It needs to be understood that Hitler's reign of ruthless terror, was not applied to the territory of the Third Reich in the same as it was within the the occupied nations, especially Eastern Europe. Hitler saw the German people as a superior Aryan race, therefore with the exception of Jews, Communists, Gypsies, political agitators and a few other fringe groups, there was little state oppression, one of the main reasons, was the overwhelming support of the German people for Hitler and the Nazi state.

A survey in 1993 of "ordinary" citizens in Cologne, showed that very few of the respondents reported that they had any fear of the Gestapo, and only a very small number had ever been investigated for any offence during the Nazi years. In fact from the city of Krefeld, Gestapo case files showed that during all the years of the Third Reich, only about one percent of the non-Jewish population was ever investigated. The reality was that the Gestapo were not omnipresent , they had limited resources and relied a great deal on denunciations, that were not in short supply. Many Germans grumbled and complained privately, but found little difficulty in conforming, most seem to believe that the police and Nazi laws were there to protect them, Nazi terror posed no real threat to most ordinary Germans.

Nah, of course they didn't, not if they were nice run of the mill Nazis who had Seig heiled  Baa Baa Baa with their little salutes, averted all  interest in how policies were being effected and  who did not mind it being a one party state which must not be criticised, Baa Baa Baa.

What they did have to fear was being shopped for finding faulty, asking questions, voicing other opinion, having books that the regime did not like, tuning the radio in other stations, being in oposition to anything. Even ones children might shop you for any of that because brainwashing to believe you are in some way superior has some nasty knock on effects. Staying acquiescent is another form of survival... all the 'ordinary' Goody Two Shoes had little to fear if they stuck to the rules in a one party state, sent menfolk off to war and just carried on - ie no one wrote letters to the paper, no one waved a placard, no one voiced a word  that might be misunderstood. Baa Baa Baa.

And then it all went wrong, didn't it? You gotta have perfect people for a perfect world and it could also turn out to be perfectly boring or and perfectly nasty - Hitler's dream turned out to be a nightmare. No amount of attempted whitewashing of this  little chappy who adopted the smart Austrian postman's uniform to wear, will take away what a bumptious bit of a disaster he  actually was; and how chicken we people often are.

Supporting bullies, of course, surface if given power - in my day they were called school prefects. Given weapons and a free hand and the mind boggles at  what might have happened to 2B at break.

Priscilla wrote:

What they did have to fear was being shopped for finding fault, asking questions, voicing other opinions, having books that the regime did not like, tuning the radio to other stations, being in opposition to anything. Even ones children might shop you for any of that ...

Well yes, quite!

In the much-respected ITV 'World at War' documentary series (1973) there's an interview with Christabel Bielenberg where she talks about precisely that. She had been born in England into a wealthy Anglo-Irish family (her mother was the sister of the British "newspaper barons": Viscount Rothermere, Viscount Northcliffe and Baron Harmsworth) but had taken German citizenship when she married a German lawyer in 1934. Until 1944 she, her husband and their three children lived in Hamburg, as a well-off but otherwise fairly normal German family, albeit keeping their heads down as they were already suspected of having anti-Nazi sympathies ... for which in 1944 they were denounced and her husband eventually spent time in Ravensbrück concentration camp when he was implicated in the 20 July Plot against Hitler. In the end the redoubtable Frau Bielenberg went to the Gestapo in person and managed to successfully argue the case for her husband's release.

But anyway, in the 'World at War' interview she comments that in a dictatorship - where there is no press freedom and the news stories always follow exactly the same official line whilst carefully avoiding certain 'forbidden' subjects - inevitably rumours and hearsay abound and this only fuels the desire to find out what the "real truth" is and what it is that "they're not telling us". During the war, despite the very severe penalties for being caught doing so, she continued to listen to the news broadcasts of foreign radio stations (the BBC etc) always however with the sound turned down very low and with her ear pressed right up against the speaker. Simply listening to the radio: what harm could that do? Then one day her young son inadvertently saw her doing it and laughingly commented that his friend at school had said that his parents sometimes did exactly the same thing rather than listening together like they normally did. She then realised with horror that while many of her neighbours were probably doing the same, their children, just by innocently chatting amongst themselves could so easily, casually, even accidentally if they were overheard, betray the whole lot of them to the Gestapo.

I can't find the exact interview on youtube but there is this 1987 RTÉ interview in which she mentions several other aspects of life in Nazi Germany that are pertinent to this thread.



I know this was recorded in 1987 but it was still a bit of a shock when just as the interview was coming to an end she casually lit up a cigarette in the TV studio: she certainly was a strong-willed and rather unconventional woman.

Further to the comments about Germans listening to foreign radio stations, here's a short Nazi propaganda film about why this was forbidden and outlining the severe penalties for being caught doing so: two and a half years in prison. It features the well-known comedy duo Tran und Helle and is one of a whole series of short films featuring them that were made to try and crack down on forbidden behaviours: reading banned books, hoarding food, buying things on the black market, spreading rumours etc.



The role of humour in Nazi Germany is interesting. Comedians risked being denounced and at the very least losing their jobs if they poked fun at the Nazis or commented unfavourably about the Nazi leadership, German military losses or wartime restrictions. Nevertheless they continually did so, walking a fine line between just making people laugh (which was acceptable and actually encouraged) and criticising the authorities (which certainly wasn't). But the fact that comedians and entertainers, who we can assume understood their audiences, all took it for granted that people would 'get' their jokes, meant that most ordinary Germans probably had a pretty shrewd idea that things were not as rosy or innocuous as all the propaganda claimed. There was a program on BBC Four (2007) that addresses the role of humour in the Third Reich; 'Laughing with Hitler'. Here's the first part (of six - the whole is one hour long) all of which are readily available on youtube.

This is an interesting film - based on a true story:





Guardian review comments:


The point of the story – and its recent rediscovery – is surely that it’s a carefully modulated corrective to the postwar onslaught of German national guilt: by pointing out that the pre-war German population was not a monolithic pro-Nazi bloc, but also showing how difficult it was to take substantial direct action after Hitler assumed control of national institutions, Alone in Berlin would seem perfectly pitched to validate the post cold-war consensus. Germany is no longer expected to display public penitence for the second world war, and fables like this – and, to a similar extent, Bernard Schlink’s The Reader, which was also made into a film – are finessing the moral and political complexities of the postwar blame game.




https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/feb/15/alone-in-berlin-review-film-festival-nazi-germany-emma-thompson

i am sure non-jewish Germans feared the Nazis.

 My aunt married a German in Dusseldorf and heard from he and his family that his father or possibly grandfather had committed suicide rather than join the party, (refusal to join would have endangered his family).

 It says much about the Nazis that Herr Schaeffer had been a member of Baron von Richthofens squadron in WW1.
 
 As far as the suicide story is concerned I'm afraid it is anecdotal but I have seen a silver cigarette case at my aunt's house engraved with signatures of Richthofens squadron and I checked all names as correct.

As far as I am aware, nobody was obliged to join the Nazi party, though not doing so could restrict your career and job prospects.

Yes, being taken away to a concentration camp and subsequently executed does tend to "restrict your career and job prospects".

But you are correct that it wasn't compulsory to joint the Nazi party. However if you still refused to join when specifically asked why you already had not done so, would often be taken as further evidence of your dubious loyalty and another serious blot on your character. And if questions were already being asked about you, for whatever reasons, then refusal to join might well be the thing that got you carted off to Ravensbruck or Sachsenhausen.

deleted - posted twice

Around 10% of Germans were members of the Nazi Party, yet most non-Party members were ardent supporters of Hitler, only a small number [1-3%] were ever questioned or detained by the Gestapo.

So approx 2in every hundred might be questioned.... how many would that be in round numbers? Detained by, you say Ah!.......detention covers a breadth of scenarios.
This is about a regime with questionable policies - those who agreed with them had nothing to fear; those who could watch the degradation and cruelties meted out to others, people who could not tolerate other expressions of freedom and ways of living, they could watch the implementation without fear - but there are others. To stand up to a vicious hierarchy takes great courage - I'd say they had great fear - a titttle- tattle neighbour are an essential  useful and greatly encouraged arm of any political police.
And wooing the powerful to give support ongoing; and here I Know my stuff because I  once knew an influential foreigner closely enough for him to confide of two invites to tea and  meetings with Mr Hitler -which   he attended but he managed to dodge the trap...... and it was quite a honeyed one, too. It is all part of the games people play to  hone their dodgy policies. Germany was the land of the three monkeys where evil was concerned at that time.
Do not confuse acquiescence with the more human failing of lack of courage.

As for fear - well- look at it like this if 2 people of the 100 living in our road were detained by the armed agents of the local council without solicitor etc because they did not quite agree to the draconian policies of how we present out garbage, my bet is that the rest of us would snap to it pdfast and our pink bags and green bins would be out there as ordered.
You ought take a short holiday in a regime such as N. Korea, Burma (Mayamar) and ask around a bit about fear ..... just saying..... It only takes a few sheepdogs to keep a large flock in line.

The purpose of the Gestapo within the Third Reich, was to deal with dissidents and non-Aryans, in particular Jews. It is idealistic to believe that a significant number of Germans were anti-Nazi, but its just not true. Hitler was venerated, and Nazi policies, were generally not opposed, unlike some regimes, the overwhelming majority of Germans did not feel oppressed.

Ah, so that is what you would like to believe, I think and hence the post. I think there may be a few people about even now who might wise you up to that one.... met many who survived the camps where many millions of all sorts were hounded, have you? I mean people who did not qualify for the full Nazi criteria? Just folk who did not quite fit the mould? I doubt that you have. We oldies who have knocked about the world a bit know of another truth. Political law inforcers - be they Taliban with guns, Street police in Saudia with whips to use on women are all much of the same cut. bully boys - we even have them in a few unions and street gangs - and probably the Women's institute for all I know. I'll not buy a nice Gestapo, any way........and I bet they did not all have rimless glasses either.
You need to have lived in a society where you feared a knocking at the door in the night. I once did. But I doubt I was ever Grommit widemouthed with fear during the day! You just carry on.