Life in Nazi Germany 1933-39

• Nazis' ideal woman:

  • Natural appearance - no makeup
  • Traditional clothing
  • Aryan
  • Sturdy build (for child bearing)
• Nazis' ideal woman:

  • Non-drinker and non-smoker
  • Get married and have children
  • Believe in 3Ks (Kinder, Kuche und Kirche)
  • Not work or study
• Nazis believed women shouldn't work. Many women lost their jobs and were replaced by men

  1933-36 no. employed married women fell
• Marriage Law 1933 gave 'Marriage Loans' to newly married couples if the woman agreed to stop working.
• Nazis believed women should have at least 4 children - couples were let off one quarter of the 'Marriage Loan' repayments for every child they had.
• The German Women's Enterprise gave women medals for having children. They also ran classes and radio shows on home-based matters.

  Had 6 million members.
• There were four Nazi youth groups:

  Young German Folk (boys 10-14)

  Young Girls (girls 10-14),

  Hitler Youth (boys 14-18), and

  League of German Maidens (girls 14-18)
• Nazi aims for young people:

  • Loyal to NSDAP and believe in ideology
  • Girls to be strong and healthy for motherhood
  • Boys to be strong to work for German economy & fight for Germany.
• Youth Group Activities for Boys:

  • Shooting
  • Military drills and tactics
  • Signalling
  • Formed military brigades to defend Berlin in 1945
• Youth Group Activities for Girls:

  • Cookery
  • Housework
  • Needlework
  • Learning about childcare
• Youth Group Activities:

  • Hiking and camping
  • Learning about Hitler & racial superiority
  • Sports and competitons
  • Taking part in Nazi rallies
  • Reporting people who made anti-Nazi comments
• Nazi schools:

  • Had to attend state school until 14 (optional school after)
  • All lessons began and ended with Hitler salute
  • From 1935 all textbooks had to be approved
  • Racial ideas and anti-semitism were embedded in lesson
• Teachers in Nazi Germany had to be Nazi members and most joined thee Nazi Teachers' League.

  They were forced to attend courses and camps to learn how to use Nazi ideas in teaching.
• Subjects in schools:

  • 15% of time spent doing P.E. for everyone
  • Girls taught domestic skills while boys taught military skills
  • Both sexes taught traditional subjects
  • Also taught Race studies and Eugenics e.g. Untermenschen
• Nuremberg Laws


  A new set of laws passed to make it easier to persecute Jews
• The Reich Law on Citizenship

  • Only those of German blood can be citizens
  • Jews must become subjects not citizens
  • Jews cannot vote or work for the government
  • Jews must wear a yellow star-shaped patch sewn on clothes for ease of identification
• The Reich Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour


  • No Jew must marry a German citizen
  • No Jew is allowed to have sexual relations with a German citizen
• The Nuremberg Laws were declared


  1935
• Kristallnacht (the Night of the Broken Glass)


  A terrifying event that had a major impact on the lives of Jewish communities in Germany
• Kristallnacht


  1. 17 November: A 17-year-old Polish Jew entered the German embassy in Paris and shot a German

  2. 8 November: Goebbels used the event to stir up resentment against Jews by attacking homes and synagogues in Hanover

  3. 9 November: Goebbels and Hitler decided to increase the violence to a nationwide attack
• Kristallnacht


  • Groups of uniformed and non-uniformed gangs ran amok amongst Jewish communities, destroying and burning homes, shops, businesses and synagogues
  • About 100 Jews were killed
  • 814 shops were destroyed
  • 171 homes were destroyed
  • 191 synagogues were destroyed
• Goebbels blamed the Jews for starting the trouble on Kristallnacht and ordered them to pay damages. Jews were fined 1 billion marks.
• The persecution of the Jewish community in Germany escalated throughout this period. It began with an attack on Jewish businesses and the removal of Jewish people from their jobs.
• Reasons why Jews were persecuted

  • Associated with communism (Karl Marx was Jewish)
  • Jealous of their success - many Jews were professionals or owned businesses
  • Long-standing distrust of Jewish people a common belief across Europe
  • Blamed for Germany's defeat in First World War and the Treaty of Versailles (especially as some politicians involved were Jewish)
  • Suspicious of a different religion
• Nazi racial hierarchy


  • Aryans - the 'master race'
  • Other white western Europeans - seen as fellow humans but lower than Aryans
  • Eastern Europeans (Slavs) - seen as "sub-human"
  • Black people and 'gypsies' - both seen as 'sub-human' and 'work-shy' (lazy)
  • Jews - seen as lowest of "sub-human" races and blamed for Germany's problems
• How the race grew

  • 'Race farms' were set up where Aryan men and women met to have Aryan children
  • The SS were central to the Nazi master race, as they only recruited Aryans and were only allowed to marry Aryan women
• Untermenschen


  Meant 'inferior people' or "sub-humans", and was the term used by Nazis to describe Slave, 'gypsies', black people and Jews
• In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws banned Aryans from marrying "gypsies", black people or Jews. Mixed-race children were sterilised. After 1933, many "gypsies" were arrested and sent to concentration camps. From 1938, all "gypsies' had to be registered and were banned from travelling. In 1939, they were told they would be deported.
• Slavic people were reminded continually that they didn't fit the Aryan ideal, but were persecuted less than other groups.
• Other undesirables


  • Homosexuals were sent to prison or concentration camps and subjected to medical experiments to correct their 'disorder' after laws against homosexuality were strengthened
  • Deaf, blind, epileptic, deformed and mentally disabled people were sterilised after a new law, The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring, was introduced in 1933. Mentally and physically disabled babies were killed
  • Vagrants were seen as 'work shy' and put in concentration camps
• German Labour Front (DAF)


  Replaced trade unions. Workers had to be members. It ran several schemes.
• Strength through Joy (KdF)


  • Aimed to increase productivity by making workers happy. It provided low-cost or free activities (e.g. concerts, holidays) for hard workers.
• Beauty of Labour (SdA)


  • Aimed to improve conditions by reducing noise in workplaces, providing canteens and even building swimming pools. However, workers had to help construct these in their spare time, so it wasn't very popular.
• The Volkswagen (people's car)


  One of the KdF's schemes was to promote car ownership. Hitler asked Porsche to design a family car and the VW Beetle was the result. Workers paid 5 marks a week towards buying a car but, by 1939, no-one had paid in enough so the money went towards rearmament.
• Had the standard of living improved by 1939?

  • Better off: More jobs with most men in work, average wages rose by 20% compared to 1933, KdF provided leisure activities and holidays and SdA improved working conditions, car ownership increased three-fold
  • Worse off: 'Invisible unemployment' meant many were still unemployed, the cost of food rose by an equivalent amount so this cancelled out the wage rise, with the banning of trade unions, workers had few rights and worked longer hours: 43 hours a week in 1933 up to 49 hours in 1939, only high earners could afford cars, low earners had to spend money on essentials
• Policies to reduce unemployment

  • Job creation schemes: 7000 km of autobahns (motorways) connecting up the country, construction projects, public buildings, sports facilities
  • National Labour Service (RAD): From July 1935, it was compulsory for all men aged 18-25 to serve for six months on this scheme. They worked on job creation schemes and other public works such as draining marshes. Many hated the RAD: the pay was low, the hours long and the work boring
  • Rearmament: Provided many jobs through building up their stockpile of arms, even though the Treaty of Versailles had stipulated limits on this
• Official government figures showed unemployment had dropped from 4.8 million in 1933 to 0.3 million in 1939 an amazing achievement. But this did not take into account "invisible unemployment" of Jews being forced out of jobs, women being dismissed or leaving their jobs, unmarried men under 25 doing National Labour Service, and opponents of the regime who were sent to concentration camps.