So... the Nazis.

[Agayek]

I have my History GCSE exam on Tuesday, and it's on Germany from 1918-1945. I'd like to sneak in some interesting facts that we haven't been taught in class, just to be a smartass. So, has anyone got any interesting facts about the Nazis (as you may be able to guess, they feature rather prominently under that heading). In fact, anything interesting about the topic at all would do for me. I'll soon see how quirky I can make my essay...

Just off the top of my head:

1) The Rosenstrasse Protest of 1943 was a movement of Germans (primarily women, almost all related in some way to the victims) non-violently protesting the treatment and demanding the return of the Jews being held in Rosenstrasse 2-4. It's significant because it's the only successful large-scale protest of the Nazi treatment of the Jews, with around 1,800 lives saved.

2) There is a quasi-common conspiracy theory that the leaders of the Nazi party were in contact with aliens and that is why they had the most advanced technology of the war.

3) The post-WWI depression in Germany got to the point where you would need a wheelbarrow of cash to buy a loaf of bread. There's several amusing-yet-utterly-depressing photos from the time of long lines of people with their wheelbarrows of cash outside bakeries, grocers, etc.

4) The Nazis were all over the place with their crazy super-science research. They did everything from super-soldier programs to flying tanks to ICBMs, almost all of which failed miserably. The scientists involved however were conscripted by the US and USSR after the war and laid the groundwork for a significant portion of modern technology.

5) Hitler was reportedly a superficially decent guy. Clearly, he was a twisted son of a *****, but there's numerous accounts (most of which were discounted as/with propaganda on either side) that those who knew him personally felt him to possess a large degree of integrity.

I'm not inclined to agree with that, and I'd personally chalk it up to the fact that he was a charismatic fuck, but that's what the reports have said.

 

[silver wolf009]

Mention the roughly fifty times someone tried to introduce Hitler to a bullet or a bomb or a cloud of poison gas. Too often the Nazi government and people are portrayed as a single force of genocidal monsters, when there were so many attempts on Hitler's, and other members of state I'm sure, life. Shame none of them succeeded.

Captcha: Until tonight.

...Captcha, what do you know that I don't, and what do you have planned?

 

[Thaluikhain]

3) The post-WWI depression in Germany got to the point where you would need a wheelbarrow of cash to buy a loaf of bread. There's several amusing-yet-utterly-depressing photos from the time of long lines of people with their wheelbarrows of cash outside bakeries, grocers, etc.

There's a story about someone taking a basket full of money to buy something with, leaving it unattended for a money, and coming back to find someone had stolen the basket, but left the money.

Though, IIRC, Austria had even worse inflation, only nobody cared because it became part of Germany, not the other way around.

 

[FamoFunk]

The Nazis were actually the first people to ban smoking in public places, such as hospitals.

They knew the health dangers of smoking.

I say we start allowing smoking in public places. We don't want to be like the Nazis now, do we?

I agree, I miss having a cuppa and a smoke inside. I feel like a dirty Nazi every time I go outside to light up now ;_;

 

[g_hughes]

Among the last soldiers fighting to defend the Third Reich were actually French. They'd deserted and went to fight for the Nazis. They knew that if they surrenered they'd be executed anyway, so they carried on fighting.

 

[Angry Camel]

Just pulling this from Wolfenstein 3D for the iPhone:
Hitler supposedly acquired the Spear of Destiny, the spear used on Jesus Christ after he died on the cross. Some say it makes the wielder invincible.
The US supposedly retrieved the spear at one point, leading to Germany's downfall.

Why must there be such an interesting thread the day before my exams?

 

[M-E-D The Poet]

From what I've heard, Adolf Hitler was into painting. He wasn't very successful when he tried to make it into a career however.

this believed to be hitlers actual cause for hatred towards the jews (Being refused to enter a University/study in austria in a jewish school where they said his painting sucked)

 

[archvile93]

You could include Hitler's obsession with mythical and religious artefacts. Or their exploration of "UFO" technology. Mostly speculation and rumours there, though it does make for interesting reading.

Actually I recall hearing Hitler wasn't particularly religious. In fact He didn't like the church but he tolerated it because he knew he'd lose a lot of support if he tried to get rid of it. From what I heard, he was hoping to remove religion and make the state itself function as an object of religious devotion, which makes sense since he saw how blindly and strongly people will follow their religious leaders, and would certainly cement his grip on power.

 

[Agayek]

Actually I recall hearing Hitler wasn't particularly religious. In fact He didn't like the church but he tolerated it because he knew he'd lose a lot of support if he tried to get rid of it. From what I heard, he was hoping to remove religion and make the state itself function as an object of religious devotion, which makes sense since he saw how blindly and strongly people will follow their religious leaders, and would certainly cement his grip on power.

Hitler was very much religious. His end goal was something like the Anglican Church, where the clergy answer to the Fuhrer instead of the Pope, but he was very much a Christian.

 

[balanovich]

Why does everyone put "So" in their thread titles?

From what I've heard, Adolf Hitler was into painting. He wasn't very successful when he tried to make it into a career however.

Yeah but this isn't particularly unknown.

Hitler had only one testicle.

Pretty sure this and him being a vegetarian aren't even true

This is more or less evidence for the one testicle part.... I find it surprising that the soviet autopsy could tell that 1 ball was missing since the body was brunt

 

[toobie]

Dunno if it's already mentioned, But a nazi created a multi-headed dog (forgot wether it was 2 or 3).
Also, they tried to create a village consisting of only twins.

 

[templar1138a]

Hitler was democratically elected. A surprising number of history classes tend to gloss over that fact. Not because it would give the impression that he was a good guy, but because we don't want to think democracy is flawed in any way by giving the masses the power to put the evil *cough* Mitt Romney! *cough* or the incompetent *cough* Dubya! *cough* into office.

Captcha is "mum's the word". Cute.

 

[loc978]

...They developed one of the smartest economies this world has ever seen, which thrives to this day with only evolutionary modifications. Say what you will about the tenets of national socialism, at least it's an ethos it's actually highly effective from a purely economic standpoint. Once they removed Hitler's social ideology, there was nothing wrong with their system.

 

[Vegan_Doodler]

There was a an elite group of Nazis that wore gas-masks, wielded mini-guns, and could take three sniper bullets to the head before dieing.

 

[toobie]

Hitler was democratically elected. A surprising number of history classes tend to gloss over that fact. Not because it would give the impression that he was a good guy, but because we don't want to think democracy is flawed in any way by giving the masses the power to put the evil *cough* Mitt Romney! *cough* or the incompetent *cough* Dubya! *cough* into office.

Captcha is "mum's the word". Cute.

He was elected as Reichskanselier. He shouldn't have got the power he did.

 

[Ziame]

Panzerkampfwagon IV was vastly superior to T-34, despite what World of Tanks may indicate.

Ehh, depends what you are considering as 'vastly superior'. The Panzer IV ausf E and F, with the short barreled 7.5cm Kwk37 L/24 gun were only marginally successful, whereas the T-34-76 armed with the F34 76mm gun could penetrate the Panzer IV at all ranges. However, the T-34 was hampered by the 2 man turret, meaning the commander had to both command the tank and act as gunner, whereas the 3 man turret on the Panzer IV allowed the commander to concentrate solely on commanding his tank, making for more efficient operations. T-34's were also hampered by a shortage of radios, but that's more of a problem that was indicative of the Russian army at the time.

The Germans, after the nasty surprise the T-34-76 and the KV-1 presented, hurried out the ausf G with a 7.5cm KwK40 L/43 gun, and retroactively fitted it to ausf F. The G also addressed the armour deficiencies with applique armour on the front plate. This ultimately lead to the ausf H an J, with the thicker armour incorporated and armed with a more powerful 7.5cm KwK40 L/48 gun, making for a much tougher tank against the T-34-76, and there still was the crew advantage.

However, the Soviets responded by increasing the armour on the model 43, and new ammunition types that were becoming available that were able to effectively penetrate the thicker armour. The thicker armour did not do much to offset the 75mm guns though. Of course then there is the T-34-85, which had a three man turret and the 85mm ZiS-S-53 gun which was designed for the Panther and Tiger, which makes a mockery of the Panzer IVs armour.

The Panzer IV and the T-34-76 were pretty much on par with each other. In their final forms both had pretty much extended the life of their respective chassis as much as they could. Now, if you are talking about the Panther, that tank outclassed the T-34 on almost all levels. the 7.5cm KwK43 L/70 gun could rip through a T-34 at all ranges, whereas the T-34-76's needed to get a side of rear shot for their F-34 guns to even stand a chance.

Edit: Just a note on the Tiger II, it did have problems of its own. Aside from being a gas guzzler and mechanically complex, the drive train that was installed was designed for a much lighter tank. So it was rather weak and in the hands of an inexperienced driver (of which there were many when it entered service) it tended to break. As far as I know they never really solved that problem. But otherwise it really was a monster.

You are right, I meant the V(Panther is V iirc) not IV

 

[Ziame]

Another fun fact: Germany treated various occupied regions differently. While helping a Jew in France/Benelux was met with slap on the wrist, on occupied Polish territories helping a Jew resulted in the helper being killed. Immediately. Along with his closest family and everyone remotely tied to the helper. Poles helped them regardless.

That's totally untrue. I know for a fact people were shot for hiding Jews in the Netherlands. The best one could expect if caught was prison, the most common result of resistance work was execution, or a sentence to a concentration camp.

The February Strike of 1941 for instance was met with brutal force that killed 9, gravely injured 24, and before the coordinated putting down, there'd been days of open fighting in the streets during which several members of the Dutch nazi party found death and several German soldiers were injured. Quite impressive if you consider that was just with bare hands, and mostly spawned by spontaneous outrage over bad treatment of Jews. The village of Putten had its entire male population executed after resistance fighters shot at a German army car on a road near the village. In the Blood Night of Sneek in 1944, four random civilians were dragged from their homes and murdered in retaliation for the killing of a member of the Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps. I can probably name a few hundred examples more if I look for them.


I think that whatever source you got that from was just Polish propaganda. There's a whole lot of that around which tries to deny the horrors of the occupation elsewhere, in order to dramaqueen Poland's occupation, ussually from nationalistic motives.

You, sir, are correct. I applaud you for awareness and apologise for the trololol.

 

[Ziame]

Adolf Hitler's favorite boxer, Max Schmeling(German) was beaten by Max Baer(US.) Max Baer(who you may know as the villain from Cinderella Man,) wore a Star of David during the match in honor of his Jewish grandfather, and of the Jewish community as a whole.

Max Schmelling was also beaten by Joe Louis (the second time they fought), which was a very big deal at the time.

Also, contrary to popular belief, Nazis were Germans. Even though propaganda would have it that every single German opposed Hitler, you can't deny Nazis were Germans. Now, you can and should deny that Germans ARE Nazis, but, well, most of them were. Thus the war.

Not true. Firstly, the majority of the German populace weren't members of the Nazi party.

Secondly, many, many people outside Germany supported the Nazis until they found themselves at war with them. You could argue that anti-semitism only really became unpopular because the Nazis lost the war, many people were very much in favour of removing the lesser races.

You know why I insist on "German"? Because when someone not schooled in history comes to Poland and sees sign in front of Auschwitz saying "Nazi Death Camp", his immediate reaction will be "Those murderous Nazi Poles!". I hope you can understand what I mean. No disrespect for Germany, just respect for facts. Word manipulation leads to such faux pa as "Polish Death Camps" by Barack Obama.