Abstract The women of NaziGermany played an important role in the assimilation of fascist ideology. This paper discusses how, while the world outside of Germany perceives the Third Reich in a negative way, Jill Stephenson provides insight on the female role in NaziGermany in her book "Women in NaziGermany". It looks at how the book details the inner workings of family life, the benefits of assimilating to Hitler's laws and the role of leadership that women played during Hitler's reign. It also examines how the book demonstrates the power of propaganda, and also depicts a gender defined society that was not perceived as a disparity, but rather empowered men and women to perform their roles for the preservation of national socialism and the Nazi regime.
From the Paper "The Third Reich championed the traits of the female, noting that the woman was the primary caretaker of children and the holder of developing a strong Nazi population (Stephenson 6). Nazi Germany touted procreation in order to fill up the ranks of the German military and to provide new generations to learn in Hitler-based schooling systems. There was no limitation to birthing, and any form of birth control was illegal. The leaders of Nazi Germany wanted to ensure healthy Aryan children were integrated and educated properly. Unhealthy children were admonished and not considered an integral unit in Nazi society. "
Abstract This paper looks at NaziGermany's attempts at the economic recovery of the nation. Hitler's priorities concerning the economic recovery of Germany, programs initiated by NaziGermany to stimulate the economy, and the principles of Hitler's four-year plan are discussed in this paper.
From the Paper "In the early 1930?s, Germany was plagued by unemployment and stagnant growth despite efforts by the administration to alleviate the country's economic difficulties. The economic liberalization of the banking system was one of few cautionary steps taken by administrations prior to Hitler to boost Germany's failing industries. This all changed following the Nazi rise to power; two notable banking acts passed in 1934 and 1936 effectively converted the banking system into Hitler's personal lender, allowing him to replace commercial borrowing with the various savings institutes that would allow him to re-build the German army. In this period, wages were frozen and the armaments business boomed, while individuals suffered as wages were frozen at their pre-Hitler-era rate. Meanwhile, the government was able to continue to borrow money from Germany's savings banks to contribute to the building of the military."
Abstract This paper discusses the life and works of Karl Marx and Max Weber, highlighting their contributions to sociology. The paper describes the similarities and differences in the philosophy of each man and hypothesizes regarding what they would have thought about NaziGermany. The paper contends that both the thinkers felt that the key to understanding human nature was that of understanding human actions and these actions were based on social and structural changes. This may explain their feelings on NaziGermany and the atrocities committed by Hitler, where his actions can only be understood as a part of the social and structural changes of himself as an individual, as well as of himself as he belongs to a society.
From the Paper "Max Weber, born in 1864, is one of the best-known and most popular scholars of 'sociology', as well as of 'economic work'. One of his best contributions to the cause of economics as well as to sociology is his work entitled "Vertstehen" or what is also known as the theory of 'Interpretative Sociology' and his thinking on 'positivism'. Weber's theory of Verstehen is often seen as being very controversial and questionable. His view is that any research that is connected to history or sociology or economics must be approached with a particular idea or concept, or what is called a 'conceptual apparatus'. This apparatus was referred to be Weber as the 'ideal type', meaning that when an individual needs to understand or comprehend a particular sociological phenomenon, the various 'actions' of the different participants of the phenomena, and not stop at merely describing the phenomenon in itself. (Max Weber, 1864-1920) "
Examines the roles of Jewish women from the time Hitler took power through the final solution in NaziGermany using Mary Kaplan's book, "Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in NaziGermany " as a basis of the discussion.
Abstract Mary Kaplan, in her book Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in NaziGermany", explores the era and the Holocaust from a different perspective, from the role of Jewish women as she tries to answer questions that have never really been answered like: Why didn't they leave as they witnessed a consuming hate manifest itself in Nazism? This essay, relying upon the research and writing of Kaplan and others, attempts to understand, from a woman's perspective, how Jews and Germans disentangled themselves emotionally, socially, as Germans, culturally in a way that led to the destruction of five million men, women, and children in a near successful attempt to carry out Adolf Hitler's final solution.
Outline:
Before and After the Eradication of Jewry from German Life
The Jewish Woman in NaziGermany
From the Paper "However, by the time hostilities turned into war, it was too late for those Jews who had remained in Germany with hopes that the conditions would run through a course of social change, then, revert back to some sense of normality (Kaplan, 1998, p. 50). Life that had centered around families would soon experience the horror of being torn apart with deportation to the ghettos and to concentration camps. Even as families were being uprooted from their homes and transported to ghettos or concentration camps, it was the women whose lives continued in an as near normal fashion as possible; they remained the magnetic north of the family circle (Kaplan, 1998, p. 52). Their work in cooking, mending, cleaning and in support of their husbands who now suffered an idleness that many were unaccustomed to went on, only perhaps with greater importance especially in the lives of their husbands (Kaplan, 1998, p. 52). "
Abstract The paper discusses what the philosophical, racial, political, and economic goals of German doctors and lawyers who were ardent supporters of the Nazi regime had in common with the Nazis, and how the Nazis used these two groups to coordinate their policies in the respective areas. The paper provides evidence to support the answers asserted in this work, which concerns eugenics and the philosophy of racial superiority.
Outline:
Nazi Doctor Supporters
The Legal Profession in Hitler's Germany Conclusion
From the Paper "Many of these children taken from their homes and to various institutions and prisons were murdered. The Nazi's were "expert at the creation of power groups that robbed their opposition of public voice or power. A small tightly knit group of university medical scientists and psychiatrists, who planned and administered the euthanasia killings, dominated university departments, wrote and reviewed articles for one another's journal and never bothered to consult their colleagues." (Sogow, nd) However, there were less than 200 doctors acting as willing participants in medical crimes although hundreds were away of what was occurring in Germany."
Abstract This essay examines the role of women and motherhood during the 1930?s, when the Nazi regime took over Germany. It takes a hard look at the views and opinions about women by the leaders of the Nazi regime.
From the Paper "The Nazi regime's views of what a woman's role should be and what they actually were, were very different. A woman's place was in the home, looking after her husband, her home, and most importantly, her children. The Nazi ideology saw women as inferior to men, a woman should be at home and having children, "Kinder, Kirche, Kuche". Goebbels said ?a woman's primary, rightful, and appropriate place is in the family, and the most wonderful task that she can perform is to present her country and people with children.?[i] The image of marriage and motherhood was sold not only as a benefit to the individual and family but also an obligation to the state. The regime believed in this so much that women could apply for marriage loans, where a woman who was getting married could apply for a marriage loan, on the proviso that she left the job market. "
Abstract The paper goes into great detail over whether or not the Grand Mufti Haj Amin El Husseini actively participated in the systematic elimination of Jews in Europe and in Palestine through the 1930s and 1940s. The paper is divided up into three sections that outline events during the Grand Mufti's life. The first section discusses his role in organizing anti-Zionist movements in Palestine upon his appointment of Grand Mufti by the British Mandate. The tactics of workers' strikes and actual attacks on Jews were committed under orders from Haj Amin. The second section deals with his role in NaziGermany after the British reasserted their control over Palestine at the outbreak of World War II. Specific examples are given from radio transcripts and personal diaries that discuss the Mufti's ideas and rhetoric during this time period. These clearly point to his support of Hitler's "Final Solution" plan to eliminate the Jews in Europe. Finally, there is a discussion of Haj Amin's guilt and the level to which he knew what his actions were doing. Testimony from the Nuremberg Trials are given, as well as aides to former Nazi Leader Adolf Eichmann, who pointed to Haj Amin's actions of drumming up anti-Jewish sentiment as key to the Holocaust.
From the Paper "Appointed as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in 1921 by British authorities, Haj Amin el Husseini spent the majority of his life struggling to create a Pan-Arabic state in the Middle East and limit Jewish influences in Palestine. His ideas and philosophies continue to exist in modernity, and his legacy exists in the Middle East as an individual who stood up to the West and attempted to bring together the teachings of Islam with a strong degree of nationalism in Palestine. Notable adherents to the Grand Mufti's teachings were the Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who was particularly appreciative of what Haj Amin had accomplished for the Palestinian people in his lifetime. Haj Amin el Husseini died in Lebanon in 1974, and after his death there was a massive outpouring of support for the work that he had done to bring Muslims together in the region against the West and the Jewish state of Israel. Despite this support by many Muslims after his death, the most dubious interval of Haj Amin's life deals with his support of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime during World War II."
Abstract This paper explains that the ethicacy question is, that, although the means by which the science conducted during World War II by NaziGermany is now considered unethical, the data produced is valid and should be available for analysis because the Nazi research, which was derived from human experiments, offers an unprecedented authenticity. The author points out that some people argue that, since the unethical crime had already been committed, the data should be used because its scientific merit is irrelevant to the manner in which it was obtained; whereas, others contend that the use of the tainted data is morally degrading to the victims of the Nazi-sponsored science. The paper concludes that this data should be used to improve the quality of human life only after paying respect to the victims and prolonging the memory of these events.
From the Paper "The Nazi sponsored science encompassed a wide range of fields. Research on diseases such as malaria, gangrene, sulfanilamide, tuberculosis, and wound and poison effects were heavily pursued. Josef Mengele, a scientist, worked closely with twins, as he would often infect one with a deadly disease, and upon the arrival of death, murder the other and compare the organs of the twins. Many medical experiments were conducted to try and improve the survival of German pilots in the Luftwaffe (air force). These tests included prisoners being subjected to high heat, high-pressure as well as low pressure, and freezing mixtures. Often the inmates were tested "until they expired." The particular scientific endeavor that I will be focusing on is the Dachau hypothermia experiments led by Sigmund Rascher. The experiments were designed to find the most effective order in which to re-heat pilots who had crashed in the North Sea."
Abstract This paper identifies and examines the problem that modern medicine faces when addressing the issue of medical experiments performed by the Nazis in World War Two. It explains that men of medicine are meant to heal our wounds and cure our disease all in the name of humanity and how this was the total opposite of what was done in NaziGermany. The paper discusses some of the experiments as well as the "doctors" that performed them.
From the Paper "That is why it was so troubling to discover the events behind the Nazi cloak throughout the second World War. For those German doctors who we hold such tremendous respect and trust in, traded our humanity for scientific gain. Throughout the concentration camps of Poland, thousands died in medical testing performed by the Third Reich. Their lives were forcefully given up in the name of science. In the quest for wisdom, the idea of "above all do no harm" somehow got skewed. In the process, distinguished men of medicine exchanged their souls for knowledge. In one of the great ironies, the men who are there to heal brought misery and death to many."
Abstract This paper examines how many critics and theorists have speculated about the reasons behind fascism and the horror of the holocaust in NaziGermany before and during the Second World War, how violence was prevalent, and how Hitler used it to alternately intimidate and incite his followers. It attempts to determine the roots of these causes by examining the historical and social context that made Germany so ripe for fascism and dictatorship by 1933.
Outline
Historical Context: The Weimar Republic
World War 1 and Political Upheaval
The Treaty of Versailles
The Economy
Hitler and the Socialist Workers? Party
The Golden Era
The Rise of Hitler and Fascism
Social Context: Functionalism
Structural Functionalism
Function
Structures
Interdependence
Equilibrium
Consensus
Conclusion
From the Paper "The German political structure in World War I (from 1916) had been subordinate to the military. At this time the country was an Empire, ruled by the Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL), or the Supreme Army Command. The Chief of Staff at this time was Paul von Hindenburg. At the end of the War the OHL installed a civil government for the benefit of the remainder of Germany after the war. The 1971 constitution was then amended. The Reich (Empire) had become a parliamentary democracy. The Parliament, or the Reichstag, instead of the Emperor, was now responsible for the political welfare of Germany. Such welfare was almost unattainable however, as the end of war meant returning soldiers. The fact that many of these soldiers were wounded both physically and psychologically brought chaos to the German society."
This paper takes a strong stance that both North American leaders and its people did little to aid the numerous Jewish refugees fleeing from NaziGermany and Austria during WWII.
Abstract The author argues in this paper that one of the great moral blights on the face of Canada and the United States is their failure to act effectively in the face of the horror that NaziGermany perpetrated against Jews before and during World War II. The author further states that both countries during this period were marked by vitriolic anti-Semitism and goes on to analyze the question of what the leaders of the United States and Canada stood for by refusing to consider the pleas of Jewish refugees for protection.
From the Paper "Within the government of Canada after the Liberal's accession to power in 1935, the Immigration Branch had been shuttled into the Department of Miner and Resources, under minister Frederick Charles Blair. The Immigration Branch was nominally headed by Thomas Creara, but effectively Blair gave the commands to Creara, and Blair was a rule-bound bureaucrat who firmly believed in protecting Canada from refugees, a group that to him meant Jews. (Abella & Troper, 7-8) Blair was anti-Semitic, a man of almost unbounded contempt for Jews, although he insisted in remarkable self-serving statements that he was innocent of all such sentiments and that his refusal to accommodate refugees was actually favorable to Jews, since they would only be despised by the Canadian populace (Abella & Troper, 8-9)."
Tags: anti-Semitic world war II, immigration Roosevelt Nazi
Abstract The paper examines Margaret Atwood's groundbreaking 1985 satire, "The Handmaid's Tale" that contends that considerable forces have levied their authority in order to detain, and in some ways reverse, the progress of the female gender and the dismantling of obsolete gender roles. The paper attempts to show how Atwood's novel is a social critique which remains current and disturbingly connected to the past. The paper also highlights the pressing concern that the persistence of inequality and oppression of individualism may ultimately lead to internal societal destruction as occurred in NaziGermany.
From the Paper "The feminist era, which began in earnest at the tail end of the protest age, entered American society into a period of mounting awareness of the imbalances which had inherently persisted in the home, in the workplace and in the images presented by the media. Gradual shifts began to take place, both in the way that women communicated for the first time as a collective their individual hopes and dreams and in the way that women fought for access to the same social opportunities which awaited American men. These changes, still quite certainly observable today by the presence of women at every level of government, professional occupation and social strata, have been nonetheless diminished by what we may suggest through the lens of Margaret Atwood's groundbreaking 1985 satire, The Handmaid's Tale."
Tags: Holocaust, Nazis, Jews, women, gender, inequality, government
Abstract This paper discusses the psychological techniques that Hitler and the Nazis used during the 1930s to assume control in Germany and maintain order until their defeat in 1945. The paper breaks down several sociological and psychological concepts such as obedience, conformity, the power of iconic symbols, national pride, and the authority of a centralized ideal over the individual. The paper demonstrates that the Nazis were adept at creating an environment in which the wounded German psyche, crippled from harsh treatment from the Versailles Treaty and foreign oppression, was able to restore its strength under the symbol of the swastika. While many Germans understood that the Nazis were perhaps corrupt and performing cruel actions against their fellow man, particular psychological elements that the Nazis installed upon their rise to power in the 1930s prohibited any individual from opposing their rule. The last part of the paper discusses how many Germans felt that following the Nazis was a way for them to restore the pride they had lost, and Hitler capitalized on this feeling with great effectiveness. There is also a brief description of the tactics that Goebbels used in using his Propaganda Ministry to keep the German masses completely under the heel of Nazi brutality.
From the Paper "The inclination of human beings within any society to design and accommodate a government that protects their rights as citizens normally is considered top priority for any culture or ethnic group. Throughout history, societies have been influenced by many sociological factors that dictate what system of government they install, or in some cases, governments that are installed for the public by an authoritarian ruler. Nowhere in the annals of human existence can this forced subjugation of the masses be seen more clearly then in Nazi Germany, beginning in 1933 and ending after the Allied victory at Berlin in 1945. This particular case is peculiar however, for not only were the majority of citizens in Germany at the time willing to comply with Hitler's tyrannical government, but many individuals actively participated in the horror that was the Nazi regime. The question behind the German populace's compliance has been explained from the political and economic perspectives countless times, but the most interesting aspect of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich is from a sociological point of view."
Tags: adolf, authority, germany, goebbels, hitler, ii, impact, obedience, propaganda, psychological, war, world
Abstract The defeat of Germany in the First World War came as a tremendous shock to Adolf Hitler and the German people, and is the primary reason why the Nazi Party was able to rise to power. Ever since the founding of the German Empire and Bismarck's victories over Denmark, Austria, and France on the nineteenth-century, the German public had placed supreme confidence in the German Army and its generals. Defeat on the battlefield was unimaginable, so when the armistice ending World War I was signed on November 11, 1918, millions of Germans believed that only treachery and betrayal could have caused such a catastrophe. This paper explains the reason behind the success of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. The paper asserts that when the Nazi Party was founded in 1920 it took advantage of the belief that the German Army had been betrayed and portrayed itself as the only party that could bring Germany back to a position of superiority.
Abstract This paper examines how Bismarckian and Prussian conservative/authoritarian policies provided a stepping-stone to NaziGermany. First, the paper explores the parallels between NaziGermany and the policies and tactics that were used by Bismarck. Additionally, the paper focuses on the manner in which Prussian conservative/authoritarian policies influenced NaziGermany.
From the Paper "Otto Von Bismarck is the notorious leader for which Bismarckian politics is named. The historic and controversial figure is essential to European history. Bismarck is credited with national unification and creating policies that changed Germany and the rest of the world forever. Initially, Bismarck's approach to foreign affairs was revolutionary and encouraged solidarity with Russia and Austria. Eventually this solidarity was challenged and Bismarck felt the need to focus on the unity of Germany. There are many different tactics and policies that Bismarck utilized in an effort to control his subjects and support his ideals of unity."
