GERMANY 1918-1945

ADOLF HITLER *April 20th 1889 in Austria † April 30th 1945 in Berlin Chancellor and dictator (Führer) Leader of Nazi-Party (NSDAP) Just Austrian citizen until 1932

WEIMAR REPUBLIC 1918 announcement of republic 1919 first elections chancellor: Philipp Scheidemann president: Friedrich Ebert

WEIMAR CONSTITUTION Equality Religious liberty School attendance Social rights

WHAT IS PROPAGANDA? information, ideas, or rumors spread

widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.

DAP TO NSDAP – HIS ILLEGAL TRY 1919: joined the DAP 1920: Change of name 1921: Propagated as savior of the

German nation Attempted coup: wanted to take over

cabinet Embargo of Nazi-Party Hitler in jail

HIS LEGAL “TRY” 1925: reestablishment of NSDAP Legal way Dispositions everywhere –> 100 per

day January 1933: NSDAP takes over power chancellor: Adolf Hitler president since 1925: Paul von

Hindenburg

BEGINNING OF THE GERMAN REICH Art. 48 Decree of the Reich President

for the Protection of People and State or Reichstag Fire Decree

constitutional amendment Law to Remedy the Distress of People

and Reich

CHANGES No worker unions Law against the reestablishment of

parties Preparing for the war Decrease of unemployment Saving of German nation Credits and public work

Year Unemployment (Mio)

1921 0,4

1922 0,2

1923 0,8

1924 1,0

1925 0,6

1926 2,0

1927 1,3

1928 1,4

1929 1,9

1930 3,1

1931 4,5

1932 5,6

1933 4,8

1934 2,7

1935 2,1

1936 1,6

1937 0,9

1938 0,4

1939 0,1

ORGANIZATION Hitlerjugend (HJ) Hitler Youth Bund deutscher Mädel (BDM) League of

German Girls Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD) Reich Labor

Service Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF) German

Labor Front Schutzstaffel (SS) Sturmabteilung (SA) Storm Troopers

WHY WAS HITLER SO SUCCESSFUL?WHY DID THE GERMANS VOTE FOR HIM? WHY DID THE GERMANS FOLLOW HIM?

“Work and Bread” (The Great Depression) Party chaos Treaty of Versailles (Defeat in WW1) Anticommunism “people’s community” Anti-Semitism Führer and nation

One NationOne ReichOne Führer

SOCIAL DARWINISM Darwin’s theory of natural selection in

the evolution of animal species Related to human races

REASONS FOR ANTI-SEMITISM Conspiracy theory Crucifixion of Jesus Christ First too successful bankers and employers, later they were the reasons for the Great Depression Stab-in-the-back legend

Scapegoat for everything

OTHER VICTIMS Social democrats Communists Handicapped Homosexual Hitler’s opponents

HOW WAS THE PERSECUTION OF JEWS EVEN POSSIBLE?

April 1933: Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service

Nuremberg Laws: The Laws for the Protection of

German Blood and German Honor

NATIONAL ENHYME Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,

Über alles in der Welt,Wenn es stets zu(m) Schutz und TrutzeBrüderlich zusammenhält,Von der Maas bis an die Memel,Von der Etsch bis an den Belt|: Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,Über alles in der Welt! :|

Germany, Germany above everything,Above everything in the world,When it always for protection and defence,Brotherly stands together.From the Meuse to the Neman,From the Adige to the Belt,|: Germany, Germany above everything,Above everything in the world. :|

“Germans! Don’t go in Jewish stores. The Jews are our bad luck. Avoid Jewish doctors. Don’t go to Jewish lawyers!”

CONCENTRATION CAMPSHOW WAS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE MAJORITY DID NOT KNOW ABOUT IT?

Highest priority of secrecy The most written documents got destroyed

after job execution Everybody just knew enough to do it Code language: “Final solution’’, “resettlement”,

“special treatment”, “evacuation” Concentration Camps were in the East Screening against unwanted insights Nobody was allowed to tell rumors about mass

murders

Controlled incorrect information

WHY DID NOBODY REALLY REACT? Critique of allied no help for

emmigration 1941: The allied started to know about

the mass murders no specific procedure

When the first message arrived in the US, the State Department tried to stop the publishment

WHAT CAN WE LEARN OUT OF IT? You do not help country to be better

when you take everything away what it has

Human rights