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Life in Germany During WWII [IEAEO]

     

Impact on Ordinary Germans

1. Early military successes = celebrations & ↑ Hitler’s popularity.

2. 1940: of children from Berlin began in anticipation of bombing; intensified post-1943.

3. Germans urged to support war effort (eg recycling by Hitler Youth).

4. Early successes & resources from conquered territories delayed shortages. Propaganda ↑ after 1943 military defeats; Goebbels urged harder work & sacrifices.

5. Rationing:

    •  1939: Immediate rationing of meat, bread, fats & sugar; poor Germans benefitted from balanced diets initially.

    •  1942: Tighter rationing → hunger; weekly meat ration fell from 700g (1939) → 250g (1945). products like acorn coffee & ‘Hitler Butter’ substituted scarce goods.

    •  Extra rations for miners, pregnant women & blood donors.

    •  Public parks turned into vegetable gardens; frugal recipes & 1-pot meals adopted.

    •  1943: Civilian clothing production ceased; exchange centres & black markets thrived.

. 1945: Ration cards useless, severe shortages, social collapse (eg no post, closed clubs).

7. At end of war 11–13m refugees fled west to escape Soviet domination, causing massive issues.

   

Economy

1. 1943: Goebbels’ → all economic activity to war effort, ↑ working hours, & ↑ female workers.

2. 1942: Albert Speer’s reforms → mass production ↑ munitions output by 60% per worker (1939–44), but still < USA & USSR.

3. German inventiveness: nerve gas, 1st manned rocket flight (1945), missile guidance, atomic research, etc.

4. Allied bombing wrecked economy: fuel ↓ 86%, explosives ↓ 42%, tanks ↓ 35% (1945).

5. Labour Shortages:

    •  Men in military → labour shortages; 1944: >8m POWs, concentration camp slaves & foreign workers forced into labour.

    •  Nazi ideology idealized women as homemakers, but 1943 conscription forced women (17–45) into war work. By 1944, women = 50% of workforce.

   

Allied Bombing Raids

1. 1942: Bombing targeted cities to undermine morale and destroy industrial capacity.

2. Key raids:

    •  May 1942: RAF’s 1st ‘ raid’ on Cologne.

    •  Jul–Aug 1943: Hamburg raids killed 100k & left millions homeless.

    •  Feb 1945: Dresden raids killed 150k civilians.

3. 1945: 3.5m Germans died in bombings. Mixed impact on morale; disaffection ↑ post-Stalingrad (1943).

   

Escalation of Racial Persecution → the Holocaust

1. 1939–41 invasions → 3m Jews under Nazi control. Madagascar plan failed (British blockade).

2. 1939–42: executed 2m Jews in Poland/USSR. Victims identified by informants, dug own graves.

3. Ghettos (eg Warsaw, Lodz) confined Jews in unsanitary, overcrowded conditions → death by starvation, disease, cold. 50k+ died in Warsaw Ghetto alone; 1943 Warsaw Uprising crushed.

4. 1942 Wannsee Conference → Final Solution: Death camps (eg Auschwitz) in Eastern Europe.

5. Victims unfit for work → gas chambers (Zyklon B); bodies burned.

6. By 1945: 6m Jews & other groups (Roma, disabled, etc) murdered.

   

Opposition & Resistance

No effective opposition; regime unchallenged internally. Examples of opposition (not resistance):

1. Group: Led Operation Valkyrie (failed 1944 Hitler assassination); 5,746 executed.

2. Circle: Discussed post-war Germany but non-violent; leaders executed 1944.

3. : Leaflets, Jewish aid, Soviet intel; 65 hanged 1941.

4. Pirates: Anti-Nazi graffiti, leaflets, Gestapo head killed; 13 hanged 1944.

5. : Anti-Nazi leaflets by Munich students; executed 1943.

6. Church: Dietrich Bonhoeffer involved in resistance; executed 1945.

7. Catholic Church: Bishop Galen opposed Nazi policies (euthanasia, camps); priests sent to Dachau.

8. Jewish resistance:

    •  1943: Uprising killed 300 Germans; 13k Jews died.

    •  Bielski brothers (1941–44): Helped 1,200+ escape & attacked Nazis.

    •  Death camp revolts: Treblinka (Aug 1943), Sobibor (Oct 1943), Auschwitz (Oct 1944).