Topic 4: Nazi domestic policies 1933 - 1939

• Girls were prevented from studying science and could only learn the mathematics necessary to be a housewife
• In PE girls were taught how to cook and care for the home
• The Nazi Party was a man's party, there were no women in any of the senior positions
• Women had to stay at home, produce more childeren and look after the family
  • so that more racially- pure Germans were produced
  • to solve unemployment problems by removing women
• women were forced to give up their jobs when they got married
• Women could not be civil servaants (judges, lawyers, doctors)
• Men were prefferd to women in job applications
• Nazi propaganda discourage wearing make-up and heels
• Couples received a loan of 1000 marks when they got married
  • The more children they had the less they had to pay back
• The role of women could be summarized as the 3 K's
  • Kinder (children)
  • Kirche (church)
  • Kuche (cooking

• All schools came under Nazi control
• All school books were rewritten and boys and girls went to different schools
• The curriculum was changed and was focussed on preparing the boys to go to war and preparing the girls to be a house wife
• History: taught about the great events of German history. This included:
  • the stab in the back theory
  • the nazis in WW1
• Biology: students were taught the phoey " race science".  which was designed to show German superiority
• PE: there was more PE time and boxing was compulsory for boys and girls were taught to cook and care for the home

• Youth movements were compulsory for the children from the age of 5 to 18
  • Boys: Pimpfen, German Youth and then Hitler Youth
  • Girls: League of German Maidens
• They took part in ' fun' activites like: camping, sports, outings.  This made them very popular at first
• They also had lectures about Nazi ideas like racism
• Boys were prepared for the army with activities like cleaning rifles, throwing handgrenades, etc.
• Children were encouraged to spy on their parents and report anything suspicious
• The meetings were in the evenings and on weekends, this gave girls little time to do their homework which prevented them from having a career
• In 1933 30% of German children were in youth movements in 1938 it was 82% despite it being compulsory
• Towards the late-1930's protest groups like the Edelweiss pirates and Swing youth were set up as a protest towards the Hitler youth

• The Labour Service was a government scheme that provided jobs for the unemployed, it was setup before the Nazis came to power e.g. cutting down tress, building bridges
• The Nazis took this a step further as Hitler was keen on the building of an Autobahn
• All men at the age of 18 had to spend 6 mobths in the Labour Service
  • Their wages were around 50p per week
  • everything was provided for them
  • They wore uniforms and marched like soldiers to work everyday
  • much of the work was done by hand so that it created more jobs, no machines were used

• Took over the role of the banned trade unions, it ordered that:
  • workers could not be aacked on the spot
  • a worker could not leave his job without government permission
• Workers had to pay membership dues to the labour Front
  • This was taken from their wages
• By 1939, the Labour Front had increased working hours from 60 hours a week to 72
• Strikes were outlawed
• The average factory worker earned ten times more than those who were paid by the state due to unemployment (dole money)
  • So there were little complaints

• part of the German Labour Front
• it was aimed to improve working conditions in factories
• introduced features like washing facilites and low-cost canteens
• organised factory celebrations, folk dancing and political educations
• existed alongside the KdF program

• The Nazis also wanted to control the leisure time of their workers
• Some activities include: hikes, sporting events, theatre, concerts, lecutres, holidays, etc.
• Workers averaged between 6 to 15 days of paid holiday each year
  • In the Weimar republic this was between 3 and 8 days
• Cheap holidays were organised by KdF to support the suppport of ordinary Germans
• The KdF also provided PE sessions and sports facilities in factories and workplaces
• In 1938, the KdF launched the Volkswagen, designed by Ferdinand Porsche
  • It was priced below 1,000 marks and it was repayable over 4 years
  • It would involve weekly installments of 6 marks a week 
  • When the work reached 750 marks they would be given a car
  • By November 1940 there were 300,000 potential buyers
  • No one was given a car
  • The millions invested were redirected to expanding the weapon industry

• Created millions of new jobs
• From 1935 Hitler ordered the building of submarines, aircraft and tanks
  • it opposed the ToV
  • at first it was done secretly then openly
• By 1939, the army had increased from 100,000 to 1,400,000
• Autarky: Hitler wanted Germany to be self-sufficient during the war so he restricted foreign imports and research was put into finding substitutes of cotton, oil, rubber and coffee

Employment

• Invisible unemployment: Jews, women and young men in the labour front were not counted as unemployed
• By 1936, recorded unemployment went from 6 million to 1 million (invisible unemployment)
• By 1938 the industry was short of workers
  
• In 1937 there was the duty year and women were encouraged to work ' patriotically' in the factories to help rearmament

• Hitler blamed the Jews for the defeat of Germany in WW1, so he wanted to purify Germany and get rid of them
• Only 1% of German population was Jewish and they were well-intergrated, contributed to society and had many important roles
• In April 1933, there was a call for Jewish shops to be boycotted
  • Stormtroopers stood outside to prevent Germans from going into the shops
  • Slogans were painted on shop windows
• In 1933 Jews were banned from certain proffessions e.g. doctors, dentists, etc.

• Made Jews second class citizens and prevented them from marrying non-Jews
• All civil rights were removed
  • Going to the movies
  • Going to university
  • voting
  • Travelling

• In 1938 a young Jew assassinated a German diplomat in France
• This led to an organised attack on Jewish houses, shops and synagogues all over Germany
• 91 Jews were killed and 20,000 were arrested
• The Jewish community had to pay a ' fine' of 1 billion marks
• From early 1939 Jews were banned from owning businesses
• men had to add the name 'Israel' to their own and women had to add the name 'Sara' 
• The aim was to make Jews leave
• However during the war this became harder so they were put into concentration camps
• The Nazis also perecuted Slavs, negroes, gypsies, the mentally and physically disabled and tramps
• Many were put into concentration camps and then murdered