Life Under the Swastika

The National Socialists attempted to infuse every sphere of life in Hamburg with their ideology. Racism and anti-Semitism, glorification of war and anti-Communism were some of the themes promoted unrelentingly in the press and on radio, in schools and at meetings. Dissidents were persecuted, deported and murdered. Books that displeased the Nazis were burned, and the works of ostracized artists like Ernst Barlach removed from public collections and galleries. Few were willing or able to engage in active resistance, and those who did had to reckon with severe punishment. Many tried to adjust to National Socialism or withdrew into privacy wherever possible. The slightest hint of dissidence, for example from the young Swing enthusiasts, was enough to merit persecution.

The Nazi vision of humanity was hostile to Jews in particular, but also to gypsies, the disabled, homosexuals and all people who did not correspond to the ideal of the master race. Like the Nazis' political opponents, they were marginalized, expelled, or killed in concentration camps. People were organized in the workplace, in their residential quarters and in their free time. Membership of the NS associations was obligatory, but they also provided many with an occupation and recognition. The unions and trade and industry associations were all integrated into the Nazi power structure, brought into line or dissolved. Children and young adults were obliged to join the Hitler Youth, which organized their leisure time, providing sport, games and above all Nazi ideology.

Women were confined to their role as mothers, with awards being granted for those bearing many children. On the outbreak of war in 1939, if not earlier, however, the mother ideal was shattered, since women became indispensable to the economy and had to replace the men who left to fight.


Hamburg in the 20th.century (1)
-    Imperial Germany and the Struggle for Voting Rights
-    Life in Wilhelmine Germany
-    The Mobile City
-    International Port and Economic Center
-    Revolution in Hamburg
-    Democracy and its Enemies
-    A Decade of Economic Crisis
-    Greater Hamburg
-    Life Under the Swastika
-    The Abolition of Democracy
-    Towards a War Economy
-    Persecution and resistance in the National Socialist state
-    Hamburg at war
-    Destruction by Fire Storm

Hamburg in the 20th.century (2)