opposition and control

• protestants opposed Nazis , Confessional Church broke away from Nazi Church
• Niemoller and Bonhoffer (members of the Confessional Church) were arrested for criticising Nazis
• Bonhoffer taught trainee ministers to resist Nazism and condemned Nuremburg Laws
• Catholic bishop Van Galen critisiced regime , too popular to be punished
• 1937 - Pope publicly criticised Nazi gov for breaking concordant , harassing priests and its idolatry of the German state and race
• catholic church spoke out against forced sterlilisation
• Catholics placed their first loyalty to the Pope in Rome rather than Hitler, which the Nazis could not tolerate.
• The Concordant was signed in July 1933 - separated Catholic Church from Nazi party

  • priests and bishops couldn't interfere with German politics or be critical of Nazi regime
• The SPD and KPD operated underground due to their exile by Hitler
• SPD in exile had groups in industrial towns distributing leaflets to get members
• Dusseldorf Gestapo reported from 1936
• KPD & SPD used word of mouth , setting up cells in factories and sports clubs to encourage opposition

  • 1937 Gestapo report 'propaganda' was a success
• • The Kreisau Circle was a small group of conservative, monarchists formed in 1933 from army officers and aristocrats who opposed to Hitler.
• regime relied heavily on denuncation
• 50-80% of investigations were as a result of denunciation
• many denunciations were on personal grounds , based on grudges or jealousies rather than political accusations
• humour such as making jokes about Hitler was another important means of opposition
• Under Hitler's dictatorship, the courts were manipulated to favour the Nazi regime.
• exsisting judges had to take an oath of loyalty to Hitler , under new penal code their decisions must reflect will of the people , otherwise they'd be replaced
• gestapo and SS operated outside legal system
• you couldn't appeal punishments' in courts
• New People's court and special courts set up alongside traditional courts
• Gestapo invesigated crimes against the Third Reich:

  • treason
  • spying
  • sabotage
• Gestapo sent thousands of undesirables to concentration camps without trial ('protective custody')
• Gestpo infiltrated suspected opposition groups and monitored non-conforming individuals , relied heavily on informants and denunciations
• peoples reasons for denouncing were not affective (based in belief in National Socialism or Hitler) and often for personal gain or reward
• Orpo - conventional , muncipial uniformed police
• Kripo - plain clothes police investigating ordinary crimes
• 1936 : all Länder police forces were unified into a national force under Himmler, who was answerable only to Hitler.
• Sipo (security police) combined Kripo and Gestapo. Oversaw by Reinhard Heydrich , answered to Himmler
• SS - created as Hitler's personal bodyguards , sub-division of the SA (300 members until 1929)
• By 1939 - SS had 240,000 members across various organisations
• SS organised extermination camps and controlled much of Germany's conquered territories in WW2
• SD - secret service , responsible for security of Third Reich
• SD focused on finding enemies of the Third Reich , NO right of appeal
• • The SD reported on public opinion and could investigate or monitor anyone it suspected of being an ‘enemy of the state.’ It had an extensive network of informants.
• Ornungspolizei - Orpo police
• Kriminalpolizei - Kripo police
• small scale opposition to Nazis:

  • KPD and SPD 'propaganda'
  • Youth groups e.g Edelweiss Pirates
  • Catholic Church criticism
  • Military
• Until dismissal of 100 generals in 1938 Hitler was wary of army