Opposition+to+Hitler;+the+nature,+extent+and+treatment+of+opposition

The opposition by individuals and groups to Adolf Hitler’s regime in Nazi Germany is known as the **German Resistance**. The term does not signify a united resistance movement in Germany, but a combination of small and usually isolated groups that existed at the time.

The German Resistance represented many classes existing in German society who therefore were rarely able to work together. One group was the underground networks of the banned Social Democrats and Communists. They mostly existed not to “resist” against the Nazi government, but to keep their parties alive in the hope of coming back to power in the future.

Another group that opposed the Nazi regime was based on minorities within the Catholic and Protestant churches. They inspired some acts of overt resistance such as the White Rose group in Munich. The White Rose was a non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. It was composed of students from the University in Munich and their philosophy professor. They became known for an anonymous leaflet campaign that lasted for eight months, from June 1942 to February 1943, and that called for active opposition to Hitler’s regime. The six central members of the group were arrested and beheaded in 1943.

//Above is a picture of Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst, members of the White Rose who were executed in 1943.//

**//"Since the conquest of Poland three hundred thousand Jews have been murdered in this country in the most bestial way _ The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals … Each man wants to be exonerated of a guilt of this kind, each one continues on his way with the most placid, the calmest conscience. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!//** " — From the second leaflet of the White Rose.

A third general resistance group is the “unorganized resistance”, made up of individual Germans or small groups of people who acted against the Nazi system. The most distinguished examples of such movements include the significant number of Germans who helped Jews survive the Holocaust by hiding them, obtaining papers for them or by helping them in other ways. Over 300 Germans have now been recognized this type of activity. The “unorganized resistance” in Nazi German also included, especially during the war, informal networks of young Germans who escaped from serving in the Hitler Youth.

The last type of resistance to the Nazi regime was that within the German state machinery itself, especially in the Army, the Foreign Office and the Abwehr (the military intelligence organization). They conspired against Hitler in 1938 and 1939 but were unable to take action. Many of the active resisters in these groups came from the old Prussian aristocracy because this was the only social class which had not been penetrated by the Nazi ideology.

user:yvul006 (Yveline Van Anh)