This thread assumes that Germany in the 1930's through 1945 was a monolithical society made up of exclusively Nazis. This is so far from reality ity defies logic.
Hitler: The Rise to Power Quote:
By 1932 unemployment had reached six million. The Nazis continued to grow and the SA (Brownshirts) numbered 400,000 men. Hitler stood for election as president but was defeated by Hindenburg.
Political violence intensified as the Nazis battled with their communist and socialist enemies. 155 people were killed in political clashes in the largest state, Prussia and the violence increased at election time. The Nazis however were careful not to attack the police while the communists saw the police as their enemy.
The government acted though and banned the Brownshirts in April although it had no effect on the political violence. In May, Von Papen replaced Bruning as Chancellor. He lifted the ban on the Brownshirts and called an election for July.
The Nazi campaign organised by Doctor Joseph Goebbels used propaganda, rallies, posters and marches while Hitler flew throughout Germany, speaking to as many as seven audiences in a day.
The election was a resounding victory for the National Socialists who became the largest party in the Reichstag. The National Socialists won 37.6% of the vote and 230 seats in the election. Hitler refused any offer of coalition unless he was appointed Chancellor
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37.6% was hardly a mandate from German society.
Adolf Hitler Adolph Hitler Nazi Party; Road to Power; Regime; World War II Victories; Holocaust WW2 Quote:
The turning point in Hitler's fortunes came with the Depression which hit Germany in 1930. The democratic regime established in Germany in 1919, the so-called Weimar Republic, had never been genuinely accepted by conservatives, and the powerful Communist Party also rejected it. The Social Democrats and the traditional parties of the center and right were unable to deal with the shock of the Depression, and were, moreover, all tainted with association with the Weimar system, and in the elections of September 1930 the Nazis suddenly rose from obscurity to win more than 18% of the vote and 107 seats in the Reichstag, becoming the second largest party.
Hitler's success was based on winning over the bulk of the German middle-class, who had been hard hit by the inflation of the 1920s and the unemployment of the Depression. Farmers and war veterans were other groups who supported the Nazis. The urban working classes generally ignored Hitler's appeals, and Berlin and the Ruhr towns were particularly hostile. But in these cities the Communists were strong, and the Communist Party also opposed democratic government and refused to co-operate with other parties to block Hitler's rise
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Hitler: The Rise to Power Quote:
The End of Opposition
The Nazi terror increased and beating and killings became more frequent. The Civil Service was purged of Jews and the Nazi’s political enemies. One by one the different political parties were banned or dissolved themselves. The Communists were banned on 7 March, the Social Democrats on 21 June. The Conservative (DVNP), Catholic (Centre) and Liberal parties dissolved themselves and on the 14th of July the NSDAP became the sole legal party in Germany. In May all Trade Unions were disbanded, their leaders arrested and their members forced to join the Nazi controlled German Labour Front. Goebbels noted in his diary “We are the masters of Germany”.
Who voted for the National Socialists?
Comment in 1930 by Helmut Gerlach about rising Nazi support:
“If the sun shines once more on the German economy, Hitler’s voters will melt away like snow.”
Hitler realised that the psychological shock of the economic depression on the German people and the emotions this created: fear, resentment, despair, the longing for reassurance etc., were the most important issues a politician should address himself to.
The main groups who supported the National Socialists were
The young, new voters and those who previously had not voted. There was a four million increase in the electorate between 1928-30 and the Nazi message had a strong appeal to the young and particularly women
Protestant middle-class voters, who had traditionally voted for the DNVP, the DVP or the DDP. They lost confidence in the Weimar Republic with the onset of the “Great Depression” and were fearful of spreading communist influence. One in three of the new Nazi supporters were former conservatives and one in four were former liberals.
Nazi support was strongest in the Protestant and rural areas of Northern and Eastern Germany e.g. Schleswig-Holstein, Pomerania and East Prussia. A Protestant voter was twice as likely to support the Nazis then his Catholic counterpart.
Conservative older voters who believed Hitler would restore the traditional values of the German past e.g. order and discipline.
Although the party did not do as well among the working class, it still managed to capture a significant vote with 40% of its vote coming from this source.
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Throw in the reign of terror that was carried out by the dreaded SS and no sane German would have opposed Hitler after the war started. So where did all of the opposition go? Those who didn't get out before 1939 merely shut up b/c they knew what was good for them if they remained in Nazi Germany. The silence of a large percentage of Germans didn't necessarily mean they supported their madman. Hitlert didn't rise to power though a majority mandate from German citizens and he certainly didn't hold his power through their mandate as well.
Conclusion; when attempting to understand the German people from 1930-1945, one can't ignore the diversity in the German society that simply caved into the reign of terror that the Nazis conducted not only in Germany, but all of Europe. Painting all Germans with such a monmolithic brush would be akin to stating that every vanquished enemy of Germany must have supported HItler after his army conquered them simply because they didn't continue their opposition to his regime. Nothing could be further from the truth.