I.               Nazi Germany

A.     The Nazi Totalitarian State

1.     Hitler ruthlessly transformed Germany into a totalitarian state.  A series of laws banned all political parities except the Nazis. A special secret police called the Gestapo used sweeping powers to arbitrarily arrest anyone who opposed Nazi rule.

2.     The government supervised both labor and business. New laws banned strikes and dissolved independent labor unions.

3.     A ministry of culture supervised the media and shaped public opinion. Special films such as Triumph of the Will glorified Hitler’s leadership.

4.     It is interesting to note that the Nazi party’s ideal German woman was a mother, wife, and homemaker.

B.     Anti-Semitism

1.     Although Jews comprised less than 1 percent of Germany’s population, Hitler blamed them for Germany’s problems.

2.     In 1933, the Nazis passed laws forbidding Jews to hold public office. Two years later, the Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews of German citizenship and required them to wear a yellow Star of David as identification.

3.     Nazi violence against Jews steadily mounted. On November 9 and 10, 1938, the Nazis organized a “spontaneous” campaign of mob violence known as the Kristallnacht or Crystal Night.