Who did oppose the Nazis and

how?
Lesson Resources for Week 28
Explore 1& 2

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How to use this booklet
This booklet will contain all the notes and tasks for Week 28of the course. All the
information here will help you to understand the different forms of opposition to the
Nazis.

The information and tasks should follow your lessons exactly. The idea here is that
you ‘use the notes; don’t make the notes’. This means that we would rather you
engage in the lessons, ask and answer questions, highlight key bits of information,
complete tasks rather than copying down the information from the ppts.

It also means that we can introduce something called ‘flipped learning’. This is where
we ask you to read some new information that we will be looking at the following week
and we ask you to complete some tasks based on this. This should make the Lead
lessons less overwhelming for you. You will already have met the information before,
you can check your answers (and correct if need be) and you can also ask if you don’t
understand anything or want to know more. This way of learning should help to make
sure that you have a firm understanding of the content before we move onto the
Explore lessons. It is crucial that this flipped learning is completed.

The textbook that we have asked you to buy will still be a valuable aide. It will offer
further detail in order to extend your understanding of the subject.

Please make sure that you have this booklet with you for each lesson and then you can
follow the lessons seamlessly. You can print it out and write on it or save it to your
computer, whichever works best for you.

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 Week 28 Explore Lesson 1: Who did oppose the Nazis and
how?
Starter: Impact of war thinking quilt

Match the questions with the key words. Be careful as there are
some red herrings

Which key people were involved in the total war economy in Germany
1939-45?

What was the positive impact of war in Germany?

What was the negative impact of war in Germany 1939-45?

Priceless Art Rationing Slave labour Albert Speer Evacuation

Shortage of Adolf Hitler Refugees Better diet Employment of

coal women

Stalin No football Factories Bombing Food banks

matches closed

Shortage of Black market Luxury goods Ebert Mussolini

labour

Sweet shops Hermann Toilet paper in Gold Extra rations

closed Goring short supply for workers

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Opposition to the Nazis
We have already looked at how the Nazis successfully limited opposition to their
regime .

However, this does not mean that there was no resistance to Nazis at all from 1933
-45

It is also important to realise that there were different ‘forms’ of opposition

• Attempts to violently remove Hitler – the Nazis could not be voted out. The
only way to get rid of a dictator like Hitler was a coup d’etat: killing or
imprisoning the leader and replacing him with an alternative

• Open opposition and underground resistance – campaigning against the

government (speeches, leaflets) or deliberately disrupting its policies

• Passive resistance - not cooperating with Nazis

• Private grumbling People grumble among family and friends, but never in the
hearing of someone who might report them

• No opposition

Task: Read the information below about individuals who

opposed the Nazis.

Where would you place them on the chart on page 10?

Bishop Von Galen – Catholic Priest

I am the Roman Catholic Bishop of Munster. Before the Nazis came to power I was a
Catholic Priest. I married, baptised and buried members of my congregation. It is a
noble calling. By the time the Nazis came to power I had become a Bishop. I continued
as a Bishop after 1933. It is a demanding role but the spiritual well-being of our flock
is hugely important. 32% of Germans are Catholic. We are the second largest non-
Nazi organisation left. My job is to ensure that the people of Munster are good
Catholic Christians.

I disliked the Nazis from the beginning. In 1934 I started criticising the Nazis racist
policies in my sermons. I may not be a Jew but we are all God’s children. In 1941 I
found out about the Nazi euthanasia policy (murdering people who were not fit to
work – the mentally and physically disabled). This made me really angry. I immediately

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spoke out against it and started an open campaign to stop it. Many people supported
me. It worked. I forced the Nazis to stop murdering the physically and mentally ill in
1941. I effectively opposed the Nazis in this area.

I am not sure why I wasn’t locked away in a concentration camp or worse. I think
that this was down to me being popular with the people. However, some priests were
executed for handing out copies of my sermons. God rest their souls.

Ludwig Schoer – sweet shop owner

Before the Nazis came to power I worked in the confectionary business. I learnt the
ropes and opened my own sweet shop in the 1920s. I never liked the Nazis. What with
their strange salute and their bright red arm bands and their leader with his silly
little moustache! I was really sad when they came to power.

After 1933 I continued to run our family sweet shop. Everyone loves to treat
themselves occasionally. I never openly campaigned against the Nazis once they were
in power. That would have been stupid. However, I did passively resist. At home
whenever a leading Nazi came in the radio I turned it off. I moaned to my wife about
their intolerant ways. I made sure that no one else heard me though. I was also a bit
of a joker. I love a good joke. In fact it was a joke that got me put in Buchenwald
concentration camp. I told it to a regular customer in my shop – we both laughed till
our bellies ached. Little did we know that a Nazi informer was also in the shop at the
time! She betrayed me to the Gestapo – I was then arrested! Since then I have been
locked away doing hard labour. I cannot take much more of this – if I don’t get out of
this concentration camp soon, I don’t know what I will do

Johannes Grote – A Trade Unionist

I was 51 in 1933 and a proud socialist. Before the Nazis came to power I lived in the
town of Northeim and worked in the local factory where I was the trade union
representative. I helped my co-workers by negotiating with the bosses over pay rises.
But all of this changed when the Nazis came to power. In May 1933 I was arrested. I
hadn’t opposed the Nazis in any way. I was held for three days in the county jail and
questioned. They held my face up against the wall and beat me. They arrested my
wife and ransacked our house. When I was released I lost my job and my ID papers.
We left Northeim hoping to start again. The idea of my arrest was to scare socialists

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like me away from politics. It worked. I never got involved in politics again. But many
others braver men than me continued in the struggle. 400 strikes were organised
between 1933 and 1945. But soon after 1933 after the movement went underground
as the numbers of arrests increased

Dietrich Bonhoffer – Christian Religious University Lecturer

Before the Nazis came to power I worked hard spreading God’s word. I became
lecturer in Religious Studies at Berlin University and helped train young people into
understanding religion. I was disgusted when the Nazis came to power. I hated their
policies of racism and intolerance and immediately spoke out against them. I taught
my students that you cannot and should not separate religion from politics. I told
them that true religion is standing up to evil governments like the Nazi dictatorship.
I spread this message until 1940. Thousands of trainee priests were influenced by
me. Then, they shut my college down. Instead of escaping to England where I have
lots of friends, I stayed and spoke out against Nazi evil. I was eventually arrested in
1943 and have just heard this morning that I am going to be executed. God forgive
these evil Nazis.

Claus Von Stauffenberg – Upper Class Army Officer

I am a career army officer. I come from a very wealthy German family and we have
always led the German army. It is in our blood.

When the Nazis took power I was appalled. Could we really be led by a lower class yob
like Hitler? He was so angry all the time. I suppose he pacified us in 1934 by backing
the army and not the brown-shirts in the Night of the Long Knives. We were happy to
have him lead the country… for a while.

Hitler’s racial policies are shocking. When he decided to invade the Soviet Union in
1941 I thought it a mistake. Things started well but went from good to bad and by
1943 when the army was forced to retreat a group of us decided that Hitler had to
be removed. We planned to assassinate the evil little corporal. We came about a
metre from success. It was only when someone slightly moved the bag that contained
a bomb that I had placed under the table away from Hitler that he didn’t die. I was
eventually arrested of course – you can guess my fate.

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If only they hadn’t moved that bag..

Sophie Scholl – University student and one of 5 members of

the White Rose Group
I was only 11 when the Nazis took power. I grew up with Nazi ideas and saw the
propaganda and brainwashing everywhere – at school, in the Hitler Youth, in the
sports clubs. I could see through all of the lies and evil. When I got to University I
finally found some friends who agreed with me. With my brother Hans and his close
friend Christoph we started a campaign in 1942 to try to shame our fellow students
to help them see how awful the Nazis were.

We spread anti-Nazi messages around the university by handing out leaflets,

designing and putting up poster and writing graffiti on walls. We wanted everyone to
see the evil. Why are so many people so passive? We were arrested in 1943, where we
were interrogated and tortured. You can guess my fate of course.

I thought the guillotine was only used in France in the 18th century!

Martin Niemoller – Protestant Minister During World War

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I was a successful U Boat (submarine) commander. I then trained as a Protestant
Minister in 1924. I was always a Nationalist and welcomed the arrival of the Nazis in
1933. I hoped they could help make us a great country again. However, I am not a
racist and I started protesting against the Nazis in 1933. I hated the Nazi created
Church called the ‘German Christians’. I became one of the Nazis most outspoken
critics. Each Sunday I preached against them in my church. In 1936 I wrote a really
strong protest against their increasing antisemitism. I was arrested in 1938 and kept
in concentration camps until 1945. When I was released I felt ashamed that we didn’t
do more to stand up against Nazi evil. This shame plagued me so much that I signed
the Stuttgart Declaration stating this fact.

Kristina Voller - Edelweiss Pirate

I was born in 1925. Me and my friends grew up under the Nazis, and hated the way
they organised every aspect of our lives. We just wanted to have some fun. We were
young and the young are supposed to kick against the system. A number of young boys
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and girls, me included began looking for a way in which we could avoid joining the
Hitler Youth. I did so by leaving school at the age of 14. During the war, many groups
like my little band of brothers and sisters began to form. Different groups called
themselves different names like ‘swings,’ ‘packs,’ ‘cliques,’ or ‘pirates’. Together they
are now known as the Edelweiss Pirates, the members of these groups are thought to
have totalled more than 5,000, about 3,000. We got together, listened to jazz and
hung out

As the war progressed, so did the seriousness of the activities in which these
Edelweiss Pirates took part in. Pirates in Cologne offered shelter to German army
deserters, escaped prisoners from concentration camps and escapees from forced
labour camps, while others made armed raids on military depots and deliberately
sabotaged war production. My group used to beat up members of the Hitler Youth
and steal their bikes! I loved watching our boys bash them in! We did our bit to
oppose the Nazis – but really, many of us just wanted to be young and have some fun.

Philipp Scheidemann - Social Democrat

Before the Nazis took power I was an active politician. In fact I was asked to form
one of the first governments in the Weimar Republic in 1919. As soon as the Nazis
took power I knew that my number was up. I fled Germany just before the Enabling
Act was passed. I left many members of my family behind. I thought that I could try
to campaign against the Nazis from outside Germany. The Nazis immediately froze
my pension.

In 1933 I wrote an article that was published in Britain and America stating that I
thought now Hitler was in power, war was inevitable. Writing was my main method of
opposition. I under estimated the reaction. The Nazis arrested 5 members of my
family, and reported in the press that they were to be sent to a concentration camp
to warn other Social Democrats from speaking out. They also reported that my
daughter and her husband had committed suicide – I think they were murdered. I
retracted my article, hoping that my family would be released. Luckily they were in
August 1933 – but my situation was used as a warning to other Social Democrats not
to speak out. It worked on me and many others. Hardly anyone spoke out.

Adolf Reichwein - teacher

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After fighting in World War One, I became a professor of history and a teacher
trainer. In 1933 I saw that the Nazis were gaining support so I joined the Social
Democrats to try and oppose them. When the Nazis came to power they quickly
removed me from my position at the University. I therefore decided to become a
school teacher. I simply could not turn a blind eye to the evil of the Nazi terror
state. We cannot live in fear every day. Seeing such evil spurred me on to joining the
resistance. I worked in secret with trade unionists trying to oppose the Nazis. I got
the very few people who were prepared to resist the Nazis together. I held many
secret meetings at my office at a museum in Berlin where I worked. In 1944 I was
betrayed by a spy who gained access to our group. This led to my arrest. I am in
prison and await trial for treason against the Nazi regime.

No opposition or private grumbling Passive resistance – publicly not

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 co-operating

Underground resistance or open Attempt to overthrow the Nazis

opposition using force

Week 28 Explore Lesson Two

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‘The main reason that the Nazis faced little opposition in Germany was because of
their use of Terror.’

How far do you agree? Explain your answer

You may use the following in your answer

• Terror

• Nazi achievements

• You must use information of your own.

• 16 marks

Give me a WWW and EBI for this paragraph.

One reason the Nazis faced little opposition was because of the use of Terror. The
Nazis had complete control over the courts and police. They were therefore able to
round up their opposition and kill or torture them in concentration camps without
trial. As well as this, there was the threat of the Gestapo. The Gestapo was the
secret police. They wore plain clothes and could arrest and imprison anyone suspected
of opposing the State. They also used torture and surprise to extract confessions
from suspects. They relied on a huge network of informers who reported on local
people who they believed were anti-Nazi. These informers, helped the Gestapo arrest
many ‘anti- Nazis’ .

Here’s one I prepared earlier. Can you highlight how it has been
improved?

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One reason the Nazis faced little opposition was because of the use of Terror. The
Nazis had complete control over the courts and police. They were therefore able to
round up their opposition and kill or torture them in concentration camps without
trial. This led to people being afraid to speak out against the Nazis because they did
not want to endanger themselves or their family . As well as this, there was the
threat of the Gestapo. The Gestapo was the secret police. They wore plain clothes
and could arrest and imprison anyone suspected of opposing the State. They also
used torture and surprise to extract confessions from suspects. They relied on a
huge network of informers who reported on local people who they believed were anti-
Nazi. These informers, helped the Gestapo arrest many ‘anti- Nazis’ . Again this
meant that people were careful not to criticise the Nazis in public for fear of who
was listening. This meant that it became very difficult for opposition to the Nazis to
be organised. People who may have wanted to oppose them felt isolated and unable to
take action. This use of terror was therefore incredibly significant as it meant that
the Nazis were people were often too afraid to oppose the Nazis for fear of the
consequences.

Give me a WWW and EBI for this paragraph.

Another reason why the Nazis faced little opposition was the use of propaganda.
During the reign of Nazis in Germany, Hitler focused heavily on the importance of
propaganda to reduce opposition to Nazis in Germany. The use of propaganda meant
that many in Germany were brainwashed into thinking that Hitler was like a God and
they had an exaggerated view of the achievements of Nazis. This meant that they
were more willing to ignore certain aspects of Nazi rule such as antisemitism or the
loss of personal freedoms such as the right to strike and were less likely to criticise
the Nazis or resist their rule.

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Conclusion: How could we improve this?

In conclusion, I agree to a certain extent that the main reason that the Nazi Party
faced little opposition in Germany was because of their use of terror.

Who did oppose the Nazis and how?

The White Rose Group

• Non-violent, intellectual resistance group

• Founded by a Philosophy Professor and students at the University of Munich

• They came from a variety of religious backgrounds and some had been
members of the Hitler Youth and the BDM when it was made compulsory

• In the summer of 1942 some served for 3 months at the Russian Front and this
influenced their thinking and actions

• Between June 1942 and February 1943 they printed anti-Nazi leaflets and
distributed them around the university campus

• On 18th February 1943 the Scholl’s were caught dropping leaflets around the
campus and arrested. Other members were arrested in the coming months

• Sophie and Hans Scholl and Christoph Probst were put on trial on 22 nd February
1943, found guilty and beheaded the same day

• Alexander Schmorrel and Kurt Huber were beheaded in July 1943 and Willi
Graf was also beheaded on 12th October 1943

• They are now remembered as one of the bravest opponents of Nazi rule

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The Kreisau Circle 1943-45

• The Circle had members from across society – about 20 prominent members
including German nobility, lawyers and politicians who did not like the way
Nazism crushed personal freedoms

• They were concerned with building a liberal and humanist society post Nazi era

• They were influenced by the Church and had Christian values at their core

• They created a manifesto called ‘Basic Principles for the New Order’ in August
1943.

• The group were discovered by the Gestapo and broken up. After the July
bomb plot failed, some members of the Kreisau Circle were linked to it and
executed.

The July Bomb Plot, 1944

 The most famous attempt on Hitler’s life was the July Bomb plot (known as
Operation Valkyrie) – organised by Claus von Stauffenburg, a Colonel who had
supported the Nazis to begin with, but was disgusted by their anti-Semitism.
 He planted a bomb in Hitler’s military headquarters on a day when he knew
Hitler would be there. The bomb exploded and four people were killed,
however it failed to kill Hitler because of two main problems – the windows had
been left open, lessening the effect of the explosion, and someone had moved
the briefcase bomb at the last minute. Despite this, it was the closest
anybody had come to killing the Fuhrer.
 All the plotters were rounded up and executed.
 Hitler also used this as an excuse to get rid of other opponents – 5000 people
were arrested and executed as a result of this plot.

The Extent of Opposition to the Nazis

It is very difficult to judge how much of a threat the Nazis faced from opposition to
their rule. Propaganda suggested everyone loved the government and any acts of
opposition were not publicised.

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We know that there was resistance to Nazi policies from, for example, the Churches,
the Communists, the Jews, the youth movements and the trade unions. What we don't
know is how much support there was amongst the general population for such
opposition.

The growth in membership of the Nazi party, and its success in elections, suggests
that Nazi rule was very popular in the early years, as it dealt with the problems
caused by the depression.

However, that support declined as the war began to go badly and there were
shortages and hardships in the towns and cities. For example, in October 1944 there
was an uprising in Cologne against Gestapo and Nazi officials which resulted in dozens
of Germans being publicly hanged. However, it seems much more likely that, despite
the fact there were eleven attempts on Hitler's life, the opposition to the Nazis was
not a real threat to their rule. Some Nazi policies, such as euthanasia, did lead to
protest, but the Nazi regime was strong enough to deal with this.

It may well be that opposition to Nazi rule was seen more in ‘the little things’, such
as absenteeism from work (in December 1941 over 7000 workers were arrested for
not attending work), buying on the black market and failing to report anyone seen to
be opposing Nazi policies.

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Week 28 Apply
Read through the information on opposition to the Nazis on the Apply area
Further information also in your textbook page 103 -106.
Complete the table below
There is also a 20 mins clip on the opposition to the Nazis on the Learning Platform.

Opposition to the Nazis

Name of Why did they oppose Methods of How did the Nazis
opposition the Nazis Opposition deal with them
group and
years active

Edelweiss
Pirates and
Swing Youth

White Rose
Group

The Church

The Kreisau
Circle

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The July
Bomb Plot

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