Nazi Resistance
Although it is not often talked about, there were groups resisting the Nazis during the Holocaust and second world war. We learned briefly about a general who was part of the Nazis who spoke to Hitler directly and addressed the brutal ways that they were killing Jewish people but the only feedback he got was to "man up". Within the Nazis and the German army, there was little resistance to their actions because they were a part of it and many of them believed in what they were doing. The German army also swore an oath to Hitler which guaranteed their loyalty to him creating very little resistance.
The resistance in Germany was not a single act and it was not the actions of one single group with a mass movement. However, there were German men, women, and children from all kinds of political, social and religious backgrounds that were resisting in some way, shape or form. Most of them were exiled and imprisoned in the concentration camps until they died, but they still stood up against the Nazis.
Georg Elser
Among protests, there were assassination attempts on Hitler; one of them was an attempted bomb attack carried out by Georg Elser who was a carpenter. On November 8, 1939, Elser planted a bomb in a beer hall where Hitler would be but due to Hitler leaving the premises early, the attempt failed.
Source: http://www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr/en/german-resistance-nazism
It was very tough to fight back at this time. Especially for the prisoners, and the Jews of the Nazi occupied areas. The Jews who were in these areas could not own businesses and had their rights stripped in 1935 with the Nuremburg laws. If you had money you got out early but the people that were left did not have much. With little rights and money there was not many means for the Jews to get supplies to have a major uprising.
ReplyDeleteThis brings up an interesting question: what makes certain dissident movements successful? Successful dissident movements such as the women's suffrage movement and the ANC in South Africa display the importance of mass support. Both of these movements were organized in such a manner that they were able to accumulate an incredible amount of support. In contrast, the dissidents under the NAZI regime were few and disconnected. Because their contributions were based on individual actions rather than group movements their effect was limited.
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