Nazi Opposition and Dissent

Nazi Opposition and Dissent

1. Anti-Nazi campaigns

   • In early 1930s the KPD, SPD and trade unions printed anti-Nazi pamphlets
   • The SPD outside Germany (SOPADE) collected public opinion on Germany to pass onto the Alllies
   • The Red Orchestra tried to help the USSR by giving information to the Allies
   • Communist groups like the Uhrig leafleted factories and urged workers to acts of sabotage

2. Disobedience

   • Some young people refused to join the Hitler Youth
   • The Edelweiss Pirates was a large working-class movement which ran activities such as camping and hiking
     • Some more extreme Pirates would paint anti-Nazi slogans on walls or work with resistance groups
   • The White Rose Group distributed anti-Nazi material urging sabotage and exposing the Nazi murder of Jews.
   • Some people helped those wanted by the Nazis for arrest
     • For example Hans von Dohnanyi worked in the Nazi justice system byt helped escapees and was later sent to a concentration camp

3. Attempts to asassinate Hitler

   • From July 1921 to July 1944 there were 15 known attempts to assassinate Hitler
   • The July Bomb Plot of 1944 was an attempt of the German army to overthrow the government in order to negotiate an end to the war with the Allies
     • This failed and resulted in the execution of 200 allegedly involved with the plot

4. Sabotage

   • Workers sabotaged the Nazis by holding lightning strikes that normally only lasted a few hours
     • The Anti-Fascist Workers group were arrested in 1944
   • Workers might work slowly, damage machinery or report in sick
   • Some resistance groups worked with Allies to blow up bridges or railways

5. Church opposition

   • In May 1934 the Pastor's Emergency League (PEL) was set up and this developed into the Confessing Church
     • It criticised the Nazi 'People's Church' for being anti-Semitic and encouraging Athiesm