What was life like in Germany during WWII? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

This is a very broad question, so forgive me if my answer glosses over a few things, I can clarify if need be.

Economically:

Germany, unlike other nations, did not adopt a wartime economy at first. Germany didn't go into total war mode until 1943. Before this German civilians still had access to luxuries that citizens in other countries could only dream of. German women could still buy makeup, and other frivolous things, and just in general the economy did not represent that of a nation in a major war. Starting in 1943 Himmler began to seriously push Hitler to declare a total war, arguing that in order to be victorious in the war they needed every factory producing arms and ammunition to replace their losses on the Eastern Front. To this end the Germans ordered that the economy be shifted into total war mode. Small business were closed and their workers were either pressed into the army or factories. Over 9000 business were closed in the province of Brandenburg alone.

Rationing had started in October 1939, shortly after the conquest of Poland, but with the advent of total war it became more severe. In 1939 the ration was set at 2,500 for civilians, 3,600 for soldiers, and 4,650 for laborers who worked with heavy machinery or worked in particularly strenuous tasks. The levels decreased in 1943 and than sharply decreased again in 1945. Rationing was also introduced on things like clothing and fuel, which were needed desperately for the war effort.

Socially:

Things weren't much better on this front. Germany began to enact increasingly draconian laws that drastically increased the amount of things one could be imprisoned for or even killed for. Harsher speech laws and new laws that criminalized association with criminals and political dissidents were instituted through out the war. 117,000 women were convicted of crimes and were sent to prison in 1942 alone.

The German population also had to suffer the natural consequences of being on a losing side. German cities were bombed heavily, starting full scale in 1942. Goering's Luftwaffe had promised that they would be able to stop any allied bombers from reaching Germany. He was unable to fulfill that promise and many German cities like Hamburg and Dresden were basically wiped off the map. Also as Germany gave up land, the native German population had to suffer through numerous atrocities including mass rapes and mass executions.