Rights and Responsibilities of German Citizens During World War Two

Glynnis Farleigh and Ally Kraus Senior Division Website

Every school year, we seem to have some sort of discussion or unit on the Holocaust, explaining how minorities were treated in World War Two era Germany, and the atrocities they faced. It is important learn of these events, however, we have never actually been given insight on what it was like living in Germany, as a citizen. We chose our topic of Rights and Responsibilities of German Citizens During World War Two because in school, there is far less attention on how the every-day Germans had it. We thought it would be interesting to research the other side of the story, as well as debunking some myths or misconceptions on how the German citizens were treated and what was expected of them. Our research was conducted online, through databases such as ABCCLIO and the Library of Congress. In these databases, we searched for specific articles pertaining to both Nazi rule and laws in Germany at the time, analyzed pictures from the time period, as well as read and watched interviews from citizens. Even before our research was finished we decided upon the presentation style of a website. We believed it would allow us to have an in-depth presentation of our research, and allow the viewer to look at each section of information on its own, rather than all together as a whole. Secondly, we have prior knowledge in electronics and website building. Our project relates to the NHD theme in that despite what Nazi propaganda put forth, German citizens had many responsibilities but were granted few rights. This is evident in reports from citizens being afraid for their lives, and many times did not approve of Nazi actions, but had to obey their superiors. Nazis did not necessarily give the Germans special treatment as they would threaten and injury anyone who got in

their way or disobeyed them. Living conditions were anything but stellar for most in Germany at the time, consisting of cramped apartments, homelessness, starving families, untreated disease, military harassment and more. Children were expected to join youth groups such as the Hitler Youth or BDM, (Young Girls League) regardless of parental wish. Citizens who rebelled against the Nazis, such as the White Rose, and other groups were either executed or sent to institutions. Nazi Germany was not fair at the time, and did not give many perks to their master race. (413 Words)