2
The loss of the war meant that Germany
had to sign the Treaty of Versailles. One of
the clauses in this treaty was that they
accepted the blame for the war. Many
people thought this was deeply unfair.
Germany had no choice but to sign,
leaving them to pay huge reparations—
£6.6 BILLION.
WORLD WAR 1
This bankrupted Germany, leading to hyperinflation
(money becoming worthless), huge unemployment
and starvation of people. More and more Germans
began to believe the ‘Stab in the Back’ theory,
which blamed the Jews for the loss in the war.
A fter 4 long years of war, Germany
waved the white flag and admitted
defeat on 11th November 1918. Many
of the German troops couldn’t believe it – they
believed they were winning the war. The only
explanation to many of these soldiers is that the
government had ‘stabbed them in the back.’
HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2
THE NAZIS
Otto Frank (left) and his brother
Robert (right) both fought for
Germany in WW1
A protest about the Treaty of
Versailles in Berlin in 1932.
Children playing with
worthless banknotes in 1923
GERMANY AFTER
3
Although Germany did begin to recover in the 1920s with the help of the Dawes Plan (where
America loaned Germany $45million and gave them longer to repay the war debt) many former
soldiers especially still believed they’d been betrayed.
In 1929 the Wall Street Crash hit, crashing Germany’s econo-
my back to post WW1 levels. Germans were angry, frustrated
and wanted somebody to blame.
Hitler used the ‘Stab in the Back’ myth to blame Jewish people
for the problems in Germany – and people started to listen.
In 1933 Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany with 33% of
the vote. Over the next year he managed to end all opposition
to him. With the death of the German president Hidenburg,
became Fuhrer and Germany was now under a dictatorship.
HOW DID HITLER RISE TO POWER?
HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2
THE NAZIS
Hitler at the annual Nazi rally in
Nuremburg 1927
Hitler attracts a growing following.
In 1930, 18.3% of Germans vote
for the Nazi party
In 1923 Adolf Hitler tried to overthrow the government in the
Munich Putsch. He did not have enough support at this time to
be successful - and this landed him in prison where he wrote
his book ‘Mein Kampf.’
Look through pages 2-3 and find out more information on the terms in bold.
EXTRA RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
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Activity
HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2
THE NAZIS
Complete the grid below using the information on the next pages. Through this activity
you will have a brief overview of how the Nazis changed life for many people living in
Germany; and then occupied Europe.
LIFE UNDER THE NAZIS
Name of Group What The Nazis Did The Benefits Disadvantages
WOMEN
TEACHERS
UNEMPLOYED
CHRISTIANS
YOUNG
PEOPLE
5
The Hitler Youth catered for 10 to 18 year olds. There were separate organisations for boys and girls. The task of the boys section was to prepare the boys for military service. For girls, the organisation prepared them for motherhood.
HITLER YOUTH
"The weak must be chiselled away. I want young men and women who
can suffer pain. A young German must be as swift as a greyhound, as
tough as leather, and as hard as Krupp's steel." – Adolf Hitler
After Hitler came to power, all other youth movements
were abolished and as a result the Hitler Youth grew
quickly. In 1936, the figure stood at 4 million members
and it became compulsory to join the Hitler Youth.
HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2
THE NAZIS
This Hitler Youth poster
translates:
”Youth serves the Führer”
The Führer - the name Hitler
gave to himself meaning
Emperor / Leader
6
One of the earliest laws passed by Hitler once he came to power in 1933
was the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage. This law encouraged
couples to have lots of children. The Motherhood Cross was awarded to
women who had given birth to the largest number of children. The gold
cross went to women who had produced 8 children; silver was for 6
children and bronze was for 4 children.
"The mission of women is to be beautiful and to
bring children into the world. This is not at all
as un-modern as it sounds. The female bird
pretties herself for her mate and hatches eggs
for him. In exchange, the male takes care of
gathering food, and stands guard and wards off
the enemy." Joseph Goebbels, a leading Nazi, writing in 1929.
HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2
THE NAZIS
IN NAZI GERMANY WOMEN
Women were not expected to work in Nazi Germany. There had been
100,000 female teachers, 3000 female doctors and 13,000 female
musicians. By the start of the Second World War, very few German
women were in fulltime work.
As housewives and mothers, their lives were controlled. Women were
not expected to wear make-up or trousers. The dyeing of hair was not
allowed nor were perms. Only flat shoes were expected to be worn.
Women were discouraged from slimming as this was considered bad for
child birth. Women were also discouraged from smoking because it was
considered non-German to do so.
Cover of the Nazi Party
Magazine in 1939
7
Changes to the school day were seen as necessary to the
Nazis, and these changes depended on the loyalty of
teachers to Hitler. Teachers had to join the Nazi
Teachers Association, where their history was checked,
to make sure they were pure Germans. Pupils were
encouraged to contact authorities if teachers did
anything against Nazi policy.
"To keep a mentally ill person costs approximately 4 marks a day. There are
300,000 mentally ill people in care. How much do these people cost to keep in
total? How many marriage loans of 1000 marks could be granted with this
money?" Extract from a Nazi Maths Textbook used in schools in 1936.
HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2
THE NAZIS
TEACHERS
Biology became a study of the different races to 'prove'
that the Nazi belief in racial superiority was a sound
belief. Science had a military-slant to it. The curriculum
required that the principles of shooting be studied;
military aviation science; bridge building and the impact
of poisonous gasses.
Girls had a different curriculum aimed at preparing them to be a good wife and mother.
As housewives and mothers, their lives were controlled. Women were not expected to
wear make-up or trousers. The dyeing of hair was not allowed nor were perms. Only flat
shoes were expected to be worn. Women were discouraged from slimming as this was
considered bad for child birth. Women were also discouraged from smoking because it
was considered non-German to do so.
From 1935 on, after the Nuremburg
Laws, Jewish school children were not
allowed to attend schools. The Nazi
government claimed that a German pupil
sitting next to a Jew could become
contaminated by the experience.
PE took up 15% of a school's weekly
timetable. Boxing became compulsory
for boys. Those who failed fitness
tests could be expelled from their
schools - and face humiliation from
those who had passed such tests.
‘Away with Him’ – the cartoon is
of a Jewish teacher being
dragged away by the Nazis.
Teacher who were sympathetic of
the Jews also risked getting fired.
IN NAZI
GERMANY
8
The unemployed were given a very simple choice:
do whatever work is given to you by the
government or be classed as "work-shy" and be
put in a concentration camp.
HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2
THE NAZIS
UNEMPLOYED
The Nazis introduced public work schemes for
men who worked in the National Labour Service
(RAD). Their work would have included digging
ditches, building the new autobahns (motorways)
or planting new forests. The men of the RAD
wore a military style uniform, lived in camps near
to where they were working and received only
what we would term pocket money.
Cheap holidays and the offer of them was a good way to win the support of the
average person in the street. There was also a scheme offering a car. The
Volkswagen - People's Car - was designed so that most could afford it. The
Beetle, designed by Ferdinand Porsche, cost 990 marks. This was about 35
weeks wages for the average worker. To pay for one, workers went on a hire
purchase scheme. They paid 5 marks a week into an account.
Some workers worked from 60 to 72 per week
(incl. overtime) by 1939. Strikes were outlawed.
The average factory worker was earning 10 times
more than those on dole (benefit) money.
Conscription was brought in (1935) and men had
to do their time in the army. To equip these men
with weapons, factories were built and this took
even more off of the unemployment figure.
January 1933 - 6 million January 1934 - 3.3 million January 1935 - 2.9 million January 1936 - 2.5 million January 1937 - 1.8 million January 1938 - 1.0 million January 1939 - 302,000
Unemployment Figures in Germany
Hitler performed an ‘economic miracle’ by
cutting unemployment so drastically.
Although he removed women from the
statistics as they were expected to be at
home with children.
“Workers of the mind and hand!
Vote for the front soldier Adolf Hitler!"
9
Originally the Nazi’s promised religious freedom for all those religions
except those which endangered the German race. Once Hitler gained
power he was quick to express his hatred of the Jews. The Jehovah's
Witnesses were also persecuted in Nazi Germany as they refused to do
military service. Its members were sent to Germany's concentration
camps.
HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2
THE NAZIS
CHRISTIANS & RELIGIOUS PEOPLE
During the 1930s Hitler tried to create a
church he ran (with restrictions)
allowing only German membership.
Some Protestants resisted by forming
the Confessing Church. However,
generally members of the Christian
Church stayed silent.
In 1943 members of the Confessing church tried to assassinate Hitler.
This included Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Many protestants were arrested and
some executed, including Bonhoeffer. There were 2720 church leaders
taken to camps such as Dachau. 1034 did not survive.
In 1934 Michael von Faulhaber, the
Archbishop of Munich, defended racial
tolerance and called for the people of
Germany to respect the Jewish religion.
However, Faulhaber, and other Catholic
bishops, made no open protest against
the atrocities being committed against
the Jews in Germany.
IN NAZI GERMANY
The New Christianity:
100% Aryan
Philip Zec, A Jewish Cartoonist,
Daily Mirror (1941)
Showing Hitler’s attack on
Religion and also showing what
a ‘pure’ race might look like
(Zec is very anti-Nazi)
10
What have you learned about life under the Nazis?
What lessons can we learn from this today?
Many people living in Germany in the 1930s were what we
describe as ‘Bystanders’ – what do you think this means?
REFLECT
From what you’ve learned can you start to suggest reasons at this point as to why so
many people did not stand up for the Jewish community?
You will already know that the Nazi party was deeply antisemitic (they hated Jewish people).
HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2
THE NAZIS