ABSTRACT
Resistance is a singularly tricky word to define since it is difficult to decide when mere grumbling and refusal to toe the line becomes active resistance. During peacetime resistance from youth groups had been largely motivated by a resentment at the monopoly position of the Hitler Youth which had led to the disbanding of all other organisations, and by a generational conflict which was exacerbated by the frustrations of a totalitarian regime. The Communists only began active resistance after the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Haider told Beck that there was little chance of successful resistance in time of war. Jessen had contacts with the Kreisau Circle and tried, without success, to overcome the differences between them and the conservatives around Goerdeler. The resisters pinned their hopes on General von Falkenhausen, the military commander in Belgium, a conservative aristocrat of the old school who did what he could to curb the excesses of the SS.
