Thesis--Catholic University of America. / Bibliography: p. 203-217.

Thesis--Catholic University of America. / Bibliography: p. 203-217.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1965. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: l. [33]-34.

This thesis is broadly concerned with how individuals within German society, the German Resistance to Hitler and the German military reacted to persecution of Jews in Germany before the start of the Second World War and also to reports of German atrocities within German-controlled areas of Europe during the conflict. / The specific focus of this study is an examination of the personal sentiments contained in the writings of Carl Goerdeler, Ulrich von Hassell and Helmuth von Moltke and the recorded reactions to the various and intensifying stages of Nazi persecution of Jews within German-controlled territory. These particular individuals were chosen, as a significant portion of their writings, in the form of diary entries, letters and memoranda have been published and offer a glimpse of personal sentiments and thoughts unaltered by the censors of the Nazi regime. In addition, this study examines the reactions of two German officers, Johannes Blaskowitz and Rudolf-Christoph von Gersdorff, to German atrocities committed in German-occupied Eastern Europe. Their reactions to and courageous protests against Nazi crimes are also a significant part of the overall context of German reactions to Nazi crimes. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

It is the objective of this thesis to examine contacts between the British government and German opponents to Hitler during the "Phoney War" (September 1939-May 1940). Throughout this nine month period opponents to Nazism within Germany sought both material and moral support from the British government for an overthrow of the National Socialist regime. This work analyzes the channels through which communication between the German opposition and the British government were established and the nature of the discussions which took place. The work also examines the British reaction to the German overtures.

No description available.

No description available.

Kurt Gerstein entered the Waffen-SS in 1941 with the intention of working against the Nazi regime from the inside. Despite being required to participate in some of the criminal activities of the SS, Gerstein believed he could be most effective for the resistance if he remained in the SS. This thesis examines the evidence presented in and the results of three separate legal proceedings (a criminal trial, a Denazification hearing and a rehabilitation and compensation case) which took place in the 24 years following Gerstein's death in 1945. Each of the three proceedings was brought about for a different legal purpose, and therefore involved different laws and standards for judgment. However, all of the proceedings dealt with the problem of balancing the incriminating nature of Gerstein's means of resistance against what he had hoped to accomplish, or did accomplish, from that position.

This thesis examines the attempts made by Carl Goerdeler, Ludwig Beck, Ernst von Weizsacker and Adam von Trott zu Solz to obtain the support of the British government in their effort to overthrow the Nazi regime between 1937 and 1940. The circumstances surrounding each mission are detailed, including the degree of readiness on the part of the German opposition for a coup d'etat and the particular form of support sought from the British to increase the chance of success in each case. Consideration is given to the factors which conditioned the British reaction to the resistance emissaries, including the British foreign policy imperatives of the moment, important events in European relations and the attitude and degree of influence wielded by the statesmen to whom the German resistance emissaries addressed themselves.

From 1938 to the outbreak of war in 1939, German opponents of Hitler made numerous contacts with the British government. While the information sent came from a variety of sources, most of the reports landed on the desk of Sir Robert Vansittart, the former Permanent Under-Secretary of the Foreign Office. His "internal-exile" to the position of Chief Diplomatic Advisor, as well as his personality conflicts with his successor, Sir Alexander Cadogan, and Lord Halifax, led to inefficient use of the information received from Germany. German warnings of Hitler's plans and ambitions, when listened to at all, were awkwardly and ineffectively incorporated into British foreign policy.