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HI136 The History of Germany Lecture 12 Everyday Life and the Possibility of Resistance Discussion Questions • Was the NS regime a totalitarian dictatorship? • What is resistance? • How useful are the categories victim, resistor, and collaborator in describing people who lived under the Third Reich? Control of Information Reich Ministry Propaganda and Enlightenment Reichskulturkammer (Reich Camber of Culture) Theatre Film Press Fine Arts Music Literature Ministry of Propaganda “I view the first task of the new ministry [of Propaganda] as being to establish co-ordination between the Government and the whole people . . . It is not enough for people to be more or less reconciled to our regime, to be persuaded to adopt a neutral attitude towards us, rather we want to work on people until they have capitulated to us, until they grasp ideologically that what is happening in Germany today is not an end in itself, but a means to an end.” Josef Goebbels, 15 March 1933 Themes • • • • • Anti-Semitism Anti-Bolshevism Awakening of the German people Superiority of the Aryan race Mastery of Central Europe (Lebensraum) • Volksgemeinschaft (People‘s community) • Hitler myth Broadcasting • 1933: Reich Radio Company established – a single state broadcaster controlled by the government. • In 1932, only 25% of German households owned a radio (Volksempfänger, People’s Receiver). By 1939 70% of German families have access to a radio, and announcements broadcast by loudspeakers in public places. • ‘Radio Wardens’ made sure that people tuned in to Nazi propaganda. The Press • Germany had nearly 5,000 different daily newspapers in 1933. • Eher Verlag (Nazi publisher) bought up papers – it owned 2/3 of the German press by 1939. • The Government controlled news stories at source through the state news agency, DNB. • ‘Editor’s Law’ (Oct. 1933) made editors personally responsible for content. Culture and the Arts Key themes expressing Nazi ideology: • Anti-Semitism • Militarism & the glorification of war • Nationalism • The purity and superiority of the Aryan race • The cult of the Führer • Anti-modernism • Neo-paganism Nazi cinema focused on propaganda films, historical epics and feel-good musicals and comedies Sculpture by Josef Thorak (1937) Education and Youth • ‘Co-ordination’ of education system – ‘Politically unreliable’ teachers sacked. – Curriculum brought into line with Nazi ideology. • Youth Organizations: – Deutsches Jungvolk (German Young People, DJ) – Boys aged 10-14. – Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth) – Boys aged 14-18. – Jungmädelbund (League of Young Girls) – Girls aged 10-14. – Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls, BDM) – Girls aged 14-18. Religion • • • • National Socialism fundamentally anti-Christian. The German Faith Movement attempted to introduce a kind of völkisch neo-paganism. July 1933: Concordat with the Vatican promises religious freedom for Catholics in exchange for a promise to keep out of politics. Attempts to ‘co-ordinate’ the Protestant churches: – The German Christians sought to merge Protestantism with Nazi ideology. – July 1933: new church constitution introduced and Ludwig Müller appointed Reich Bishop. The Nazi Calendar • • • • • • • • 30th January – The Seizure of Power 24th February – The refounding of the Party (1925) First Sunday in March – Heroes Remembrance Day 20th April – Hitler’s Birthday 1st May – National Day of Labour Second Sunday in May – Mothering Sunday September – Annual Nuremberg Party Rally 9th November – Munich Putsch (1923) NS Party Organization and Leadership The Role of Hitler • • • • August 1934: Posts of President & Chancellor combined. Hitler formally adopted the title Fuhrer. He was Head of State & Head of Government, as well as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, head of the civil service, and party leader. In theory he had unlimited power. One of the central debates on the functioning of the Third Reich surrounds Hitler’s role. The Schutzstaffel (SS) Group photo of an SS wedding in the grounds of the Main Office for Race and Settlement (1936). Himmler stands to the right of the bride. Heinrich Himmler Reichsführer SS and Chief of Police SS Ordnungspolizei (order police) Municipal police Sipo Security Police (Heydrich) Kripo Gestapo Criminal Police Secret state police Leibstandarte Waffen SS Totenkopfverbände SD Security Service (Heydrich) Foreign intelligence Domestic intelligence Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich (1904-1942) “I swear by God this sacred oath: I will render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Führer of the German nation and people, Supreme Commander of the armed forces, and will be ready as a true soldier to risk my life at any time for this oath”. Military Oath of Allegiance The Historiography of Resistance • Used to legitimize post-war states – East German historians presented Communist resistance as the only anti-Fascist force in Germany. – West German historiography concerned with accusations of ‘collective guilt’ & presented resistance as based on high moral and ethical values, the individual standing up against tyranny. • • • • • 1960s: Hans Mommsen – argued that national-conservative resistance rooted in the anti-democratic right of the 1920s. 1970s: Peter Hüttenberger & Martin Broszat – resistance in everyday life. Broszat – Resistenz (immunity): people retain their moral & ethical values without actively challenging the regime. Mommsen – Widerstandpraxis (Resistance Practice): resistance was a process encompassing different forms of dissent as individuals came to reject the regime in its entirety. Ian Kershaw – Two approaches to the study of resistance: Fundamentalist (dealing with those committed to the overthrow of the regime) and Societal (dealing with dissent in everyday life). Forms of Opposition and Dissent • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Organising a coup Attempting to assassinate Hitler and other leaders Going on strike Helping victims of Nazism Spying for foreign governments Deserting from the armed forces Committing suicide Emigrating Distributing anti-Nazi leaflets Underachieving in the workplace Absconding from work Publicly criticising the regime, telling anti-Hitler jokes Listening to American jazz and the BBC Not giving the Hitler greeting Refusing to join Nazi organisations Reading banned Nazi literature George Elser (1903-1945) Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) Sophie Scholl (1921-1943) Hans Scholl (1918-1943) Plots against Hitler, 1938-45 • May-September 1938: Army plot to depose Hitler. • November 1939: George Esler attempts to assassinate Hitler during the annual commemoration of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. • 13 March 1943: Attempt to blow up Hitler’s plane. • March 1943-March 1944: Various military plots to assassinate Hitler orchestrated by Colonel Henning von Tresckow and General Friedrich Olbricht. • 20 July 1944: Plot to kill Hitler with a bomb planted in his military headquarters in East Prussia.