Why Didn't Public Grumbling
Become Open Opposition??
there was no organised opposition
Nazis had dismantled or taken
over virtually all other organisations
no groups which people could join to resist them
main exceptions were
the Christian churches
formed some of the most
public opposition to the
Nazis in the early years
Germans were afraid
the SS and Gestapo could destroy
people's lives if they did not follow the rules
as long as people kept complaints to
themselves, they were tolerated
if complaints became open opposition then the
apparatus of the police state was there to deal with it
people were pleased with the Nazis
many Germans were pleased
with what the Nazis were doing
particularly with success of
Nazi foreign policy
even if they did not agree with something the Nazis
did, people would tolerate it for the sake of the stability
and prosperity they thought the Nazis were creating
people did not know what
was going on
censorship and propaganda stopped people
from receiving reliable information
some of the extremes of Nazi policy were kept secret
those who did suspect had learned not to ask questions for fear of their own lives
criticisms were minor
Those who were dissatisfied with the
Nazis had very minor complaints
e.g. in Northeim the decision to merge the four sports clubs into
one raised more opposition than the victimisation of the Jews
"we did vote for them"
Nazis had achieved electoral success
most Germans (and people in other
countries) saw Nazis as having the legal
authority to do what they wanted
Nazis did drop unpopular policies
the Nazis sometimes moderated their policies if
they seemed to be alienating normal Germans
Kristallnacht produced such widespread condemnation
among ordinary Germans that from then on all
measures against the Jews were kept secret
1940- Nazi programme of euthanasia
was halted after a popular outcry
against it led by church leaders
opposition was divided
Left-wing groups like Communists and Social
Democrats were natural enemies of Nazism
both banned in 1933
did not trust eachother so did
not cooperate to resist the Nazis
resisted in different ways
Social Democrats: did little more than meet in small groups,
talk, start whispering campaigns against the Nazis
Communists: for a long
time just assumed Nazis
would fall; later decided on
more active campaign of
spreading discontent
amongst factory workers