10. Nazi Germany - Nazi Ideas about Race and Religion Ideas about Race an… · Nazis also had some strong beliefs about race and religion. In this presentation you will investigate:

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Nazi Ideas about Race and

Religion

Nazi Germany

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What we will learn today

As well as their ideas about politics and society, the

Nazis also had some strong beliefs about race and

religion.

In this presentation you will investigate:

1. Race: Hitler‟s ideas about the „master race‟, and

how these ideas affected his treatment of Jews,

tramps, homosexuals and the handicapped.

2. Religion: Hitler‟s feelings about the Christian faith,

and how these ideas affected his treatment of

Catholics and Protestants.


Nazi Ideas about Race


Social Darwinism: the European context


Social Darwinism: the world context


Social Darwinism: the Nazi context

The Nazis took Social Darwinism even further by arguing

that conflict between races of people was inevitable.

Hitler believed in an Aryan 'master race' of „blue-eyed,

white-skinned, fair-haired people‟.

He felt this race was undermined by toleration of:

(a) „undesirable‟ other races, such as Jews and Gypsies

(b) „undesirable‟ Aryan specimens, such as the mentally ill

and people with disabilities.

In order to create a strong 'Volk', Hitler believed it was

necessary to rid Germany of both groups of „undesirables‟

(“Victory goes to the strong; the weak must be eliminated”).

This presentation will deal with how

Hitler treated these „undesirables‟.


Why did Hitler hate the Jews?

Hitler hated the Jews. He considered them communists and

war profiteers who had „stabbed Germany in the back‟ at

the end of World War I. Where did these ideas come from?

Jews were

historically

blamed for

killing

Christ, so

they were:

Politically – denied

basic rights in many

Christian countries.

Economically –

excluded from

professions.

As a result,

they either:

Became very poor and

so attracted to

communism, which

scared the wealthy

Became very rich by

setting themselves up

as moneylenders (a

profession closed to

Christians) so they

were hated by the poor.

or


What did Hitler have to say about the Jews?

“The Jews inhabited Hitler‟s mind. He

believed that they were the source of all evil,

misfortune and tragedy. They were devils

whom he had been given a divine mission to

destroy…” Lucy Dawidowicz, 1975.


What did Hitler have to say about the Jews?


Nazi Anti-Jewish policies 1933–39

As soon as he came to power, Hitler began a systematic

state-led attack on the German Jews.

In 1933 he organized a boycott of Jewish businesses.

SA members barred entry to Jewish shops.

Jews were made to use separate seats on buses and

trains, and were banned from public places like parks

and cafes.

Jews were excluded from many professions. Jewish civil

servants and teachers were sacked and Jews were not

allowed to edit newspapers or study law.

Jews could not join the Chamber of Culture or the

German Labour Front, further removing them from

public life.


Photograph

courtesy of

the Imperial

War Museum,

London.

Nazi Anti-Jewish policies 1933–39

This cartoon is from a German school

book from the inter-war period.

What message do you think this cartoon is

trying to give to German school children?


The Nuremberg Laws – 1935


Kristallnacht – the Night of Broken Glass

In November 1938, a high-ranking Nazi was shot by a Jewish

man in Paris. Hitler used this as an excuse to organize a

week of violence against the German Jews.

On 10 November, Himmler and the SS led attacks on

Jewish businesses. 10,000 shops were looted and 200

synagogues burnt down.

91 Jews were killed during the seven-day campaign of

terror, and 20,000 were arrested and sent to concentration

camps.

To add insult to injury, Hitler then fined the Jewish community

a billion marks to pay for the damage caused.


Many Jews left Germany during this

period. When do you think most Jews

would have left, and why?

Many Jews nevertheless chose to

stay. Why do you think that this was?

The Jewish Exodus


Other ‘Undesirable’

Groups


(a) Tramps

Nazi motives:

Nazi actions:

Anyone who demonstrates

through behaviour towards the

community … that they will not

adapt themselves to the natural

discipline of a Nazi state [should

not be allowed to have children]. Himmler, 1935

By 1945, 350,000 men who were considered

vagrants had been forcibly sterilized. 100 of these

had died as a result of the “Hitler cut”.


(b) Homosexuals

Nazi motives:

Nazi actions:

There are homosexuals who take

the view: what I do is my business.

However, all things which take place

in the sexual sphere … signify the

life and death of the nation ... A

people of good race which has too

few children has a one-way ticket to

the grave. Himmler, 1937

During the Nazi period, between 10 and 15 thousand

homosexuals were imprisoned. They were then either

castrated or subjected to medical experiments to „correct‟

their sexuality.


(c) The Disabled

Nazi motives:

Nazi actions:

[Doctors can] decide whether

those who have – as far as can

be humanly determined –

incurable illnesses should, after

the most careful evaluation, be

granted a mercy death. Hitler, 1939

By 1945 the „mercy killing‟ of people who were ill or

disabled had resulted in nearly 280,000 deaths. The

euthanasia programme set a dangerous precedent that

paved the way for the Holocaust.


Discussion points


Nazi Ideas about

Religion


Hitler‟s attitude

Hitler was in two minds about what his policy towards the

Christian churches should be.

On the one hand, the churches could be a powerful ally.

The Catholic Church had supported the Nazis because it

saw them as a bastion against Communism.

On the other hand, the Church represented a rival authority

to the Führer. Catholics were required to give their

allegiance to the Pope, and the Protestant churchman

Martin Niemoller, had openly spoken out against the Nazis.


(a) Catholic Church


(b) Protestant Church

Hitler united the Protestant churches into one organization

led by the pro-Nazi Bishop Muller.

Its members were called 'German Christians' and their

slogan was “The swastika on our breasts and the cross

in our hearts”.

Over the course of the next few years the churches came

increasingly under attack. By 1939, RE lessons had been

abolished and all church schools closed.

What do you think the slogan of

the German Christian Movement

was getting at?


(c) The German Faith Movement

In 1934 the German Faith Movement was set up. This

became the state religion and was based around the

Hitler Myth. It aimed to promote the Aryan people and

Nazi ideology.

"The National Reich Church

demands an immediate stop to

the printing and sale of the Bible

in Germany ... On the altars must

be nothing but Mein Kampf, and

to the left of this a sword."

From the rules of the National

Reich Church.


Plenary

Documents

10. Nazi Germany - Nazi Ideas about Race and Religion Ideas about Race an… · Nazis also had some strong beliefs about race and religion. In this presentation you will investigate: