Resistance and Opposition in Nazi Germany

Includes :

• SPD
• KPD
• Youth Movement
• Catholics and Protestants
• Military

SPD

• Previous to 1933 the Social Democrats had 1 million members and 5 million voters.
• Bravely voted against the Enabling Act in March 1933
• Party banned in June 1933 by Hitler.
• As a result they formed an underground resistance group that used leaflets and underground newspapers to oppose the Nazi regime.

The Red Shock Troop

• Underground SPD newspaper that ran up until December 1933.
• Suggested that the Nazis would be overthrown by an uprising of the working class.
• Had 3000 members at its peak.
• Leaders arrested and imprisoned in December 1933.
  
  
  

• Another major SPD newspaper, the Socialist Action, was shut down after its members were arrested and imprisoned in January 1935.
• By 1938 the party deemed it too dangerous to continue underground resistance and instead focused on gathering information about public opinion in Germany of the Nazis.
• Many had simply been won over by the Nazis but many Social Democrats involuntarily supported them and instead focused on their families and own safety.

KPD