HIS3931 Nazi Germany Final Exam Review 1 The F hrer Cult Fuhrerprinzip German Christians united all Protestant churches into a single Reich church under one bishop Ludwig Muller became the Reich bishop and German Christians took over church offices The Fuhrerprinzip victory was short lived when the attempts to Nazify the Protestant Churches aroused opposition In 1933 the Pastors Emergency League was established opposing the nazification and rejected Nazi racial doctrines by 1934 4000 pastors had joined 2 The Immortals The 16 Nazi members who died during the Beer Hall Pusch Nov 1923 hailed as disciples of the Nazi movement Hitler memoralized them with a national holiday called The Day of the Fallen in 1935 with a passionate reenactment every year in Munich 3 Law for the Encouragement of Marriage 1933 Newly married couples received a government loan of 1 000 Reichsmarks with a scale system of loans that were increasingly forgiven the more children one had Women who had over 8 children were given the Motherhood Cross on Hitler s mothers birthday Abortions were outlawed and contraceptives hard to come by 4 Lebensborn Spring of Life a series of homes set up in 1935 for the care of mothers wed and unwed established by Himmler to give the state their children for adoption These homes were well furnished and lavishly supplied even in wartime About 8000 children were born in German Lebensborn homes 5 Hitler Youth An organization that strove to indoctrinate the youth of Germany with the ideological values of National Socialism Established in 1926 with Kurt Gruber as its leader succeeded by the dynamic Baldur von Schirach Members of Hitler Youth were primarily from the lower middle and working classes After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 the membership exploded to 3 5 million Schirach made the structure of 2 groups based on age the Jungvolk ages 10 14 and the Hitler Jugend ages 14 18 In 1939 the group became compulsory for all children Hitler Youth leaders inculcated fervent patriotism military values the need to serve Germany selflessly and utter devotion to Adolf Hitler Many former Hitler Youth found the camping trips sporting events and comradeship as positive experiences 6 League of German Girls integrated into Hitler Youth in 1932 The female counter part was organized as the Jungmadel 10 14 and Bund Deutscher Madel 14 18 The girls were indoctrinated in the principles of service regimentation obedience and discipline so as to shape dutiful wives and mothers By 1937 membership was at 3 million The girls learned Nazi songs and facts had sports meetings camping and hiking The older girls were focused on domestic skills nursing and hygiene for raising robust children At age 18 the girls had to join Faith and Beauty which emphasized social graces encouraged dancing and fashion sense HIS3931 Nazi Germany Final Exam Review 7 Hitlerjunge Quex 1933 Propaganda feature film about an Aryan boy whose father is a sleazy unfit communist He learns that fulfillment comes with the rejection of his family and his belonging in his Hitler Youth unit Quex the young protagonist dies in the end thus emphasizing not only rebellion against politically unreliable parents but also the Nazi theme of self sacrifice and martyrdom The flag means more than death 8 Triumph of the Will the official propaganda film of the 1934 Party Day directed by Leni Riefenstahl The film covered the 1934 Nuremburg Rally Party Day and was to demonstrate in the wake of the purge of the SA on June 30th that the Nazi Party was strongly united behind its leader The marching columns the Hitler Youth Camps the swastika flags all were towards propaganda purpose The film was a success not only for its technical qualities but also forceful and dramatic in conveying to viewers the power and unity of National Socialism Religion is a major theme the film opens with Hitler descending god like out of the skies 9 Winterhilfswerk was an annual drive by the Nazi s to help finance charitable work Its slogan was None shall starve nor freeze The drive was originally set up under the government of Heinrich Br ning in 1931 though Hitler would later claim sole credit It ran from 1933 1945 during the months of October through March and was designed to provide food clothing coal and other items to less fortunate Germans during the inclement months Was significant in that it undermined Churches and Religious organizations by not allowing them to do charitable work Sterilization Law est in 1933 Compulsory sterilization for the mentally disabled and it also demanded abortion if a mentally disabled woman was already pregnant Others deemed asocial such as Gypsises alcoholics and some communists were subject to this law even though not disabled at all Between 1933 39 400 000 people were sterilized Even math problems in schools were used to instill in children how the mentally ill and physically deformed were useless eaters 10 The Reich Committee for the Scientific Registration of Serious Hereditary and Congenitally Based Illnesses established on 18 August 1939 three weeks after the killing a mentally disabled boy as requested by his father It was to prepare and proceed with the registration of ill children or newborns identified as defective Secret killing of infants began in 1939 and increased after the war started By 1941 more than 5 000 children had been killed 11 T 4 1939 The 2nd phase of the sterilization program Adult Euthanasia The handicapped would be killed to make room for wounded troops called mercy killing of the incurably sick Bouhler also said that there would be no laws published regarding the program because Hitler was concerned what the foreign press would say Organizations were established for choosing and transporting victims to 6 euthanasia locations and the bodies cremated About 100 000 killed As a result of public protest and a powerful sermon by Catholic bishop Galen Hitler HIS3931 Nazi Germany Final Exam Review suspended the T 4 program in 1941 many of those worked in T 4 were transferred to the killing operations of the Holocaust 12 Der St rmer Anti Semitic newspaper run by Julius Streicher from 1923 1945 It was a significant part of the Nazi propaganda machinery and was vehemently anti Semitic Unlike the V lkischer Beobachter the official party paper which gave itself an outwardly serious appearance the tabloid style Der St rmer often ran obscene material such as anti Semitic caricatures and propaganda like accusations of Blood libel