HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK THE NAZIS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AGED YEARS OLD 1 HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2 THE NAZIS GERMANY AFTER WORLD WAR 1 fter 4 long years of war, Germany waved the white flag and admitted A defeat on 11th November 1918. Many of the German troops couldn’t believe it – they believed they were winning the war. The only explanation to many of these soldiers is that the Otto Frank (left) and his brother government had ‘stabbed them in the back.’ Robert (right) both fought for Germany in WW1 The loss of the war meant that Germany had to sign the Treaty of Versailles. One of the clauses in this treaty was that they accepted the blame for the war. Many people thought this was deeply unfair. Germany had no choice but to sign, leaving them to pay huge reparations— A protest about the Treaty of Versailles in Berlin in 1932. £6.6 BILLION. This bankrupted Germany, leading to hyperinflation (money becoming worthless), huge unemployment and starvation of people. More and more Germans began to believe the ‘Stab in the Back’ theory, which blamed the Jews for the loss in the war. Children playing with worthless banknotes in 1923 2 HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2 THE NAZIS HOW DID HITLER RISE TO POWER? Although Germany did begin to recover in the 1920s with the help of the Dawes Plan (where America loaned Germany $45million and gave them longer to repay the war debt) many former soldiers especially still believed they’d been betrayed. In 1923 Adolf Hitler tried to overthrow the government in the Munich Putsch. He did not have enough support at this time to be successful - and this landed him in prison where he wrote his book ‘Mein Kampf.’ In 1929 the Wall Street Crash hit, crashing Germany’s econo- my back to post WW1 levels. Germans were angry, frustrated and wanted somebody to blame. Hitler at the annual Nazi rally in Nuremburg 1927 Hitler used the ‘Stab in the Back’ myth to blame Jewish people for the problems in Germany – and people started to listen. In 1933 Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany with 33% of the vote. Over the next year he managed to end all opposition to him. With the death of the German president Hidenburg, became Fuhrer and Germany was now under a dictatorship. Hitler attracts a growing following. In 1930, 18.3% of Germans vote for the Nazi party EXTRA RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES Look through pages 2-3 and find out more information on the terms in bold. 3 HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2 THE NAZIS Activity LIFE UNDER THE NAZIS Complete the grid below using the information on the next pages. Through this activity you will have a brief overview of how the Nazis changed life for many people living in Germany; and then occupied Europe. Name of Group What The Nazis Did The Benefits Disadvantages WOMEN TEACHERS UNEMPLOYED CHRISTIANS ……………………………………………………………………………………..YOUNG PEOPLE …………………………………………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………...………………………………………………………….. 4 HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2 THE NAZIS HITLER YOUTH After Hitler came to power, all other youth movements were abolished and as a result the Hitler Youth grew quickly. In 1936, the figure stood at 4 million members and it became compulsory to join the Hitler Youth. This Hitler Youth poster translates: ”Youth serves the Führer” The Führer - the name Hitler gave to himself meaning Emperor / Leader The Hitler Youth catered for 10 to 18 year olds. There were separate organisations for boys and girls. The task of the boys section was to prepare the boys for military service. For girls, the organisation prepared them for motherhood. "The weak must be chiselled away. I want young men and women who can suffer pain. A young German must be as swift as a greyhound, as tough as leather, and as hard as Krupp's steel." – Adolf Hitler 5 HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2 THE NAZIS WOMEN IN NAZI GERMANY Cover of the Nazi Party Magazine in 1939 One of the earliest laws passed by Hitler once he came to power in 1933 was the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage. This law encouraged couples to have lots of children. The Motherhood Cross was awarded to women who had given birth to the largest number of children. The gold cross went to women who had produced 8 children; silver was for 6 children and bronze was for 4 children. Women were not expected to work in Nazi Germany. There had been 100,000 female teachers, 3000 female doctors and 13,000 female musicians. By the start of the Second World War, very few German women were in fulltime work. "The mission of women is to be beautiful and to bring children into the world. This is not at all as un-modern as it sounds. The female bird pretties herself for her mate and hatches eggs for him. In exchange, the male takes care of gathering food, and stands guard and wards off the enemy." Joseph Goebbels, a leading Nazi, writing in 1929. As housewives and mothers, their lives were controlled. Women were not expected to wear make-up or trousers. The dyeing of hair was not allowed nor were perms. Only flat shoes were expected to be worn. Women were discouraged from slimming as this was considered bad for child birth. Women were also discouraged from smoking because it was considered non-German to do so. 6 HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2 THE NAZIS TEACHERS IN NAZI GERMANY Changes to the school day were seen as necessary to the Nazis, and these changes depended on the loyalty of teachers to Hitler. Teachers had to join the Nazi Teachers Association, where their history was checked, to make sure they were pure Germans. Pupils were encouraged to contact authorities if teachers did anything against Nazi policy. Biology became a study of the different races to 'prove' that the Nazi belief in racial superiority was a sound belief. Science had a military-slant to it. The curriculum required that the principles of shooting be studied; military aviation science; bridge building and the impact of poisonous gasses. ‘Away with Him’ – the cartoon is of a Jewish teacher being dragged away by the Nazis. Teacher who were sympathetic of PE took up 15% of a school's weekly the Jews also risked getting fired. timetable. Boxing became compulsory for boys. Those who failed fitness tests could be expelled from their From 1935 on, after the Nuremburg schools - and face humiliation from Laws, Jewish school children were not those who had passed such tests. allowed to attend schools. The Nazi government claimed that a German pupil sitting next to a Jew could become contaminated by the experience. "To keep a mentally ill person costs approximately 4 marks a day. There are 300,000 mentally ill people in care. How much do these people cost to keep in total? How many marriage loans of 1000 marks could be granted with this money?" Extract from a Nazi Maths Textbook used in schools in 1936. Girls had a different curriculum aimed at preparing them to be a good wife and mother. As housewives and mothers, their lives were controlled. Women were not expected to wear make-up or trousers. The dyeing of hair was not allowed nor were perms. Only flat shoes were expected to be worn. Women were discouraged from slimming as this was considered bad for child birth. Women were also discouraged from smoking because it was considered non-German to do so. 7 HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2 THE NAZIS UNEMPLOYED Unemployment Figures in Germany January 1933 - 6 million The unemployed were given a very simple choice: January 1934 - 3.3 million do whatever work is given to you by the January 1935 - 2.9 million government or be classed as "work-shy" and be January 1936 - 2.5 million put in a concentration camp. January 1937 - 1.8 million January 1938 - 1.0 million January 1939 - 302,000 Conscription was brought in (1935) and men had Hitler performed an ‘economic miracle’ by to do their time in the army. To equip these men cutting unemployment so drastically. with weapons, factories were built and this took Although he removed women from the even more off of the unemployment figure. statistics as they were expected to be at home with children. The Nazis introduced public work schemes for men who worked in the National Labour Service (RAD). Their work would have included digging ditches, building the new autobahns (motorways) or planting new forests. The men of the RAD wore a military style uniform, lived in camps near to where they were working and received only what we would term pocket money. Some workers worked from 60 to 72 per week (incl. overtime) by 1939. Strikes were outlawed. The average factory worker was earning 10 times more than those on dole (benefit) money. “Workers of the mind and hand! Vote for the front soldier Adolf Hitler!" Cheap holidays and the offer of them was a good way to win the support of the average person in the street. There was also a scheme offering a car. The Volkswagen - People's Car - was designed so that most could afford it. The Beetle, designed by Ferdinand Porsche, cost 990 marks. This was about 35 weeks wages for the average worker. To pay for one, workers went on a hire purchase scheme. They paid 5 marks a week into an account. 8 HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2 THE NAZIS CHRISTIANS & RELIGIOUS PEOPLE IN NAZI GERMANY Originally the Nazi’s promised religious freedom for all those religions except those which endangered the German race.