Groups of people who opposed the Nazi Party after 1933

• Some Catholic priests opposed Hitler
• In 1937, the Pope issued a message of concern about Hitler which was read in every Catholic Church
• The Catholic Archbishop of Munster led a successful campaign to end euthanasia of mentally-disabled people
• Many Protestants opposed the Nazis as they did not agree with Hitler turning protestant churches into the Reich Church
• Protestant pastors led by Martin Niemöller, formed the Confessional Church in opposition to Hitler's Reich Church
• The socialists and the communists also continued to oppose Hitler
• Some went into hiding and organised resistance among working class factory workers
• The White Rose was another opposition group formed by students at Munich University
• They published anti-Nazi leaflets, but were discovered and executed in 1943
• The Edelweiss Pirates painted anti-Nazi slogans and beat up Nazi officials
• The Swing kids were a movement that opposed Hitler's Youth Movement by listening to Jazz music and wearing fashionable clothes
• The Meuten were gangs of working-class teenagers and young adults who opposed the Nazis and sympathised with socialist ideas
• Hitler's opponents were not united against him and therefore, opposition groups were very small and ineffective