Key topic 3

Nazi control and

Dictatorship 1933-
1939.
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Remember, at the time that Hitler took over as
Chancellor, Germany was a democracy.
Hindenburg retained all power as president, Hitler’s
cabinet only had 12 members, The Weimar controlled
everything that Hitler could do.

At this time, he had NO scope for his Dictator

ambitions but he was still able to increase his own
power.

Hitler’s first job…Start a fire.

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 The Reichstag Fire
The evening of 27th February 1933
The Reichstag building was destroyed in a fire
A communist Van Der Lubbe was caught with materials to make a
fire.
He was found guilty and executed.
Hitler used this as an opportunity to attack the communists. Used
decrees.
4,000 communists were arrested.
Hitler wrote a policy to enable him to arrest communists and people
he did not support. Used ‘Decree for the Protection of People’ to do
this.
Communist newspapers were banned. Violence from the SA- 70
deaths. Nazis won 288 more members of Reichstag in the election 3
which was called. Nazis now have majority in the Reichstag and can
 The Enabling Act
March 1933
It said:
The Reich could start new laws
These laws could overrule the constitution for 4 years
The laws would be proposed by Hitler

March 1933 the Act was enabled (even though the SA were there
intimidating voters)
This was the end of democratic rule and the end of the Weimar Constitution.
The act was passed by 444 votes to 94- Hitler had LEGALLY got complete
power.
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 Removing other opposition
Trade Unions – Nazi’s broke in to their offices and
arrested them. Ban on all Trade Unions, strikes
were now illegal.
Political Parties – In July 1933 all other parties
were made illegal except NSDAP.
Local government – Each part of Germany was ran
by a smaller government, this was removed in
1934 so Hitler could appoint governors to replace
them who would all answer to Hitler himself.
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 The Night Of The Long Knives
Ernst Rohm, the leader of the SA, was believed to be a threat by
Hitler.
Many of the SA were loyal to Rohm.
He opposed some of Hitler’s policies.
The army believed Rohm wanted the SA to replace them.
In June 1934, Hitler arranged for Rohm and 100 other leaders to
meet in a Bavarian town. When the arrived, they were all
arrested, imprisoned and shot or stabbed by the SS.

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The death of Hindenburg, the
Fuhrer and the Oath
August 1934, Hindenburg died (Aged 87) and
Hitler took power.
Hitler declared himself Fuhrer.
On 19th August, to show himself as Fuhrer,
Hitler held an election.
Through Nazi-Propaganda and intimidation,
Nazi’s won 90% of the vote.

The Weimar Republic was over formally.

Hitler’s total power had begun.

ALL soldiers in each army were forced to swear

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an oath of loyalty to Hitler.
 The Gestapo, SS, SD and
concentration camps.
SS – Protection squad. Heinrich Himmler. Black Uniform. 240,00
men. Controlled all of Germany’s police and security.
SD – Security service. Reinhard Heydrich. Green Uniform. Spied
on all opponents and critics of Hitler.
Gestapo – Secret state police. No Uniform. Very much feared by
the public. Prosecuted anyone who did anything to oppose the
party. Given official permission to torture. 30,000 men.
Concentration Camps – By 1939, 150,000 people were in
‘protective arrest’. Not for typical crime but for being against the
Nazi Party. The first camp, Dachau was opened in 1933. Camps
were in rural areas. Inmates were homosexual, Jews, Political
prisoners, prostitutes, gypsies etc.
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 Controlling the legal system
The legal system was in favour of the Nazi Party
Judges – All judges were made to be members of the
National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the
Law. If the Nazi’s didn’t like them, they were denied
membership so could not be a judge.
Law courts – Trials by jury were abolished. Hitler set up
‘The People’s Court’ for acts of treason. The Judges were
hand picked and often trials were done in secret. The
sentence was often death. There was no right to appeal.
1934-39 534 political opponents sentenced to death.

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 Controlling religious Views
In the beginning, Hitler wanted to work with Christians.
However, Christian leaders would not tolerate the violence and
racism
Catholics
of the Nazi’s. Protestants
Catholics held the Pope as their leader, Protestants linked with the Nazi’s and
not Hitler. created The Reich Church (1936)
Catholics had their own schools, not Nazi Protestants who supported Hitler were
schools. able to continue.
Catholic priests were harassed. Some allowed the Swastika in church.
Schools were forced to close. Jewish teachings had to be excluded from
Youth activities were banned. the Bible.
Those who spoke out about Hitler were
taken to a concentration camp.
PEL- Pastors’ Emergency League set up to
oppose Hitler

Hitler ‘Nazified’ all aspects of society now.

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Propaganda Control – Goebbels,
censorship, media, rallies and sport.
Joseph Goebbels was the key person to
influence public attitudes. ‘Minister of people’s
Enlightenment’
He believed that all you had to do was repeat the
same message. This happened so deeply in
propaganda, the people didn’t even know it was
happening.

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Media
Radio – ALL radio stations were censored. Hitler often did broadcasts. Cheap radios
were sold to the public by 1939 70% German homes owned a radio and they were
given to schools and factories. They could not pick up foreign stations.
The Press – ALL newspapers were censored. They were given stories to publish. Any
that opposed the Nazi party were shut down. EVERY newspaper was a Nazi paper.
1,600 closed in 1935.

Rallies – Mass rallies. They were increasingly bigger and more frequent. They were
exciting places to be, this increased public appeal. Most famous was the Nuremburg
rallies in 1934 200,000 supporters attended this event.

Sport – All stadiums had the Nazi flag. All teams did the Nazi salute. Sports were seen
as a Nazi ideal.
The Berlin Olympics 1936.
This was an opportunity for the world to see the Nazi party in ‘a good light’.
They built the biggest stadium in the world! 110,000 people could be there.
Very well organised, filmed by leading Nazi director Leni Riefenstahl.
Germany won 33 medals – the most out of all the countries.
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 Nazi control of Culture and Art
Nazis had strong objections to any modern art as it was against their traditional German
Values. Nazi’s wanted to see ideas about ‘old Germany’ as well as family, self discipline, loyalty,
country life and self-sacrifice.
Anything that disagreed with Nazi Ideals was banned.
Art – Only artists that supported Nazi ideals were allowed to paint and sculpt. In 1936, 12,000
paintings were removed from art galleries. The Gestapo made surprise visits to artists’ studios
to do checks.
Architecture – They did not like the modern or futuristic. Albert Speer was a favourite of
Hitler’s. Speer was used for most of the Nazi buildings. He decorated the buildings with flags
and always made the buildings large – this represented power.
Music – Nazis controlled performance and composition. Jazz, for example, was banned.
German traditional folk music was preferred.
Literature No new books could be published without permission. 2,5000 writers were banned.
Millions of books were burned in May 1933 from universities and public libraries.
Film – The cinema was very popular. Each film had a 45 min propaganda reel before it. Film
makers had to send a plot line to the Nazis before it could be made. Nazis made films (1,300)
which were always with a hidden message.
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 Opposition to the Nazi Party
Secret Trade Union Opposition – Workers would silently protest by
breaking things and calling in sick. KPD encouraged this.
Secret Political Opposition – Many protested abroad. SPD set up
their own newspaper.
Opposition amongst the young – Many objected to social policies
such as Edelweiss Pirates & Swing Youth. Most approved of Hitler
and Nazis.
Opposition in the church – Many opposed both openly and secretly.
Secret army opposition – Opposition and assassination plots were
rife in 1943 and 1944 lead by Beck who was chief staff of German
army.

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 Key Topic 4

Life in Nazi
Germany, 1933-
1939
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 Women and the family
Women should adopt a traditional mother
role and not work but serve husband.
Women were seen as important to
German life.
Women should have a ‘natural’ and
modest look. No make up, long skirts,
hair tied back.
Women were encouraged to have
children with a large amount of money.
If a woman could not have children, or
had an abortion men were encouraged to
divorce.
Medals were given to women who had
had many children (bronze/silver/gold).
Children were made to salute gold
mothers. 16
 Women and employment
A woman’s place was in the home. Women's organisations
merge into one- German Woman's Enterprise (DFW)
Kinder, Kuche, Kirche-Kitchen, Church and Children
were the 3 priorities. 1,000 loans given to young couples
to marry (only given if woman gave up work once
married, each child meant ¼ loan written off)
From 1933, women were banned from jobs such as
teachers.
School girls were ‘trained’ for motherhood.
In 1937, Grammar schools were banned. They were not
encouraged to go to University. 17,00 in universities in
1932, 6,000 in 1939.
But not effective as soon women were needed in work in
industries so only short lived.
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The Mothers Cross Hitler Youth saluted
wearers of the Gold
medal.

Mothers of 10 would
8 children name Hitler as
Godfather and if a
boy call them
Adolf!!!!!!

6-7 children Lebensborn

(Fountain of Life) set
up by Himmler,
nurseries and
financial aid for
4-5 children women who had
children with SS
soldiers.
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 The Young- boys
The 1,000 year Reich- Hitler knew not all adults supported the Nazis.
Boys and girls were equal but had different strengths. All should be brought
up strong, healthy, proud Germans, productive and proud of Nazi policies.
The Nazi youth movement – genders separated.

Nazi Movement for Boys – The Hitler Youth (1936 took over all sport facilities,
want to play got to join! March 1939 all Germans youths had to join)
Political Training
Physical Training
Military Training
Character Training
What groups did they join?
6-10 years old- Little
Followers
10-14- German Young 19
 The Youth- Girls
Political Training
Physical training
Character Training
NO Military Training What groups did they
Trained to be a housewife (Cook/clean/mend/sew)
join?
Racial Hygiene- ARYAN race 10-14 years old- Young
Maidens
Did it work? 14-21 years old- BDM-
League of German
Many children enjoyed it and were very happy.
Maidens
Many were forced in to it and were very happy. Parents were
unhappy too as the children were told that their loyalty was with the
Nazis, not their own family.
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Education (Curriculum and
Teachers)
Bernhard Rust- Education Minister “whole purpose
of education is to create Nazis”
April 1933- Nazi’s could sack teachers that they were unhappy with.
All teachers swore an oath and had to join Nazi Teachers League.
Courses for teachers were mandatory- in 1939 200,000 teachers
attended Nazi courses.

Teachers were expected to:

Teach the Nazi salute.
Start and finish each lesson with ‘Heil Hitler’
Decorate the classroom with Nazi flags and decoration.
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 The Curriculum
New subjects such as ‘Race Studies’ were introduced, importance of
Aryan race and to not mix with other races such as Jews.
Traditional subjects were used as vehicles for Nazi ideas.
Different subjects for boys and girls
PE time was doubled
New text books had to be approved by the Nazi party. E.G The TOV
was re-named ‘The stab in the back’.
Pupils had to gather in the hall to listen to Nazi radio and major
political speeches.
Mein Kampf was mandatory reading.
Boarding schools established for future Nazi leaders.

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 Employment and living
standards
Nazi reduction of unemployment – The Nazis thought that the
unemployed were a burden on society so they thrived to give
everyone a job.
Labour Service (RAD) – Provide paid work to the unemployed.
Repairing roads/plant trees. By 1935 ALL men had to serve for at least
6 months, 42,000 in RAD by 1935. Low paid. People did NOT like RAD.
Autobahns – Motorway project. By 1935, 125,000 men worked on the
autobahn. Public work created many jobs and worked together to
improve Germany.
Rearmament – Boosting the armed forces after the TOV had effected
it. BY 1939- 1.3 million in armed forces. Construction of arms an
equipment boosted employment.
Unemployment only 300,000 by 1939
Invisible Unemployment – Women/Jews/Many were in
prison/SS/SD/Armed forces (In peace time, they would not have
jobs)/The Nazis did adapt the statistics in their favour. 23
 ‘Reducing unemployment statistics’
• Invisible Unemployment – Women/Jews/Many were in
prison/SS/SD/Armed forces (In peace time, they would not have
jobs)/The Nazis did adapt the statistics in their favour.
• Rearmament – Jobs in armed forces didn’t exist before the Nazis
• Women and Jews- Women and Jews had to give up jobs- not shown in
stats.
• Part time work was considered full employment
• Public works cost a lot of money- wouldn’t last long so not real jobs!
• Unemployed in Labour Service- these didn’t show in stats
• SA,SS, Gestapo- seen as in employment but are they real jobs?
• All countries were having more employment as come out of Great
Depression.
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 Changes in the standard of
living
Some got better, some got much worse.
Employment
Many benefitted from a regular income. Not everyone benefitted
equally, e.g. Jews
Wages
Wages for German workers improved. Keep in mind that prices rose
during this time too (rose by 20% between 1933-39)
Hours worked
1933 – 43 hrs
1939 – 49 hours (Better wages but longer hours?)

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 The Labour front, Strength
through joy, Beauty of labour.
Happy Germans = Happy Nazi Supporters. But how?
The Labour Front- DAF
Nazi supported group to ensure workers were happy (replaces Trade Unions). They
set out the rights of workers, hours worked and pay.
They controlled both employers and employees! Could no longer negotiate, Nazis
decided everything!
Strength through joy- KdF
Standard of living agents. Making working benefits more enjoyable. Provide leisure
activities and even win holidays. By 1936 they had 35 million members.
Volkswagen- The People’s Car
Porsche designed the Volkswagen car to appeal to workers, affordable. Pay 5 marks
week from wages to save up for car. Workers never saw a car….factories set up to
build them became factories to make military goods.
Beauty of labour-SdA
Ensured better facilities for workers. Aspects like canteens and toilets were looked at.
Workers had to do this themselves though, for no extra pay. 26
The Treatment of Minorities
Racial beliefs
Eugenics – Science of selective breeding, those unsuitable were sterilised.
Racial Hygiene – Selecting the ‘best’ parents e.g. SS soldiers
Anti-Semitism – Anti-Jewish views/Scapegoat/Anti-Jewish views ignored by the public
so were seen as acceptable, this was due to propaganda.
Minorities
Slavs – Emigrated to Europe from the east. Teachings – Slavs were sub-human.
Gypsies (Roma) – Named as social disruptors 26,000 in Germany. Banned from
travelling in groups. Posed a threat to purity of Germans. Sent to camps in 1933.
Homosexuals – 1935 a strong law was introduced against homosexuals. Nazi laws
encouraged castration of homosexuals. 5,000 German homosexuals died in
concentration camps.
Disabilities – 1933- Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring- If
people were mentally ill, alcoholic, deaf, blind, deformed or epileptic they were forced
to be sterilised. In 1935 if you had a baby with a mental or physical disability they
would be starved to death or a lethal overdose of drugs- this was known as the T4
programme. 5,000 children with disabilities were killed. 27
 The persecution of Jews- less than
1% of German population
It begins – 1933
Jews were described as ‘filth’ in education and all aspects
of Nazi Germany.
1933 – Jews were banned from government jobs
1933 – Jews could not inherit land
1934 – Jews were banned from pools and parks – this
included separate benches to keep Germans ‘safe’.
1935 – Jews were banned from the army

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1933 – The Boycott of Jewish Businesses
30th March 1933 there was an announcement that from 1st April, an
official boycott would begin. SA painted Jewish stars on the door of
their businesses. They intimidated people outside the shops to stop
them going in.
1935 - The Nuremburg Laws
The Reich Law on Citizenship
*Only German blood could be German.
*Jews are subjects, not citizens.
*No vote or a passport.
*Required to wear a yellow star.
The Reich Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour
*Jews could not marry German citizens
*No sexual relationship between German citizens and Jews.
*March 1938 – Jews had to register all their possessions
*July 1938 – Jews had to carry ID cards 29
 Kristallnacht (9-10 Nov 1938)
The Night of the Broken Glass.
7th Nov 1938 – 17 year old Polish Jew Herschel Grynszpan went in to the German
embassy in Paris and shot a randomly selected German, Ernst vom Rath.
8th Nov – Goebbels used the incident to create trouble for the Jews.
- He ordered local papers to print the story to make Jews looks in a bad light.
- SA, SD, Gestapo attacked Jewish homes and places of worship.
- Hitler agreed that this would now be a nationwide attack on Jews
9th Nov –Violence began
- Many Jews and their property were attacked.
- They were told not to wear a Nazi Uniform – look like civilians are attacking Jews
and people will join in
- Official- so not accurate- 814 shops destroyed, 171 homes, 191 synagogues
&1000 Jews were killed- one 18 yr old thrown from a third floor balcony

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 The aftermath
Goebbels announced that the Jews would be punished.
-Jews were fined 1 billion marks to pay for all the damage.
- By 12th Nov, 20,000 Jews were arrested and sent to
concentration camps.

By 1939, the Nazis decided to evict ALL Jews from

Germany. Reich Office for Jewish Persecution established.

This is how things were in Germany before WW2 broke

out.

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What was the role of the general public?
How could they just let it happen?

Well:
*The Nazi Government kept a lot of it a secret.
*Many nations abroad did not know about the atrocities.
*Much of what the Nazis did to Jews was known, in Germany and
abroad, all did little to stop it. This is hard to understand.
*Many ignored it.
*Many were too scared to oppose it.
*Many Germans were so taken in by the propaganda, they
believed/supported it and even took part in it.

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