How did World War 2 affect German civilians?

Answer 1

German civilians were not affected by the war until 1941, the turning point of the war. The daily life of many was not changed from the late 1930's, and rationing was relatively minimal. (Hitler feared poor morale at home would induce the riots that contributed to their defeat in WW1.) Anyhoo, to the interesting bits, after the german defeat at Stalingrad (1943), german civilians were under great pressure at the home front to enhance the war effort. Women were eventually employed working 10-12 hours a day in factories, and children from the Hitler youth and a form of german "girl guides" were used in desperation to operate anti-aircraft batteries, searchlights, and eventually, the defence of Berlin itself! Allied 'carpet-bombing' on several german cities including Berlin & Hamburg killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. By this stage the german civilians were being well-and-truly annihilated.

Despite this, some aspects of daily life continued; even with the Red Army on Berlin's doorstep, garbage runs still operated, flower sellers, shop owners, approx. 600 000 Berlin civilians continued their daily life, with unwavering trust, in the fuhrer (or control by the deluded fuhrer). The impact on these civilians hit them when they were killed.

Other german civilians include those in concentration camps who worked and died (hundreds of thousands) in steel and armaments factories for the war effort. These civilians included the mentally ill and the physically disabled, considered weaknesses to the supreme, nordic race.

German POW's in Russia were held for many years after the war, in appalling conditions; out of more than 200 000, 5000 soldiers returned in the 1950's.

Apart from all this, there was the great shame in being manipulated by the fuhrer, losing the war, and being acused of the deaths of millions of Jews.