http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch16.htm<snip>To win emergency powers, Hitler needed a two-thirds vote of approval from parliament. With his new numbers in parliament and the support of conservative and middle-road politicians, he won his two-thirds. The only party to oppose the emergency powers (the Enabling Act) was the Social Democrats. The Communists, whose votes would have prevented a two-thirds majority were not present. They had been arrested.
Armed with emergency powers, Hitler now moved against the Social Democrats and their trade unions. In May and June their headquarters were occupied. They were declared illegal and enemies of the people and the state. More Communists were arrested and imprisoned, along with socialists, liberals and trade unionists - all those deemed by the Hitler regime as dangerous Leftists. The first concentration camps appeared, to number about fifty by the end of the year, some of them established by Himmler's SS and some by the Brown Shirts (the S.A.). Despite the continued German proclivity toward order and legality, a few of the political prisoners were murdered, and some graft appeared as a few were ransomed to relatives or friends. snip
Wages and the standard of living remained relatively low for Germans, but the aim of the government was increased industrial production of non-consumer goods. Unemployment was falling, and business optimism returned.
In 1935 compulsory labor service was introduced, and unemployment was reduced further as tax incentives were introduced to persuade women to leave the labor force, to return to what was considered traditional for German women: cooking, children and church attending.
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