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Opposition to Nazism

Nazi Germany

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Learning objectives

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What sorts of people opposed Hitler.

The different reasons they had for doing so.

The methods they adopted.

The effectiveness of their opposition.

Why so few people chose to oppose Hitler.

Do people have a duty to oppose tyrannical governments?

What we will learn in this presentation:

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In what circumstances, if any, do you think people are justified in breaking the law?

“If there is nothing you are willing to die for, your life is worthless.”

Do you agree with this statement?

Introductory discussion points

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'Resistance by necessity'

Opposition from the Jews

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Organized armed resistance was the most forceful form of Jewish opposition to the Nazis.

Occupied countries: Jewish authorities in Palestine sent parachutists into Hungary to aid Jews. In France, various elements of the Jewish underground consolidated to form the Armee Juive (Jewish Army).

Camps: At Treblinka, prisoners with stolen weapons attacked the SS staff. Most of the rebels were shot, though several dozen prisoners escaped. At Auschwitz, four Jewish women successfully blew up the gas ovens – all four were executed.

Ghettos: The inhabitants of the Warsaw ghetto rose up in rebellion when news leaked out that the Nazis planned to deport them all to the Treblinka extermination camp.

Jewish resistance

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Numbers Heavy machine guns

Sub-machine guns

Rifles

Germans 2,100 13 135 1358

Jews 1,200 0 2 17

As German forces entered the Warsaw ghetto in April 1943 to destroy it, the Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB) pelted German tanks with hand grenades.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

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'Resistance due to disillusionment'

Opposition from Young People

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Some young people chose to oppose the Nazis, even though they (unlike the Jews) could have lived a quiet life in the Third Reich.

The Swing movement met to dance and listen to forbidden jazz music, and welcomed Jews in their clubs.

The Edelweiss Pirates, or Navajos, helped deserters and refugees during the war – 12 of their leaders were hanged in Cologne in 1944 for attacking the Gestapo.

On the next slide you can read the 'Song of the Navajos'.

The Swing movement and the Navajos

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The Song of the Navajos

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The White Rose

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'Resistance on principle'

Religious Opposition

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Religious opposition – Protestants

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The Catholic Church was even less willing to face up to Hitler. This was partly because the Nazis had reached a deal with the Pope (the Concordat).

One exception was Cardinal Galen, who delivered a powerful sermon against the Nazi euthanasia programme in 1941.

Religious opposition – Catholics

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The sermon sent a shockwave through the Nazi leadership all the way up to Hitler.

He ordered the arrest of three parish priests who had distributed Cardinal Galen’s sermon, and then had them beheaded. However, Hitler left Galen unharmed.

Why do you think that the Nazis chose not to execute Galen?

Hitler then officially suspended the euthanasia programme which had accounted for nearly a hundred thousand deaths by this time. It continued in secret – drugs and starvation were now used instead of mass gassings.

Was Catholic resistance more significant than that of the Protestants?

Cardinal Galen

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Opposition from the Military

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By the summer of 1944, the German army was on the retreat. A group of army generals decided to kill Hitler and then make peace.

On 20 July 1944, Colonel von Stauffenberg, leader of the plotters, attended a meeting at Hitler’s headquarters. Present were 24 officers and Hitler himself.

Not long after the start of the meeting, Stauffenberg made his excuses and left, leaving behind a briefcase containing a bomb.

Minutes later, the bomb exploded.

The bomb plot

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Stauffenberg flew to Berlin and announced that Hitler was dead, and that the army generals were taking over.

He had spoken too soon. Moments before the bomb went off, the briefcase had been moved out of Hitler’s way – so although four men were killed in the conference room, Hitler was not one of them.

Within hours, the plotters had been rounded up by the Gestapo. They were given a short trial, and then shot.

Photograph courtesy of the Imperial War Museum, London.

The bomb plot

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Why was there so little opposition?

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Plenary