Control and Opposition, 1933–1939 KT2

• Machinery of Terror


  Includes the SS, Law Courts, concentration camps, and the Gestapo
• SS


  • Began as an offshoot of the SA, became a paramilitary organization with a reputation for obedience and commitment, grew massively in significance after the Night of the Long Knives, controlled by Heinrich Himmler, key organization in the Machinery of Terror
• Heinrich Himmler: 'The best political weapon is the weapon of Terror. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us, but we don't ask for their love, only their Fear.'
• SD (Secret Service)


  Main intelligence gathering organization, focused on opposition to the party, especially the church, led by Reinhard Heydrich, had a few hundred full-time agents
• Gestapo


  Secret police, spied on the public to remove opposition, began as the Prussian State Police, had about 15,000 officers to police a population of 66 million, greatly feared, could arrest and imprison anyone suspected of opposing the Nazi state
• Gestapo intelligence gathering


  • Relied mostly on informers using the Nazi system of block leaders, most intelligence gathered by ordinary German people
• People's Court


  New type of court set up to try people for political crimes
• Concentration camps


  • First set up in 1933, aimed to keep people away and exclude them from society in harsh conditions, initially run by the SA but later brought under the control of the SS, used prisoners as manual labor
• Propaganda


  Nazis used various forms of propaganda to control ideas and culture, including art, architecture, rallies, music, radio, film, and newspapers
• Nazi propaganda


  • Glorified Germany's past and the Aryan race, promoted German folk music and marching songs, discouraged jazz and American music, used cheap radios to restrict access to foreign news, pre-censored films, controlled newspaper content
• 1936 Berlin Olympics


  Used for Nazi propaganda, promoted Aryan superiority with the German team winning the most medals
• Opposition to Nazi rule

  • Social Democrats
  • Communists
• Social Democrat opposition


  • Many fled the country, remaining members formed resistance groups in industrial areas producing anti-Nazi leaflets and posters, 1,200 arrested in the Ruhr region
• Communist opposition


  • More active than Social Democrats, had meetings, propaganda, and newsletters like the "Red Flag", many arrested by the Gestapo, one communist named Georg Elser attempted to assassinate Hitler in 1939
• The social Democrats formed resistance groups with the largest in Hanover having over 250 members
• The social Democrats' resistance groups worked in the industrial areas of large cities producing anti-nazi leaflets and posters
• 1,200 of the social Democrats' resistors were arrested by the Gestapo
• The Communists were much more active than the social Democrats, with meetings, propaganda, and newsletters like the 'red flag' that produced 10,000 copies a month
• In 1939, the communist and trade unionist Georg Elser attempted to kill Hitler by planting a bomb where Hitler was due to speak, but the plot failed as Hitler left the venue 13 minutes before the bomb exploded
• The bomb killed 8 people and injured 62, and Elser was sent to the Dachau concentration camp and executed in 1945
• In 2015, a German filmmaker made a film called '13 Minutes' about Elser's assassination attempt
• Key groups that opposed the Nazis between 1933-1939


  • Christian Church
  • Communists
  • Jehovah's Witnesses
  • Youth groups (Swing Youth, Edelweiss Pirates)
• Concordat


  Agreement made in 1933 between Hitler and the Catholic Church, where the Church promised not to interfere in politics and the Nazis promised the Church would be independent
• Hitler broke his promises with the Concord out, with Catholic priests being intimidated and arrested, and Catholic youth groups being taken over by the Hitler Youth
• Reich Church


  The Protestant church that the Nazis tried to bring all Protestant churches together under, led by Bishop Ludwig Müller
• By the end of 1934, 6,000 German Protestant pastors had left the Reich Church and joined the non-Nazi Protestant Confessional Church, led by Martin Niemöller
• Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted, with one-third of them being killed in concentration camps, for refusing to do the Hitler salute or serve in the army
• Cult of Führer


  The Nazi focus on the almost worship of Hitler as an individual, making Nazism almost a religious movement
• Nazi ideas of war, violence, and prejudice were at odds with Christian values of peace and compassion
• Most church leaders wanted to protect the church, and some found aspects of Nazism appealing, such as its support for traditional family values
• Bishop von Galen of Münster initially supported the Nazis but by 1934 his sermons were criticizing Nazi racial policies
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer argued that true religion was standing up to wrong, and he helped Jewish people escape while opposing the Nazis
• In 1937, Pope Pius XI spoke out against the Nazis in a letter read in all Catholic churches, leading to the Gestapo raiding churches and seizing copies of the letter
• Pastor Paul Schneider was the first Protestant pastor murdered by the Nazis for preaching against Nazi church policy
• The Jehovah's Witnesses, the Confessional Church, and other groups produced anti-Nazi leaflets and engaged in other forms of resistance
• The Communist youth federation was banned but continued to meet in secret, disguising their activities as hikes and other outdoor activities
• The Swing Youth and Edelweiss Pirates were youth groups that opposed the Nazis through cultural means like listening to jazz music and wearing non-conformist clothing
• Opposition to the Nazis was difficult due to the fear of the Gestapo, the harsh punishments of the concentration camps, the lack of unity among opposition groups, and the Nazis' effective propaganda and censorship