi’s made listening to foreign radio stations a
criminal o ence.
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Two of the many lms produced that helped to get the Nazis message to the people were
Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will and The Eternal Jew, a racist attack on the Jewish
population.
This image shows a scene from Triumph of the Will lmed at the 1934 Nuremburg Nazi
Party rally
Posters were also used to persuade people to the Nazi point of view. Those pictured below
are just some of the many produced by Hitler’s Nazi Party.
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The roots of the Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws were a major step forward in the ratcheting anti-Semitism of Hitler’s
regime. After he came to power in 1933, he and his regime endeavored to implement anti-
Semitic policies against the Jews as a race, not as a religion. Ironically, when Hitler and his
cabinet passed discriminatory legislation against the Jews, they used synagogue records to
determine who was a Jew. The reason was simple. The Nazis could not nd a biological
marker to distinguish Jews from non-Jews. During the Nazi regime, some scientists
performed serological studies and other experiments to see if they could nd a way to
identify Jews scienti cally, but these all failed. Some German anthropologists claimed they
could identify Jews by skull measurements and facial features, but these were often
subjective and inconclusive.
When perusing synagogue records to determine the identity and fate of an individual,
however, Nazi o cials did not consider the individual’s actual membership in the
synagogue (a clear religious statement). They looked at his or her grandparents, trying to
establish Jewish racial ancestry. Nazi o cials identi ed as Jews individuals who were
Catholics, Protestants, agnostics, or atheists, because they did not care what religion these
individuals currently embraced. Jews were determined entirely by their genealogy, not by
their religion. They were targeted for discrimination (and later extermination) based on
their grandparents’ religious a liation.
by the seventh, eighth, or ninth generation, nature takes care of this problem by eliminating
the deleterious hereditary traits. He explained that the Mendelian laws of heredity ensured
that the Jewish traits would no longer be present by then in the vast majority of cases.
For Hitler, it was a sin—punishable by law after the Nuremberg Laws were promulgated in
1935—for a Catholic of Aryan descent to marry a Catholic with Jewish grandparents. Hitler
also forbade intermarriage of Germans with Slavs but encouraged German intermarriage
with the Norwegians or Dutch, because they were deemed fellow Nordic peoples.
The Nuremberg Laws were part of the long road toward the Holocaust in the Nazi regime’s
attempts to purge its nation of non-Aryan peoples.
The Nuremberg Laws did not use religion to de ne who should be considered Jewish, but
race. Anybody who had three to four Jewish grandparents was considered Jewish,
regardless of whether the individual actually belonged to any Jewish community. Many
Germans who did not practise Judaism or identi ed as Jewish suddenly became victims of
the Nazi terror. This often included Protestant ministers, nuns, Roman Catholic priests and
other Christians who had Jewish grandparents.
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Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass) took place between 9 and 10 November on 1939
when non-Jewish Germans and SA paramilitary killed and arrested thousands of Jews all
across Austria and Nazi Germany. It was the rst time that Nazi policies against Jews
became violent on such a large scale. The name is derived from all of the broken glass in
the streets after smashing the windows of synagogues and Jewish-owned stores and
buildings.
The Devastation
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About 30,000 Jewish people were arrested and taken to concentration camps, while Jewish
schools, homes and hospitals were damaged and ransacked. Over 7,000 Jewish businesses
were destroyed and over 1,000 Jewish synagogues burned. Foreign journalists reported on
it as it happened and their stories shocked the whole world.
Pretext
After receiving the news that his family was expelled from Germany and stuck without any
money or food in a refugee camp close to the border Poland where they were refused
entry, Herschel Grynszpan assassinated German diplomat Ernst vom Rath in Paris.
When Hitler heard news that Vom Rath had died from his wounds on November 9, he left a
Nazi dinner party abrubtly. Joseph Goebbels said that the Fuhrer has decided that the party
would not organize demonstrations, but should they happen spontaneously, they should
not be stopped. His message was clear to the party leaders: they were expected to organize
a pogrom.
April 1, 1933 – only 3 months after Hitler was appointed chancellor, the boycott of Jewish-
owned businesses and shops in Germany started.
September 15, 1935 – The famous Nuremberg Race Laws were passed, providing a legal
basis for the exclusion of Jews from German society and implementing a very restrictive
Jewish policy.
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November 9, 10 1938 – Attacks on the Jews become violent for the rst time after the
Jewish Hershel Grynszpan assassinates Ernst vom Rath in Paris. In what is now known as
Kristallnacht, Jewish businesses, homes and synagogues are looted and destroyed. Many
Jews are beaten and killed and 30,000 Jewish people are arrested and taken to
concentration camps.
There were obviously other important Holocaust dates, such as the invasion of Poland and
establishment of Jewish ghettos, the brutal murder of Jews in the U.S.S.R and the nal mass
killings at the Nazi death camps, but by that time the Holocaust was already in full swing.
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The rst camp was opened at Dachau on 22nd March 1933. It was built to detain 5000
political opponents of the Nazi Party, mainly Communists.
In 1934 the Nazis began using inmates of concentration camps as forced labour for
personal or camp projects. The work was hard and physically demanding and without
su cient food rations the mortality rate of concentration camp inmates rose dramatically.
In 1943 a concentration camp detainee would have had a life expectancy of six weeks.
All concentration camp inmates had to wear a coloured badge to show the nature of their
‘crime’.
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Killing Centres
The Nazis operated ve main purpose-built killing centres, sometimes referred to as death
camps or extermination camps.
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Chelmno began operating as a killing centre in December 1941. Victims were put into
sealed container trucks which had been specially con gured to allow carbon monoxide gas
from the exhaust to be pumped inside. The bodies were buried in mass graves. It is
estimated that at least 150,000 Jews and gypsies died at this camp.
Belzec opened in March 1942. Victims were brought to the camp by trains, unloaded and
taken to gas chambers disguised as showers. Carbon monoxide was them pumped into the
chamber. The bodies were buried in mass graves. Around 500,000 Jews perished in this
camp together with an unknown number of Poles and gypsies.
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Sobibor opened in May 1942. It was constructed and operated in the same manner as
Belzec. In the spring of 1943 around 300 prisoners managed to escape. In November 1943
all remaining prisoners in the camp were shot. In total around 167,000 Jews were killed in
this camp.
Treblinka II was built next to the Treblinka I concentration camp and opened in July 1942. It
was constructed and operated in the same manner as Belzec and Sobibor. The bodies were
initially buried in mass graves but later were burned in huge ovens. Around 925,000 Jews
were killed in this camp.
Auschwitz-Birkenau (pictured above) was the largest killing centre and was designed to be
used as a mass extermination camp for Jews as part of Hitler’s Final Solution. The rst gas
chamber was operational by March 1942 and by mid 1943 there were a total of four gas
chambers. Trains arrived on a daily basis bringing Jews from all German-occupied countries
and victims were taken straight to gas chambers disguised as showers. Zyklon B pellets
were dropped into the chambers and the bodies were burned in crematoria. It is estimated
that between 1 and 2 million Jews were killed in this camp
Hitler began by ordering the Austrian Nazi Party to make as much trouble as it could. The
Austrian Nazis held parades and marches, set buildings on re, let o bombs and organised
ghts. When the Austrian government banned them, Hitler held a meeting with the Austrian
leader Kurt Schuschnigg. Hitler threatened to invade Austria unless Schuschnigg gave all
important jobs in his government to Nazis. Schuschnigg compromised by appointing the
Nazi Seyss-Inquart as Minister of the Interior.
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France, and Britain both refused to help Austria so on March 9th 1938 Schuschnigg
announced his intention to hold a plebiscite to allow the Austrian people to decide for
themselves whether to join with Germany or not. Hitler moved troops to the Austrian
border and demanded that Schuschnigg call o the plebiscite. Schuschnigg had no choice
but to comply and resign.
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Seyss-Inquart, Nazi Minister of the Interior took his place and immediately asked Hitler to
send the German army into Austria to help restore order. Hitler was now able to enter
Austria on 13th March by ‘invitation’. Along with the army came the Gestapo and the SS to
deal with opponents of the Nazis. Schuschnigg found himself cleaning public toilets while
Austria’s Jews were made to get down and scrub streets on their hands and knees. Before
long they would nd themselves in concentration camps while the Austrian people lived
under a Nazi regime of terror.
Having succeeded in gaining Austria, Hitler then used similar tactics to gain the Sudetenland
area of Czechoslovakia that contained over three million Germans.
Women were to be the homemakers of society, cooking, cleaning, keeping house and
making themselves healthy and beautiful for their racially pure husbands with whom they
would produce numerous children.
From school age onwards girls were prepared for their future role and were taught
appropriate subjects such as cooking and needlework as well as health and beauty.
The guidelines for being an ideal woman in Nazi Germany were as follows:
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Women should not work for a living
Women should not wear trousers
Women should not wear makeup
Women should not wear high-heeled shoes
Women should not dye or perm their hair
Women should not go on slimming diets
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On 5th July 1933 the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage was passed. This act gave all
newly wed couples a loan of 1000 marks which was reduced by 25% for each child they had.
If the couple went on to have four children the loan was wiped out.
The picture (above) entitled Family, painted by Wolf Willrich shows the ideal Aryan German
family. The young blond-haired, blue-eyed couple are seated outside their rural cottage
with their four children. The mother wears a plain dress and is shown suckling the couple’s
newborn baby. She wears no make up and has her long hair in a bun. The father is proudly
looking at his newborn child with a protective arm around his wife and elder daughter. The
eldest daughter wears a plain dress and has her hair in pigtails. She is watching her mother,
seeming to wish for the time when she has a baby of her own. The couple’s eldest son
wears his Hitler youth uniform and is making earth pots. He is watched by his younger
sister who is shown holding a doll.
Unmarried women were also encouraged to have children and for those without a husband
they could visit the local Lebensborn where they could be made pregnant by a racially pure
member of the SS.
On the birthdate of Hitler’s mother, August 12th, awards of the Motherhood Cross were
given to women who had produced the most children. A gold cross was awarded to
mothers of 8 or more children, silver to mothers of 6 children and bronze to mothers of
four children.
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Not all women approved of Hitler’s view of their role. Many of these were intellectuals –
doctors, scientists, lawyers, judges, teachers etc who did not want to give up their jobs and
stay at home. In protest against Hitler’s anti-feminist policies they joined left-wing
opposition groups. If caught they faced being sent to concentration camps as political
prisoners.
In October 1933, the rst concentration camp for females was opened at Moringen,
Germany. In 1938 a second camp for women was established at Lichtenburg and in 1939 a
third at Ravensbruck.
In 1937, as Germany prepared for war, Nazi women were needed to supplement the male
workforce and a new law was passed which stipulated that all women should work a ‘Duty
Year’ of patriotic work in one of the country’s factories to further the Nazi cause. Some
women were persuaded by advertising posters to volunteer for the SS support service for
women. The Nazi women selected were mostly lower or lower middle class; after
undergoing a period of training they were put to work as female guards at the
concentration camps.
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Type of Experiments
Mengele was not the head physician at Auschwitz, but he was part of a team of doctors that
had to select which people were suitable for work and which had to be gassed right away.
With so many subjects to experiment on, he grabbed the opportunity to continue his
previous research on genetics. He was particularly interested in twins as twin research was
seen at the time to be the ideal way to determine how the environment or human heredity
in uence the human body. Most of his subjects were children, and he would reportedly do
blood transfusions from the one twin to the other, do amputations and try to sew it onto
the other twin, stitch two twins together to form Siamese twins, infect one twin with typhus ×
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or another disease and many other experiments. More often than not, the twins died
during the procedures or he would have them killed afterwards so he can do an autopsy. If
one twin died from a disease, he would often kill the other as well to mark the di erences
between the sick and healthy subjects.
Mengele was also very interested in heterochromia, where people have irisis of di erent
colors and he would collect eyes and bodyparts of his victims and send it through for
research. He would also inject chemicals in victims’ eyes to attempt to change their eye
color. Other subjects of interests included dwarfs, people with deformities and he also
documented a disease that broke out in camp, Noma. He also experimented on pregnant
women before sending them o to the gas chambers (they were not t for work, after all)
and caused incestuous pregnancies, which he researched. He tried sex change operations,
removing organs and operating on victims without anaesthesia. He also tried to prove that
Jewish and Gypsy people were genetically inferior through several experiments. The
Mengele experiments were all done in secrecy but most of the information we have today
are because of the accounts of Dr. Miklos Nyiszli, a prisoner-physician who was forced to
assist Mengele.
In his book, Mein Kampf (Mein Struggle), Hitler explained how he believed that the German
people were the true Aryan race and that their purity and superiority had to be maintained
at all costs by prohibiting intermarriage and expelling or eliminating those who had no
place in the master race. Hitler also explained how the Aryans had been responsible for all
major advances in civilisation but that the Jews wanted to destroy everything they had
achieved.
The persecution of those who did not t Hitler’s ideal Aryan master race began soon after
Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. They included Jews, homosexuals,
gypsies, the disabled, Jehovah’s witnesses, political opponents, the unemployed, the
homeless and ethnic minorities.
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As a result of the Nazi’s desire to achieve the perfect Aryan master race:
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Hitler Youth
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