How Significant Was Opposition To Nazi Germany Between 1933-45?

How significant was opposition to Nazi Germany between 1933-45?

Introduction

There was significant resistance to the Nazi regime during their 12-year reign, especially from the ethnic minorities which they targeted in their racial purges. Although Hitler had a firm grip over the German population in the first years of him being in power, the people began to lose trust in his power after the crushing defeat in Stalingrad (1943). This point is often viewed as the turning point in WW2 and the eventual demise of the Nazi party, since the German population began to realise that they were fighting a war which they could not win. The Nazis saw this as a threat to their great nation and initiated the ‘final solution,’

Initially, Hitler viewed the German communist party as threatening to his own NSDAP. The German population, especially blue-collar workers were seen as ‘naturally communist and Socialist,’ this was a significant issue for the Nazis until the Reichstag fire of 1933 occurred. This event allowed the Nazis to put the blame on the popular German communist party, which made the population start to question their own beliefs and boosted the image of the NSDAP. Additionally, 10,000 communists were jailed on the same night as the fire, this was done to prevent them from speaking out and allowing Goebbels to propel his Nazi propaganda throughout Germany.1 This political move suppressed political opposition to the Nazi party as it destroyed their opponents and effectively banned the membership of these parties. This made it more difficult for people to oppose the Nazis politically and allowed them to enforce their dictatorship. However, this did not stop the KDP (Kommunisten Deutsche Partie) from distributing communist leaflets and funding the Rote Fahne (‘Red Flag’) newspaper, which was distributed on a large scale until 1935.2 Communist workers in factories and mines often united to resist and hit back at the Nazi regime by going on large-scale strikes with the intention of crippling the economy, in 1937 there were a total of 250 strikes recorded.3 Many workers that went on strike were imprisoned by the

For example, the Swing Youth were a group of middle-class young jazz and swing music enthusiasts who rejected Hitler Youth ideals, although they were anti-politics – they ranged from loyal reluctance to passive resistance. They often participated in illegal meetings in bars, nightclubs, and houses where they played Black American and Jewish Jazz.11 They would also publicly wear American jeans and leather jackets to express a more democratic, Western identity.12 The Nazis felt undermined by their activities and responded by closing bars and even making some arrests. On the 18th of August 1941, in a brutal police operation, over 300 Swingjugend were arrested, some were even sent to concentration camps as a warning to other members.13 Although only a tiny minority of German youths were connected with the Swing groups, they do illustrate, the failure of the regime to dominate the youth, which wished to express themselves openly and freely. On the contrary, there was another major youth group that had a more aggressive approach to their Nazi counterpart, the ‘Edelweiss pirates.’ These so-called pirates were made up of boys between the ages of 14 and 17 with a few girls between their ranks of approximately 2,000 members.14 Their aims are not easy to identify, like the Swing Youth groups they were trying to escape the intrusive and repressive Nazi systems. Some factions of the Edelweiss Pirates established links with the