Under Hitler's hands

It is five years into Hitler's reign of power. Historical Bytes sets out to discover how Hitler has changed Germany since taking office.

The lives of the people did not improve under Hitler's leadership but instead he brought suffering to them. Although Hitler brought suffering to the Germans but he managed to change Germany tremendously.

Nazi Party brought hope to Germans suffering  from the Great Depression.

In order for Hitler to achieve his goal, he needed to take complete control over the Germans by taking away their freedom. Firstly, he implemented emergency laws. Hitler used his emergency power to suspend political and civil rights after the Reichstag fire. The government had the power to arrest anyone suspected of being Anti-Nazi. The suspects could be jailed for as long as the Nazis wanted to without bringing them to court. Not only were the courts controlled by the Nazis, the judges had to be either Nazis or the Nazi supporters. Hence, it was unfair to the Germans as they would always be at the loosing ends.

Reichstag Fire in 1933, Berlin.

The building after it was burnt down.

Gave Hitler emergency power. 

The SS ( Schutzstaffel or Elite Guard ) and the Gestapo ( secret police ) also played a part. They always arrest and kill those who opposed Hitler and the Nazi Party. The Gestapo were not accountable to the courts or to any law. The SS and the Gestapo brought fear to to the Germans. Due to Germany's virtually unlimited power of its police force, Nazi Germany was sometimes called a police state.

SS Police state 

Some of the prisoners who were killed by the SS

Hitler built concentration camps.

 Buchenwald Concentration camp at Weimar government

Concentration camps were built to house the huge number of people arrested for being anti-government. The people were treated badly and were forced to work extra hard with little food to eat. There were many people who died in there. The love ones of those who died had to pay the Nazis to take away their body for burial.

Mass funeral for those who died in the concentration camps

All except for pro-Nazi cultural activities were banned. Under Nazi rule, all cultural activities such as musical performances, films and art exhibitions, were aimed at shaping Germans' minds to think like the Nazis.

Pro-Nazi German American Bund rally . February 20, 1939.

 In order to make sure that the Germans support Hitler, the Nazis organised a lot of cultural activities to influence them. The development of other forms of cultural was not permitted in Germany.

Censorship was one of the factors. The Nazis controlled all forms of media and there was very strict censorship. Publications, including newspapers, could publish only what was approved by the Ministry Of Propaganda. Any publication that did not follow this was closed down and the people responsible were arrested and thrown in concentration camps. Books written by jews and other ' undesirable ' people were re moved from libraries and shops and burnt in public. 

Last but not least, there were parades and rallies. The Nazi continued to use spectacular and colourful rallies just as they had done before coming to power. The biggest rally was the annual Nazi Party rally in the town of Nuremburg. Hundreds of thousands of people witnessed or took part in this annual rally. The people were very impressed by the Nazi uniforms, colourful flags, searchlights and torchlight processions. In the nut shell, they gave the Germans an impression of power and  unity which impressed the Germans.



Supporters supporting the Nazis




The SS's black uniform



Colourful flags



Torchlight Procession Nazi Party on January 30, 1933.

Lastly, the youths were brainwashed by the Nazis. To get all young people to become Nazis, special Nazi youth organisations were set up. After Hitler came to power, all other youth organisations were closed or merged with the Nazi youth organisations. These organisations were set up for different ages and sexes.

Youth Rally

Boys went through programmes of military athletics that emphasised physical ( Wehrsport ) and military training while girls learnt how to be physically fit and how to take care of babies. However, the main role of the Nazi youth organisations was to teach the German youths that they should believe only Nazi ideas. Youths who were not members of these youth organisations found it difficult to enter universities or obtain jobs. 

                                                                           The end!