Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Germany Opposition and Race Lower Answers What were the main opposition groups in Nazi Germany and why was there so little opposition? • Army • Churches • Young People • Little opposition due to the control systems of the Nazis – terror and propaganda How did the Churches oppose the Nazis and why were they a significant threat? • Some priests and pastors preached sermons which criticised Nazi policy or the worship of Hitler • The Confessional Church was set up as a direct rejection of the Nazi controlled Reich Church • The Churches were a threat because they were so big and people were so loyal to them • They also had ready-made networks with buildings, meetings, communications and command structures which could be used to coordinate and lead an attack on the Nazi regime How did young people oppose the Nazis and why were the Nazis worried about this? • Refusing to join the Hitler Youth • Drinking, smoking, listening to jazz music and generally ‘rebelling’ • Attacking Hitler Youth groups • Assassinated a leading Nazi in Cologne • The Nazis were worried because young people were the future and the Nazis were desperate to keep control of them and make them into Nazis What were the key features of Nazis policy towards minority groups and which groups were targeted? • Aryan supremacy – the idea that the aryan race (blond hair, blue eyes) were ‘the master race’, superior to all others and born to rule the world • Anti-semitism – the hatred and oppression of Jewish people • Survival of the fittest – the idea that anyone who was ‘unfit’ e.g. disabled or from an inferior race, did not deserve to live • Particularly targeted Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and disabled people What were they key features of Nazi treatment of minorities 1933-39? Propaganda – encouraged people to hate minorities, particularly Jews Discrimination, e.g. boycotts of Jewish shops or not allowed to hold certain jobs Nuremberg Laws banned marriage between Jews and nonJews and removed citizenship and the right to vote from Jews Kristallnacht – coordinated attack on jewish shops, synagogues and homes What were the key changes in the Nazi treatment of minorities 1939-45? 1939 – Ghettos introduced where Jews die from starvation and disease 1941 – Einsatzgruppen introduced – mobile killing squads that go into villages, round up the Jews and shoot them there and then 1941 – Gas vans – used by einsatzgruppen instead of shooting them 1942 – Wannsee Conference – meeting to discuss the Final Solution to the Jewish problem 1942 – Final Solution introduced – death camps with gas chambers When were the Nuremberg Laws passed and why were they significant? • 1935 • Banned marriage between Jews and non-Jews • Removed citizenship from Jews and with it, the right to vote • The ban on marriages indicated clearly that Jews were inferior to the Germans • The removal of citizenship meant Jews had no protection from the law in Germany and with no vote they had no say and so no way of protecting themselves When was Kristallnacht and why was it significant? • 1938 • Attack coordinated by the government on Jewish businesses, homes and synagogues. • Windows were smashed and buildings burned down. • At least 91 Jews were killed and 30,000 were put in concentration camps • It was the first time there had been ‘official’ violence against the Jewish population and as such was a significant step up from the previous treatment and an indicator of the organised murder that was to come Why were Pastor Niemoller and the White Rose Group significant? • Niemoller was the leader of the Confessional Church, a Protestant church set up when the Nazis took control of the main Reich Church in Germany • Niemoller was an outspoken critic of the Nazis and ended up in a concentration camp but survived • The White Rose Group were a small group of students at Munich University who wrote and published leaflets criticising the Nazis and the war • They were arrested and executed • Both Niemoller and the White Rose proved that there were people in Germany who did not accept the Nazis and were brave enough to stand up to them