Welcome to Your Study Guide on Nazi Occupation!
In this final part of our journey through Living under Nazi Rule, we are going to look at what happened when the Nazi "New Order" spread across Europe. It isn't just a story of war; it is a story of how millions of people lived, suffered, and sometimes fought back when their countries were taken over. Don't worry if some of these terms seem heavy at first—we will break them down step-by-step.
1. Two Sides of a Coin: Rule in the East vs. the West
The Nazis didn't treat every country they conquered the same way. Their treatment of a country depended almost entirely on their racial ideology. They saw some Europeans as "cousins" and others as "sub-human."
The West (e.g., France, Norway, the Netherlands)
The Nazis considered people in Western Europe to be "racially similar" to Germans (often called Aryans). Because of this, the occupation was initially "softer."
- Local Government: In many Western countries, the Nazis let the local police and civil servants keep their jobs, as long as they followed German orders.
- Daily Life: Life continued with some level of normalcy at first, though there were food shortages and censorship.
- Goal: The Nazis wanted these countries to be "partners" in their empire (though the Germans were always the senior partners!).
The East (e.g., Poland, the Soviet Union)
The treatment of Eastern Europe was incredibly brutal. The Nazis viewed the Slavic people there as Untermenschen (sub-humans).
- Lebensraum: This is a key term meaning "living space." Hitler wanted to clear the land in the East to make room for German settlers.
- Destruction: The Nazis aimed to destroy the culture and leadership of these countries. They closed schools and executed priests, teachers, and politicians.
- Forced Labour: Millions of Eastern Europeans were kidnapped and sent to Germany to work as slaves in factories.
Analogy: Imagine a school bully. In the West, the bully might let you keep your lunch if you do their homework (Collaboration). In the East, the bully doesn't just want your lunch; they want to kick you out of the school entirely and take your seat.
Quick Review: The Difference
West: Treated with some respect (initially), local leaders stayed, seen as "racially acceptable."
East: Extreme violence, people seen as "sub-human," land taken for Lebensraum.
2. The Holocaust: The "Final Solution"
The Holocaust was the state-sponsored, systematic murder of 6 million Jews, along with millions of others like Romani people, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals. It didn't happen all at once; it happened in stages.
Stage 1: The Einsatzgruppen (Mobile Killing Units)
As the German army marched into the Soviet Union in 1941, special SS units called Einsatzgruppen followed them. Their job was to round up Jewish men, women, and children and shoot them. By 1943, they had murdered over 1 million people.
Stage 2: The Ghettos
In countries like Poland, Jews were forced out of their homes and into Ghettos—walled-off, overcrowded sections of cities. The most famous was the Warsaw Ghetto. The Nazis used these to isolate people, causing many to die from starvation and disease.
Stage 3: Death Camps
In 1942, Nazi leaders met at the Wannsee Conference to coordinate the "Final Solution." They built specialized Death Camps (different from concentration camps) like Auschwitz-Birkenau and Treblinka. These were essentially "killing factories" using gas chambers to murder thousands of people a day.
Did you know? There is a big difference between a Concentration Camp (used for prison and forced labor) and a Death Camp (designed specifically for mass murder). Only a few camps were "Death Camps," mostly located in occupied Poland.
Key Takeaway:
The Holocaust evolved from persecution (laws) to mass shooting (Einsatzgruppen) to industrial murder (Death Camps).
3. Responses to Nazi Rule: The Three "C"s
When the Nazis took over, people had to make impossible choices. Historians usually group these responses into three categories.
Collaboration (Helping the Nazis)
Some people actively helped the Germans. This might be because they shared Nazi beliefs, feared for their lives, or thought they could get more power. Example: The Vichy Government in France helped the Nazis round up Jews for deportation.
Accommodation (Getting By)
This was the most common response. Most people didn't love the Nazis, but they weren't heroes either. They just tried to keep their heads down, go to work, and keep their families safe. This is often called the "Grey Area."
Resistance (Fighting Back)
Brave individuals and groups risked everything to stop the Nazis. Resistance took many forms:
- Passive Resistance: Listening to the BBC (which was banned), wearing symbols of their old government, or hiding Jewish neighbors.
- Active Resistance: Blowing up railway lines (sabotage), printing illegal newspapers, or gathering intelligence for the Allies.
- Armed Uprisings: In 1943, Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto fought back with smuggled weapons in a heroic but tragic revolt.
Memory Aid: To remember how people reacted, think of C.A.R.
Collaborate (Help)
Accommodate (Ignore/Accept)
Resist (Fight)
Common Mistakes to Avoid
1. Thinking everyone in Germany knew everything: While many knew about the persecution, the Nazis tried to keep the details of the Death Camps a "state secret."
2. Thinking Resistance was easy: Resistance usually meant a death sentence if caught. It took incredible bravery.
3. Confusing the East and West: Always remember the Nazis were much more "correct" in the West and much more "barbaric" in the East because of their racial ideas.
Summary Checklist
- Can you explain why the East was treated worse than the West? (Hint: Racial Ideology and Lebensraum)
- Do you know the three stages of the Holocaust? (Hint: Einsatzgruppen, Ghettos, Death Camps)
- Can you define Collaboration, Accommodation, and Resistance?
Don't worry if this seems like a lot of information. Just remember that at the heart of this chapter is choice: the Nazi choice to be brutal based on race, and the difficult choices individuals made to survive or resist.