Life in Nazi Germany

Setting up the Nazi dictatorship through the Reichstag Fire, Enabling Act, Night of the Long Knives, the police state, censorship and propaganda.

Reichstag fire

• On the 22nd of Feb 1933, there was news that the Reichstag building had been set on fire.
• Marinus Van Der Lubbe was found inside and was held responsible for damaging the bulding
• He was a mentally unstable dutch communist pyromaniac
• Had only a shirt and a few matches so it was highly unlikely that he set fire to the whole building
• Some suggest it was the NAzis that staged the whole thing, as it was clear someone had been previously making preparations

RESULTS OF THE INCIDENT: Hitler managed to ban the Communist party and convinced everyone that they were tyring to stage a revolution and posed a threat to the government.

Enabling Act

• Passed on the 23rd of March, 1933
• Granted Hitler the power to pass laws, and so the Nazi dictatorship was introduced.
• The Nazis watched the members of the other parties as they voted for or against the Act. It was a very biased vote, as the Nazis put serious pressure on the parties to vote for it.
• Only the Social Democrats didn't give into the pressure. They were the second largest party.

Night of the Long Knives

• Hitler was paranoid that there were members in his party that planned to overthrow him
• This included Ernest Röhm, who was a notorious homosexual (he was basically a pedophile, let's be honest here)
• 29 of June, 1934: it is said that 200 SA leaders and members were executed.
• Hitler felt threatened by the vastness of the SA and the commitment it had to Röhm - he was afraid he would use this to topple him from power
• Allowed Hitler to purge his ranks of potential opposition and also introduced an element of fear in anyone that was thinking of crossing him.

The Police State

• Secret police was introduced to weed out opposition and enforce Nazi policies
• On the 28th of Feb, 1933, Hitler convinced Hindenburg to pass an emergency decree that took away people's freedom. This denied them:
• Personal liberty
• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of the press
• Freedom of assembly
• LSPA - lisa spat pork away
• By the same policy, the Nazis were allowed to search houses, confiscate property and detain an unlimited amount of people without trial.
• They could now quickly and easily round up political opponents, so Hitler could get rid of a lot of the opposition. He hoped that by doing so, he could win an absolute majority.

Censorship and propaganda

• Censhorship helped the Nazis portray whatever image they wanted of themselves - as the grand saviours of the nation.
• Hitler was always portrayed as a great, leading figure. For example, he wore glasses, but he absolutely refused to have any pictures of him with glasses published out of the fear that it would make him appear weak. In fact, his speeches were printed in huge letters so he would never have to wear glasses in public
• Censorship helped the Nazis to gloss over some of their crimes, especially the treatment of Jews and the cruelty in concentration camps and 'euthanasia' camps, and, later, the mass killing of jews (especially by gassing)

• Propaganda also helped to gloss over the atrocities that were being committed
• Radios became cheaper and promoted, so people could tune in and listen to Hitler's speeches. This was enforced by Nazis policing the streets.
• There was propaganda in every form - rallies, movies, posters, etc. - and much of it was aimed at the young generation, who had gullible and open minds. Many of them did not know what life was like when it was not under Nazi rule.

Nazi policies towards women, the young, the Churches and the Jews.

Women

• Pre-WW2, they wanted women to remain at home and have as many children as possible
• They could be given the Honor Cross of German Motherhood - bronze for 4 or 5 children, silver for 6 or 7 and gold for 8 or more.
• They were descrimiated against in the workplace to discourage them from having jobs
• Expected to be well-presented, with some but not too much makeup, and preferrably blonde and blue-eyed
• Segregated from men in a lot of situations
• Encouraged to marry before having children, but only with 'racially pure' men.

The young

• Church schools and clubs were abolished
• Syllabus was changed and focused on the 'stab in the back' that Germany recieved from the Jews and Communists after WW1 and how the Nazis were the heroes of it all
• Encouraged to join the Hitler Youth, and it became compulsory in 1939
• Taught how to dig trenches, fire pistols, throw grenades and box
• Given certain physical criteria they had to meet so Hitler could 'weed out' the weak
• Great emphasis was put on PE and by 1937, students could drop religious studies
• Constant flow of propaganda for them

The Churches

• There were many members of the Nazi party that were paranoid that Church meetings could be used to spread anti-Nazi ideas
• Those that worshipped God were less likely to worship Hitler
• Some thought they should be used, as many members of the Church had voted for Hitler. Churches provided a power base for the Nazis and many Protestant pastors
• Hitler didn't want to provoke a conflict with the Churches until he was sure he could win. So, he continued to make empty promises, guaranteeing that the Nazis would work with the churches.
• He united all churches under one Reich Church, and put a pro-Nazi bishop, Müller, in charge. They became known as the German Christians.
• In 1936, the Nazis started pressuring kids not to attend Church schools
• 1937: Christmas carols and nativity plays banned
• 1938: Preists prohibited from teaching religious studies in classes
• 1939: All remaining Church schools abolished

The Jews

• Boycotted Jewish businesses and encouraged people to buy from 'real German' stores rather than Jewish ones :(
• They tried to make the lives of Jews extremely difficult before introducing the Final Solution.
• April, 1933 - Official 1 day boycott of Jewish businesses
• 1934: Anti-Jewish propaganda increaes
• 1935: Jews forbidden to join the army, and Nuremberg Laws passed in September that year.
• Law of the Protection of German Blood and Honor prohibited marriages between Jews and Aryans
• Reich citizenship law: Jews became 'subjects' rather than citizens, which meant certain priviledges were taken away.
• 1936: There is a drop in anti-Jewish propaganda for the Berlin Olympic Games.
• September 1937: Hitler makes an outspoken attack on Jews and confiscates more businesses
• 1938: By April, Jews had to register business and property, which made it far easier to confiscate. In June/July, Jewish doctors were forbidden to treat Aryans. By October, they had to have a red 'J' stamped on their passports
• They rounded up Jews and put them in Ghettos, which were unsanitary and cramped, small spaces.
• Completely segregated from Aryans
• Any opposition was sent to concentration camps or exploited as slaves of forced labor (happy days!)
• Not allowed in public spaces (such as parks) and were segregated on public transport, i.e. buses

Policies to reduce unemployment.

• People were forced to join a labor service if they were unemployed
• The Nazis wanted enormous public works to be built, including building roads, railways and buildings. This provided a lot of work for people.
• As Germany built up its armed forces, there were also plenty of jobs available in the armaments industry
• Unemployed youth were made to join the Labour Service or Youth Service, which further reduced unemployment figures
• Women were made to leave their jobs as doctors, and wives were paid to stay at home. This opened up more spaces for men to fill in the labour industry. They were not included in the statistics.
• However, the standard of living did not improve, because the Nazis' control over trade unions meant that wages did not increase with productivity and products that could be used to make people's lives better were given to public works instead.
• Jews were also removed from jobs and not counted as 'citizens', thus their unemployment did not count, so the Nazi employment figures looked better than the reality.
• Those that were unemployed and refused to do the work the government offered them were sent to concentration camps and thus, they were also not included in unemployment figures.
• Young men were also forced to join the army, which, technically, 'employed' them.

The Labour Service, the Labour Front and Strength Through Joy.

Labour Service

• It was set up around June, 1933.
• Its main aims were to:
• Reduce unemployment
• Militarise the workforce
• Spread Nazi ideology within the workforce
• Initially, it was vouluntary, but by 1935, it was compulsory for 6 months for all young people.
• The workers helped in the fields, built buildings and autobahns (highways).

By 1939,  Germany had 7000 miles of autobahns

• They were expected to live in camps, recieve pocket money instead of wages, do military exercises every day and wear a uniform.

Labour Front

• Set up May 1933
• Replaced trade unions, which Hitler thought would disrupt the economy
• It was led by Robert Ley and functioned to ensure that things met the best interests of the Nazi regime (i.e. so that the economy worked like the state wanted it to)
• The DAF regulated employer powers, so that labour could not be over-exploited, set out employment rights for workers, regulated working hours, organised activities for workers, as well as punishments
• Workers lost the right to act collectively against an employer
• On average, working hours went up by 6 hours per week.

Strength Through Joy

• This organised leisure time for wokers and encouraged people to save up for international trips
• Libraries were set up
• Some activities were free, while others had to be paid for
• Tours and walks were organised
• School days were also organised

• This helped the Nazis control every aspect of everyday life for the Germans. Some people hated it, but many were grateful that at least more was being done now than under the Weimar government.