For Hitler & the Nazis, Nazi rule aimed to create a – a 'people's community' based on race, Nazi principles & proper behaviour. If not embraced willingly, it would be imposed by force. Society was centred on an Aryan ('master race'), excluding groups seen as racially, politically, biologically, or socially unacceptable. How did Nazi rule affect Germans?

The Nazi state affected different groups differently. Life for the majority was good, leading many to ignore the horrific treatment of excluded groups.

1. Nazi Party members

    •  Enjoyed privileges: best houses, govt jobs, power over others.

    •  Businessmen in the Nazi Party got lucrative govt contracts.

2. Ordinary people

Life was generally good for many ordinary Germans:

    •  Full employment via work programmes & KdF ().

    •  No visible poverty, financial security, improved transport (autobahns).

    •  Frequent rallies, ceremonies, & Nazi propaganda inspired hope & self-belief.

    •  Law & order: people felt safe (e.g., doors left unlocked).

Drawbacks:

    •  Wages fell, strikers faced execution.

    •  Loss of personal freedoms (e.g., speech, cultural diversity).

    •  Culture restricted to German or Nazi-approved works.

3. Women

The Nazis focused on women as bearers of Aryan children & symbols of family values:

    •  Encouraged large families (e.g., loans for newlyweds, for mothers of 8+ children).

    •  Women's organisations replaced with Nazi-controlled groups like .

Anti-feminist policies:

    •  Girls’ education prioritised domestic skills; university places limited.

    •  Women doctors, teachers, & civil servants forced out of jobs.

    •  Women banned from serving in armed forces, even during war.

4. Youth

Most youth supported the Nazis:

    •   (Hitler Youth) & BDM (League of German Girls) offered exciting activities & indoctrination.

    •  Youth were empowered & treated as more advanced than adults.

Opposition:

    •  Some girls resented the focus on Church, children & cooker.

    •  Some Aryan girls sent to camps for breeding.

    •  Rebellious 14-17-year-olds formed countercultures like (Swing Youth) & Edelweißpiraten ().

    •  Leipzig Meuten was actively suppressed, with members imprisoned.

5. Opponents

Nazis used fear to suppress dissent:

    •  Trade Unions banned (May 1933); leaders arrested.

    •  Communists & clergy sent to concentration camps or killed.

    •  Gestapo & informants ensured control (e.g., children encouraged to report parents).

Despite this, many welcomed political stability after Weimar chaos.

6. Untermensch

The regime targeted groups they deemed racially or socially inferior (Untermensch = subhuman):

    •  Anti-Semitism was central:

          ◦   (1935) revoked Jewish citizenship & banned intermarriage.

          ◦  Actions like the Jewish shop boycott & (1938).

          ◦  Forced emigration began in 1938; half of Germany’s Jews left before 1941.

          ◦  Holocaust: Conference (1942) organised genocide.

Other groups persecuted:

    •  85% of Germany's Gypsies killed.

    •  Black Germans sterilised or murdered.

    •  6,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses sent to camps; c.1,000 died.

    •  Beggars, homosexuals, prostitutes, pacifists & criminals interned.

The Nazis pursued to ‘purify’ society:

    •  300k people sterilised (1934-45) for hereditary illnesses.

    •  5k disabled babies & 72k mentally ill patients killed (1939-41).

    •  Some deaf people sterilised or executed.

For Hitler & the Nazis, Nazi rule aimed to create a VOLKSGEMEINSCHAFT – a 'people's community' based on race, Nazi principles & proper behaviour. If not embraced willingly, it would be imposed by force. Society was centred on an Aryan HERRENKLASSE ('master race'), excluding groups seen as racially, politically, biologically, or socially unacceptable. How did Nazi rule affect Germans?

The Nazi state affected different groups differently. Life for the majority was good, leading many to ignore the horrific treatment of excluded groups.

1. Nazi Party members

    •  Enjoyed privileges: best houses, govt jobs, power over others.

    •  Businessmen in the Nazi Party got lucrative govt contracts.

2. Ordinary people

Life was generally good for many ordinary Germans:

    •  Full employment via work programmes & KdF (STRENGTH THROUGH JOY).

    •  No visible poverty, financial security, improved transport (autobahns).

    •  Frequent rallies, ceremonies, & Nazi propaganda inspired hope & self-belief.

    •  Law & order: people felt safe (e.g., doors left unlocked).

Drawbacks:

    •  Wages fell, strikers faced execution.

    •  Loss of personal freedoms (e.g., speech, cultural diversity).

    •  Culture restricted to German or Nazi-approved works.

3. Women

The Nazis focused on women as bearers of Aryan children & symbols of family values:

    •  Encouraged large families (e.g., loans for newlyweds, GOLD MEDALS for mothers of 8+ children).

    •  Women's organisations replaced with Nazi-controlled groups like DEUTSCHES FRAUENWERK.

Anti-feminist policies:

    •  Girls’ education prioritised domestic skills; university places limited.

    •  Women doctors, teachers, & civil servants forced out of jobs.

    •  Women banned from serving in armed forces, even during war.

4. Youth

Most youth supported the Nazis:

    •  HITLER JUGEND (Hitler Youth) & BDM (League of German Girls) offered exciting activities & indoctrination.

    •  Youth were empowered & treated as more advanced than adults.

Opposition:

    •  Some girls resented the focus on Church, children & cooker.

    •  Some Aryan girls sent to camps for breeding.

    •  Rebellious 14-17-year-olds formed countercultures like SWINGJUGEND (Swing Youth) & Edelweißpiraten (EDELWEISS PIRATES).

    •  Leipzig Meuten was actively suppressed, with members imprisoned.

5. Opponents

Nazis used fear to suppress dissent:

    •  Trade Unions banned (May 1933); leaders arrested.

    •  Communists & clergy sent to concentration camps or killed.

    •  Gestapo & informants ensured control (e.g., children encouraged to report parents).

Despite this, many welcomed political stability after Weimar chaos.

6. Untermensch

The regime targeted groups they deemed racially or socially inferior (Untermensch = subhuman):

    •  Anti-Semitism was central:

          ◦  RACIAL PURITY LAW (1935) revoked Jewish citizenship & banned intermarriage.

          ◦  Actions like the Jewish shop boycott & KRISTALLNACHT (1938).

          ◦  Forced emigration began in 1938; half of Germany’s Jews left before 1941.

          ◦  Holocaust: WANSEE Conference (1942) organised genocide.

Other groups persecuted:

    •  85% of Germany's Gypsies killed.

    •  Black Germans sterilised or murdered.

    •  6,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses sent to camps; c.1,000 died.

    •  Beggars, homosexuals, prostitutes, pacifists & criminals interned.

The Nazis pursued EUGENICS to ‘purify’ society:

    •  300k people sterilised (1934-45) for hereditary illnesses.

    •  5k disabled babies & 72k mentally ill patients killed (1939-41).

    •  Some deaf people sterilised or executed.