Rhetorical Context

         The German resistance movement in Nazi Germany, dubbed Widerstand, is probably the most important facet of Jewish identity from the twentieth century. The movement marked a defiant group of Germans who wanted to bring liberty back to their people, and wanted to stop an evil superpower from taking the world. The identity itself encompasses so many “groups from young to old, from Jewish to Communist”, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what the full scope of the protest represented and what its goals were (Brothers). It is evident, through analysis of the protest rhetoric and context surrounding the protest’s identity, that the rhetorical goals of Widerstand literature in Nazi Germany included helping, shifting public opinion on Nazism and creating an intellectual disarray within Germany regarding Hitler.

            It is important to look at the identities that encompassed the Widerstand movement and how they affected the protest. There were two different groups of people that took the most part in the protest; Communists and Jews. The distinction is not absolute, since many famous protestors such as Herbert Baum had “background in both the Socialist and Jewish youth movements” (Brothers, Weisel). The Baum group, along with the White Rose, were two of the most important groups involved in the anti-Fascist protest, and they both included elements of Jewish identity and Communist identity. The Baum group was a Communist group, led by a Jew. They actually “produced a monthly news sheet entitled The Way Out (Der Ausweg)” which was meant to “urge German soldiers to fight [with them]” (McDonough). On the other hand, the White Rose society was comprised of “Jewish youth… previously involved in Socialist movements in Germany post-World War I” (WRS). It is clear that the rhetoric used had to have been inclusive to both identities involved, which meant they had to share a common enemy.

The Jewish identity was one greatly at risk by the Nazi’s actions, and the protest was fueled by the instinct of self-preservation from German Jews. A people’s identity is important to them, and most will risk their lives in the name of that identity. The Socialist protestors were also important, as they opposed the Nazis for different reasons, yet had goals that aligned very much with that of the Jews, mainly “striking at their Nazi enemies” whether that be by intellectual or military means (Cox). The identity couldn’t be considered a small part of the full identity of protestors who have stood up to their government for what they believe in, or be a facet of humanitarianism, even though they wanted to help Jews escape the clutched of the Nazi regime. This is because of the split in origin of the protestors, which meant that the entirety of the protest couldn’t be bunched in to either humanitarians or government resistors, but instead had a splicing of both for the same cause. In any case, it is evident that the identity of Nazi resistors in Germany, though partially split on ideology and origin, shared goals of ending the third Reich.

Intellectual resistance came in many forms, such as religious opposition, resistance pamphlets, and cultural protest. The most influential opposition was the White Rose Society in Germany, which released anti-Nazi leaflets. This group really defined intellectual protest of Nazis in their own way. They wrote about a very important aspect of the protest, which was self-preservation of the German people’s identity. Nazism was a stain on the German name, and would bring “shame that will befall [German] children when the veil has fallen from [their] eyes” (WRS #1). This use of pathos was strong, and appealed to Germans who simply followed Hitler because he promised to make the world a better place for their children. The White Rose was great at producing pamphlets with logical and emotional appeal. Their idea of protest was mainly to keep the German identity strong and separate from the Nazis. This goal ended up becoming a common goal among German opposition. Instead of attempting something like destroying a Nazi headquarters, the “White Rose, along with other youth groups that followed, urged people to separate themselves from the Nazi culture, and instead preserve themselves” (McDonough). The White Rose’s use of emotional appeal was preceded only by logical appeal to the Germans. They attempted to hold a mirror up to Germans and make them see what evils they were letting their country participate in. Those who followed Hitler envisioned a utopia, but as a White Rose pamphlet puts it, “all ideal forms of government are utopias… a state cannot be constructed on a theoretical basis” (WRS #3). A rhetorical slap in the face, it seems, this statement is both logical and critical of German’s docile behavior toward Hitler. This kind of intellectual opposition was important rhetoric, as it set a precedent for making Germans self-critical of their involvement in Nazism rather than outwardly critical toward Hitler. It would later become the “most important way Germans fought the Nazi culture”, as public protest became more and more heavily outlawed (Cox). The White Rose used many forms of rhetoric in their anti-Nazi pamphlets, and set important rhetorical standards for further literary opposition.

One of the biggest facets of German resistance was the cultural protest that Widerstand is so famous for. The intent was to cast away the “imperialist ideology” and “centralized hegemony” that the Nazis attempted to place within German culture (WRS #5)[i]. This kind of goal is not one intended to be done with military use, because of the very nature of the goal. The goal of this area of protest was to bring about a full change in Nazi society, which can only be done by means of changing the society’s intellectual stance. It relies more on the people of society than the leaders in this case, which created an interesting dynamic for this protest to fit. Opposition to Hitler was the act of destroying his dreams of Germany, which included totalitarian authority and a hegemonic structure for him to sit atop, but not necessarily by absolute destruction of the regime. One example of intellectual opposition focused on culture was the famous Swingjugend (Swing Youth) of Germany. Jazz had been a hot button issue in Germany since the Roaring Twenties, and Hitler set out “to eradicate [Jazz] music” (HolocaustMusic). The Swing Youth opposed this cultural restriction and decided to dance to Jazz music anyway, forming secret clubs to play Jazz and swing dance. This is an important example not only because Youth were such a big part of the protest movement, but also because they resisted Hitler without public protest. The kind of inner protest was important, since “public protest had been deemed illegal by Hitler” (McDonough). The only way to really oppose his regime was to was to break his rules and make small dents in his ideology’s control over people. This was accomplished by Swing Youth and serves as a staple cultural protest to government hegemony.

Religious opposition was even used to protest Hitler. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German protestant pastor who knew that the use of religion would be a great rhetorical tool to fight Nazi society, since the very doctrine of religion is meant to take precedence over societal standards. His way of protest was originally “radio broadcast criticizing Hitler,” but it was cut off mid-air (BiographyOnline)[ii]. It wouldn’t be until later that Bonhoeffer would preach a doctrine of anti-Fascism in a meaningful way. His use of religion was interesting, however, because it meant to bring Hitler down not by means of cultural or even societal resistance, but by means of something that trumps both in the eyes of religious people. God’s word is absolute according to the Bible itself, so if it opposed Nazism, Germans would have to think twice about their support. This kind of ultimate ethos was exactly what the movement needed to include all three rhetorical means of persuasion; logos, pathos, and ethos. Appealing to God himself became such a threat to Nazis, his “activities lead to his arrest in 1943” (BiographyOnline). His arrest highlighted the importance of his use of religion to attack the Nazi way of life. Nazis knew how dangerous the use of religion could be to end their control on the minds of Germans.

The rhetoric involved in anti-Nazi protest was diverse, and included participation from multiple identities, all for the same cause. Widerstand preserved the German identity from the stain of Nazism both during the war, and following it. Through use of cultural, religious, and intellectual opposition to Hitler and Nazism, Widerstand participants got their names in history as the “most important defense of German identity in history” (Brothers). They managed to disassociate the term Nazis from the term Germans forever.

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[i] WRS – White Rose Society, one of the largest anti-Nazi intellectual movements. The website that features them includes six important pamphlets produced and distributed by the White Rose society.

[ii] BiographyOnline wrote a biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and recounted his exploits.