Living under Nazi Rule

• Hitler: Very charismatic speaker, set out his racist and nationalist views in his best-selling book 'mein kampf' , written in prison
• The Nazis were anti-democratic, anti-communist, anti-semitic and anti-liberal
• Joseph Goebbels: Coordinated the Nazi propaganda team using posters, newspapers, new technology such as the radio and film to target groups. The Nazi election campaign used the slogan "bread and work" , appealing to the needs of the poor during the depression. His propaganda emphasised Hitler as a god-like supreme being.
• Ernst Rohm: Was the leader of the SA (Sturmabteilung) from 1930. By 1933 Rohm had greatly increased its strength to 400,000 storm troopers - used to intimidate voters and other political parties, particularly communists.
• Herman Gorig: Second in power to Hitler and, along with Frick, made up the original cabinet with Hitler. Gorig controlled the police in Prussia as part of his government role. In 1933, he formed the Gestapo (the Nazi secret police)
• Heinrich Himmler: Led the SS (Schutzstaffel or protection squad) - 200,000 members by the end of 1933. Its elite guard were fanatical about Nazi ideology and developed methods of surveillance which would bring them notoriety. The SS would go on to run the concentration camps, spy on people and generally strike fear into Nazi opponents. In 1936, all policing power in Germany was absorbed under Himmler's leadership as Reich Fuhrer and Chief of all police.
• Wilhelm Frick: Was in the original cabinet in January 1933 as minister for the Interior - responsibility for most aspects of life, promoting Nazis to prominent positions, spread Nazi ideas in schools and shaped Nazi racial policy.
• Rudolph Hess: Was the deputy leader of the party and had to check and sign-off all new legislation to ensure it followed Nazi ideology.
• The Reichstag fire occurred on 27th February 1933, with a Dutch communist, Marinus Van der Lubbe, being convicted of the crime.
• The Nazis declared a wider communist plot following the Reichstag fire.
• The Reichstag Fire Decree was passed the very next day granting Hitler emergency powers, restricting civil liberties such as the rights of a citizen under arrest, freedom of the press, the right to assemble, and the secrecy of post and telephone.
• More than 4000 communists were arrested following the Reichstag fire, including over 100 Reichstag deputies and the leader of the party, Ernst Thalmann.
• The Reichstag fire decree crucially led to the banning of the communist press and communist meetings ahead of the march elections.
• March Elections 1933: The SA were now used to intimidate other parties, targeting the social democrats. However, the Nazis failed to gain an outright majority and had to form a coalition with the Nationalist DNVP party to give them a majority vote.
• Enabling Act: (24 March 1933) SA surrounded the kroll opera theatre - with the communists locked up, only 94 Social Democrats voted for the act and 444 members voted to pass it. Hitler was an effective dictator as he could pass any law without the consent of the Reichstag.
• Gleichschaltung: ( Coordination, bringing into line) The process of Nazi control over all aspects of German life, including the economy, education, and the arts.
• The Civil Service Act: (7 April 1933) Saw the dismissal of anyone who was non-Aryan meaning jew and political opponents could no longer serve as teachers, judges or university lecturers.
• Jews: Further legislation restricted the number of jews studying in universities and soon this included those in medicine and law. (1 April 1933) a day long boycott of Jewish businesses with a SA guards posted to stop potential clients entering.
• (May 1933) Burning of the books: Nazis burnt 25,000 volumes of 'un-German' books including those of jews and communists.
• Terror: The SA and the SS attacked communists, social democrats, trade unionists and other opponents. Up to 600 murdered in 1933 and over 100,000 arrested and sent to concentration camps e.g. Dauchau.
• (June 1933) - The 'kopenick week of blood' SA responded to a SD killing 3 stormtroopers by arresting 500 men, 91 of which died under extreme torture.
• Trade Unions: (1 May) A fake nice approach as the day of national labour. (2 May) the offices of every left wing trade union were raided, their leaders arrested and newspapers shut down. They were put under control of the Nazi-led DAF (German Labour Front).
• Political parties: After being accused of fund corruption, the social democrats were banned as a 'dangerous enemy' with 3000 party members, imprisoned and tortured. As a result all other parties disbanded. (14 July 1933) The act to ban new parties was passed.
• Local Government: In January 1934 the act of reconstruction of the state took away power from the regional lander governments to further centralise. Instead, the regions were run by Gauleiter, normally a loyal Nazi.
• Peoples court: (April 1934) The act to set up the peoples court was set up to make quicker decisions and deal with the loosely termed 'political offences'. The number of death penalties they issued rose rapidly as the years passed.
• Night of the long knives: (June 1934) The SA had grown rapidly under leader Ernst Rohm to around 3 million but he was not trusted and suspected due to his will to take over the army.
• The SS were used to arrest SA leaders including Rohm who was killed after refusing to commit suicide. Others were attacked with powerful vice-chancellor, von papen forced to resign whilst his leading supporters were arrested, previous vice-chancellor von schleicher, von kahr (who had opposed Hitler in 1923) and Klausener (a prominent catholic) were killed.
• In total, around 85 people, 12 of whom were Reichstag deputies were killed. SA membership fell from 2.9 million to 1.6 million by October 1935.
• Hitler used radio broadcasts to portray this as for the good of Germany and justified this 'extra judicial' killing as justified and acceptable. SS took over with its increasingly powerful, Heinrich Himmler, ensuring a culture of fear followed.
• Becoming Fuhrer: President Hindenburg, the one man who could block Hitlers laws, died on August 2nd 1934 with Hitler now declared Fuhrer ('leader') and merging the offices of chancellor and president: dictator of Germany. The army swore an oath of loyalty directly to Hitler.
• The machinery of terror: After the NoLk the SS (chosen for loyalty to Nazi policy and being Aryan) grew from only 52,000 members in 1933 to 240,000 between 1934 and 1939 and 800,000 between 1940 and 1944.
• In 1936, all the policing power in Germany was absorbed under Himmler's leadership as Reichsfhurer and Chief of all police, with Heydrich (previously in charge of the SD and the Gestapo) as deputy.
• Himmler said "The best political weapon is the weapon of terror. We don't ask for their love; only their fear"
• The SD (Sicherheitsdienst or secret service): Developed under Heydrich and became the state secret service in 1938. It had a few hundred full time agents and several thousand volunteer informants. All aspects of society were scrutinized for signs of opposition including in education, the arts, government and administration as well as churches and Jewish community.
• Extensive reports were created on the morale and attitude of German people, allowing the Nazi leadership to monitor the impact of changes made and to tailor propaganda accordingly. The SD took no action against individuals but instead passed on information to the Gestapo to do so.
• The Gestapo (Secret Police): Soon became a nationwide group that spied on the public and looked for any 'danger to the state' so it was paired with the SD under Himmler and Heydrich in 1936. At its height, the gestapo had 15,000 active officers meaning only one officer per 4,400 civilians and yet it was still greatly feared.
• ( The Gestapo) Firstly, they targeted political opponents but later this included jews, homosexuals and religious dissenters. They could tap telephones and open mail and used the Nazi party's system of block leaders for information on 40-60 residences in their local area. Other denunciations came from the general public and all were investigated.
• (The Gestapo) Interrogation included confessions through torture including beatings with rubber truncheons or bamboo canes. The gestapo destroyed all its papers in the final days of the war - only 3 sets of records remain.
• In these sources of arrests states Public - 26% , Other groups (The SD, SS, police) - 17% , Local Gestapo investigations - 15%
• The police: The Nazis centralised the police and increased their funding. In 1936, they were put under the control of the SS and the Orpo (Ordinary police) and Kripo (criminal police) also provided intelligence and arrested opponents.