Volksgemeinschaft (German pronunciation:[ˈfɔlksɡəˌmaɪnʃaft]ⓘ) is aGerman expression meaning "people's community",[1][2] "folk community",[3] "national community",[4] or "racial community",[5] depending on the translation of its component termVolk (cognate with the English word "folk"). This expression originally became popular duringWorld War I as Germans rallied in support of the war, and many experienced "relief that at one fell swoop all social and political divisions could be solved in the great national equation".[3] The idea of aVolksgemeinschaft was rooted in the notion of uniting people across class divides to achieve a national purpose,[6] and the hope that national unity would "obliterate all conflicts - between employers and employees, town and countryside, producers and consumers, industry and craft".[3]
After theNovember Revolution of 1918, the overthrow of theconstitutional monarchy, and Germany's defeat in World War I, the concept ofVolksgemeinschaft remained popular, especially on theright wing of German politics, in opposition to theclass struggle advocated byMarxist parties like theSocial Democrats and theCommunists.[7] Themonarchist German Conservative Party became theGerman National People's Party (DVNP) and the National Liberal Party reorganized itself into theGerman People's Party, with the new names intended partly as references toVolksgemeinschaft.[7]
The concept was notoriously embraced by the newly foundedNazi Party in the 1920s, and eventually became strongly associated withNazism afterAdolf Hitler's rise to power. In the Nazi vision ofVolksgemeinschaft, society would continue to be organized into classes (based upon talent, property, or profession), but there would be no class conflict, because a common national consciousness would inspire the different economic and social classes to live together harmoniously and work for the nation.[8] There was also an importantracial aspect to the NaziVolksgemeinschaft: only "people ofAryan blood" could be members.[9]
The word "Volksgemeinschaft" was probably first used inGottlob August Tittel's 1791 translation of a text written byJohn Locke, synthesising the expression "in any[particular] place, generally".[10][11] Among 19th century scholars who used the word "Volksgemeinschaft" wereFriedrich Schleiermacher,Friedrich Carl von Savigny,Carl Theodor Welcker,Johann Caspar Bluntschli,Hermann Schulze,Wilhelm Dilthey, andWilhelm Wundt.[12] Most influential was perhapsFerdinand Tönnies' theory in his workGemeinschaft und Gesellschaft ("Community and Society") of 1887.[13] Decades later, in 1932, Tönnies joined theSocial Democratic Party of Germany to oppose the rise ofNazism and protest against their use of his concept. He had his honorary professorship removed whenAdolf Hitler came to power.[14]
In 1914, at the beginning of World War I, the German EmperorWilhelm II proclaimed before theReichstag theBurgfrieden ("peace in the castle" or "truce in the castle", a kind of "unity within a besieged castle" for the duration of the conflict), announcing that henceforward all of the regional differences between the different states of theReich; between rich, middle class and poor; between Roman Catholics and Protestants; and between rural and urban were no longer relevant and the German people were all one for the duration of the war. During the war, many Germans longed to have the sense of unity that theBurgfrieden inspired continue after the war, and it was during this period that many ideas started to circulate about how to convert the wartimeBurgfrieden into a peacetimeVolksgemeinschaft. People who belonged to theVolksgemeinschaft were known asVolksgenossen (fellow members).
In the aftermath of World War I, the idea ofVolksgemeinschaft was used to interpret economic catastrophes and hardship facing Germans during theWeimar Republic era as a common experience of the German nation and to argue for German unity to bring about renewal to end the crisis.[6] It was invoked by theJewishsocial anarchistsGustav Landauer (who was killed for his participation in theBavarian Soviet Republic) andErich Mühsam (who died inOranienburg concentration camp) in articulating their vision of a peaceful, non-coercivemutualist society. However, it was subsequently adopted by theNazi Party to justify actions againstJews,profiteers,Marxists, and theAllies of World War I, whom the Nazis accused of obstructing German national regeneration, causing national disintegration in 1918 and Germany's defeat in World War I.[6]
There is an ongoing debate among historians as to whether aVolksgemeinschaft was or was not successfully established between 1933 and 1945. This is a notably controversial topic of debate for ethical and political reasons, and is made difficult by the ambiguous language employed byHitler and the Nazis when talking about theVolksgemeinschaft.
In the aftermath of theNovember Revolution of 1918 that marked the end of theGerman Empire and the beginning of theWeimar Republic, there was strong animosity amongst many Germans towards the Weimar Republic and thesocial democrats who sponsored its creation.[6] This was combined with anxiety in the 1930s and with the severe economic crisis in Germany and abroad, in which many Germans faced unemployment.[6] This situation resulted in increasing popularity for the Nazi Party, including amongst workers, small business owners, and others who desired a government that would resolve the economic crisis.[15] While ascending to power, Hitler promised to restore faith in theVolk and to bring wholeness while accusing other politicians of tearing at German unity.[16]
Upon rising to power in 1933, the Nazis sought to gain support of various elements of society. Their concept ofVolksgemeinschaft was racially unified and organized hierarchically.[17] This involved a mystical unity, a form of racial soul uniting all Germans,[18] including those living abroad.[19] Nevertheless, this soul was regarded as related to the land, in the doctrine of "blood and soil".[18] Indeed, one reason for "blood and soil" was the belief that landowner and peasant lived in an organic harmony.[20] Aryan Germans who hadsexual relations with non-Germanics were excluded from the people's community.[21]
The Nazis solidified support amongst nationalists and conservatives by presenting themselves as allied with PresidentPaul von Hindenburg, who was considered a war hero of World War I in Germany.[22] On 21 March 1933, special celebrations were held to mark the re-opening of theReichstag following theReichstag fire, and the Nazis called this eventPotsdam Day. Potsdam Day was used to celebrate military tradition, theHohenzollern dynasty ofPrussia, the sacrifices of World War I and the "hero of Tannenberg," President Hindenburg.[23] The image of Hitler and Hindenburg shaking hands was reproduced on thousands of postcards, representing "the union of the new and old Germany," a way for the Nazis to portray themselves as connected to the aristocratic traditions of the past.[24]
Having organized Potsdam Day to gain conservative support, the Nazis sought to gain the support of workers by declaringMay Day, a day celebrated byorganized labour, to be a paid holiday named the "Day of National Work" and held celebrations on 1 May 1933 to honour German workers.[25] The regime believed that the only way to avoid a repeat of the disaster of 1918 was to secure workers' support for the German government.[25] The regime also insisted through propaganda that all Germans take part in the May Day celebrations, not just workers, in the hope that this would help break down class hostility between workers andburghers.[26] Songs in praise of labour and workers were played by state radio throughout May Day 1933, as well as an airshow in Berlin and fireworks.[26] The Nazis added strongly nationalist themes to the celebrations, and Hitler spoke of workers as patriots who had built Germany's industrial strength and had honourably served in the war, while claiming that they had been oppressed undereconomic liberalism.[27] Hitler praised the virtues of labor, and was quoted in theVölkischer Beobachter as declaring that "I only acknowledge one nobility—that of labour."[28] The event proved convincing, as the next day theBerliner Morgenpost, a newspaper which had been associated with the political left in the past, praised the regime's May Day celebrations.[27] At the same time, however, the Nazis sought to destroy independent working class organizations, seeing them as incompatible with the trans-class unity of theVolksgemeinschaft. On 2 May 1933, one day after the celebrations, the trade union movement was banned, and "stormtroopers sealed off and took over the operations of the socialist Free Trade Unions and incorporated them into what became the German Labor Front".[26]
The Nazis continuedsocial welfare policies initiated by the governments of the Weimar Republic and mobilized volunteers to assist those impoverished, "racially-worthy" Germans through theNational Socialist People's Welfare organization.[29] This organization oversaw charitable activities, and became the largestcivic organization inNazi Germany.[29] Successful efforts were made to get middle-class women involved in social work assisting large families.[30] TheWinter Relief campaigns acted as a ritual to generate public feeling.[31] These efforts also served to reinforce theracial ideology of the Nazis and the idea that theVolksgemeinschaft was a racial community, because Jews and other non-Aryans were excluded from social welfare benefits, as were Germans who opposed Nazism or who were deemed "unfit" for other reasons.[32]
TheVolksgemeinschaft was intended to create a sense of uniformity amongst its members; Fritz Reinhardt, state secretary for the finance ministry, introduced numerous tax breaks for lower and middle class Germans, narrowed pension gaps between blue and white collar workers, and lowered the entrance standards for civil service exams. The ubiquitous uniforms within Nazi organisations were intended to suppress visible class differences in dress and create an image of unity. Between 1933 and 1939, upward mobility was twice as likely as between 1927 and 1933. The Second World War assisted in this, as social status and class did not affect whether one received Reich services. Wartime rationing was implemented in an egalitarian manner, which greatly pleased the working class – a secret wartime report by the Social Democrats stated that "the working classes thoroughly welcome the fact that 'the better off' have, in practical terms, ceased to be that."[33]
Nevertheless, in many ways the NaziVolksgemeinschaft served only as a symbolic unity, while real differences of status and wealth continued to dominate daily life.[34] The Nazis disparaged sophisticated forms of address such asgnädige Frau ("gracious lady") and the associated practice of kissing a lady's hand, but Hitler was routinely shown engaging in that same practice in press photographs.[35] Old titles of nobility were shunned, but the Nazi Party hierarchy created numerous new titles.[36] Elegant evening dress and other public displays of wealth were sometimes derided and sometimes encouraged.[37] The Nazi Party claimed to administer justice impartially to all ethnic Germans regardless of their social origins, and Nazi propaganda emphasized instances where upper class individuals were found guilty by the courts as evidence of this, but at the same time the Nazi Party provided many opportunities for corruption and vested interests among its members.[38] On one occasion the arrest of aReichsbank director was widely publicized by the Nazi press, while his subsequent release was never mentioned.[39]
Nazis gave a great deal of prominence to this new "folk community" in their propaganda, depicting the events of 1933 as aVolkwerdung, or a people becoming itself.[40] TheVolk were not just a people; a mystical soul united them, and propaganda continually portrayed individuals as part of a great whole, worth dying for.[18] A common Nazi mantra declared that ethnic Germans must put "collective need ahead of individual greed" and oppose class conflict, materialism, and profiteering in order to ensure the survival of theVolk—a widespread sentiment in this era.[41] To exemplify and encourage such views, when theHitlerjugend andBund Deutscher Mädel collected donations forWinterhilfswerk (Winter Relief), totals were not reported for any individuals, only what the branch raised.[31] TheWinterhilfswerk campaigns themselves acted as a ritual to generate public feeling.[31] Organisations and institutions such asHitlerjugend,Bund Deutscher Mädel,Winterhilfswerk, but also the Reich Labour Service and, above all, the Nazi party were portrayed as exemplifications and concrete manifestations of the "Volksgemeinschaft".[42]
Hitler declared that he knew nothing of bourgeois or proletarian, only Germans.[43]Volksgemeinschaft was portrayed as overcoming distinctions of party and social class.[44] The commonality this created across classes was among the great appeals of Nazism.[45]
After the failure of theBeer Hall Putsch, Hitler, in the trial, omitted his usual pre-putsch anti-Semitism and centered his defense on his selfless devotion to the good of theVolk and the need for bold action to save them.[46] The Versailles settlement had betrayed Germany, which they had tried to save.[47] Thereafter, his speeches concentrated on his boundless devotion to theVolk, though not entirely eliminating the anti-Semitism.[48] Even once in power, his immediate speeches spoke of serving Germany.[49] While theReichstag fire was used to justify anti-Communist and anti-Semitic violence, Hitler himself spoke on a new life, honor, and unity in Germany.[50] Similarly, theNight of the Long Knives was justified as a peril to the people so great that only decisive action would save them.[51] Goebbels described Hitler after that event as suffering "tragic loneliness" and as aSiegfried forced to shed blood to preserve Germany.[52]
Devotion to thisVolk is common in Nazi propaganda. An account, for instance, of a SA brawl depicted its leader as uncouth and therefore a simple, strong, and honest man of the people.[53]Sturmabteilung speakers were used, in part, for the appeal of their folksy manner.[54] One element ofHorst Wessel's life that was fictionalized out of the movieHans Westmar was the willful provoking of violent conflicts with Communists; Westmar preaches class reconciliation, and his death unifies students and workers.[55] These ideas were also propagandized to theSturmabteilung, whose violent, rebellious and confrontational past had to be transformed into a community organization to be useful in a Germany where Nazis held official power.[56]
This unity was what justified Nazi propaganda; its pejorative connotation had sprung solely from its selfish use, and the Nazis' honorable goal, the unity of the German people, made it honorable for them.[57]
It also justified the one-party state as all that was needed in a society with a united will, where Hitler implemented the will of theVolk more directly than in a democracy.[58] Attacks on Great Britain as a plutocracy also emphasized how the German, being able to participate in hisVolk, is freer than the Briton.[59]
In his pamphletState, Volk and Movement,Carl Schmitt praised the expulsion of Jews from political life without ever using the term "Jew" and using "non-Aryan" only rarely, by praising the homogeneity of the people and theVolksgemeinschaft ensuing; merelyGleichschaltung was not sufficient, but Nazi principles must continue to make the German people pure.[60] EvenCarl Jung's "collective unconscious" was preferred toFreudian concepts because of its communal element.[61]
TheVolksgemeinschaft was also depicted in films on the home-front during World War II, with the war uniting all levels of society, as in the two most popular films of the Nazi era,Die grosse Liebe andWunschkonzert.[62] TheRequest Concert radio show, on which the latter film was based, achieved great popularity by broadcasting music claimed to be requested by men in the armed forces.[63] Attempts to get women of "better classes" to take factory jobs were presented as breaking down class barriers and so helping create a true people's community.[64] Failure to support the war was an anti-social act; this propaganda managed to bring arms production to a peak in 1944.[65]
Nazi legal theory divided all Germans into two categories, namely theVolksgenossen ("Fellow Members") who belonged to theVolksgemeinschaft and theGemeinschaftsfremde ("Community Aliens") who did not. In addition to the duties and responsibilities shared by those in the community, theVolksgenossen were expected to build and create a "Volksgeist" ("Volk spirit") that would encompass the best aspects of the German people. As such, community aliens could not belong, since they were deemed an undermining element in the very foundations of the "Volksgemeinschaft".
The modern German historianDetlev Peukert wrote the following about the purpose of Nazi social policy:
The goal was an utopianVolksgemeinschaft, totally under police surveillance, in which any attempt at nonconformist behaviour, or even any hint or intention of such behaviour, would be visited with terror.[66]
Criminals, if deemed unable to be part of the people's community, were severely punished, even executed for crimes that did not provide for the death penalty, such as doubling the sentence the prosecution asked for when a defendant had not helped put out a fire, thus showing a disregard for the life of his "Volksgenossen" and community.[67] In support of this, Peukert quoted two articles from the projected "Law for the Treatment of Community Aliens" of 1944, which though never implemented owing to bureaucratic quarrels showed the intentions of Nazi social policy:
Article I.
Community Aliens (Gemeinschaftsfremde)
1.
"Community Aliens" are such persons who:
1, Show themselves, in their personality or in the conduct of their life, and especially in light of any unusual deficiency of mind or character, unable to comply by their own efforts with the minimum requirements of the national community.
2.(a) owing to work-shyness or slovenliness, lead a worthless, unthrifty or disorderly life and are thereby a burden or danger to the community:
Or
Display a habit of, or inclination towards beggary or vagrancy, idling at work, larceny, swindling or other less seriously offences, or engage in excessive drunkenness, or for any such reasons are in breach of their obligation to support themselves.
Or
(b) through persistent ill-temper or quarrelsomeness disturb the peace of the community;
3. show themselves, in their personality or the conduct of their life, mentally disposed towards the commission of serious offences (community-hostile criminals [gemeinschaftsfeindliche Verbrecher]) and criminals by inclination [Neigungsverbrecher]).
Article II
Police Measures Against Community Aliens
2.
1. Community aliens should be subject towards police supervision.
2. If supervisory measures are insufficient, the police shall transfer the community aliens to theGau (orLand) welfare authorities.
3. If, in the case of any community alien persons, a stricter degree of custody is required than is possible within the institutions of theGau (orLand) welfare authorities, the police shall place them in a police camp."[68]
In their desire to establish a total state, the Nazis understood the importance of “selling” their ideology to the youth. To accomplish this, Hitler established Nazi youth groups. Young boys from 6–10 years old participated in thePimpfen, similar to thecub scouts. Boys from 10–14 years old participated in theDeutsches Jungvolk, and boys 14–18 years old participated in theHitler Jugend (Hitler Youth).[69] The two older groups fostered military values and virtues, such as duty, obedience, honor, courage, strength, and ruthlessness. Uniforms and regular military drills were supplemented by ceremonies honoring the war dead. Most importantly, the Hitler Youth did their utmost to indoctrinate the youth of Germany with the ideological values of Nazism. Youth leaders bore into the youth a sense of fervent patriotism and utter devotion to Hitler, including military training so as to be ready to join theWehrmacht. By 1939, when membership in the Hitler Youth became compulsory, each new member of theJungvolk was required to take an oath to theFührer swearing total allegiance.
Young girls were also a part of the Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany. Girls from 10 to 14 years old were members of theJungmädelbund, while girls fourteen to eighteen belonged to theBund Deutscher Mädel.[69] Hitler youth girls were instructed in the principles of service, regimentation, obedience, and discipline. Girls were taught to be dutiful wives and mothers. Members of theBund Deutscher Mädel were educated in the skills needed for domestic chores, nursing, and hygiene.
In the early years of the Nazi regime, bonfires were made of school children's differently colored caps as symbolic of the abolition of class differences.[30] But by the end of the 1930s, mostHitler Youth officials were recruited from wealthier families, and the use of differently colored sashes had returned to schools.[3]
Daily life in Nazi Germany was manipulated from the beginning of Nazi rule.Propaganda dominated popular culture and entertainment. Finally, Hitler and the party realized the possibilities of controlling Germany's youth as a means of continuing theReich as they wanted the generation of Germans to follow to be dedicated to the strengthening and preservation of the GermanVolk and of the "Greater German Reich".
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