Nazi methods of control

1. Nazi methods of control Lesson aims; To understand the meaning of the Nazi police state To be able to explain censorship and propaganda under the Nazis. To be able to describe Nazi policies towards the Church.

2. overview There two main methods of controlling the German people once the Nazis were in power. • Fear and terror: making sure people were too scared to oppose the state. • Indoctrination: brainwashing people into accepting your ideas BUT also remember there were people attracted to Hitler and his ideas.

3. The Terror State Propaganda Secret police called the Gestapo would spy on and arrest enemies of the state. Mass Rallies, Posters and Propaganda films. Keeping Control of Germany The Nazis controlled and censored the radio & newspapers. SS were responsible for running the concentration camps. School children were indoctrinated with Nazi ideas at school. Popularity Ripping up the Treaty of Versailles. How did Hitler keep control of Germany? Everyone was scared of being arrested by the Gestapo and being put in a concentration camp. Hitler Youth & the Young Maidens. Creating Jobs

4. Key Quote “Terror is the best political weapon for nothing drives people harder than a fear of sudden death.”

5. Communists Social Democrats Jews Trade Unionists. Work Shy Homosexuals Gypsies Germans who bought from Jews Pacifists Radical Christian Organisation Anyone who criticised Hitler or the Nazi Party. Enemies of the State

6. Enemies of the State • A list of German women who were still purchasing goods from Jewish shops. • Printed to scare or terrorise other people into not buying from the Jews.

7. Fear: The Police State • Both the Gestapoand the SS were run by Heinrich Himmler. • The Gestapo employed an army of spies who would inform on people.

8. Any body who opposed the Nazi state would be put into a concentration camp. Fear: concentration camps

9. You are imprisoned for up to six months doing hard physical labour. When you are released you tell everybody what has happened to you Gestapo Spies inform on you Fear You are woken up by the Gestapo at 1 am in the morning and told that you have 5 minutes to pack your bags. You are handed over to the SS who run the concentration camps. By signing this form you are giving your consent to be put into a concentration camp. Days or maybe weeks later you are interviewed and asked to sign form D11 You are arrested and thrown into a cell at the police station How did the Terror State Work?

10. Nazi Propaganda and censorship. • Nazi propaganda was used to glorify Adolf Hitler and crush opposing viewpoints. • The dictatorship of Adolf Hitler suppressed completely the right to freedom of the press. Journalists were not allowed to say anything against Hitler and the Nazis or they would be risking imprisonment or even death. • Propaganda was always used by the Nazis in their newspapers and other news media.

11. Keeping control: Censorship radio Books, theatre, Music (book burning) newspapers films Mass rallies Joseph Goebbels: Minister for Propaganda Reich Chamber of Culture

12. Why did the Nazis burn books?

13. Keeping control: Propaganda • Write a definition of propaganda Propaganda is a type of message that influences the opinions or behaviour of people. Instead of impartially providing information, propaganda is often deliberately misleading.

14. Why was the radio so important to the Nazis? Propaganda

15. Propaganda: posters How are Jews portrayed here?

16. The Eternal Jew The Eternal Jew was a Nazi propaganda film made in 1940 under the close supervision of Goebbals. It depicts Polish Jews as an evil sub species. http://www.subcin.com/nazi.html click here for more info

17. Tasks: Watch clip from the film the Triumph of the Will (1934). Think about what is being portrayed and how. How good a promotional video is it? (This film was banned after WW2, can you think why?) Propaganda

18. How does propaganda work? • YouTube - More Nazi WW2 Propaganda Watch the clip and note down what happens and what you think the point of it is?

19. The Churches Hitler and the Nazis disagreed with the ideas of the Christian Church. The Nazis believed in racial superiority. Belief in God also interfered with the ‘Hitler myth’. In Germany about two thirds of people were Protestant and a third were Roman Catholics. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/church_in_nazi_germany.htm

20. How did Nazis deal with the Catholic Church? What was the Concordat? The Catholic Church

21. THE PROTESTANT CHURCH Martin Niemoller What was the attitude of the Protestant church towards the Nazis?

22. Key Quote: Martin Niemoller, 1945 • When the Nazis came for the Communists I was silent, I was not a Communist. • When the Nazis came for the Social Democrats I was silent, I was not a Social Democrat. • When the Nazis came for the Jews I was silent, I was not a Jew. • When the Nazis came for me there was nobody left to protest.

23. Summary • The Nazis set up a police state to force people to support their regime. The main instruments of the police state were the SS and the Gestapo. • The Nazis also used censorship to control what people saw and heard. • Goebbels made use of propaganda methods, such as posters, the radio and film, to try to persuade people to support the Nazis. • The Catholic and Protestant Churches were persecuted by the Nazis. Many priests and pastors resisted and were sent to concentration camps.