Opposition To Hitler 1933-45

Opposition To Hitler 1933-45

Hitler suffered opposition during his time in power however it is

likely there would have been more outspoken and meaningful opposition

if he had not created so many laws to ban it.

It is difficult to measure the amount of public opposition to Hitler

as the majority took place behind closed doors and could not be spoken

in the public domain or recorded as it was against the law. Many

people who spoke out were punished through jail or violence by the

Nazi’s, the Nazi’s would find out about these people and their

thoughts by being tipped off by other members of the public. This led

to less outspoken anti Nazi views, this reduced outspoken opposition

however in many instances it would not have changed the individuals

beliefs it may well have prevented them from preaching to others about

their beliefs and acting upon them.

Hitler suffered his political opposition from socialists, communists,

Trade Unionists and just about every left wing thinker. These parties

would have been much more effective and influential if all political

parties had not been outlawed very soon into Hitler’s reign. All of

Hitler’s political opponents went into (either self-imposed or forced)

exile, put into concentration camps, jailed or murdered. Although the

opposing political parties had very limited effect due to them being

banned they did manage to stage few small scale demonstrations and

leaflet delivery thought of course this was risky as if the Nazi’s

found out there would be severe punishments dealt.

In the early stages of the regime in 1934 there was opposition by the

S.A to Hitler although this was appeased. There was a small-scale

opposition towards the end of the regime by Edelweiss Pirates and some

youth groups especially in regions where Nazi support was lower e.g.

Cologne in 1944. The elites of society also opposed Hitler towards the

end of his reign in 1944.

There is also a small amount of evidence of a few planned

assassinations; however there was more non-compliance and