Nazi Germany and its people 1933–1939

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In this chapter, we are going to explore what life was actually like inside Germany between 1933 and 1939. We will look at how the Nazis used a mixture of terror (making people afraid) and propaganda (persuading people to agree) to keep control. We will see who "won" under their rule, who "lost," and how they tried to change every part of German life—from what children learned in school to the roles of women and religious institutions.

Think of this chapter as a study of a "carrot and stick" approach: the Nazis offered rewards (the carrot) to those who conformed, and used violence and coercion (the stick) against those who did not.

1. The Terror State: The "Stick"

The Nazis did not just want people to support them; they wanted people to be too afraid to resist. They constructed a "Terror State" using several interconnected organisations.

Key Organisations of Terror

The SS (Schutzstaffel): Originally Hitler's private bodyguards (the "Blackshirts"), they expanded under Heinrich Himmler into the regime's main instrument of terror and racial policy, responsible for administering concentration camps.
The Gestapo: The Secret State Police. They operated without uniforms and relied heavily on denunciations from ordinary members of the public.
The SD (Sicherheitsdienst): The intelligence service of the SS, responsible for spying on the population and identifying potential political enemies.
Concentration Camps: The first camp opened at Dachau in 1933. During this peacetime period, these were primarily political detention and forced-labour camps holding political opponents (such as Communists and Socialists) and "social undesirables."

Control of the Legal System

The Nazis took control of the judiciary. Judges were required to join the National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law (Bund Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Juristen) and swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler. This removed judicial independence and ensured the courts served Nazi political goals.

Quick Review: The Terror State functioned through mutual reinforcement: surveillance from the Gestapo and SD, biased verdicts in Nazi-controlled courts, and punishment in concentration camps run by the SS.

2. Propaganda and Popularity: The "Carrot"

Alongside terror, propaganda was used to generate genuine popularity and active loyalty. Joseph Goebbels led the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda to control culture, media, and public life.

Methods of Control and Persuasion

The People's Receiver (Volksempfänger): Cheap, mass-produced radios were made widely available. By 1939, 70% of German households owned one. They had a limited broadcast range to prevent listeners from tuning into foreign stations.
Censorship: All independent newspapers, literature, and art were strictly monitored. Banned books were publicly burned in coordinated rallies.
Mass Rallies: Annual events such as the Nuremberg Rallies used synchronized lighting, music, and parades to project power, unity, and order.
Cult of Personality (The "Hitler Myth"): Propaganda presented Hitler as a selfless, visionary leader dedicated entirely to restoring Germany's greatness. This myth helped maintain high personal popularity for Hitler even when specific party policies faced public discontent.

3. Nazi Economic Policies: Reducing Unemployment

Hitler gained widespread support by tackling the severe unemployment left by the Great Depression.

Key Schemes and Measures

• RAD (National Labour Service): Unemployed men aged 18–25 were required to complete six months of manual labour, including planting forests and building motorways (Autobahns).
• Rearmament and Conscription: Military conscription was reintroduced in 1935, and the Four-Year Plan (1936) prioritised war production and self-sufficiency (Autarky), greatly reducing official unemployment numbers.
• The DAF (German Labour Front): Replaced independent trade unions. It managed the Strength Through Joy (KdF) programme (providing subsidised holidays and leisure activities) and the Beauty of Labour initiative (improving factory working conditions).
• Winners and Losers: Industrialists and workers who gained employment benefited from economic revival, but workers lost the right to strike or negotiate wages independently, and Jewish citizens were systematically excluded from economic life.

4. Social Policies: Women, Youth, and the Churches

The regime sought to reshape society to build a unified National Community (Volksgemeinschaft) based on Nazi ideology.

Policies for Women

Nazi policy emphasized traditional domestic roles summed up as "Kinder, Küche, Kirche" (Children, Kitchen, Church):
• Marriage Loans: Under the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage, couples received loans of up to 1,000 marks, with 250 marks forgiven for each child born.
• The Mother’s Cross: Medals awarded on Hitler's mother's birthday for having large families (Bronze for 4–5, Silver for 6–7, Gold for 8 or more children).
• Employment Restrictions: Women were initially pressured or barred from professional positions such as doctors, civil servants, and judges.

Policies for Youth and Education

School curricula were altered to prioritize Nazi racial theory, physical fitness, and German nationalist history.
• Hitler Youth (HJ): Compulsory youth group for boys focusing on military drills, physical endurance, and ideological training.
• League of German Maidens (BDM): Organisation for girls focusing on domestic skills, physical fitness, and preparation for motherhood.

Policies Towards Religion and the Churches

The Nazis sought to control or undermine the influence of Christian churches:
• The Catholic Church: In 1933, the regime signed the Reichskonkordat (Concordat) with the Pope, promising not to interfere with the Catholic Church in exchange for the Church staying out of politics. The Nazis soon broke this agreement by shutting down Catholic youth groups and schools.
• The Protestant Church: The regime established the pro-Nazi Reich Church (led by Ludwig Müller). Opposition Protestants formed the Confessing Church, led by figures like Pastor Martin Niemöller, who opposed state interference and was later imprisoned in a concentration camp.

5. Persecution and Eugenics

The regime pursued policies aimed at creating a racially "pure" Aryan state and eliminating perceived biological and social threats.

Eugenics and Persecution of Minorities

• Compulsory Sterilisation: The 1933 Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring enabled the forced sterilisation of individuals with physical or mental disabilities.
• The T4 Programme: A clandestine euthanasia programme initiated to murder children and adults with severe disabilities.
• Marginalised Groups: Roma, Sinti, and homosexuals were arrested and sent to concentration camps.

Persecution of Jewish People (1933–1939)

Persecution escalated progressively during the peacetime years:
1. 1933: A nationwide one-day boycott of Jewish shops, alongside laws excluding Jews from the civil service and legal profession.
2. 1935 (The Nuremberg Laws): Deprived German Jews of their citizenship and banned marriage and sexual relations between Jews and German citizens.
3. 1938 (Kristallnacht): A state-organised pogrom in November 1938 that destroyed hundreds of synagogues and thousands of Jewish businesses, resulting in murders and the arrest of around 30,000 Jewish men sent to concentration camps.
4. Late 1938–1939: The Decree on the Exclusion of Jews from German Economic Life banned Jews from running shops, working as tradespeople, or attending universities, accelerating forced emigration.

6. Opposition and Conformity

Active resistance remained limited due to the effectiveness of the terror apparatus, the popularity of economic recovery, and genuine support for Hitler's foreign and domestic successes.

Youth and Religious Opposition

• Edelweiss Pirates: Working-class youth groups who rejected Hitler Youth regimentation, sang banned songs, and occasionally clashed with Hitler Youth patrols.
• Swing Youth (Swingjugend): Middle-class youths who rebelled against Nazi cultural conformity by listening to banned American jazz and swing music.
• Church Dissent: Religious figures such as Pastor Martin Niemöller and Bishop Clemens August von Galen openly criticised specific Nazi policies, particularly euthanasia and attacks on religious institutions.

Summary: The Big Picture

Between 1933 and 1939, the Nazi regime established a Totalitarian State. Through the combination of terror (SS and Gestapo), persuasive propaganda (Goebbels), and economic recovery, the regime secured broad public compliance while systematically depriving political opponents, religious dissenters, and minorities—especially Jewish people—of their rights, livelihoods, and safety.