Nazi methods of control
Lesson aims;
 To understand the meaning of the
Nazi police state
 To be able to explain censorship
and propaganda under the Nazis.
 To be able to describe Nazi
policies towards the Church.
overview
There two main methods of controlling
the German people once the Nazis
were in power.
1. Fear and terror: making sure people
were too scared to oppose the state.
2. Indoctrination: brainwashing people
into accepting your ideas
BUT also remember there were people
attracted to Hitler and his ideas.
How did Hitler keep control of
Germany?
The Terror State
Secret police called the
Gestapo would spy on
and arrest enemies of
the state.
SS were responsible
for running the
concentration camps.
Everyone was scared of
being arrested by the
Gestapo and being put in
a concentration camp.
Propaganda
Mass Rallies, Posters
and Propaganda films.
Keeping
Control of
Germany
The Nazis controlled
and censored the radio
& newspapers.
Popularity
School children were
indoctrinated with Nazi
ideas at school.
Ripping up the
Treaty of Versailles.
Creating Jobs
Hitler Youth & the
Young Maidens.
Key Quote
“Terror is the best
political weapon for
nothing drives
people harder than
a fear of sudden
death.”
Enemies of the State
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Communists
Social Democrats
Jews
Trade Unionists.
Work Shy
Homosexuals
Gypsies
• Germans who bought
from Jews
• Pacifists
• Radical Christian
Organisation
• Anyone who criticised
Hitler or the Nazi
Party.
Enemies of the State
• A list of German
women who were
still purchasing
goods from Jewish
shops.
• Printed to scare or
terrorise other
people into not
buying from the
Jews.
Fear: The Police State
• Both the Gestapo
and the SS were
run by Heinrich
Himmler.
• The Gestapo
employed an army
of spies who would
inform on people.
Fear: concentration camps
Any body who
opposed the
Nazi state
would be put
into a
concentration
camp.
How did the Terror State Work?
You are imprisoned
for up to six months
doing hard physical
labour.
You are handed
over to the SS who
run the
concentration
camps.
By signing this form
you are giving your
consent to be put into
a concentration camp.
When you are
released you tell
everybody what has
happened to you
Fear
Days or maybe weeks
later you are
interviewed and
asked to sign form
D11
Gestapo Spies
inform on you
You are woken up by
the Gestapo at 1 am in
the morning and told
that you have 5 minutes
to pack your bags.
You are arrested
and thrown into a
cell at the police
station
Nazi Propaganda and censorship.
• Nazi propaganda was used to glorify Adolf Hitler
and crush opposing viewpoints.
• The dictatorship of Adolf Hitler suppressed
completely the right to freedom of the press.
Journalists were not allowed to say anything
against Hitler and the Nazis or they would be
risking imprisonment or even death.
• Propaganda was always used by the Nazis in
their newspapers and other news media.
Keeping control:
Censorship
Books, theatre,
Music
(book burning)
radio
newspapers
films
Mass rallies
Joseph Goebbels:
Minister for
Propaganda
Reich
Chamber
of Culture
Why did the Nazis burn books?
Keeping control:
Propaganda
• Write a definition of propaganda
Propaganda is a type of message that influences
the opinions or behaviour of people.
Instead of impartially providing information,
propaganda is often deliberately misleading.
Propaganda
Why was the
radio so
important to
the Nazis?
Propaganda: posters
How are Jews
portrayed
here?
The Eternal Jew
The Eternal Jew was a
Nazi propaganda film
made in 1940 under
the close supervision
of Goebbals.
It depicts Polish Jews
as an evil sub species.
http://www.subcin.com/nazi.html
click here for more info
Propaganda
Tasks:
• Watch clip from the film
the Triumph of the Will
(1934).
• Think about what is being
portrayed and how.
• How good a promotional
video is it?
• (This film was banned
after WW2, can you think
why?)
How does propaganda work?
• YouTube - More Nazi WW2 Propaganda
Watch the clip
and note down what happens
and what you
think the point
of it is?
The Churches
Hitler and the Nazis disagreed with the ideas
of the Christian Church.
The Nazis believed in racial superiority.
Belief in God also interfered with the ‘Hitler
myth’.
In Germany about two thirds of people were
Protestant and a third were Roman Catholics.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/church_in_nazi_germany.htm
The Catholic Church
How did Nazis
deal with the
Catholic
Church?
What was the
Concordat?
THE PROTESTANT CHURCH
Martin Niemoller
What was the attitude
of the Protestant
church towards the
Nazis?
Key Quote: Martin Niemoller, 1945
• When the Nazis came for the Communists
I was silent, I was not a Communist.
• When the Nazis came for the Social
Democrats I was silent, I was not a Social
Democrat.
• When the Nazis came for the Jews I was
silent, I was not a Jew.
• When the Nazis came for me there was
nobody left to protest.
Summary
• The Nazis set up a police state to force people to
support their regime. The main instruments of the
police state were the SS and the Gestapo.
• The Nazis also used censorship to control what people
saw and heard.
• Goebbels made use of propaganda methods, such as
posters, the radio and film, to try to persuade people
to support the Nazis.
• The Catholic and Protestant Churches were
persecuted by the Nazis. Many priests and pastors
resisted and were sent to concentration camps.