Opposition

• Aspects of opposition to be covered

  • Nature (who, where, what)
  • Extent (how far did they resist)
  • Treatment (what was done to them)
• Schwarze Kapell


  • Members of the Gestapo and the Wehrmacht (military) who disliked how the Nazi party was controlling the military
• Schwarze Kapell opposition


  1. Politically undermined Nazi party propaganda

  2. Sold military secrets to other countries

  3. Klaus von Stauffenberg's July bomb plot to assassinate Hitler
• The July bomb plot failed as the bomb went off after Hitler had left the room
• Klaus von Stauffenberg and other members of the Schwarze Kapell were executed for their opposition
• White Rose movement


  • Led by Sophie Scholl and other high school/college students, opposed the war and Nazi vilification of minorities
• White Rose opposition


  1. Created and distributed pamphlets criticizing the Hitler Youth, women's groups, and the war effort

  2. Sophie Scholl and others were arrested and executed for distributing the pamphlets
• Edelweiss Pirates


  • Youth groups of 14-18 year olds across Germany who resisted Nazi conformity, infiltrated Hitler Youth, sang anti-Nazi songs, did drugs
• When Edelweiss Pirates groups were found, the members were publicly executed as a warning to others
• The Nazi government ruthlessly suppressed any form of opposition, no one was safe from execution regardless of age or position
• The opposition groups could only affect the government on a minor scale, but were still seen as a large enough threat to be treated harshly
• The Nazi consolidation and maintenance of power is the main focus, not the opposition's effectiveness