LUNR topic 2 - control and opposition

• gestapo

• SD

• concentration camps

• informants

• police

• courts and judges

• spied on the public to remove any opposition.

• It was a highly effective organisation that had the power to arrest and imprison any person suspected of opposing the Nazis.

• Many ‘tip-offs’ came from the general public.

• All denunciations were investigated, whether they were as small as telling an anti-Nazi joke, or something larger.

• The aim of their interrogations was to get them to confess, through torture, electrocution, and sleep deprivation.

• the main official intelligence gathering agency.

• Its role was to identify actual or potential enemies to the Nazis.

• It spied on education, government, and administration as well as churches and the Jewish community.

• From their findings, the agents wrote extensive reports.

• The SD did not act against individuals, but instead passed the information onto those who did – the Gestapo.

• The ultimate punishment for those being hunted by the Nazi terror system was being sent to a concentration camp.

• The aim of these camps was different from death camps such as Auschwitz; the point of the concentration camps was to ‘concentrate’ anyone who threatened the Nazis and keep them away from society in harsh conditions.

• The camps mostly imprisoned political opponents, but by the mid-1930s, other groups began to arrive: criminals, workshy and religious opponents

a person who gives information to another

• The Nazis increased the power of the general police and also their funding.

• They became an important part of the Nazi terror system, providing intelligence on potential enemies and arresting them.

• Judges had to swear an oath to Hitler and sentences became more severe.

• if you had opposed the Nazis in any way (big or small) it was likely that you would be punished

• The number of criminal offences punishable by death rose from 3 to 46.

• newspapers

• radio

• culture

• rallies

• posters

• film

• berlin olympics

The Nazis controlled of the papers in two ways:

1. They took control of existing papers and magazines. The Nazis even published their own party newspapers, including one which printed antisemitic rants and cartoons.

2. The Nazis controlled the content of the newspapers. ‘The Editor’s Law’ meant that editors were personally responsible for what they printed. All journalists were forced to join the Reich Press Association, where Goebbels issued regular statements about what could and could not be printed.

• As it did for other things, the Ministry of Propaganda controlled its output.

• The first law of broadcast was ‘don't be boring’ but most producers played it safe by playing Nazis speeches, German folk music, and Hitler’s favourite composer.

• The Nazis produced cheap radio sets called ‘the People’s Receivers.’

• These radio sets had very weak range, which meant that they were not able to pick up foreign signals.

• Seventy percent of Germans had one.

• held to emphasise and celebrate the strength of the Nazi movement.

• Speeches, choruses, marches, and parades were held to boost Nazi support.

• At the time, many of the crowd were moved by the semi religious atmosphere and became hysterical when Hitler the Fuhrer made his appearances.

• The Nazis were masters of the visual message, with their symbols and colours on all of them, and inspirational messages which spoke to the German people.

• Similarly to the other forms of propaganda, the Nazis closely controlled the films played in Germany.

• The Reich Cinema Law in 1934 made it compulsory to pre-censor all films, which stopped production of any films that criticised the Nazis.

• the games promoted Aryan superiority; the nearly all-Aryan German team emerged victorious, winning most medals.

• Olympic flags and swastikas covered Berlin.

• social democrats

• communists

• the church

• Jehovah’s witnesses

• youth groups

• Social Democrats

  • after the Nazi takeover in 1933, the leaders of the Social Democrats fled the country.

  • Other members/supporters of the party formed small resistance groups, which worked secretly to produce anti-Nazi leaflets and posters but were hunted down by the Gestapo.

• communists

  • this political party aimed to provide visible resistance, with meetings, propaganda, and leaflets. This visibility meant that they were quickly arrested by the Gestapo.

overall, if the two groups had worked together, they would have posed serious opposition to the Nazis, but unfortunately, the long-standing rivalries between the two groups limited their effectiveness.

• Martin Niemoller – protestant who refused to join the Nazi church.

• Paul Schneider – protestant who preached against Nazi church.

• Cardinal Galen – originally embraced the Nazis but began to criticise them over their racial policy.

• they were unwilling to comply with the Nazi state due to their religious beliefs.

• They refused to give the Hitler salute and refused compulsory military service.

• They began writing anti-Nazi leaflets and propaganda.

• As a result, the Gestapo created a special unit specifically to combat the Witnesses, and many were imprisoned in concentration camps.

• Edelweiss Pirates – listened to foreign radio and spread news, painted anti-Nazi slogans, and actively picked fights with Hitler youth members.

• Swing Kids – swing is a type of music associated with African Americans, which was banned by the Nazis. Many were arrested and some were sent to concentration camps.

• Leipzig gangs – young communists

• Christians – children who believed in Christianity. Hitler banned these because he wanted the only youth organisation to be Hitler Youth.