The Catholic Church was soon upset by the Nazis however, when, in 1937, the Catholic Youth was made illegal. Similar to the Hitler Youth, it taught young people the best way to live their lives. However, Catholic parents were much more willing to send their children to the Catholic Youth rather than the Hitler Youth. The Nazis realised that they were missing out on a vital portion of youngsters that should be educated the Hitler-way. Children in Catholic Schools were not subjected to the similar levels of government propaganda compared to state school kids. As many as 400 Catholic Priests were put in a special block at Dachau concentration camp for protesting against the absence of a Catholic cross in school rooms. The Catholic Church often felt that they could not oppose the Nazi Government. In doing so, they would be punished. Hitler wanted them on his train of thought, and no-one else's.
The Protestants, on the other hand, were at odds. Many Protestants continued to support the Nazis, where as other groups opposed Hitler. One such group was the Confessing Church . One leader, Dietrich Bonhoeffer tried to organise resistance to the Nazis – and ended up being sent to a concentration camp and murdered by the Gestapo (secret police). Anything that the church said was written or noted by the Gestapo. They could either speak out and be arrested or keep quiet.
Women in Nazi Germany
The Nazis promoted many old fashioned beliefs, such as the idea that women were more suited to staying in the home rather than working. Many Nazi posters promoted this idea by showing women with children and looking after them and the home. Girls were taught this in school.
The classic Nazi family
Hitler realised that the next generation of children were going to grow up in a Nazi world. The Nazis emphasised the fact that women must produce many, healthy children, creating a number of laws to encourage reproduction. Health was very important for the mother and child – smoking and dieting was discouraged and children were made to lead a healthy life style in order to grow up to become strong, healthy soldiers.
Women were restricted from working in many professional jobs, such as doctors and lawyers in order to produce children.
The Nazis were so big on reproduction that they would even award women based up on the number of children they had. Women would be awarded with an Honour Cross for having children – on the birthday of Hitler's mother. The birth rate did rise – from 970 000 babies in 1933 to 1 413 000 by 1939.
A league for German girls – the BDM – was set up to educate girls about family life and to make them healthy so that they could produce lots of children. The BDM also enlightened young women by offering them new experiences and taking them to new places.
Opposition to the Nazis
For much of the 1930s, Hitler was very popular. The Gestapo dealt mercilessly with anybody who did try to oppose Nazi ruling. There were, however, almost 50 attempts to assassinate Hitler – so who didn't' like him?
| Political Opposition | In 1933 all oppositional political parties were banned. The main opposition the Nazis had came from the Communists and the Socialists. The two parties failed to work together, which made it increasingly difficult to over throw the Nazis. |
| Opposition from Young People | Many gangs developed in the late 30's. Many young people felt disturbed by the Hitler Youth and were annoyed that the Nazis were becoming to control almost every aspect of a young person's life.
Most pirate groups only ever carried out very small acts of opposition. They usually would express their view by writing anti-Nazi slogans on walls. They would beat up other gang members and as the war went on, acts became more violent. They collected up the propaganda leaflets dropped by allied bombers and pushed them through people's doors.
The most serious incident occurred in 1944. The Pirates attacked the chief of the Gestapo in Cologne . The Gestapo then took action, arresting a total of 407 gang members across Germany . 12 were executed. |
| The Army | The army played a very important component in Nazi Germany – Hitler relied on the army to carry out all of his policies – therefore, opposition from the army was a very serious problem. In 1938, Lt. Col Beck resigned as Chief of Staff of the German armed forces. He disagreed with some of Hitler's actions, including the war in over the Sudetenland – he didn't believe it was justified. Along with his successor, General Halder, he plotted to overthrow Hitler. The plan was to capture Hitler when ordered to invade the Sudetenland . However, this plan was never executed. In 1944, a group of army officers attempted to assassinate Hitler. Count von Stauffenberg was attending a meeting with Hitler on 20 July 1944 . He entered the meeting with a bomb in his briefcase. He placed it under the table that Hitler was sat at and left the room. The bomb went off but Hitler managed to escape. Stauffenberg was executed. |
Conclusion
Who gained the most from Nazi ruling?
| Young Men | Many young men liked the idea of being trained to fight in the army. A lot got involved with debates over Nazi regimes and because enlightened to political issues. Lots of young men were given enjoyment and experience through the Hitler Youth. |
| Young Women | Young women gained a lot from Nazi ruling. The BDM took them to places that they had only ever dreamt of before and were enlightened to many new possibilities. |
| Women | Women were not quite so benefited from Nazi ruling. As a whole, whether or not Nazi ruling was beneficial is based up on the women's personality. Some women liked the idea of staying at home and raising a healthy family… where as others preferred to work in professional jobs. Those who did work in professional jobs – as nurses, lawyers, teachers, etc, were forced out of work by the Nazis – meaning that the skill that they were specifically trained to do would be lost – not so good. |
| Men | German industrialists and less skilled workers gained a lot from Nazi ruling as they were offered labour programmes that encouraged them to work and rewarded them when they did well. |
I don't think that anybody gained all together in Nazi Germany. Everybody was affected by some plus points as well as an equal share of negative points, making life in Nazi Germany very difficult.
Anybody who Hitler considered to be non-ayrian – that is, Jews, homosexuals, the handicapped, gypsies, liberals, communists – led a very miserable life under Nazi ruling.
