1. German Response to Nazism Range of German Responses to Nazism Resistance------Bystander-------Collaborators-------Perpetrators Range of German Responses to Nazism Resistance------Bystander-------Collaborators-------Perpetrators

2. Leni Riefenstahl’s ‘Triumph of the Will”

3. Hitler’s Theory of Power (The Three Pillars of Authority) 3. policies matching social traditions 2. Instrumental force 1. Popular support 3. policies matching social traditions 2. Instrumental force 1. Popular support

4.  “Examples show that the public attitude can throw a government into misadventures, which in the end leads to the destruction of the state." Joseph Goebbels 1940  “Examples show that the public attitude can throw a government into misadventures, which in the end leads to the destruction of the state." Joseph Goebbels 1940

5. Hitler thought that "to win the masses... no social sacrifice is too great" and "tried to keep the morale of the people in the best possible state by concessions...It betrayed great concern over a loss of popularity which might develop into an insurrectionary mood.” --Albert Speer, 1970

6. Detlev Peukert: The Range of Resistance

7. Definitions of Resistance Resistance---- Protest-----Noncompliance Widerstand Resistenz Resistance---- Protest-----Noncompliance Widerstand Resistenz

8. The July 20, 1944 attempt to assassinate Hitler became a basis for the (Widerstand) definition of Resistance -- Colonel Stauffenberg

9. Hitler after the assassination attempt

10. The White Rose: Hans and Sophie Scholl

11. WHY DID THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT BECOME KNOWN AS “THE GERMAN RESISTANCE?” and was mythologized?

12. In Addition, to The July Conspiracy and the White Rose There were Public Protests even though these were forbidden by law And the regime appeased them

13. Nazi Responses to Collective Public Protests  Crucifix Decree Struggles, 1936, 1941  Witten Women’s Protest, 1943  Crucifix Decree Struggles, 1936, 1941  Witten Women’s Protest, 1943

14. Implications of July 20 conspiracy as “The German Resistance”  an ordinary German could do nothing  If even the military had tried and failed how little could anyone else do–or even an international organization like the Catholic Church?  an ordinary German could do nothing  If even the military had tried and failed how little could anyone else do–or even an international organization like the Catholic Church?

15.  the main figures in German Resistance mythology all died in their struggle.  this presents resistance as a choice between martyrdom and passivity –  But was it?  the main figures in German Resistance mythology all died in their struggle.  this presents resistance as a choice between martyrdom and passivity –  But was it?

16. This Myth may be a Good one-- Though Incomplete  it has also served to stifle stories that seem to contradict the myth  Implies that Germans wanted to Resist  ordinary Germans actually did rescue Jews from the Holocaust. These unsung heroes include, prominently, Germans married to Jews – as we’ll see  it has also served to stifle stories that seem to contradict the myth  Implies that Germans wanted to Resist  ordinary Germans actually did rescue Jews from the Holocaust. These unsung heroes include, prominently, Germans married to Jews – as we’ll see

17. Intermarried German Protest  98 percent of German Jews who survived the war without being sent to the death camps -- even though the Gestapo knew of their whereabouts -- were married to non-Jews. Why?

18. Intermarried Couples

19. Rosenstrasse Protest, 1943

20. RESISTANCE OF THE HEART INTERMARRIAGE AND THE ROSENSTRASSE PROTEST IN NAZI GERMANY NATHAN STOLTZFUS

21. Part IV: von Trotta’s film  the protest scene is plausible  The scene with Goebbels is ludicrous and trivializes Nazi terror  Inference that the Nuremberg Laws protected intermarried Jews is a Goebbels-like inversion of the truth  the protest scene is plausible  The scene with Goebbels is ludicrous and trivializes Nazi terror  Inference that the Nuremberg Laws protected intermarried Jews is a Goebbels-like inversion of the truth

22. von Trotta’s “Rosenstrasse”

23. The search for a “usable past” from the Nazi Period  reviled parts publicly renounced  Parts of the past that seem to represent good were (and are) selected out and eulogized  reviled parts publicly renounced  Parts of the past that seem to represent good were (and are) selected out and eulogized

24. Inventing Resistance in West Germany  Very few openly identified with Nazism  Yet there had not been much resistance  Very few openly identified with Nazism  Yet there had not been much resistance

25. A poll of West Germans in 1951 found only five per cent said they felt guilty about what had happened to the Jews; twenty-one per cent thought the Jews were “partly responsible” for their fate. only five per cent said they felt guilty about what had happened to the Jews; twenty-one per cent thought the Jews were “partly responsible” for their fate.

26. Large numbers of Germans continued to have a preference for authoritarian rule... and to think there was more good than negative about National Socialism.

27. Politics of Resistance in West Germany  The Common Wisdom was that Hitler forced the Germans to be Nazis  It became necessary to find a definition of resistance to match

28. The Allies had Reason to Agree with the Myth The Nuremberg Trials charged the most conspicuous and looked for a top down conspiracy De-Nazification was quickly forgotten as the West changed enemies to Communism The Americans especially pushed for the revival of a German army, especially with the Korean War The Nuremberg Trials charged the most conspicuous and looked for a top down conspiracy De-Nazification was quickly forgotten as the West changed enemies to Communism The Americans especially pushed for the revival of a German army, especially with the Korean War

29. PART III The Role of Ordinary Germans  During the past generation historians have created a new paradigm identifying popular German consensus for Hitler’s rule as the most basic element of his power  Nazism was not just Hitler, but the mass movement support that Hitler successfully set out accomplish in Germany.  During the past generation historians have created a new paradigm identifying popular German consensus for Hitler’s rule as the most basic element of his power  Nazism was not just Hitler, but the mass movement support that Hitler successfully set out accomplish in Germany.

30. Hitler openly acknowledged his dependency on the ‘racial’ people  "What you are, you are through me, but what I am, I am through you." (June l939)  “the idea of our movement is the philosophy of our people” Hitler, (Sept 1935) in Riefenstahl’s ‘Triumph of the Will’  "What you are, you are through me, but what I am, I am through you." (June l939)  “the idea of our movement is the philosophy of our people” Hitler, (Sept 1935) in Riefenstahl’s ‘Triumph of the Will’

31. The Role of Ordinary Germans, cont. If ‘racial’ Germans (aggregately) formed the most fundamental pillar of Hitler’s power might we not look for civil disobedience in Nazi Germany as a form of resistance?

32. The Highest Nazis Thought So  “A National Socialist has a duty to disobey those in authority who are unworthy of power “ Hitler, Mein Kampf  Hitler believed trade unions could force approval of the demands of workers through repeated strikes  “A National Socialist has a duty to disobey those in authority who are unworthy of power “ Hitler, Mein Kampf  Hitler believed trade unions could force approval of the demands of workers through repeated strikes