Thursday, April 7, 2011

Nazi Economic Recovery and Rearmament

1. How did the Nazi Regime attempt to win the loyalty of its workers? Define the following:

a. Strength Through Joy program: Gave german people cheap theater and cinema tickets, and organized courses and trips and sports events. Workers were offered cut-price cruises on the latest luxury liners.

b. Volkswagen Beetle (the people's car): "the people's car". Was seen as a symbol of the prosperous new germany.

c. Beauty of Labor movement: This improved working conditions in factories. It introduced features not seen in many workplaces before, such as washing facilities and low cost canteens.

2. Define the following Farming Programs. Be sure to provide the pros and cons of each program:

a. Reich Food Estate: This set up central boards to buy agricultural produce from the farmers and distributed it to markets across germany. This ensured that peasants would stay in their land.

b. Reich Entailed Farm Law: It gave peasants state protection for their farms.

3. Define Volksgemeinschaft. (Hint: It is in the reading, plus my notes)-a national community. Everyone in germany was equal.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Treatment of Women in Nazi Germany

Using the green book or the reading that is in your shared file, "Women in Nazi Germany, " complete the focus task on page 211 (2nd page) that involves an assessment of the Nazis treatment of women.

"Nazi policy for women was confused"- This statement is correct to an extent. Yes the policy for women was confusing because the women were only seen as supporting her husband, she wore no trousers, and had no job except to keep the family in order and have babies. But, in the late 1930's the Nazis had to do an about turn as they suddenly needed more women workers because the supply of unemployed men was drying up. Women had to work and also have the responsibility of taking care of a family. I agree with this statement only to an extent because there were actual rules which made the policy for women not confusing but it got confusing when there was a turn about because there weren't enough workers.

"Nazi policy for women was a failure"- I completely agree with this statement because the Nazis tried to make the women only have house jobs and not real jobs making it so only men could work. There was a significant increase of population because women were encouraged to have up to 8 children! Since there was such an increase in population people needed more jobs and since only men had the jobs, there weren't enough. Women eventually had to work because there needed to be supplies to buy.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Nazi Youth Policies and Education Assessment

1. The Nazis were successful in winning over the youth. The Nazis wanted to control the young people because they were vulnerable and they could retain knowledge. Source 31 is Hitler speaking saying that he wants the boys and girls to learn leadership. The young people didn't question authority and were obedient towards the teachers. They knew not to act out and not agree with the Nazi's because there were consequences. The Nazis were successful in winning over the youth because they begin when the child is three years old and right when he begins to think he is made to carry the flag. Then he goes to school, the Hitler Youth, the storm troopers and the military training on source 28. The Nazis and Hitler did not fool around when they wanted the children to start school and learn about the Nazis.


The Nazis set about successfully winning over the youth by education. Since children would learn from books in school the Nazis replaces all of the books to Nazi books so that the children learned about Nazis and Hitler. The math problems would be about jews, to promote propaganda, showing how great the Nazi party was, source 29. All subjects, German, History, Geography, Chemistry,and Mathematics concentrated on military subjects, the glorification of military service and of German heros and leaders and the strength of a rebuilt Germany, according to source 32. Making all of these subjects subject to the Nazis and Hitler made the children really believe that Hitler was the answer and they believed in him because they learned about these subjects all of the time.


The youth were attracted to the movements because they had a set schedule and couldn't be disobedient. Source 33 is a typical day at a labour camp and they had the same schedule everyday and there would be a great amount of militarism. On source 34 this german described his feelings after the Hitler Youth rally. He remembered that Hitler counted on them and he knew that Hitler looked into his eyes. He felt a great pride when Hitler was talking and looking into his eyes. The youth being away from their parents let them have some freedom and express who they wanted to be according to source 35 which is why the Nazis were successful in winning over the youth at the attractions because the youth wanted to be their and wanted Hitler to recognize them.


2. On the other hand there were many young people who rejected the Nazi Youth movements. For example, children might well feel slightly alienated from their parents because they are not as keen on the Nazis as the others are. They expect your first loyalty to be your family, whereas your Hitler Youth leader makes it clear that your first should be Adolf Hitler. The Youth felt like they had no rights and were being pushed around by the older Nazis running the camps. Source 38 is a picture of children being able to distrust jews which some parents didn't want their children to be learning. Some parents weren't even keen on Hitler and they didn't agree with what he was doing. Some parents wouldn't pay for the youth camps which meant that the children could not attend. Some parents pulled out their children making the children decrease over time.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Was Nazi youth policy successful?

1. a) The children are really happy in source 14.35. They don't see anything or believe in anything else then their Hitler. They want their parents to be good Nazis and the children's parents cannot forbid the child to do what all children are doing and cannot refuse him the uniform.
b) The children demand that their parents become good nazis. They parents cannot forbid the child to do what all children are doing and cannot refuse him the uniform which is the child's job. Youth favors the novelty, the drill, the uniform, the camp life, and the face that school and the parental home take a back seat compared to the community. Since the youth people are more easily influences in terms of mood than adults this made getting them on Hitler's side very easy. Youth people were made large promises which for the most part were incapable of fulfillment. They wanted to work but felt irritated by the lack of freedom.
c) Parents were scared for their children. They answered yes many times simply because they were afraid of avowed opponents. Children felt forced and things were changing. There was a sharp decline in participation at Hitler Youth events. Many had resigned their membership and membership due were frequently unpaid. Source 134.38 shows that the little child is being forced by the older army members and he has a gun to his head showing that he has no control.
d) Source 14.24 is a former german student. He says that he never even read Mein Kampf and neither did anyone else in his class. He said that they were supposed to respond "yes sir" which men't that they were naturally obedient, They were supposed to answer like this so they had to out of fear.
e) Hitlers camps were supposed to create enthusiasm, but among working class youths one can ear much criticism. There was continuous force feeding of national socialism and that had the same effect as the heavy emphasis on religious instruction in earlier decades, Parents were scared to answer if they were against hitler so they said yes that they weren't out of fear. Teachers tried everything in order to force children into the hitler youth. Teachers enquired whether or not ones father is a party member or is in the SA or which newspapers are read at home.
f) 14.36, .37, and .39 are all criticism of the youth policies. Children didn't feel safe and parents were scared. Youth was influenced more then older people and the Nazis pushed Hitler on the youth to much which made them change their views. The youth was more questionable because they were being influenced but at home there was a different story. The children had no control and this made them question authority. They didn't even read mein kampf and the children only answered because they were supposed to. They had no idea what they were learning but they knew that they should support Hitler.

2. Yes, the sourced suggest that youth people's reactions to the Nazis changed over time. They were constantly being told what to do in school in the beginning and understood that they should be learning that Hitler is the best but at home they were learning a different story. Children started dropping out of the Hitler youth camps because they didn't have any freedom. They weren't learning in school and shortly started not reading the Mein Kampf book.

3. These two types of sources are not that reliable. German opposition would want to make the germans look bad and that the nazi police were taking over. And the police would want to make the nazis look good and that everything that they wanted to work did work. Both of these sources have different views which would make the sources not that reliable because both of these sources would want to make the other look bad.

4. I believe that the Nazi youth policy was very effective in the beginning. They had alot of support from the children because they were just learning about this. They had taken out all other textbooks and changed everything that had to do with something other then hitler to hitler and the nazis. The children were listening and there were so many of them attending the hitler youth events. But, over time the children obviously would start to realize that this was wrong. Parents would talk at home and children would want freedom. Sooner or later this was bound to come to an end. Hitlers youth events started having less and less people come and children were dropping out. Parents were frightened which made the parents realize that this wasn't best. Children weren't even reading the Mein Kampf book. Teachers had no authority over the children because they could future out how to =force the children into the Hitler Youth.

The sourced on page 290-291 support me as well. The sources say that it was a success in the beginning and many schools supported it but it was varied greatly from school to school and depended a great deal on individual teachers and principals. 95% of the german youth backed the nazis or at least hitler and the opposition for the most part remained vague and diffuse. Many nazis boys and women were in the training and they agreed that this was the best way to show that they supported Hitler . Even though parents were scared to put down their actual views on paper this shows that they were nervous about the consequences showing that the youth policies weren't that effective.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Nazi Education Policies

1. Identify three important changes made by the Nazis to the education system. Explain the purpose of each change.

A. "education and instruction"- this is one important change made by the nazis because this was a official manual for teachers. The purpose of the schools is to train human beings to realize that the state is more important than the individual, that individuals must be willing and ready to sacrifice themselves for the nation and the fuhrer.

B. co-ordination teachers and encouraging local nazi officials to interfere in schools. Nazis were able to go into schools and take over and remove teachers of their duties if they looked like they didn't support nazism

C. Changing the curriculum. Nazis ideas were incorporated into subjects, particularly biology and history. Religious education was downgraded and eventually replaces. New textbooks were produced reflecting nazi values.

2. Give specific examples of how the Nazis tried in schools to develop the spirit of Volksgemeinschaft in the following seven goals:

Anti-intellectualism: healthy bodies. They made physical activity part of the curriculum.

Anti-semitism: they made sure that every individual must be willing and ready to sacrifice themselves for the nation.

Indifference to the weak: There were co educational schools to ensure the different sexes received their appropriate education. Girls took needle work and music, not latin, then language and home crafts to become good homemakers and mothers.

Nationalism: Local nazi officials kept records on individual teachers, and those who were insufficiently committed to national socialism would be dismissed.

Militarism:Some new schools to train the future Nazi elite were created. There were youth leader schirach formed and 12 to 18 year olds went their of physical appearance and leadership potential.

Obedience and discipline: Once the students were forced to join the nazi controlled german students league they were to be obedient for the sake of Hitler. If they weren't obedient they were none to be not loyal to hitler.

Hitler Worship: Students all studied Hitler. In math they were showed that he helped people. He was shown as being better then the rest and that they were to be loyal towards him. They learned about him in school everyday making it so that they elarned more about him every day making them worship him.

3. What methods did the Nazis use to try to ensure schools were teaching correctly? (This is from Friday's in-class work.)
Naiz used methods like checking in on teachers backgrounds, checking teachers as they teach, changing textbooks to try to ensure schools were teaching correctly. They changed everything and took things out of the classroom that would make the students not believe in Hitler. They changed the textbooks to make sure that everything was about hitler and nazis like history, math problems.

4. Write out a statement that explains the main educational aims of the Nazi Education System. (Reference some of the sources.)
"The main educational aims of the Nazi Education System is to ensure that students understand that our Fuhrer and the Nation is the best. They are to realize this through reading, physical activity, camps, and militarism. Children will have no doubt that our Fuhrer is the best for our Nation."

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Nazi Rule in Germany

1. Study document A in Chapter 3. Make a detailed list of the kinds of people who were likely to be arrested as "Enemies of the State" in Nazi Germany.
-people who would commit crimes
-people who were about to commit crimes
-people who were a threat to Hitler
-people who were "work shy"
-people who refused military service
-homosexuals
-professional criminals


2. Provide detailed notes on the following sub-topics in Chapter 4 (Jews in Nazi Germany)
-The people who suffered the most under Nazi rule were the Jews. Since Hitler hated them most of the people who supported Hitler didn't like them either. They were forbidden in some towns and from alot of places like stores. They were seperated on busses and had to wear a jewish start on them which indicated they were a jew. One day a Nazi official was shot dead by a Jew and Hitler was furious! Hitler ordered Himmler, the SS leader, to bein a week of terror against the jewish population which was called the night of broken glass. Jewish shop keepers had their shop windows smashed and the contented looted. Jewish people were not happy when their houses were caught on fire. The jewish people were forced to get down on their hands and knees to clean streets with scrubbing brushes. This was a really bad part of life for the jews and many were trying to flee.

Hitler's anti-Semitic ideas
The dismissal of Jews from jobs, 1933
The Nuremberg Laws, 1935
The "Night of Broken Glass",
1938 Violence against Jews

3. Why do you think Hitler and the Nazis put so much effort into organizing the lives of young people? (Chapter 5)
I believe that Hitler and the Nazis put so much effort into the youth is because they wanted to make sure they were loyal to him and the nazi party. Hitler wanted the youth to be loyal to him so he put the nazis in gold in their textbooks and they were taught in the class room. This was a form of propaganda because it was making the children think that the nazis and hitler were the best party. He wanted the children to be loyal to him because there were so many of them and if they were loyal at first they would never become un loyal. He wanted to train the children to become like the military for future reference. Hitler was very involved with the youth by bringing them to sports and gymnastics and teaching them how to read maps. These camps were taken very seriously for example a ten year old boy was shot who could not remember the password which put fear into the children making them not want to rebel.

4. Study the photographs carefully in Chapter 5. Then, using the information and evidence you have read about young people, write a diary of one day in a Hitler Youth camp.

"Today was a rough day. I had to travel 12 miles in a march without food or water or a break. I know that I need to be strong in order to be a model in Hitler's eyes which is swift, tough and very hard. I want to be this but the conditions are hard. I don't like getting up at 2 in the morning, in the open air, and doing PT exercises during the winter. Someone got very sick today but still had to march. They got sent to the Hospital and I don't think that he is coming back. I want to be what Hitler wants me to be so I am going to keep trying harder and harder each day."

5. What effect did "the three Ks" have upon women. (Chapter 6)
"The three ks" had a great effect on women and not in a good way. The three ks meant children, church and cooking. The Nazi wanted women to have as many children as they could and they would reward them on how many children they had. Make up was looked down upon and jobs were taken from these women. They were only meant to cook clean and bear children. They weren't supposed to be skinny because this meant they would not be a good child bearer. They had to go to church and one man was put in a concentration camp for speaking out against the nazis. Protestants and as well as catholic churchmen were badly treated by the nazis and women felt un wanted.

6. Study the photograph in Chapter 6 (2nd page) and read the rules of the National Reich Church. Explain in your own words the kind of religion which the Nazis wanted Germans to follow.
Nazis wanted Germans to follow the religion that the nazis wanted. There would be no more bibles, crosses, or religious symbols. In churches there could only be Mein Kampf and a sword on the left of this. All other relgiions were not treated as good. The pictures shows that this religion was to be practices by all and all german citizens should appreciate what the nazis were giving the people.

7. How did Hitler address the massive unemployment situation in Germany when he came to power? (Chapter 7)
Hitler addressed the massive unemployment situation in Germany when he went into power by making The National Labour Service. This gave men a job by putting them into housing camps and they all lived together. They got free meals and many thousands of men were happy with this even though they only got a pocket wage. Hitler wanted to make them the new military. He wanted to make the country strong, independent and self sufficient in food and materials. He set up camps for air fource and military service and men joined from all over. This gave people jobs even though they couldn't be with their family they were at least working.

8. What is the significance of the German Labor Front? (Chapter 7)
The significance of the German Labor Front was that no man could quit a job. They had to work 60-72 hours which made them have to work every day of the week and be loyal to Hitler. They were affraid to speak out due to the fear that they would get in trouble and may die. This is significant because Hitler got all of his workers from this german labour front. The men would not gain as much money and this gave hitler more money and more power.

9. In your own words, discuss the significance of the Strength through Joy program. (Chapter 8)
The significance of the strength through joy program was for the people to become better workers. Hitler believed that if people didn't know what to do in their spare time they would become frustrated so the Strength through joy program made sure that the people wouldn't have an option to become frustrated and they would become great workers. Since the KDF arranged mass outings to the theater and opera they would control what the people saw which was a great chance for propaganda for the Nazis. The KDF wanted a car that would fit the people which was the volkswagen. Since poeple were controlled this made the KDF significant because the people would not rebel.

10. Describe Dr. Joseph Goebbels propaganda and censorship tactics. What effect did they have upon the German citizen? (Chapter 9).
Dr. Joseph Goebbels propaganda and censorship tactics were made to make sure the german citizens knew that Nazism was the best. Goebbels job was to make the germans believe in nazi ideas and to be loyal to hitler and the party. He made it so the press would not print anything bad about nazis. He would make the newspapers print good things about the nazis that were eye popping towards the people which would make them support them. If there were stories that were not approved they were closed down. All the german radio stations were under gobbels control. He encouraged the people to listen to the radio by producing cheap radio sets. The mass rallies were gobbels most spectacular form of propaganda. This would draw in thousands of people which would then support hitler and the nazi party. Gobbels made alot of propaganda censored. Every kind of information and entertainment was censored. Jazz music wasnt even alot because it had its orgins aong the black people of america. Films were censored because this gave people the wrong message. This had a big affect upon the german citizens because if they were never able to see bad things about the nazi or hitler this would make them very loyal to hitler.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

How Hitler Got Away with Murder in NOLK

1. Find the sources on page 178. What reasons can you infer from each source (Sources 10.12 to 10.20) as to why Hitler got away with the Night of the Long Knives?

Source 10.12: This source shows how Hitler got away with the Night of the Long Knives because the law was passed by the reichstag saying that article 48 was going to be put into power from the president because there were threats to the state. This allowed Hitler to get his way to make it so the police could get rid of opposition.

Source 10.13: Hitler made himself not look bad because he was saying that he did what he did for the german people. He said that the state is certain for peoples deaths and nobody should worry about it unless they talk bad about hitler. He told them that he was responsible for the deaths and took action but he is the supreme judge of the german people which makes it acceptable to get away with the night of the long knives.

Source 10.14: People understood Hitlers speech and so they understood why all of these people were killed. He has paved the way for a moral renewal and elevated his standing as the cleanser of the movement all the more meaning that he knew what he was doing and he could do it.

Source 10.15: This is like propaganda because it is saying that the fuhrer, hitler, had no idea about the killing of people which made it seem like he didn't know what was happening so this made him get away with night of the long knives.

Source 10.16: The army is going to support Hitler because he feels like he is being attacked. The army will support Hitler with devotion and loyalty which makes more people support Hitler making it so that he is not the reason for the night of the long knives.

Source 10.17: People were frightened after june 30th because SA men were being jailed and killed. People were scared of Hitler and did not want to end up like the SA men so they did not do anything that would upset Hitler. Causing fear madeHitler ge t away with the Night of the Long knives because people weren't doing anything about it because they were frightened.

Source 10.18: Hindenburg, agreeing with what Hitler did, was happy and this made german citizens agree with Hitler. Hindenburg did not even like Hitler and he agreed with what Hitler was doing and gave Hitler the power to be a dictator, Hitler being in full leadership go the acceptance of Hindenburg which made what he did okay.

Source 10.19: Source 19 is Having Kaiser Wilhelm really agree with what Hitler did making it so Hitler got away with the night of the long knives. If the kaiser says that he doesn't see parties, only germans this means that Hitler was right with getting everyone who was a "commie"

Source 10.20: This is a quote from a saxon small businessmen showing that all people agree with Hitler. Hitler has support from a businessmen and this man says that Hitler has got rid of all the communists which is good and it doesn't matter that it was a mass murderer.

2. Read page 179. Why was the Night of the Long Knives so significant in Hitler's consolidation of power? (Be sure to use specific details in your answer.)

The night of the long knives was so significant in Hitler's consolidation of power because he had triumphed over both the left and the right sides. He had tamed his radicals in the SA and won the support of the elite, more crucially the army. The general's were conciliated by the weakening of the army's rival, the SA. Hitler had got support from Hindenburg making it o the SA could take suspected commies. Hitler was getting rid of his opponents so easily. When Hindenburg died Hitler took over as army general. On march 24th hitler was granted the enabling act which made him a dictator. He had so much power and he used it to his advantage to consolidate his power.