What was life like for an Aryan German in Nazi Germany? Was the economy poor, or did people live comfortably?

by BillyBobsCow
omegadarlin

This is complicated, because a lot happened in the time that the Nazis were in power, so life for ordinary Germans that did not experience persecution was marked by intense upheaval. Germany was slowly recovering from the Great Depression when the Nazis took power in 1933, but most people were still quite poor. The economy continued to slowly recover - I think there's some contention on how much of this was directly caused by Nazi policy, and how much was underway during the Weimar Republic. Economic well-being varied based on where you lived and what kind of work you did; for instance, if you produced consumer goods, it was likely that your business tanked because of the Depression. If you were not Jewish, a communist, or another persecuted individual, then you likely benefited from the kleptocratic nature of the Nazi regime in that you might benefit from a boycott of a Jewish business in the same market, or you might be given resources that were literally stolen from persecuted groups.

Non-persecuted Germans started to prosper towards the end of the 1930s - before the war. The Nazis also made a lot of consumer goods more accessible to Germans to present the appearance of economic growth; for instance, they wanted people to be more receptive to their messaging over radio, so the government started mass producing radios that decreased in cost by 75% during the 1930s, making it something that could be had in every home. You also were likely to be better off if you had a family, since the Nazi regime created eugenic policies that would not just sterilize persecuted peoples, but provide tax incentives to Germans who had more children. The Nazis also provided other forms of entertainment that were accessible to all "Aryan" Germans, like access to the Olympic games, propaganda films, or trips to the Nuremberg Rallies. Children and adolescents were involved in recreational groups like the Hitler Youth or the Bund Deutscher Madel (the girls' equivalent) that would send members to what were essentially indoctrination camps. All of this, of course, was "enjoyed" under intense surveillance from the SS that clamped down on dissent.

After the war started in 1938, the entire country was mobilized toward the war effort, so they were subjected to rationing (especially with American blockades). The Allies also firebombed Germany extensively, and Germany suffered civilian casualties higher than those of the Blitz in England. A lot of Germans in the post-war years felt that they themselves were victims, even though their inaction, and often their direct participation in, genocidal acts resulted in the slaughter of millions of people in the Holocaust, which indicates that life in Germany during the war (especially as the Red Army started to turn the tide against the Nazis) was pretty bad.

Just as another note - it might go without saying, but the experience varied based on a number of factors, like a German's gender, sexual political affiliation, religion, or sexual orientation. Women were forced out of the workforce and out of colleges because the government thought that they needed to have more children. Communists and other leftists were some of the first people to be interned in concentration camps. Jehovah's Witnesses were also interned and were some of the victims of the genocide. Homosexuals, too, were interned and sent to the gas chambers.

EDIT: Still thinking about this - remember that "Aryan" is a complete construct and that it was more based on what someone was *not* than what they *were*. Aryan is a made-up term that the Nazis used to exclude persecuted groups and in the present-day we need to make sure that we remember it's not a real thing! Definitely not chastising you, OP, but always good to clarify.

Further Reading:

  • Peter Fritzsche, Life and Death in the Third Reich, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008)
  • Frederic C. Tubach, German Voices: Memories of Life During Hitler's Third Reich, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011)