Youth Opposition & the July Plot

Early Youth Opposition to the Nazis

Although Nazi Germany was a police state, most Germans did genuinely support the Nazis. While opposition did exist, it was rarely openly expressed. However, two young groups, namely the Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing Youth did resist.

Youth opposition

Opposition from the Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing Youth from 1933 to 1939 was cultural not political.
- They were not severely punished when caught.

The Edelweiss Pirates

The Edelweiss Pirates were a group of youths in the Rhineland.
- They were mainly from working class backgrounds and showed resistance by attacking the Hitler Youth.
The group wrote anti-Nazi slogans in graffiti and sang popular songs from before the Nazi regime.
They wore American style clothing.
Their symbol was the Edelweiss, an Alpine flower.
By 1939, there were 2,000 Edelweiss Pirates.

The Swing Youth

The Swing Youth embraced the ‘degenerate’ culture of the Weimar Republic and rejected Nazi values.
Influenced by America, the Swing Youth played jazz, drank alcohol and smoked.
The Swing Youth organised illegal dances that thousands of young people attended.
Members of the Swing Youth came from wealthy backgrounds (unlike the Edelweiss Pirates) as their families would have record players.

The Edelweiss Pirates during the war

Opposition during the Second World War became more open and was treated more harshly.
The Edelweiss Pirates distributed (spread) Allied propaganda, protected army deserters and openly attacked the Hitler Youth.
The Nazis clamped down on the Edelweiss Pirates.
- In 1942, 700 members were arrested.
- In 1944, 12 were publicly hanged in Cologne to send a message.

The Swing Youth during the war

The Swing Youth gained more members over the war.
- But, the Nazis sent anyone they caught listening to jazz to concentration camps.

Opposition to the Nazis

The most significant moment of dissent against the Nazi regime was the July Plot in 1944.

Fearful opponents

Opposition to the Nazis was not successful because people were scared of repression (control by force) and because any opposition that did exist was divided and did not communicate with each other.
Any political opposition which was discovered was arrested and intimidated.
- Sometimes they were sent to concentration camps.
People could passively (non-violently) resist by telling anti-Nazi jokes or listening to anti-Nazi regime music.

The White Rose

The White Rose emerged in the war as a new group of opposition.
- Formed from two Munich University students, Hans and Sophie Scholl, the White Rose was a symbol of justice.
The White Rose published anti-Nazi leaflets and graffiti exposing the atrocities (awful acts) the Nazis were committing.
In 1943, they were both executed by the Gestapo after a public protest against the Nazis.

The July Plot, 1944

The most serious threat to Hitler was the July Plot in 1944. Known as Operation Valkyrie, Count Stauffenberg of the army tried to kill Hitler with a bomb in his briefcase at a military conference on the 20th July 1944.
Although the bomb went off, Hitler was only injured.
Stauffenberg and 5,746 others were executed. This included 19 generals and 26 colonels.
It highlights that many people within the army opposed the Nazi regime by the end of the war.

Rosenstrasse protest

The Rosenstrasse protest happened in Berlin.
"Aryan" women whose Jewish husbands had been arrested by the German police protested where they were being held.
The men were released after a few days to minimise the attention that the protests received.
This is a rare successful protest against Nazi social policy.

1The Weimar Republic 1918-1929

1.1World War One

1.1.1WW1

1.1.2The Weimar Republic

1.1.3Early Challenges to Weimar

1.1.4Reparations & the Ruhr

1.1.5Weimar Recovery

1.1.6Weimar Living Standards

1.1.7Weimar Culture

1.1.8End of Topic Test - WW1 & Weimar

1.1.9Grade 9 - The Weimar Republic

2Hitler's Rise to Power 1919-1933

2.1Early Development of the Nazi Party

2.1.1Hitler & the Beginnings of the Nazi Party

2.1.2End of Topic Test - Start of the Nazi Party

2.2The Munich Putsch & the Lean Years

2.2.1The Munich Putsch

2.2.2The Lean Years, 1923-1929

2.2.3End of Topic Test - Putsch & Lean Years

2.2.4Grade 9 - Hitler's Rise to Power

2.3The Growth of Support for the Nazis

2.3.1The Impact of the Great Depression

2.3.2End of Topic Test - Great Depression

2.4How Hitler Became Chancellor

2.4.1Article 48 & Political Turmoil

2.4.2von Papen & Hindenburg's Pact

2.4.3End of Topic Test - Chancellory

2.4.4Grade 9 - How Hitler Became Chancellor

3Nazi Control & Dictatorship 1933-1939

3.1Creating a Dictatorship, 1933-1934

3.1.1The Rise of Hitler

3.1.2End of Topic Test - Dictatorship

3.2The Police State

3.2.1The Police State

3.2.2Repression & Concentration Camps

3.2.3The Nazis & Religion

3.2.4End of Topic Test - Police State

3.2.5Grade 9 - Dictatorship and Police State

3.3Controlling & Influencing Attitudes

3.3.1Propaganda & Censorship

3.3.2Nazi Art & Culture

3.3.3Church Opposition & Social Conformity

3.3.4Youth Opposition & the July Plot

3.3.5End of Topic Test - Controlling Attitudes

3.3.6Grade 9 - Controlling Attitudes

4Life in Nazi Germany 1933-1939

4.1Life in Nazi Germany

4.1.1Women in Nazi Germany

4.1.2Youths in Nazi Germany

4.1.3Employment & Living Standards

4.1.4End of Topic Test - Life in Nazi Germany

4.2The Persecution of Minorities

4.2.1Nazi Racial Beliefs

4.2.2The Persecution of the Jews

4.2.3The Death Camps

4.2.4End of Topic Test - Persecution

4.2.5Grade 9 - Life in Nazi Germany

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