What was life like in Nazi Germany?

1. What was life like in Nazi Germany?

2. What was life in wartime Germany 1939-45? The events of the war • September 1939 outbreak of war • Operation Barbarossa- on the 22nd June 1941, turning against their allies Russia. Despite signing the Nazi-Soviet pact in August 1939. • By November 1941, Leningrad and Moscow were under siege, and 3 million soviets taken prisoner. • Heavy snows brought Germans to a standstill, unprepared for extreme conditions. Strong resistance for the red army, and Stalin uprooted 1,500 key factories and moves them and their workers east.

3. Stalingrad • In June 1942 a massive offensive to capture Stalingrad. Bitter street fighting. • Hitler ordered his men to fight, to the death, on 31 January General Von Paulussurrendered. • Defeat a turning point, paved the way for the red armies victory across Eastern Europe.

4. Other Battles... • North Africa-Allied troops invade Sicily in July 1942. Rome captured by the allies in June 1944. • Western Front-British and French troops invade France in June 1944. Invade Germany by March 1945. • War in the East- Western Russia liberated in July 1944, by the end of this year all Russia liberated.

5. Morale • 1939-41= The years of Nazi Victories Introduction of food/clothes rationing. Limited casualties. • 1941-43= The turn of the tide. Final Solution/Speers reforms to mobilise the war economy/More resistance-White Rose Group Kreisau Group/Stalingrad. • 1943-45 Total war and defeat Allied bombing of Germany/Manufacture of clothes ended/Stauffenberg Plot/Auschwitz liberated/food only available on black market/Dresden bombing/Hitler suicide.

6. Morale • Support for the war in 1939- as the Nazi were careful about rationing, and so this only seriously happened in 1942. The rationing system in 1939 was fair and sufficient. • 1942 shortages in soap, and household goods had to be bought with permits. • Did not face the hardships seen in the 1918-1919 war. • Also early victories such as in Poland in 1939. • The fact that the war was not going well in the East did effect morale, and the defeat at Stalingrad was a turning point.

7. Bombings • Aimed at destroying the German war industry and morale. • 305,000 Germans killed and 780,000 injured. Big bombings at Dresden and Hamburg killed many. Did lead to some becoming demoralised. • Goebbels kept promising they would use a secret weapon to turn the tide of the war, morale dipped when clear this was not going to happen.

8. Opposition • Youth – White Rose Group Edelweiss pirates • Church- Cardinal Galen • Conservatives- wanted to restore human rights and freedoms and democracy. • Army-Worried about the interference of the SS/shocked at extermination policy/belief Germany losing the war. Count Von Stauffenberg- bomb attack July 1944.

9. War production • Until 1942 the German economy was not fully mobilised for war, just a series of quick wars- BLEIZRIEG. • Arms industry production fell as a result of conscription from 1939-1940 by 12.5%. • Demands of war, resulted in a shift in labour, investment and priorities towards munitions. • Labour issues- used labour from occupied countries.

10. Speer and total war • Albert Speer Minister for weapons and munitions- Feb 1942. • A campaign of total war was launched in December 1941. • He took central control of raw materials, better processes to make goods introduced, production lines introduced, output rose per worker by 60% from 1939-1944. • Problems- lacked natural resources, oil, coal, iron. Part of the reason why needed to invade other countries.

11. Economy-Conclusion • German economy did not expand enough to meet the demands of a total war. • Conquest did not make up for the shortfall in labour and raw materials.

12. Jewish • Never a plan to deal with Jewish people, policy often made in response to events. • 1 September 1939= Curfew for Jewish people and all radio sets confiscated • January 1940= All ration books stamped with a J. • 1st September 1941 all Jewish people have to wear the star of David badge. • April 1943- Lost German citizenship

13. Turning points • September 1939- invasion of Poland now millions of Jewish people under German rule. • In January 1940 Jews used for slave labour and moved to ghettos. • Summer 1940-Thinking about moving Jewish people to Madagascar. Richard Heydrich suggested this. • June 1941-Invasion of USSR, more Jewish people under German control. Hitler authorised the SS to murder the Jews. 700,000 killed by the Einsatzgruppen across Russia. • Autumn 1941- Hitler dithered about the fates of the Jews. Wanted to move Germans to Siberia. • December 1941- War against the USA.

14. Wansee Conference • 20th January 1942- decide to exterminate the Jews, and extermination centres start to be constructed. The final solution • Next few months German Jews deported to ghettos then to death camps. • In some camps Jewish labour was employed, but the policy was to work them until death. • Auschwitz 1 million killed/Treblinka 800,000

15. Conclusion • Hitler's role was more in authorising, more than directing. He was also decisive and indispensible. • Complicity was huge with the army, and the civil service willing to do the work of the Fuhrer. • Part of the pressure for a solution came from below, as the Gauleiters did not want their area to be a dumping ground for the Jews.