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The Protestant church was never a centralised church and so harder to create the one Reich church that the Nazis wished for. Many Protestant dissidents formed their own. CONFESSIONAL CHURCH . This opposed the Nazi ideas. It was led by pastor NIEMOLLER. He survived the war very narrowly despite being ordered to be killed. Pastor BONHOEFFER was not so lucky. He too was a key figure in the Confessional church having bravely come back from the USA. He had tried to build anti Nazi contacts, including in the military. However, he was caught and later executed as the war drew to a close Up to 400 pastors were arrested and many imprisoned or executed. WHITE ROSE This was a student group formed in Munich by brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl. It was started following Hans experiences in Poland and his disgust at the treatment of locals there as well as Bishop Galen's denunciation of euthanasia. The group handed out lots of anti Nazi leaflets around Munich university denouncing national socialism as a depravity. They were caught, tortured and guillotined in 1943. The Catholic Church has faced huge criticism for seeming to be only interested in protecting its own interests and not those of the Jews. However, the Catholic Church did a number of things to oppose the Nazis - Cardinal Von GALEN bravely stood up to the Nazis for their T4 euthanasia policy and received so much support that the programme was halted - at least temporarily on Hitler's orders. He was said to be too popular to kill. However, the Nazis beheaded three Priests in response. He was later arrested for a potential role in the 1944 bomb plot but survived the war. He was nicknamed the Lion of Munster for his actions The church also successfully protected many Jews in the Vatican under the orders of the Pope. ASSESSMENT of youth opposition Youth groups worked on the natural rebelliousness of Youth. The Nazis at first didn’t take them too seriously. Swing types were usually well connected and had little political motivations. Edelweiss pirates were limited in their actions and divided with little coordinated response and White Rose were localised and confined in their protest. They all lacked any military power to threaten the state. The Nazis however were suitably worried in war time to start clamping down with a Youth concentration camp and the execution of the 12 Edelweiss pirates and Swing Youth. ASSESSMENT of church opposition Religion was important in Germany and the Nazis were frightened about their potential power. The Catholic Church did score perhaps the only notable success from this time with successful opposition from Cardinal Galen and a campaign to have crucifixes restored. HOWEVER, the churches never made a coordinated response to the Nazi challenge and was often more concerned with preserving its own freedoms. (Concordat) Many in the church deeply feared the threat of Communism as much as the present problem of Nazism. Only Galen showed what power the church could potentially have had. In the end only a few very brave and dedicated church people stood up and many paid with their lives. ASSESSMENT of Conservative and Military opposition Out of all the groups, the combination of Conservative leadership, resources and connections combined with military strength - giving them the power to actually kill Hitler had the greatest potential for success. It did come very close to achieving this with the July bomb plot. However, the movement was divided in WHAT it wanted to achieve ( some favoured Western style Social democracy, others an anti Communist alliance with the West against the Soviets.) It was also divided in HOW it would achieve this. Some favoured the use of violence to remove Hitler, others opposes this morally. Finally, the groups, like many others were infiltrated by the Gestapo and many were killed in show trials. POPULARITY OF THE NAZIS? One thing that should be pointed out when discussing opposition was that Hitler and the Nazis were genuinely a very popular movement. Millions had voted for them and many Germans regarded Hitler as having rescued Germany. His early war time successes had stunned and excited Germans and gave them faith in their fuhrer. It was only when things began to change and military victories were being transformed to defeats that many began to question the Nazis and the wisdom of Hitler. Even at this stage many Germans remained loyal all the way to the end. Conservative groups were potentially a real threat to Hitler. They were well connected and resourced. Many had lost faith in Hitler or had been put off by Nazi policies. Towards 1943 groups such as the KREISAU CIRCLE began to meet. This was a diverse group of people who began to think about an alternative Germany after Nazism based on social democracy and freedom. It was heavily influenced by Christianity. However, they were regularly under suspicion. Their group was quite large and therefore open to infiltration by the Gestapo. The Kriesau circle opposed violence making success against Hitler highly unlikely. The other problem with this group was that it may have lots of ideas but it could not work out how to rid Germany of Hitler to begin! Many were implicated in the 1944 July bomb plot including VON MOLTKE one of its key leaders. VON STAUFFENBERG AND THE JULY BOMB PLOT The military were one of the first to actively oppose Hitler and they also came closest to killing him. They had an ambivalent relationship with Hitler. Some despised the policies he followed and how they brought Germany to war. Others felt Hitler was highly skilled as a leader. However by 1944 the opposition was mounting. The allied invasion on D-Day and his senseless decisions in Russia led many to question Hitler's wisdom. Some wanted to make peace with the western allies and join forces against the USSR. COUNT VON STAUFFENBERG was a decorated war veteran and devoted Catholic. He was someone who came to the conclusion that Hitler was leading Germany to disaster. In July 1944, he overcame his religious objections and planted a bomb in Hitler's Eastern Headquarters - the Wolf’s lair. It went off and killed several people but miraculously Hitler survived. The bomb plot was so widespread that the gestapo executed almost 5,000 German suspects! Hitler ordered that the plotters be hanged with piano wire and the executions filmed for him. Von Stauffenberg was shot. Important personalities like ULRICH VON HASSELL, the ex ambassador to Rome and Carl Cordeler , the Mayor of Leipzig expressed opposition to Hitler and the Nazis ASSESSMENT of left wing opposition The Left wing were one of the first opponents of the Nazis and therefore they endured years of persecution. They tried hard to work against the Nazis, particularly after the German invasion of the USSR in 1941. One group managed to firebomb a Nazi exhibition on Anti Semitic and Anti Communist art. However, they were small in number and easily discovered. Those who did survive spent their time trying to survive rather than provide effective opposition to Hitler. RED ORCHESTRA (Rote Kapelle) One left wing spy network was called the Red orchestra and it successfully infiltrated parts of the government. Communist 'cells' operated in up to 89 factories in Berlin alone. Berlin was ironically the heart of anti Nazi resistance. However, acts of sabotage were very rare and many groups confined themselves to printing anti Nazi leaflets or just staying alive! The left wing - Communists and Socialists should have been the natural opposition to Hitler but the effectiveness of Hitlers terror programme had quickly rendered them virtually powerless by March 1933! Many were locked up as part of the Decree powers and the rest were actively infiltrated by the gestapo There was limited resistance from civilians in Germany due to the danger of the police State. There was low level Grumbling or passive resistance. This increased as the war turned against the Germans and death tolls rose. Many Germans made fun of Hitler or created anti Nazi jokes- This was punishable by death There were some successful exceptions: - ⛪ The Catholic Church successfully campaigned to have the crucifix brought back to German classrooms when they were removed. - Smoking increased. Nazi Germany was the first country to have anti smoking campaigns and actively discouraged it. Smoking turned out to be a method of passive resistance. EDELWEISS PIRATES Collection of different groups who were all united against Nazi youth groups. They would have names like Roving Dudes and the Navajos They were mostly left wing groups and some were connected to the KPD (Communist party) They would have alternative gatherings to camp and sing anti Nazi songs. Some would play a more active type of resistance by beating up Hitler Youth, writing anti Nazi graffiti on walls or helping allied air men escape. There were estimated to be over 2,000 members in these groups. The gestapo had many of these under observation In 1944, 12 were executed in Cologne. SWING TYPES These were more rebellious types of young people who were determined not to 'conform' to the ideas the Nazis had for them in terms of fashion and music. They would grow their hair long, smoke and listen to Jazz music (swing) which was banned due to its African American origins. Many had the greeting Heil Benny in tribute to Benny Goodman, an American musician. They tended to be from wealthier and middle class backgrounds. They weren't executed but some were jailed and beat up as an example to others. Young people Conservatives Military Low Level ‘grumbling’ PROTESTANT CHURCH CATHOLIC CHURCH Left wing Opposition to the Nazis 1939-45 Church
