The sources are, however, written from completely different views. Source B is taken from a Gestapo report, written in 1937, whereas source C was written by a member of the SPD and was written in 1954. Therefore, the provenance of theses sources could not be more different as one is written by the group that attempted to shut down the other group, being that the Gestapo tried to shut down the communists, by arresting leading communist members and intimidating other supporters of the communists. However, this difference in provenance does not seem to affect the sources as both the sources make many similar points.
I, therefore conclude that these two sources are very good sources to use to judge the methods used by left wing opposition as they both make many similar points and provide strong evidence for these points.
b) I believe that these sources do show that the opposition to the Nazis was weak and therefore it was the strength of the regime.
Source D presents the clearest argument that the opposition to the Nazis was poor and sums up the opposition as decentralized, disorientated and ineffective. These points will later be picked up on by many of the sources. Source D also mentions that the resistors were only a minority. This was very much the truth. Stories of resistance by Germans to the Nazis are hard to find and perhaps the most well known story is that of Hans and Sophie Scholl. These two created leaflets talking about many of the atrocities committed by the Nazis, they then set about spreading them amongst other youths at Munich University. They believed that they would truly have an effect, however, the support for their leaflets was minimal and as a result they were reported to the Gestapo, who placed SS officers at the university in the hope of catching any “traitorous” activity. The Scholl’s were caught and executed by the Gestapo and in reality had very little effect on their fellow peers’ points of view.
This source, like source C, also talks about how these were, in reality, acts of courage and sacrifice. Most people in Germany realised that resistance to the Nazis would result in certain imprisonment and possible death; this helped to ensure that the resistance to the Nazi party was very minimal. Thousands of Nazi opponents were sent to labour or concentration camps, after being reported to the Gestapo by fellow Germans who were so fearful that they were forced to comply with the rules laid down by the Nazis.
The fear that the Nazis imbedded in people was a clear reason for the lack of effective resistance. As source C shows, the SPD produced leaflets and gave them out in the factories of Berlin. The SPD also wrote slogans on the walls, however, these measures were not radical methods and were very unlikely to force a change in the support of certain parties and ultimately, like Hans and Sophie Scholl, these methods were only going to fail in the long run.
Source B can be linked to source D, as it focuses on the fact that the opposition was decentralized, disorientated and ineffective as a result of the two previously mentioned facts. Source D talks of how many of the leading SPD members, like Ernst Schumacher, were in exile as they feared for their lives. This meant that information had to be sent out of Germany, be passed to the SPD leaders (most of whom were located in Paris or Prague), before returning to Germany via the underground movement. Clearly this had severe detrimental affects on the planning and effectiveness of resistance, as messages were regularly not on time or had been lost in translation, which all created very futile and weak resistance to the Nazi Party. The source mentions how the SPD party relied on word of mouth to spread their opposition, however, this was a very unreliable source to rely on, as messages would change with time and many would simply not listen to others who preached the anti Nazi slogans. Source B also mentions how the opposition again targeted factories to hand out pamphlets and leaflets to the German workers. Again, it is hard to imagine these leaflets having that larger affect on the ordinary German person’s thoughts about the Nazi party, especially as many Germans refused to believe the true horrors of some of the atrocities committed by the Nazi party.
Another reason for a lack of opposition, presented by source A, was the fear of what would happen if the Nazis were overthrown, that is to say, who would replace the Nazis. Source A says that many people were fearful to fight the Nazis in case of a communist take over, once the Nazis were overthrown. This was of course a foolish idea, as the Communists were just as much of an underground movement as the SPD party were, by 1934. The communists had been banned as a political party in July 1933, and many key members, such as the leader Thalmann, had been arrested and placed in concentration camps, to ensure that the party was thrust into disarray and lacked leadership capable of overthrowing the Nazis.
There was cooperation around the time of the Nazi-Soviet pact in 1939, however, this was short lived and the communists soon became an underground movement, no more powerful than the SPD party. Therefore, giving fear of a communist take over as the reason for the lack of opposition, is a poor suggestion and is merely an excuse for the intimidated and scared Germans, who could only “grumble” against the Nazis, instead of being more prepared to seriously fight against the Nazi party.
I believe that these sources do show that the opposition was too weak to challenged the Nazis, however, I believe that the key reason for the weak opposition was the fact that the Nazi regime was so good at preventing the opposition and crushing any slight form of opposition they saw. This can be seen as both sources C and D mention the fact that everyone realised how dangerous it was to rebel against the Nazi party.
The clearest sign of ruthless Nazi reaction was the reaction to the July Plot of 1944. Claus von Stauffenburg placed a bomb in an office where Hitler was in a meeting, unfortunately the bomb was moved from its original position and the walls took the impact of the blast. As a result Hitler was not killed and was barely injured; however, some 200 conspirators were hunted down and ruthlessly murdered.
I therefore believe that sources showed that the opposition was weak, however, I do not believe that this was the oppositions’ fault, I think that the Nazis were some prolific and ruthless, that opposition to them stood no chance in stopping the Nazis.
