The Radicalisation of the State

• What is Social Darwinism? 

  A theory that adapted Darwin’s concept of ‘Survival of the Fittest’- the Nazis linked this to race. 
• What were Hitler’s views on races? 

  He believed humanity was a hierarchy of races, with the master race being Aryan. Also wished to ‘purify’ this race by eliminating the ‘germs’ of the inferior races. 
• What was Hitler’s concept of the Volksgemeinschaft (‘people’s community’)? 

  A community of true Germans, in terms of loyalty and racial purity.  
• Name 3 groups excluded from the Volksgemeinschaft. 

  • Political enemies 
  • ‘Asocials’ 
  • Racial enemies 
  • Jews 
  • Gypsies 
  • Homosexuals 
  • Those with hereditary defects 
• What was the Nazi ideal of Lebensraum? 

  Expanding territory for the natural development of a country. 
• How did the Nazis use sterilisation as a racial tool?  

  They introduced sterilisation for the mentally ill, those with deformities, and in extreme cases, homosexuals.  
• What was the T4 programme? 

  The T4 programme was a euthanasia programme introduced in 1939.  
• Which group in particular opposed the T4 programme and what did this lead to? 

  The Catholic Church. In fact, Archbishop Galen preached an attack on euthanasia, and copies of his sermon were widely distributed. This led the T4 programme to be halted by Hitler in August 1941. 
• How many children died as a result of the T4 program?

  4000
• Name 2 groups considered to be ‘asocial.’ 

  • Criminals 
  • The ‘work-shy’ 
  • Tramps 
  • Beggars 
  • Alcoholics 
  • Homosexuals 
• Name 1 policy against ‘tramps and beggars’. 

  -In 1933, the regime began a mass round-up to concentration camps of ‘tramps and beggars’ which intensified before the 1936 Olympic Games. 

  -‘Tramps and beggars’ caught more than once could be sterilised. 
• Why did the Nazis oppose homosexuality? 

  They believed homosexuals to be degenerate and a threat to the racial health of German people. Homosexuals also did not contribute to the production of children.  
• How many men were arrested for homosexuality overall? 

  100,000 men, of whom 50,000 were imprisoned.  
• Which religious group continued to show hostility to the Nazi state and why? 

  The 30,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany at the time held a belief that they could only obey Jehovah (God), so they refused to obey rules such as conscription or the Hitler salute.  
• How did the Nazi regime deal with lesbians?  

  Lesbians could choose to ‘reform’ and produce children with an Aryan man. Those who refused were sent to concentration camps.  
• Why did the Nazis persecute the Roma and the Sinti (Gypsies)? 

  Gypsies live free, nomadic lifestyles. This type of lifestyle is not co-operative to the Volksgemeinshaft. Gypsies are also usually not Aryan.  
• What was introduced against Gypsies? 

  The SS set up Reich Central Office for the Fight Against the Gypsy Nuisance. The SS began locating, arresting, sterilising and classifying Gypsies.