During the Interwar Period (1918 - 1939), the Nazi party pushed the concept of Volksgemeinschaft. Everyone was a member of Nazi groups, including the children. Boys were in the Hitler Youth, girls were in the League of German Girls. Nazism removed German individualism. People were required to report to one another, even family members. 'Non-Germans' were separated from society. How did this happen? What was the Volksgemeinschaft? Let's take a closer look!
Volksgemeinschaft Definition
Nazis used the concept of Volksgemeinschaft to separate Germans who didn't fit their narrative from the rest of society. Volksgemeinschaft translates to 'People's Community'. Adolf Hitler, the Führer of Nazi Germany, wanted to morally purge society and rid it of anything that he considered non-German.
Propaganda
Media, that might be misconstrued, meant to promote a specific ideology
The Nazi party accomplished this by creating organizations for every 'German' member of society. The Nazi's Volksgemeinschaft emphasized the community at the expense of the individual. This was achieved through propaganda, secret policy, and legislation.
Volksgemeinschaft: Ideology and Context
As a people's community, it seems logical that the notion of Volksgemeinschaft would be employed to unify a fragmented nation. This idea is evident from before Nazi rule. In fact, during World War I, Kaiser Wilhelm II also used the slogan to unite his country in times of hardship. At the heart of the concept was the Nazi conviction of racial superiority. This provided an excellent explanation for the failure of the Germans in World War I, as the Nazi party believed they had been betrayed by the Jews.
Eugenics
The Nazi pseudo-science of improving racial purity by selective breeding (later proven to have no factual basis).
Homogenous
All the same/uniform. In reference to people, it means a society of the same appearance, language and culture.
The Nordic Aryan race, and theories of eugenics, promoted the importance of a homogenous society within the volk. Propaganda and legislation further the notion that rather than uniting, Volksgemeinschaft served to divide.
The Volksgemeinschaft was a German people's community, but a conditional one. Let's unpack a classic Nazi slogan.
Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Führer. (One kingdom, one people, one leader).
- Nazi slogan
Although on the surface this seems like a unifying concept, the thread connecting the people, their leader and the kingdom actually signified that anyone acting outside the interest of the state and the Führer would be ostracised. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935, specifically outlawing Jewish practice and escalating discrimination of those believed to be outside the 'one people' concept underlines this.
It should not be forgotten that the Volksgemeinschaft was an exclusive community based on racial purity and the concept of struggle.1
- David Welch, 'Nazi Propaganda and the Volksgemeinschaft', 2004
The Volksgemeinschaft community was, therefore, transactional; it only worked if you fitted into the vision and played your role.
Volksgemeinschaft: Propaganda
Propaganda was a tool used by Nazis to push their ideology. The head of propaganda was Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels insured that all of Hitler's media plans came to fruition. Hitler valued art but disliked anything modern. He preferred German landscapes and portraits of German peasants. Goebbels insured that modern art was removed from museums. The same was done to 'non-German' music, like jazz.
Jewish film directors were forced out of Germany, the remaining directors made films that promoted Nazi ideologies. Movies featured stories about Nazi resistance to anti-Nazi sentiment. One, for example, was about a member of the Hitler Youth whose father was a communist. Radio was another way to spread Nazi propaganda.
Radios were made affordable but could only tune in to two government-approved stations. Propaganda posters were plastered to approved poster boards. Posters weren't put on the sides of buildings because the Germans believed that they looked messy.
Volksgemeinschaft: NS
The National Socialist German Workers' Party, which followed National Socialism (NS) a.k.a. Nazism, passed legislation to remove 'non-Germans' from society. This included Jewish people, political enemies, minority groups, and homosexuals.
Fig. 1 - German Calendar with pictures of German landscapes and the "Aryan race"
When the Nazi party took over the education system, they shifted the focus. Racial biology was introduced. It was anti-Semitic, with emphasis on students identifying differences between Germans and Jewish people. There was a large emphasis on sports and athleticism. The Nazi party wanted Germans to be 'fit'.
Anti-Semitism
Discrimination against Jewish people.
In Spring 1933, non-Germans were removed from government-sponsored jobs. This purge targeted Jewish people, but this was only the beginning of the true horrors of the discrimination furthered by the Volksgemeinschaft ideology.
Youth Programs
Everyone in Nazi Germany belonged to an organization, no matter their age, occupation, or gender. In the 1920s, the Hitler Youth was a small, unfunded organization. By 1934, it had around five million members and in 1936 it was made mandatory. Nazis believed that children left to their own devices would get into trouble. To prevent that, all of their leisure time was filled.
Teenage boys joined the Hitler Youth, while teenage girls went to the League of German Girls. The boys in the Hitler Youth were trained to become misogynistic soldiers and members of the Nazi party. They were difficult for teachers to manage and made terrible soldiers. The League of German Girls taught them their purpose, according to the Nazi Party, to become mothers. Girls in this program were subjected to sexual violence, and many of them became teenage moms.
Women in Nazi Germany
'Kinder, Küche, Kirche' translates to 'Children, Kitchen, Church' which was the role of women in Nazi Germany.
Kinder, Küche, Kirche"
- Nazi Slogan
The ideal German woman was a housewife. She didn't participate in politics or have a job. The Nazis believed that women would be happy with this arrangement because they no longer had to work and keep the home.
Women's Employment in Nazi Germany
It wasn't illegal for women to work and many couldn't afford to be stay-at-home wives, but It was illegal for them to have specific jobs. They couldn't work in the judicial system or administration roles. Women who had roles in the administration were removed. For example, if a lady was a principal in a school, then she had to step down to the teacher position.
Women were encouraged to work as housekeepers, nannies, cooks, and other roles within the homes of the wealthy.
A woman's primary goal in life was to become a mother, while abortion and birth control were illegal. The government offered tax breaks if women had multiple children and gave them awards based on the number of kids they had. Mother's Day was made a national holiday and moved to Hitler's mother's birthday. Unmarried women who had children were considered to be good Nazis because of their sacrifice.
Fig. 2 - Women were removed from the certain sectors of the workforce but were allowed to remain in helping professions, i.e. nurses, teachers, and housekeepers
Volksgemeinschaft: WW2
With the beginning of World War II in Germany, the requirements of the people shifted. Volksgemeinschaft insured that the German people were mobilised and prepared for war. The Nazi party claimed to limit the responsibilities of women by keeping them in their homes. Women had to take factory jobs to maintain the war effort in 1939. The Hitler Youth prepared boys to become soldiers. When Germany needed more soldiers, it sent boys as young as 16.
Jewish People
In 1933, Jewish people made up one per cent of the German population. In the early days, they believed that the hate crimes committed by Nazis were rare occurrences. They thought of themselves as Germans. Jewish shops were boycotted, and they were fired from their jobs. In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were passed. The rights of Jewish people were revoked, along with their German citizenship.
The Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws limited the rights of Jewish people and redefined German citizenship. The 'Law for Protection of German Blood and Honour' prevented Jewish people and other Germans from getting married and having children. The second half of the Nuremberg Laws focused on German citizenship. Jewish people were defined as subjects, not citizens. This stripped them of the rights that German citizens had.2
In 1938, a racial passport called Ahnenpass was needed to prove someone's German ancestor. People had to present these when they applied for jobs, barring Jewish people from working specific jobs. Jewish people had an ID that was stamped with a yellow 'J'. Life in Germany would steadily worsen for Jewish people. Many of them, if they had the ability to, emigrated to other countries.
Failure of the Volksgemeinschaft
When the Nazis lost World War II, Germany had to undo their Nazi policies. The policies to enforce Volksgemeinschaft were undone. The Hitler Youth and other programs were disbanded. Germans had to withdraw from any Nazi organization that they were a member of. They were prohibited from getting jobs until they proved that they had modified their ideology.
Under the policy of Volksgemeinschaft, women were removed from the workforce and their purpose in life was childbirth. However, women had to rejoin the workforce when Germany went to war. Children had to join youth programs that indoctrinated them, prepared them for war, and childbirth. Volksgemeinschaft was a way to remove the individuality of the German people. It targeted people who didn't fit into the Nazi ideology and forced them out of society and sent them to concentration camps.
Volksgemeinschaft - Key takeaways
- Volksgemeinschaft translates to "People's Community". It removed German's individuality and mobilized them for war.
- There was an organization for all genders, ages, and occupations that further indoctrinated them.
- During World War II, women were sent back to work and the Hitler Youth was sent to war
- Propaganda furthered Nazi ideologies using films, radios, art, and more.
- Volksgemeinschaft was undone when the Nazis lost the war.
References
- David Welch, 'Nazi Propaganda and the Volksgemeinschaft', Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 39, No. 2, Understanding Nazi Germany (Apr 2004), pp. 213-238.
- Thomas Childers, The Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany (2017), 290-331.
- Lisa Pine, Hitler's 'National Community': Society and Culture in Nazi Germany (2017), pp. 148.
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