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Many individuals and groups in Germany that were opposed to the Nazi regime engaged in resistance, including assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler or by overthrowing his regime.[1]

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Christian churches, Catholic and Protestant, contributed another source of opposition. The churches, as institutions, did not openly advocate for the overthrow of the Nazi state, but they remained one of the very few German institutions to retain some independence from the state, and were thus able to continue to co-ordinate a level of opposition to Government policies. Some priests—such as the Jesuits Alfred Delp and Augustin Rösch and the Lutheran preacher Dietrich Bonhoeffer—were active and influential within the clandestine German Resistance.
-Amani Tillman

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Led by Helmuth James von Moltke, the Kreisau Circle was one of the most famous groups to oppose Hitler. It was made up of only 25 churchmen, scholars and politicians. Those in the Circle believed that Hitler was leading them to pure disaster. Rather than resisting against Hitler and his regime right off the bat, the Kreisau Circle was more concerned with planning out Germany’s future. they released the word ‘Basic Principles for the New Order’ in 1943. It was a statement of intention for a new Germany that would take place WITHOUT Hitler or the Nazi Party. However, the Gestapo found out about the Circle and the statement of intention and executed the members quickly.
-Hannah Dunn

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Resistance inside Germany Despite the high risk of being caught by police with the help of their many informers, some individuals and groups attempted to resist Nazism even in Germany. Socialists, Communists, trade unionists, and others clandestinely wrote, printed, and distributed anti-Nazi literature. Many of these rebels were arrested and imprisoned in concentration camps.

There were many plots to assassinate Hitler during the war. After the important Soviet victory at Stalingrad in early 1943, when it looked as though the tide was turning against the German army, a serious assassination attempt was planned by a group of German military officers and carried out in 1944. Hitler escaped the bomb blast with minor injuries. The four leaders of the conspiracy were immediately shot. Later, 200 other individuals convicted of involvement in the plot were executed.

Of the Germans who opposed Hitler's dictatorship, very few groups openly protested the Nazi genocide against Jews. The "White Rose" movement was founded in June 1942 by Hans Scholl, a 24-year-old medical student at the University of Munich, his 22-year-old sister Sophie, and 24-year-old Christoph Probst. Although the exact origin of the name "White Rose" is unknown, it clearly stands for purity and innocence in the face of evil. Hans, Sophie, and Christoph were outraged that educated Germans went along with Nazi policies. They distributed anti-Nazi leaflets and painted slogans like "Freedom!" and "Down With Hitler!" on walls of the university. In February 1943, Hans and Sophie Scholl were caught distributing leaflets and arrested. Together with their friend Christoph, they were executed four days later. Hans's last words were "Long live freedom!"

Key Dates

December 22, 1942
"Red Orchestra" spy executed in Berlin
Arvid Harnack is executed for treason in Berlin. Harnack is a leading figure in the wide-ranging Soviet spy network, dubbed the "Red Orchestra" by the Gestapo (secret state police). The "Red Orchestra" is active in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and inside Nazi Germany. Harnack, a leading figure in the group active inside Germany, was involved in German economic planning. He sought to end Adolf Hitler's dictatorship by helping the Soviet Union defeat Germany. As early as 1936, Harnack began to pass on secret information about German armament production to the Soviet Union. During the war, Harnack combines espionage for the Soviet Union with sabotage and other acts of opposition to Hitler. In 1942, the Gestapo begins watching Harnack. He is then arrested, tortured, and condemned to death. Harnack is strangled and hung from a meat hook. Most of the remaining leaders of the spy network are also arrested and brutally killed.

February 22, 1943
Hans and Sophie Scholl executed in Munich
Hans and Sophie Scholl (brother and sister) are executed in Munich. They had founded the White Rose opposition group in 1942. Both are students at the University of Munich. They write and distribute leaflets opposing the Third Reich. The last White Rose leaflet, which the Scholls scattered in the entrance hall of the University of Munich on February 18, 1943, arouses a particular stir. The leaflet declares that "The day of reckoning has come, the reckoning of German youth with the most abominable tyranny that our people have ever suffered." They are reported by the building janitor to the Gestapo (secret state police) and arrested, along with four others. They are brought before the People's Court. Sophie and Hans are convicted of treason and beheaded.

July 20, 1944
Bomb explodes in Hitler's eastern headquarters
Military reverses following the Soviet victory at Stalingrad in 1943 cause increasing discontent, in the German military, with Adolf Hitler. A small group of high-ranking military officers plans a coup against Hitler. Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, an aide on the general staff of the German armed forces, places a briefcase containing a bomb next to Hitler at his headquarters in Rastenburg, in eastern Germany. During a briefing on the military situation on the eastern front, the powerful bomb explodes, shattering the building. Stauffenberg, who made an excuse to leave after placing the bomb, sees the explosion and returns to Berlin to report Hitler's death. However, the weighty conference table used for military briefings shields Hitler from the full force of the explosion. He survives with minor burns, damaged ear drums, and partial paralysis in his right arm. Stauffenberg is arrested and shot. The other participants of the conspiracy are arrested, tortured, tried for treason, and then brutally executed. They are strangled and hung from meat hooks.

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Some individuals and groups in Germany attempted to resist Nazism, despite the risk of being caught and facing punishment. Learn more about their efforts.

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In 1942, a small group of German adolescents rose, including many people who fully opposed a mandatory membership in the "Hitler Youth." So in Munich 1942, students from a university formed the nonviolent group known as the White Rose resistance group, and handed out "leaflets," or copies, (around 15,00) to the German masses. These leaflets denounced Hitler's crimes, the Nazi's oppression and the mass murdering of the Jews, and they demanded full resistance. The leaders of the Group- Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl and their professor- were found, arrested, and executed by the Gestapo for resisting Nazi regimes.
-Hannah Dunn

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White Rose Group

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The Edelweiss Pirates were another group of adolescents who despised Hitler. The main reason for forming the group, however, was because of the unfair pressure applied onto youth to join the Hitler Youth, and how it was taking over the lives of children. The group arose around 1936, and worked to congregate and encourage young men and women. Many cities in Western Germany began to create their own versions of the "Edelweiss Pirates," such as the "Navajos" in Köln. They were strictly anti-authority and non-conformist. "In a letter from Himmler to Reinhard Heydrich (January 1942) the head of the SS wrote that a half-measured approach to any youth groups that failed to show total loyalty was unacceptable and that members of any such groups had to be dealt with accordingly. Himmler told Heydrich that labour and work camps were inappropriate. They had to be sent to concentration camps for between “2 to 3 years” (History.co.uk)
-Hannah Dunn

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German Non-compliance with Nazi regualtions

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German Non-compliance with Nazi regualtions

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There was a good deal of criticism of and resistance to the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1939. Much of this resistance was conducted in secret because of the expansive Nazi police state and the extensive powers of agencies like the Gestapo. Many Germans attempted to rebel despite the extreme consequences like being arrested and put in concentration camps. The German resistance consisted of small, isolated groups that were unable to mobilize widespread political opposition. Approximately 77,000 German citizens were executed for one or another form of resistance.
-Amani Tillman

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There were many plots to assassinate Hitler but one of the most serious ones was carried out by a group of German military officers that planted a bomb in 1944. Hilter escaped with minor injuries, the 4 leaders were shot and 200 more people accused of being involved were executed.
-Amani Tillman

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One of the earliest internal oppositions to the Nazi Party was the political resistance created by leftist parties known as The Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party of Germany. Although the leftist parties tried to overrule, they were quickly diminished by force by the Security Police (Sipo) of Germany.
-Hannah Dunn