Download Dictatorship and Genocide in Germany WHAP/Napp Do Now: . . . On

Dictatorship and Genocide in Germany
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. . . On the night of May 10, 1933, thousands of Nazi students, along with many
professors, stormed universities, libraries, and bookstores in thirty cities throughout
Germany. They removed hundreds of thousands of books and cast them onto
bonfires. In Berlin alone, more than twenty thousand books were burned. The book
burnings were part of a calculated effort to “purify” German culture. Since April
12, the Nazi German Student Association had been purging libraries, working from
lists of books deemed “un-German.” The authors of some of the books were Jews,
but most were not. . . .
Source: Michael Berenbaum, The World Must Know: The History of the Holocaust as
Told in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Little, Brown and Co.
According to Michael Berenbaum, what was one way the Nazi Party attempted to
control the thoughts of the German people?
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Notes:
I. Adolf Hitler
A. Lived 1889 – 1945
B. World War I veteran
1- Hated the Treaty of Versailles
2- Hated the Weimar Republic
C. By 1921, leader of Nazi Party
1- National Socialist German Workers’ Party or NSDAP
2- Nationalism, Militarism, Anti-Semitism
D. In 1923, attempted an uprising in Munich
1- Imprisoned
2- Wrote “Mein Kampf” or “My Struggle”
E. By 1933, Chancellor of Germany
1- Became dictator of Third Reich
2- Instituted anti-Jewish laws
II. The Holocaust
A. Nazis’ assault on Jews (1933-1945)
1- Culminated in “Final Solution”
a) Six million Jews were murdered
b) Gas chambers and executions
c) Wanted complete extinction of Jewish race
III. Military Aggression
A. Invasion of Poland in 1939
1- Began World War II
Questions:
1- Who was Adolf Hitler?
2- What were important beliefs of the Nazi Party in Germany?
3- Why did so many Germans hate the Treaty of Versailles?
4- Who did some Germans blame for Germany’s defeat in World War I?
5- Define militarism.
6- Define nationalism.
7- Define Anti-Semitism.
8- How did Hitler promise to change Germany?
9- Why do you think many Germans followed Hitler?
10- What was the Holocaust?
11- How was Hitler a fascist and a totalitarian dictator?
Materials adapted from schoolhistory.co.uk
Questions:
1: According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, propaganda is the “the
spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring
an institution, a cause, or a person.” How is the excerpt from the above
children’s book an example of propaganda?
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2: Why did the Nazis use propaganda?
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3: Why are children particularly susceptible to propaganda?
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4: Why did the Nazis control all media in Germany?
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5: Why did the Nazis control the educational system?
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6: How are German Christians portrayed in the above illustration?
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7: How are German Jews portrayed in the above illustration?
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1. Which sequence of events is in the
correct chronological order?
(1) rise of Nazism → Treaty of Versailles
→German invasion of the Soviet Union
(2) Treaty of Versailles → rise of Nazism
→German invasion of the Soviet Union
(3) German invasion of the Soviet Union
→ rise of Nazism → Treaty of Versailles
(4) Treaty of Versailles →German
invasion of the Soviet Union → rise of
Nazism
The German people were never more
pitiable than when they stood by and
watched this thing done. For the raiders
who were let loose on the streets and given
a day to sate [indulge] the lowest instincts
of cruelty and revenge were indeed an
enemy army. No foreign invader could
have done more harm. This is Germany in
the hour of her greatest defeat, the best
overcome by the worst.
While many protested at the outrages,
and millions must have been sickened and
shamed by the crimes committed in their
name, many others looked on stolidly or
approvingly while the hunters hunted and
the wreckers worked. There are stories of
mothers who took their children to
see the fun
— New York Times, November 12, 1938
This 1938 passage criticizes those German
people who did not
(1) participate in these demonstrations
(2) condemn the violent acts of
Kristallnacht
(3) support the government’s policy in
Austria
(4) resist the war effort
3. Which political leader gained power
as a result of the failing economy of the
Weimar Republic?
(1) Adolf Hitler
(2) Francisco Franco
(3) Benito Mussolini
(4) Charles de Gaulle
4. The rise of fascism in Germany
between World War I and World War II
is often associated with the
(1) promotion of ethnic diversity
(2) appeal of the doctrine of nonviolence
(3) establishment of a strong
parliamentary system
(4) impact of the global economic
depression
5. . . . In his classic defense of freedom of
speech in, On Liberty, John Stuart Mill
wrote that if a view is not “fully,
frequently, and fearlessly discussed,” it
will become “a dead dogma, not a living
truth.”
The existence of the Holocaust should
remain a living truth, and those who are
skeptical about the enormity of the Nazi
atrocities should be confronted with the
evidence for it. . . .
— Peter Singer (adapted)
5. Which statement is consistent with the
author’s point concerning the
Holocaust?
(1) The evils of the past are best ignored
and forgotten.
(2) Frequent and full discussion of the
historical evidence of certain events is
desirable.
(3) All eras of history include individuals
that reject existing values.
(4) Every generation must apologize for
the failures of earlier generations.