This gave the Nazis the ammunition they needed against the Jewish communities remaining in Germany, and on one night known as the 'Crystal Night' and 'Night of Broken Glass', 814 Jewish shops were looted, and 191 synagogues were burnt down. The night was named so because Germans smashed thousands of panes of glass from Jewish shops and houses. This was a ruthless attack on Jewish livelihood, and 39 Jews were killed, in no doubt defending their property and families from Nazi attackers.
Heydrich even commented that the official number of recorded deaths (39) 'must have been considerably exceeded’ It seemed at this point that the Nazis had pulled out all the stops in their attack on the Jews, but a week later things became horrendously worse still, as 20,000 Jews were sent to labour camps. However awful an experience life in labour camp was, the labour camps were not 'concentration' camps, and Hitler's 'Final Solution' was not put to action until 1942.
Despite his hatred of Judaism and treatment of Jews being infamous, it was not Adolph Hitler who brought anti-Semitism into Germany, for it had been established already by 1914. Although Hitler could not take the blame, or acclaim, as he would see it, for anti-Semitism in modern day Germany, he did encourage it and had made it into a political policy, and part of his totalitarian regime. These policies were to a great extent Hitler's own; never before had any leader introduced anti-Semitic-themed laws. Hitler picked up on anti-Semitism in German society and made what he did out of it, so it was not entirely his doing, but largely.
In the time leading up to the 1936 Olympic games, held in Berlin, Hitler barely faltered in his prosecution of Jews in Germany. The only case of this was removal of anti-Jewish posters and papers. Thousands still remained in the labour camps he had set up the year before. In order to hide the persecution that was being carried out against the Jews, Hitler allowed a few 'token' Jews to compete in the games. This was a bid to boost the image of Germany abroad, and it was highly successful. There were many thousands of foreign visitors to Berlin and Germany throughout the games and the games themselves proved somewhat of a triumph both on and off the games field; Germany won the most medals and none of the foreign visitors sensed hints of any ill-treatment to Jews although it was still being carried on somewhat and although Hitler refused to shake the hands of Negro American medal winners (most famous of these being Jesse Owens, who won four medals) due to his lack of acceptance that his master race was being defeated in some cases by the Negroes, he decided not to shake any hands, thus technically not refusing to shake the hands that he did not want to. It was common belief that Hitler 'refused' to shake the hand of Jesse Owens but this was never the case. Another 'pro' for Hitler was his cover-up of the death of an Olympic games organizer, whom was a Jew and took his life after being sacked. As the visitors landed on their native shores, speaking praise of Germany, the persecution began again exactly as it had done before.
An Anti-Semitic poster shows a Jew with Russia under his arm, and with his hand outstretched offering a handful of coins. This poster portrays Jews as both Communists and businessmen, and this reflects clearly reflects contradictions in Nazi theories about Jews.
If Jews are described as Communists, they, by definition cannot be moneylenders. Firstly, Communism supports the belief that everyone should be perfectly equal, and therefore no one should have any more or less money than anyone else, or require it. Secondly, the Jews themselves would not have any more money to lend out or have greater wealth than anyone else. In this sense, it was highly contradictive of the Nazis to behold the impression that Jews were both Communists and moneylenders, as both cannot exist together.
THE CHURCH
The churches were one of Hitler’s future sources of opposition, and in order to avoid any confrontation with the Catholic Church he signed an agreement in 1933, the Concordat. This agreement stated that Hitler would not interfere with the church and/or its faith during his rule, and in return, the church itself agreed not to interfere with political matters. But the agreement was soon broken, when Hitler shut down The Catholic Youth League due to competition between it and the Hitler Youth. Hitler must have been irate due to this competition as the Hitler Youth lead directly into army service and was his main source of men for his future war planned against Europe, and in defiance he also shut down Catholic Church schools. In late retaliation to this, in 1937 Pope Pius XI condemned Nazism as anti-Christian. This was an immense, and in hindsight, idiotic attack on Hitler and lead to the arrest of hundreds of Priests and nuns. Those resisting were placed in labor camps. Some 800 pastors were also imprisoned due to a Protestant revolt, lead by Pastor Niemoller. Hitler failed to put up with this sort opposition, and although he had signed the Concordat to avoid a confrontation with the churches, they had given him no other choice. Adolph Hitler was not a man who things go any other way than that which he wanted, and he had proved this on many occasions during his rule.
In 1936, as a response to possible future opposition from the church (see last page) Hitler set up a new Church, the National Reich Church. This was basically Hitler’s new religion for Germany. One source reads:
‘In the National Reich Church…. only national ‘Orators of the Reich will be allowed to speak.
The National Reich Church demands an immediate stop to printing and sale of the Bible in Germany. The National Reich Church will remove from the altars of all churches the Bible, the cross and religious objects.
On the altars there must be nothing but Mein Kampf and to the left of this a sword.’
Hitler was taking the biggest step yet in his totalitarian regime; becoming God. By taking over people’s faith, he was clearing a major obstacle out of his way; if his people were believing in God, they were simply not believing in him as much as they could, And by placing a copy of Mein Kampf in every church, Germany would be taking guidance from Hitler’s words, instead of God’s. This was to guarantee him the further strengthening of his avid support and gain the trust of the nation. Christianity would soon fade away, and Judaism had no value to his Nazi party, so there would soon be no other religion in Germany than The National Reich Church, which he controlled.
THE ECONOMY AND RE-ARMAMENT
Hitler’s economic policies changed dramatically from 1934 onward. This was due to new economic targets set by Dr Schacht, Hitler’s Minister of Economics, and he controlled the import of raw materials into Germany. Due to the new targets set aside, firms could now only produce what the Government wanted. This was because the raw materials came from the Government in the first place. In 1934, Schacht cut the amount of raw cotton and wool that Germany was importing, and replaced it with increased iron ore imports, to increase the heavy industry production levels. One of the central aims of the heavy industry was to manufacture armaments, and by 1939 the military expenditure was 16 times greater than in 1933.
A great aspect of the increasing armaments was the employment provided by it, thus unemployment decreased astoundingly to only 200,000 from 5.6 million in 1932. This was due to hundreds of thousands of workers being drafted into munitions factories to build guns and tanks needed for the rearmament of Germany. By 1939, 32,300,000 marks were spent annually on military expenditure.
Soon, trade unions were abolished and workers lost their right to strike, in return they were rewarded with bonuses like cheap theatre tickets and subsidised holidays, along with tightly controlled rents. Even more workers were employed in massive work schemes like the building of autobahns (motorways) throughout Germany. Things were the best they could ever be for factory owners; they were earning hug amounts of money, and their workers couldn’t strike, so the money would continue to keep piling in for a fair time to come. Cheap housing for workers were provided, much the same as in the industrial revolution in England half a century before.
Re-armament was one of Hitler’s most important priorities; he was massing an army, to gain back what was taken from Germany in the infamous Treaty of Versailles back in 1919. He was attempting to make Germany an autarky, a nation dependant on no outside influences, in other words, a self-sufficient state. He began focusing on the production of synthetic raw materials, like rubber and oil, alongside wool, although this side project failed to hail any success for his economy. In 1939 almost two thirds of Germany’s oil was being imported, and this was a far cry from autarky, and between 1933-38 German imports rose by 28%, whilst exports grew by a mere 8%. The truth was, Germany was exporting less than in 1932, yet Hitler remained unconcerned; He had an army of 730,000 with a million troops in return, whilst the German air force was double that of Britain’s.
Hitler was succeeding in his plan to make Germany the great nation it used to be, and re-massing his army and air force to take control of nearby countries rich in raw materials. Hitler new his ambitions were likely to lead to war in the near future in order to seize vital requirements for the German economy.
Hitler’s Four Year Plan was to go to war in four years, to fulfil the needs of the nation. The plan came into existence in 1936 and therefore war was eminent for early 1940. The primary objective was a state of autarky in Germany.
A common definition of autarky is an ‘economic policy or situation in which an nation is independent of international trade, and not reliant upon imported goods, and a nation that is economically self-sufficient.’
His ‘Four Year Plan’ involved the building of factories and improved transport links. Hitler recognised that Germany would need raw materials, so foreign import would be necessary alongside the production of a product that could be sold abroad, thus improving Germany’s export market to pay for imported goods. He new that many countries would disagree to buy German exports, based upon common dislike of his foreign policies. Germany could not produce enough synthetic raw materials to cope with industrial demands and therefore a war would be need to gain control of the resources required.
NAZI CULTURE
Hitler used every possible opportunity to communicate or broadcast Nazi ideas to the German people. On top of his control of the national press, he had censored every form of information and entertainment. A strong example of this was his use of Radio broadcasts for propaganda purposes. Hitler instructed Goebbles, his Minister of National Enlightenment and Propaganda to make the best use of radio, a cheap and popularly used media form. He encouraged people to listen to the radio and started manufacturing cheap radio receivers that everyone could afford; radios were available for 35 marks (an average weeks wages). On top of this, he inserted radio loudspeaker pillars in streets to the Nazi message could me hammered into the minds of people even when away from home. He also ordered all cafes to have their radios turned on during major broadcasts.
The radio was available to everyone, and this is why Goebbels focused his propaganda through it, to reach as many people as he could and hammer Nazi beliefs and ideas into their heads.
The most spectacular form of propaganda arranged by Goebbels was his mass rallies, the most famous of these was held at Nuremburg annually. The rally would last an entire week and held in arenas with a 400,000 capacity. Here people could watch army parades, gymnastic displays, and listen to choirs, brass bands and, most importantly, speeches.
Also on offer were air force fly-bys and firework displays. The events were arranged to perfection, for example; in 1937, 100,000 men marched exactly 0.75 metres apart, carrying 32,000 flags and banners whilst 150 vertical searchlights shone into the night sky, creating a dome of majestic light visible 100 km away.
The point of these rallies was to inspire awe into the spectators, and to make then believe in the Nazis and their ideas, thus keeping them loyal to Hitler. Loyalty is the most valuable commodity a ruler could posses, and Hitler knew this. It was vital that he had a strong loyal following; after all, the men in his army would have to die for him. However, propaganda alone cannot sustain itself, and therefore Goebbels had to use censorship to stop other -opposing- ideas from spreading. Censorship meant a ban on information, which the government thought, was harmful to their target audience, and their cause. The Nazis censored every kind of information; Jazz music was prohibited at dances because it originated among the black people of America, and black people did not belong in the German master race – the Aryan Brotherhood. The showing ‘Tarzan’ film was also prohibited because the leading roles were scantily dressed and Goebbels objected to it. Another example of censorship was the banning of a film containing references to a German Navy sailor under the influence of alcohol on deck. However, the most famous act of censorship was the mass burning of Jewish-written books in 1933; young students burned over 20,000 books in the streets outside Berlin University. It was even illegal to speak out against the Government, Anti-Nazi jokes were punishable and the penalty for making Anti-Hitler jokes was death. These laws all came into being due to Hitler’s totalitarian power, which entitled him to make up any laws he saw fit, without any interference at all.
The Nazis also considered using architecture to give his regime an appearance of great power and wealth, and to create buildings that would last thousands of years, in salute to the Third Reich, which Hitler thought would last just as long. The most prominent of these ideas was the planned rebuilding and renaming of the capital. Berlin would become Germania and the centre of the city would be knocked down and re-built to host a huge 150,000 capacity 300m high dome, the largest in the world and an impressive monument to symbolize the might of the Third Reich for generations to come.
WOMEN IN THE THIRD REICH
One of the first laws Hitler passes after coming into power was The Law for Encouragement of Marriage. This new law said that all new couples would be granted a loan of 1000 marks. This was a fairly large amount of money and the couple would receive a quarter of this for every child they produced. So Hitler was paying couples 250 marks to have a child. On top of that, another law was planned, but this one was never put into action, it stated that; ‘All single and married women up to the age of thirty five… should be obliged to produce four children by racially pure…. German men. Whether these men are married is without significance. Every family that already has four children must set the husband free for this action’
Luckily, for the people of Germany, especially families, this law never really came into being, but it is a great example of the Nazi vision of marriage and parenthood. A woman’s job was to bear as many children as possible before the age of thirty-five. This age was important to guarantee a healthy child and safe birth for the mother. Women were also told not to slim or wear trousers, or wear make up, and hair was to be arranged in a bun or plaits; even at home, women could not do as they liked. A woman’s life in the Third Reich, according to Nazi ideals, could be summed up in the phrase ‘Kinder, Kirche, Kuche.’ This meant Children, Church, Cooking. These three were what Hitler wanted out of women;
Children to create his master race, church because it was a form of indoctrination to Nazism, and cooking because this was important to children growing up healthily, as weakness and disability was seriously frowned upon by the Nazis as it was an imperfection.
Also, the Government set up homes for unmarried single women, these homes acted as brothels where the women would be introduced to ‘racially pure’ German men in the aim become pregnant off them. It is odd that this was endorsed, whereas some films were banned by Goebbels censorship due to the scantily clad leading roles. Wouldn’t those films encourage sex? And what objection would the Nazi’s have to that?
I think that Nazi policies were a far cry from a benefit to family life, as childless couples were divorced, and brothels were set up in order to impregnate young women. I don’t think these are examples of a good foundation to family life; the focus was aimed entirely on the greatest number of children being the best (women who had the most children won awards on the 12th August, Hitler’s mothers birthday) and if a working-class family had a child, or two, they may not want more another child or two for countless reasons. Despite 250 marks rewarded for birthing a child, that was only 2 months wages and that would not balance against the cost of bringing a child up in any way. Families would have been pushed to have more children, and I think that, on top of a hard working life, that would create great stress for the parents and make life much harder, how would that benefit family life? People with hereditary defects were deprived of the right to have children, through sterilisation. Hitler was denying disabled people of the rights that they human deserved, to have offspring. This especially was a great attack on family life, and was in no way beneficial to family life, only to Hitler’s Aryan race.
WORKERS
In 1933, six million people were unemployed in Germany; Hitler’s most urgent task was to find these people jobs, so he set of the RAD (National Labour Front) to give men, mainly in public work schemes. The men were given jobs like digging drainage ditched on farms and building new schools and hospitals, but the main objective was to build motorways, a network of the across the country. This changed the levels of unemployment from 6,014,000 to 302,000(not including Jews). Hitler then focused his RAD on the rearmament of Germany, thus solving two problems at once; unemployment and a lack of armed forces. By 1939, Hitler had an army of 1.4 million, and of coarse, army men counted as employed. This sudden growth in armed forced was down to compulsory military service, conscription, and by 1939, over 46 billion marks had been spent on the manufacture of weapons and equipment, and therefore work was provided for in making the tools for war.
Back, in 1933, after abolishing all trade unions, Hitler set up the German Labour Front; this was run by Doctor Robert Ley, It’s aim was to tackle unemployment, and to get as much labour out of working men as possible. Ley abolished the rights for workers to bargain for higher wages, alongside getting rid of limitations for working hours. Soon men were working 60 – 72 hours a week for only 35 marks wages, yet no one complained, through fear of what might become of them of they did. Although pay was poor, the men worked as hard as ever, for longer, and this was ideal for Hitler and Ley. They had solved the unemployment problems and the people were content, they were being paid ten times that of the dole money that 6 million were receiving in 1932.
`A great change in the lives of the working class was when Ley worked out that half a worker’s life was free to spend on leisure activities (1/3 spent sleeping and 1/4 at work). Ley thought that this time should be put to good use. He set up the KDF – Strength Through Joy and planned to improve leisure activities in the belief that if workers were happy and having fun in their spare time, they would be more focused at work and not feeling unhappy and distracted from hard work that needed to be done. The KDF consisted of holidays at very cheap prices; 2 weeks wages, yet only hard workers were rewarded with tickets on the cruise ships travelling to the canary islands, along with many other appealing foreign locations. This inspired workers to work hard, and made the working environment competitive, as men were trying their hardest on order to be rewarded with a family holiday at a good price.
Work rates improved as a result to this and the sports matched arranges alongside, which over seven million workers took part in. The KDF also arranged mass outings to places like theatres, and to see operas. The KDF even had its own orchestra and toured many places in order to provide entertainment to workers around Germany.
Things soon became worse for the workers; many were swindled of their hard-earned cash by car offers, when the money simply went towards weapons factories and munitions. Social Democrats and Communists tried to tell the workers that they were subject to Government exploitation. Soon wages had failed to be paid, working hours had increased and it was not possible to complain about any of this, and on top of that workers were obliged to engage in laborious leisure activities on behalf of the KDF.
I think that, however things deteriorated, the KDF was a great benefit to the working class of Germany. People were happier, were working harder and enjoying their lives more for a period of time before corruption changed things, and despite the harm done, there is nothing more beneficial that happiness, no matter how momentary it is.
WERE PEOPLE BETTER OFF UNDER NAZI RULE?
I think that overall, life was an improvement on what it had been during Nazi rule. Even though minorities were very badly done to, they were the minority of the nation and still a very large majority benefited from employment, community gathering and meaning to life. Nazism gave many people hope and a place where they were more comfortable than during the Weimar Republic. Hitler gave many people a reason for being; they were a part of the machine, and their job was to return Germany to what it used to be, this gave hope to millions of people.
The only people to not benefit were Jews, opposing party members, gypsies and priests. It has to be considered that at this point, no Jews were placed in concentration camps, and the holocaust was not for at least another few years. So, up to 1939, I think that life was a great improvement for a huge number of people, they were being paid 10 times that of which there were receiving when on dole. The KDF improved leisure, and the National Reich Church gave many an alternative sense of belief.
At this point in history, life was at a high for German citizens, but the immediate future was to be the darkest in the history of Europe.
SOURCES:
The World This Century: Working With Evidence
-Neil DeMarco
Various web pages through
The 3rd Reich – Hitler’s Germany 1933-39
-Birkdale School project reference sheets.
The Kirkham Library
-Birkdale School.
