Nazi Social Policy & the Volksgemeinschaft (AQA A Level History: Component 2: Depth study): Revision Note

Summary

• The Nazis intended to create a united, classless society in which all people belonged to the same ethnic group, had the same beliefs and were fiercely loyal to Hitler

• To achieve this, they overhauled the education system so that they indoctrinated young people into their way of thinking

  • Education also served to prepare boys for war and girls for motherhood and homemaking

• Women found themselves removed from the professions and both pressured and incentivised to become mothers and homemakers

• Workers saw their trade unions banned but were replaced by organisations that provided leisure activities and benefits

  • This was intended to illustrate that cooperation with the Nazi regime would lead to luxuries previously unheard of

• The Nazis attempted to reduce the influence of both the Catholic and Protestant Church as they had different world views to the Nazis

  • These attempts were limited in their success

• Overall, despite the dramatic reduction in unemployment and the popularity of the leisure activities that were provided, the Nazis failed to create a united, classless society

  • The gap between rich and poor remained large, and many lived in fear

The Hitler Youth and policies towards young people

• Hitler and the Nazis wanted to create a Third Reich that would last a thousand years

• Hitler was aware that adults in Nazi Germany had mixed opinions of the Nazi Party

  • Adults were more difficult to influence and change than young people

• Control of the youth and future generations would ensure that the Nazi Party would always be supported

Education in Nazi Germany

• Hitler knew that control of children’s education would allow him to create a generation of Nazis loyal to him 

• Bernhard Rust was made Education Minister in 1934 and made several changes to teachers and schools

Teachers 

• Those not loyal to the Nazi regime were sacked

• They swore an oath of loyalty to Hitler and joined the Nazi Teachers’ League

  • Membership of the Nazi Party was also compulsory

• They attended political education courses outlining key Nazi ideas

  • Around 200,000 teachers had attended courses by 1939

• Teachers had several responsibilities at school

  • Taught students the Nazi salute

  • Began and ended each lesson with ‘Heil Hitler’

  • Placed posters, Nazi flags and a picture of Hitler in each classroom

Curriculum 

• Boys and girls were educated separately

• The Nazis took control of the curriculum so that they could influence children’s beliefs

• After 1935, all textbooks had to be approved by the Nazis

  • All books contained pictures of Hitler

  • Mein Kampf became a compulsory text

  • Events like the First World War were reworded to blame Jewish people and the "November Criminals"

• Established subjects like History and Maths were taught in such a way that incorporated and normalised war and the blaming of Jewish people for Germany's problems

  • New subjects were also introduced, such as Eugenics, which classified different ethnic groups and taught the superiority of Aryans

  • Girls were also taught Domestic science, where they learned to become homemakers who could cook and sew

Napolas

• Napolas were schools for the most ‘gifted’ and racially pure children:

  • SS members replaced the traditional teachers

  • the emphasis was on sport and physical training

  • students went on to join the SS or police services

  • by 1939, there were 16 Napolas schools

Universities

• Universities were under the same strict control as schools

  • Nazi officials selected university lecturers

    • Any lecturers who did not conform to the Nazi's political or religious ideas were fired

  • Universities adapted their courses to teach in line with Nazi ideas

• A university education was not highly regarded in Nazi Germany

  • Focusing on education would distract from a man's military obligation or a woman's commitment to the home

  • Highly educated citizens may be more likely to criticise the Nazi regime

• Outside of school, the Nazis took steps to increase their control and influence over young people through youth organisations

  • In 1932, there were 100,000 members of Nazi youth groups

  • By 1939, there were over 9 million members, and membership was compulsory for all German children aged 10 or above

Hitler Youth

• Boys joined the Hitler Youth or Hitlerjugend (HJ), which was very militaristic in its training and organisation

  • They were taught to read maps, fire guns, cross rivers, etc

  • They were encouraged to be ruthless and resilient and to embrace competition

  • It also incorporated physical training such as hiking and boxing, whilst reinforcing the Nazis' political beliefs

The League of German Maidens

• The Bund Deutscher Mädel or League of German Maidens (BDM) was the female equivalent of the Hitler Youth

• They shared some similarities with the Hitler Youth

  • As well as hiking and camping, members of the BDM were taught about cooking, child care and 'racial hygiene'

Nazi policies towards women

• The Nazis wanted to reverse the changes to women’s roles brought in by the Weimar Republic

• Gertrud Scholtz-Klink was appointed leader of the National Socialist Women's League and oversaw all policies related to women

• Women were told to concentrate on the ‘three Ks’

  • Kinder (children)

  • Kirche (church)

  • Küche (cooking)

• Laws about marriage and family

  • A number of Nazi policies were introduced to increase the birth rate, which had fallen to one million births per year by 1933

"If the man’s world is said to be the State, his struggle, his readiness to devote his powers to the service of the community, then it may perhaps be said that the woman’s is a smaller world. For her world is her husband, her family, her children, and her home. But what would become of the greater world if there were no one to tend and care for the smaller one? How could the greater world survive if there were no one to make the cares of the smaller world the content of their lives? No, the greater world is built on the foundation of this smaller world. This great world cannot survive if the smaller world is not stable. Providence has entrusted to the woman the cares of that world which is her very own, and only on the basis of this smaller world can the man’s world be formed and built up. The two worlds are not antagonistic. They complement each other; they belong together just as man and woman belong together."

An extract from a speech by Adolf Hitler to the National Socialist Women's League on 8th September 1934

1933 - The Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring

• Forced sterilisation of any woman who had:

  • any experience of mental illness

  • hereditary diseases

  • physical disabilities

  • any incident of "anti-social behaviour" such as alcoholism

• This law only allowed 'racially fit' and 'desirable' women to have children

  • In the Nazis' opinion, this made the German race stronger and more genetically 'pure'

1933 - The Law for the Encouragement of Marriage 

• Loans of 1,000 marks (equivalent to eight months’ wages) were available to women if two requirements were met:

  • women had to get married

  • women had to quit their jobs or stay unemployed

• Mothers who gave birth to four children did not have to pay the loan back

  •  Each child removed a quarter of the loan

1935 - The Lebensborn Programme 

• Started by SS leader, Heinrich Himmler

• Paired SS men with single women to create ‘genetically pure’ children

• Only women and men with a clear ‘Aryan’ ancestry were allowed to join

• Special Lebensborn homes were created for women to rest after giving birth

1938 - Divorce Laws 

• Husbands could legally divorce their wives for failing or refusing to have children

• Women caught having abortions could also be divorced

1939 - The Mother’s Cross 

• Awards presented on Mother’s Day in Germany were available to women who had four or more children

• Mothers with gold medals were saluted in public by the Hitler Youth

• Hitler was named the godfather of the tenth child in any family

Laws about employment

• With the focus on women staying at home and caring for the family, the Nazis introduced laws to reduce the number of women at work

  • In 1933, around 19,000 female civil servants were sacked

  • In 1936, women were banned from certain professions such as becoming doctors or entering the legal profession

  • In 1937, grammar schools that prepared girls for university were closed

Laws about behaviour

• The Nazis aimed to 're-feminise' women

  • They believed that developments in the Weimar era had corrupted women

• Nazi local governments banned women from publicly:

  • Smoking

  • Singing or dancing

  • Appearing bare-legged

• Cabaret and jazz clubs were closed in 1935

• Whilst not illegal, the Nazi government strongly advised women not to:

  • Wear trousers or high heels

  • Wear excessive makeup

  • Have short hair

  • Be overweight

Impact of Nazi policies on women

• Nazi policies on women initially succeeded in increasing the marriage rate, the birth rate and the number of women unemployed

  • Women in employment fell from 37% in 1933 to 31% in 1937

  • It then rose back to 33% in 1939

    • This was driven by the Four-Year Plan labour shortages before the start of the war

• However, this changed at the outbreak of the Second World War

  • Many women had to work in factories and other industries to replace men who had gone away to fight

Workers and the German Labour Front

• Hitler disliked trade unions:

  • He felt they supported leftist political groups like the Communist Party

  • Trade unions organised worker strikes, which disrupted the economy

• Hitler banned all trade unions in May 1933 using the powers of the Enabling Act

• In its place, the German Labour Front (DAF) was created to control the rights, hours and pay levels of workers

• However, the DAF meant that workers lost the ability to improve their pay and conditions

  • Striking was banned and punished by imprisonment

  • The length of the maximum working week was increased by six hours

• The Nazis understood that many workers would be angered by the loss of trade unions and set up the separate Strength Through Joy and Beauty of Labour organisations that were intended to improve the lives of workers

Strength Through Joy

• The Strength Through Joy (KdF) programme was set up in 1933 as a division of the DAF

• The KdF aimed to make work seem more rewarding and prevent unrest

• By 1936, there were 35 million members of the KdF

• It provided out-of-work leisure activities, trips, holidays and even the possibility of owning cars to workers

  • These activities included visits to the theatre, museums, sporting events, holidays and even cruises

• The KdF ran a scheme so workers could purchase a new car:

  • The Volkswagen - ‘people’s car’ - was an affordable and fuel-efficient car that the average German could afford

  • Workers in the KdF gave five marks per week from their wages so they could eventually receive a Volkswagen

  • However, car factories switched to producing armaments after 1938, and workers never received their Volkswagens

Beauty of Labour

• The Beauty of Labour (SdA) programme was set up in 1934 as a division of the KdF

• The SdA aimed to provide better facilities for workers to improve their working environment

• It provided facilities such as toilets, changing rooms, showers and canteens

• By 1938, around 34,000 companies had improved their facilities

• Many workers were expected to build and decorate the new facilities themselves, for no extra pay and outside of their typical working hours

Winterhilfswerk

• This was a nationwide charity campaign that the Nazi government organised from 1933 onwards

  • It provided German families in need with food, fuel and clothing during the cold winter months

• People were encouraged to donate money and take part in 'One Pot Sundays'

  • This involved eating a simple stew and donating the money they would have otherwise spent on their dinners

  • People collected money door to door, and those who contributed were given badges to wear

• It was an important campaign for the Nazis as it helped to improve the lives of the poor

  • It also served as a propaganda campaign and helped create a sense of national unity

The Churches under Nazi Rule

• Germany had historically been very Christian, and this was no different in 1933

  • Most of the country was either Protestant or Catholic

  • Around 43.5 million, or 67% of the German population described themselves as Protestant

  • Around 21.5 million, or 33% of the German population described themselves as Catholic

• Christianity was a threat to Hitler and the Nazi Party because the Christian Church held different beliefs from the Nazi Party

  • The Nazis wanted Hitler to be seen as the ultimate form of authority, not God

  • The Church taught that all people were equal, which contradicted Nazi beliefs of Aryans being the master race

  • The Nazis believed in the survival of the fittest, and that war was natural and unavoidable, whereas the Church taught compassion and pacifism

The Catholic Church and the Nazis

• Catholics represented several challenges for Hitler:

  • Their first allegiance was to the Pope

  • They supported the Catholic Centre Party before the passing of the Enabling Act

  • They had their own Catholic schools, which taught different beliefs to Nazi schools

• Hitler signed an agreement known as a Concordat with the Pope in July 1933 on behalf of the Catholic Church:

  • It allowed Catholics to worship freely and to continue with Catholic schools

  • In return, Catholic priests would not interfere in politics and would swear loyalty to the Nazi regime

• Persecution of Catholics continued throughout the 1930s:

  • Around 400 priests were sent to the Dachau concentration camp

  • Catholic schools were controlled or closed

  • Youth groups like the Catholic Youth League were banned

  • Monasteries were closed down

• By 1937, it was clear the Concordat had failed:

  • The Pope released a statement known as Mit brennender Sorge ‘With Burning Anxiety’, which criticised the Nazi regime

    • Hitler is not referred to by name but as a “mad prophet”

The Protestant Church and the Nazis

• Many Protestants supported the Nazi Party by 1933 as the party had promised protection from communists, who were atheists and anti-Christian

• Ludwig Müller became Reich Bishop of a unified Protestant church called the Reich Church:

  • Around 2,000 individual churches joined

  • The swastika was displayed in some churches

  • Jewish people were not allowed to be baptised in the Reich Church

• Many Protestants resented the Nazi takeover of their church and attempted to set up alternatives

  • Pastor Martin Niemöeller resisted Nazi intervention and set up the Pastors’ Emergency League (PEL):

    • The Confessional Church was created in 1934 and 5,000 pastors joined

The German Faith Movement

• This was a new religion founded in 1933 by Jakob Wilhelm Hauer in 1933

  • It combined modern German nationalism with ancient pagan beliefs

  • It was also fiercely loyal to the Nazis and promoted their racial ideology

• The German Faith Movement sought to undermine Christian teachings of tolerance and compassion

  • It also attempted to reduce the influence of the Church on German society

• Although it was supported by some fanatical Nazis, the German Faith Movement did not attract enough followers to have an important influence

The Volksgemeinschaft (the 'People's Community')

• The purpose of all of these changes to the lives of the young, women, workers and Christians was to create a Volksgemeinschaft or People's Community

  • This would be a classless society where everyone shared a common race and the same set of beliefs and were united behind their Führer

"The Volk (people's community) is disintegrating, and its vitality, its power to assert its own life, is fading with this disintegration. We see the consequences of this class conflict around and within us, and we want to learn from this. For there is one thing we have recognised as the primary requirement for the recovery of our Volk: the German Volk must once again come to know itself! The millions of people divided into professions, separated into artificial classes which, infested by arrogance of rank and class madness, are no longer able to understand each other-they must find their way back together! A gigantic, tremendous task-we know it! But when madness has been upheld and preached as a political idea for seventy years, when the destruction of the Volksgemeinschaft has been the political rule for seventy years, then it is difficult to seek to change people’s minds overnight."

An extract from a speech by Adolf Hitler on 1st May 1933

How far did the Nazis create a 'People's Community'?

• There is little doubt that many Germans reported positively on their experience of life between 1933 and 1939

  • The Nazis created full employment by 1936

  • Politics were stable after the chaos of Weimar's coalition governments

  • Many saw it as a return to law and order

  • Large numbers of workers enjoyed the leisure pursuits that were made available through Strength Through Joy

  • German big businesses made large profits

• However, stark inequalities remained in terms of wealth, and the Nazis never achieved anything approaching a classless society

  • Living standards did not improve

  • An atmosphere of fear and suspicion was created through organisations like the SS and Gestapo

  • Many Christians felt oppressed and persecuted

  • German Jewish people experienced ever greater levels of persecution

  • Many Germans resented the loss of personal freedoms and civil rights