OPPOSITION, RESISTANCE AND CONFORMITY

• SUPPORT

  • Hitler won 36% of votes in the second 1932 presidential election
  • The Nazi Party won 38% of votes in the July 1932 general election
  • 4,000,000 people joined the Nazi Party, 1933-39
  • Unemployment was reduced and changes to working conditions introduced
  • Young people joined youth groups
  • Women were rewarded for getting married and having children
  • The Treaty of Versailles was also being dismantled:
  • Millions of soldiers joined the German Wehrmacht after 1935
  • Germany remilitiarised the Rhineland in 1935
  • The Saar coalfields were returned in 1935
• CATHOLIC OPPOSITION

  • Around 400 priests were sent to Dachau Concentration Camp for speaking out
  • Catholic services still continued, but people were scared to oppose the Nazis
  • Hitler ordered crucifixes to be removed from Catholic churches, which was met with fierce opposition:
  • Of the 43 crucifixes removed from schools in the Mühldorf district in Bavaria, 42 were returned by the police
  • The 1939 census of Germany showed that two million people still considered themselves to be Catholic
  • Individuals like Cardinal Galen actively resisted the Nazis
• PROTESTANT OPPOSITION

  • The Pastors' Emergency League (PEL) was the main source of opposition from Protestants:
  • Formed by Pastor Martin Niemöller
  • They opposed the formation of the Reich Church
  • They believed that Jewish people should be able to become Christians
  • The PEL created the Confessional Church in 1934:
  • Around 6,000 pastors joined, and only 2,000 pastors were part of the Reich Church
  • Around 800 pastors were sent to concentration camps for opposing the Nazis
  • The 1939 census of Germany showed that 43 million people still considered themselves to be Protestant:
• EDELWEISS PIRATES

  • Used the symbol of the edelweiss flower 
  • Had different names depending on where they came from:
  • Members in Essen were called ‘Travelling Dudes’
  • Members in Cologne were called ‘Navajos’
  • Resented the military discipline of the Hitler Youth
  • Wanted a sense of freedom similar to the youth in Britain and the USA
  • By 1939, there were only 2,000 Edelweiss Pirates compared to eight million Hitler Youth
• SWING YOUTH

  • They admired American culture, especially music:
  • Played music from their record players
  • Gathered together to smoke and drink alcohol
  • Organised illegal dances of up to 6,000 members:
  • The 'jitterbug' was a favourite dance
  • Heinrich Himmler disliked the Swing Youth’s focus on jazz music because it was associated with Black people
  • They presented more cultural opposition rather than a genuine threat to the Nazi regime