Weimar economy was greatly effected by
Trade Unions- Hitler wanted less
interference
Hitler disliked Trade Unions
because they give working power
to the people/ workers
German Labour Front (DAF
DAF (Deutsche Arbeits Front) was set
up on 6th May 1933 immediately after the
banning of Trade Unions
DAF was designed to fill
the void and ensure that
workers did not feel cheated
DAF was a Nazi Trade
Union headed by Robert
Ley
20 million members
by 1935
Councils of Trust
were set up to
represent workers who
could not leave jobs
without government
permession
Changes to pay and working hours
Increased compared to the Depression years
Very longworking weeks (60- 72 hours) was common
Nazi Rent and Price Control
Nazis introduced
controls over fixed
prices and rents for
housing
Receiveing fixed price for
their produce helped
farmers.
The Reich Food Estate controlled agricultural
prices and imposed price freezes in shops
However small busineses suffered from the effects of
the price freeze- by 1939 almost 200,000 smal shops
had gone out of business
Never less families benifitied from the
controls on prices and rents
Improving the lives of workers
Hitler was quite astute enough to realize that as well as putting in
place restrictions measures to control the workforce he also needed
to keep them occupied aaand appear as he valued their quality of
life
The Kraft Durch Freude (KDF) or Strength Through Joy
Movement was created by DAF in November 1933 to
improve the workers' leisure opportunities
HDF offered workers cheap holidays as well as
visits to the theatre, hikes in the country side and
a range of sporting activities
Workers could also purchase a
Volkswagon. They paid 5 marks a week
unitl 750 were paid. However no-one
received their car when the war broke
out in 1939
The beauty of the Labour Movement
Schonheit der Arbeir (SdA) was
at a branch of the SdA. The SdA
would work with the KDF to 'keep
the workers happy.'
They ensured that the workplace would have
ventilation and hot meals throughout the day