StarterWhat does the insignia to the left tell us about terror in Nazi Germany? [ 5 marks]

StarterWhat does the insignia to the left show us about terror in Nazi Germany? [ 5 marks]

General answer [ 1 ] Level 1

It shows us that the Nazis ruled with terror as shown by the skull or lightening indicating death/murder.

Simple inference [2-3 marks] Level 2

It shows us that the Nazis ruled with terror through their use of the SS as shown by the two logos with the lightening and the skull indicating death/murder

Developed answer [4-5 marks] Level 3

It shows us the Nazis used the SS, along with the Gestapo, Police and other state organisations to rule over the people of Germany. The insignia demonstrate this – with the lightening and the skull. Moreover the first image can be moved so that it becomes the Nazi Swastika.

Historical knowledge – for levels 2 + 3 you score one mark in the level (i.e. 3 or 5) if you mention things like the leader of the SS was formed in 1925, led by Himmler, virtually destroyed the SA in 1934, had two important subdivisions – death head unit and Waffen SS.

Nazi Control of Germany – 1933-1945.

Lesson aims

• To examine the ways in which the Nazis would control Germany.

•To begin to look at the impact of Nazi policy on normal German lives.

Task 1 – liberty and rights – how lucky are we today in

Britain?• There has been much criticism recently of Government plans to bring in anti-

terrorist laws.• Some groups in society argue that these laws reduce our freedom and choices.• Which of the following statements do you think apply to Germany 1933-45 and

Britain today?

1. Freedom to speak out against the government.2. Freedom to belong to a political party other than the one in power.3. The freedom to protest peacefully.4. Freedom of the press – newspapers etc.5. Freedom of association – you can mix or socialise with whoever

you wish.6. The rights to follow any religion of your choice.7. The right not be held in police custody for longer than 72 hours

without being charged of committing a crime.8. The right to be suspected innocent until proven guilty.9. The right to defend oneself if accused of something.

Today - task 1. How did the Nazis control people?

Tell me the link between the images you see as they appear.The Nazis used a carrot and stick approach – offer people employment and if that didn’t work use force

and coercion.

How the Nazis controlled Germany.

Your challenge: We’ve examined the 4 bodies that ensured Nazi control. Using the pyramid as a visual tool decide which of the bodies was the most important and

which least important. Make notes on each of the areas.

SS, Police & Courts, Concentration camps, The Gestapo

How the Nazis controlled Germany.

Your challenge: examine the 4 bodies that ensured Nazi control. Using the pyramid as a visual tool decide which

of the bodies was the most important and which least important. Make notes on each of the areas.

Mr. Lee’s version.The Gestapo.

Although the secret police was not that large it was this organisation that most normal Germans feared the most in my view. They could arrest people without reason and could send people to concentration camps without even putting someone on trial.

The SS – quite possibly the most feared of Hitler’s

supporters. Fanatical, well trained and well resourced.

Watch moviemaker – try to think up 3 questions you

could ask to find out more.

SSS [ source work on the SS] A truck driver witnessed the killing of Jews by the Schutz Staffeinel (SS) at Babi Yar in the Soviet Union in September 1941. One day I was told to drive my truck outside the town. I was accompanied by a Ukrainian. It must have been about ten o'clock. On the way there we overtook Jews carrying luggage marching on foot in the same direction that we were travelling. There were whole families. The farther we got out of town the denser the columns became. Piles of clothing lay in a large open field. These piles of clothing were my destination. After we had stopped in the area near the piles of clothes the truck was immediately loaded up with clothing. This was carried out by Ukrainians. I watched what happened when the Jews - men, women and children - arrived. The Ukrainians led them past a number of different places where one after the other they had to remove their luggage, then their coats, shoes and over garments and also underwear. They also had to leave their valuables in a designated place. There was a special pile for each article of clothing. It all happened very quickly and anyone who hesitated was kicked or pushed by the Ukrainians to keep them moving. I don't think it was even a minute from the time each Jew took off his coat before he was standing there completely naked. No distinction was made between men, women and children. One would have thought that the Jews that came later would have had a chance to turn back when they saw the others in front of them having to undress. It still surprises me today that this did not happen.

Once undressed, the Jews were led into a ravine which was about 150 meters long, 30 meters wide and a good 15 meters deep. Two or three narrow entrances led to this ravine through which the Jews were channelled. When they reached the bottom of the ravine they were taken by members of the SS and made to lie down on top of Jews who had already been shot. This all happened very quickly The corpses were literally in layers. A police marksman came along and shot each Jew in the neck with a submachine gun at the spot where he was lying. When the Jews reached the ravine they were so shocked by the horrifying scene that they completely lost their will. It may even have been that the Jews themselves lay down in rows to wait to be shot.

There were only two marksmen carrying out the executions. One of them was working at one end of the ravine, the other at the other end. I saw these marksmen stand on the layers of corpses and shoot one after the other. The moment one Jew had been killed, the marksman would walk across the bodies of the executed Jews to the next Jew, who had meanwhile lain down, and shoot him. It went on in this way uninterruptedly, with no distinction being made between men, women and children. The children were kept with their mothers and shot with them.

• This sort of event was not uncommon - Einsatzgruppen – death squads would be tasked with rounding up Jews in occupied areas and disposing of them.

1. What sort of an image does the source (above) give you about the SS?

2. Why do you think there was little resistance from the Jews?

3. Around 1.4 million Jews were supposed to have been rounded up and killed in this way according to Raul Hilberg. Raul Hilberg was a Jewish man from Eastern Europe. Do you think we should regard his findings with caution? Why?

How far does this source prove that the Munich Putsch was a disaster for the Nazi Party? Use the source and your

knowledge to explain your answer. [5 marks]

A photograph of Hitler and fellow Nazis in Landsberg prison after the Munich Putsch, 1924.

Key words from the question

• ‘how far’. When you see ‘how far’, you need to show both the positive and the negative in your answer.

• Source – use it

• Own knowledge – use it

Success [2-3 marks]

Disaster [1 mark]

Use the source

Use the source

Use your knowledge

Use your knowledge

Hitler is in prison. He was given a 5 year prison sentence.

He is in prison but it looks nice and comfortable with paintings and flowers.

Hitler had visitors.

The putsch failed because Hitler was not supported by people who had promised to support him such as Von Kahr, the Bavarian Prime Minister.

The putsch was not supported by the army or police. In fact, the army crushed the putsch easily and many Nazis were killed and Hitler fled. The putsch was badly planned.

Hitler was imprisoned and put on trial. He turned this around as he used the trial to make a huge nationalist speech which impressed many people. He gained national publicity. Whilst in prison, he wrote Mein Kampf and it gave him time to re-evaluate his tactics. He received a 5 year sentence but he only served 9 months.

Balanced argument between elements of success and disaster [4-5 marks]

Objectives: Let me introduce you to the family.

Let me introduce you to the family.

• Over the next few lessons we will be examining how the Nazis effected the lives of ordinary Germans.

• We are going to do this through the ongoing examination of a typical German family.

• Say hello!!

Ansel - father

Dieter - son

Magda - daughter

Neve - Mother

Task 1 – getting to know Ansel.

• You have a range of statements on your sheet – they are all about our father figure Ansel.

• Using the father outline write the statements around the body in the most appropriate places.

• E.g a statement about thoughts may be connected to his head.

• One’s been done for you.

•Ansel hates the Communists but is not necessarily a fascist or Nazi. In fact he views some of their ideas on race and ethnicity as quite offensive.

Task 2 – “the conversation that is overheard.”

• In threes you are going to have a conversation between 3 German men in the beerhall.

• One of the characters will be Ansel (father), one will Boris, and the 3rd will be Lothar.

• Read your role card and get into character.

•Now start to script the conversation that Ansel ,Boris and Lothar may have.

•The focus is ‘how they feel about the Nazis’.

•Remember – there is a good chance someone will be listening.

•You’ve only got 20 minutes to do this.

Gestapo report

Name:

Date:

Location:

Incident:

Recommendations:

Character Card – Boris

•He trusts and admires Hitler and the Nazi Party.

•Is grateful of the economic recovery the Nazis are bringing about.

•Happy that the Nazis have stopped the rowdy street behaviour by rounding up Communists.

•Hitler’s foreign policy triumphs over the last few years have made him feel proud once more of Germany.

•For Boris the stain of the Treaty of Versailles is slowly fading.

Character Card – Ansel

•Has just found employment and desperately wants to remain employed.

•The Nazis seem to bring economic stability and jobs which were lacking under the Weimar government and during the depression.

•The Nazis often give business contracts to companies that donate money to the Nazi Party.

•Ansel knows that if he were to criticise his companies payments to the Nazis he would be sacked.

•Wants to keep his ‘head down’ and stay out of trouble.

Character Card – me – Lothar.

•I am very positive about the Nazis.

•I believe all the propaganda that Goebbels puts out.

•In my view Hitler is the only man who can lead us out of the darkness of the wonder years.

•You don’t believe the rumours that innocent men and women are being taken and put in concentration camps.

•In any case they are probably all Jews and filthy Communists that are intent on destroying this great nation Germany.

•The Nazis may use extreme tactics but extreme moments call for extreme tactics.

Let’smeet the family.

Ansel – father

•Ansel is not a political man but none the less wants Germany to have strong leadership. He voted for the Nazis on many occasions but not because he shared all of their views, but because Adolf Hitler was a great speaker and appeared to provide Germany with the one thing it had lacked for years – leadership.

•Ansel hates the Communists but is not necessarily a fascist or Nazi. In fact he views some of their ideas on race and ethnicity as quite offensive.

•Ansel is 33 in 1933. He was therefore too young to have served in World War 1 for Germany but his father and uncle had both fought and were both killed in action.

•He is a skilled metal worker but has been in and out of employment over the last ten years. He found it particularly difficult to find work after the Wall Street Crash in 1929 and the depression that then hit Germany.

•He has many friends some of which are Jewish.

•He wants to see Germany strong once more but is not hostile towards the French or particularly angry about Germany having lost World War 1.

•He admires the way in which the Nazis seem to have a direction for Germany.

•Ansel also appreciates the fact that Germany is a more orderly place under the Nazis – he like the return to ‘family values’ that the Nazis have introduced.

Dieter – Son.

•Dieter is 11 years old.

•He enjoys going to school and has many Jewish friends that attend the primary school he goes to.

•Dieter’s other passion is sport and outdoor pursuits. If Dieter is not camping he can usually be found kicking a football around with his mates in his neighbourhood.

•Dieter has seen a number of Nazi parades and has always been amazed by the colour and scale of processions – in particular the 1927 Nuremberg Rally. In addition the Nazi Brown Shirts – SA - have always seemed to be strong, orderly but friendly.

•Dieter is too young to be interested in the political views of the Nazis but has heard Hitler speak on the radio and has often marvelled at the applause his speeches seem to get.

•Ansel, Dieter’s father, has often told him that the Nazis don’t have all the answers to Germany’s problems but Ansel is too young to really take much notice of his father.

•Dieter has a red Swastika armband that an SA man gave to him during a march through Dieter’s town. He has not told his father about the armband but he treasures it dearly.

•A few of Dieter’s friends have joined the Hitler Youth and constantly talk about the camping trips they go on. Dieter’s father will not let him join the Hitler Youth.

Let’s meet the family.

Neve - Mother

•Neve is 31 years old and takes care of the home as well as her husband and two children.

•She was in her twenties during the Weimar Republic years and liked the freedom that existed and the cultural diversity and opportunity that was around.

•Neve had worked for a number of years during the Weimar period and enjoyed earning her own money. Although she loves her family she does not relish the possibility of being a housewife for the rest of her life.

•Neve comes from a strict Catholic family background.

•Her father had served in World War 1 and was very nationalistic. He would often rant about how he wished the French had all been wiped out. Her father was also very anti-Semitic and had often talked about how the Jews had made money whilst German blood was spilt on the battlefield.

•Neve is slightly anti-Semitic herself and, in the past, she had blamed foreigners for Germany’s ills. However some of her friends were Jews and others were Communists so her views were a little contradictory at times. Neve was not that interested in politics but was impressed by Hitler and the Nazi party’s propaganda chief, Goebbels.

• What Neve wanted most was stable employment for her husband as the family had experienced hardship at times when Ansel had been out of work.

• She feels the media is being censored and resents this fact.

Magda – Daughter.

•Magda is 9 years old.

•She is a very bright young child but is easily led and influenced by older children.

•She enjoys school and has an aspiration to become a doctor when she has grown up.

•She is not interested in politics – she is only 9 after all.

•She has seen Nazi Parades and , like her brother, has been amazed by the magnitude of them.

•She has some interest in sports and outdoor pursuits but is not overly keen on spending all her time outside.

•Magda can be stroppy at times and doesn’t react particularly well to authority or being told she has to do certain things.

•There are not many Jewish children at her school. One of her friends is polish and she often goes round to her house for dinner and to play.

Lesson 3

The Gestapo.