Nazi domestic policies 1933-39

Nazi domestic policies 1933-39

1. Young people

   • Education
     • Teachers joined the Nazi Teachers' League
     • Curriculum devoted to preparing students for future roles
     • Physical education 15% of curriculum - healthy, fit Germans
     • Boys - emphasis on military, Girls - emphasis on home crafts + cookery
     • Race studies + eugenics lessons introduced
     • Textbooks rewritten, Mein Kampf standard
   • Youth organisations
     • Membership compulsory 1936
     • Boys: German Young People (DJV) 10-14, Hitler Youth (HJ) 14-18 - emphasis on military skills + Nazi ideology
     • Girls: League of Young Girls (JMB) 10-14, League of German Maidens (BDM) 14-18 - similar, more domestic skills than military

2. Women

   • Traditional domestic role: Kinder, Kuche, Kirche
   • Reduced numbers of married women in employment (reversed in 1937 due to rearmament)
   • Increase in birth rate promoted by marriage loans + medals
   • Smoking + drinking discouraged
   • Appearance plain - long hair + skirts, no make-up

3. Employment

   • Rose to nearly 100% in 1938
   • Labour Service Corps - all men 18-25 served for 6 months
   • Projects for unemployed: autobahns + public works
   • Conscription introduced for 2 years in 1935
   • Rearmament - jobs in heavy industry
   • Invisible unemployment: Jews + married women struck off roll

4. Standard of living

   • Decreased
     • Labour Front removed workers' rights - no strikes
     • Longer working hours + cost of living higher
     • Policies (SdA + KdF) not always effective (required worker input)
     • Volkswagen scheme not put in place - money never refunded
   • Increased
     • Wages higher
     • Strength through Joy (KdF) - cheap leisure activities (Prora holiday camp etc.)
     • Beauty of Labour (SdA) - improved working conditions
     • Volkswagen cars promised + autobahns improved transport

5. Minority groups

   • Slavs
   • Romani
   • Homosexuals
   • Mentally/Physical disabled
   • Methods: sterilisation, euthanasia, concentration camps

6. Jews

   • 1933: Boycott of businesses
   • 1934: Removal from high-powered jobs
   • 1935: Nuremberg Laws denied citizenship + marriage
   • Star of David introduced - mandatory
   • 1938: Enforced names (Israel + Sara)
   • 9 Nov 1938: Kristallnacht - fierce attack on businesses + synagogues due to attack in Parisian embassy