Life+in+Nazi+Germany

//While reading "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, the 11th grade history students will be learning about what life was like living in Nazi Germany. The overall theme of the unit is about understanding the perceptions of German people and the difficult choices that they had to make while living under the totalitarian rule of Adolf Hitler. In order to enhance student learning and understanding about life and society in Nazi Germany, I have selected a range of video, text and web-based resources. Students will be learning about topics and issues that include://
 * **//The Rise of Adolf Hitler//**
 * **//The Power of Propaganda in Nazi Germany//**
 * **//The Hitler Youth//**
 * **//The Treatment of German Jewish Citizens and the Holocaust//**
 * **//The Legacy of Hitler and Nazi Germany on Modern Day Germany//**

//These resources are meant to help students contextualize their learning of Nazi Germany. Students will be expected to utilize most, if not all, of these resources in the completion of assignments and projects. In closing, students will benefit from the rich material that these resources have to offer. Students will be able to appreciate the perceptions of the German people living though this dark chapter of history and to become sensitive about how this period of history affects the people of Germany today.//

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__**5 Video selections:**__

__//**Propaganda Used in Presidential Elections**//__ This video examines the different propaganda techniques used during the 2012 U.S. Presidential Elections. The purpose for this video is to have the students understand how these propaganda techniques are used to persuade public opinion. These propaganda techniques have been used when Hitler came to power in Germany. Click on the video link here.

__//**Card Stacking Propaganda Technique**//__ This video gives an example of the propaganda technique of card stacking which is used to make one side look the best they possibly can and make the opposing side look the worst they possibly can. This technique was used often by Hitler and his subordinates in Nazi Germany. Click on the video link here.

__//**Hitler Youth Rally Speech - Triumph of the Will 1935**//__ This video shows Hitler speaking a rally where he praises the German youth for their dedication to the Third Reich and that they are being looked upon to lead the country into a new future. The purpose for this video is see how influential Hitler was to the young people and how he conditioned them to support his cause. Click on the video link here.

__//**Heil Hitler!: Confessions of a Hitler Youth**//__ This video was about a former Hitler Youth member who talked about Hitler's ability to recruit the young people into the "war effort." The purpose for this video is for students to understand how peer pressure and propaganda influenced young people to support the Nazis. Click on the video link here.

__//**Dachau Concentration Camp - Documentary - Part 1 and Part 2**//__ These videos are about the legacy of the concentration camp at Dachau. The purpose for this video is for students to understand how the Jewish people were horribly treated by Hitler and the Nazis. Click here for Part 1 and click here for Part 2.

__**5 Web-based resources:**__

//__**German Propaganda Archive - Calvin College**__// The use of propaganda was central to Hitler and Nazi Germany. The archive has a vast collection of propaganda-related primary materials from that period of history. Students will be utilizing this resource to understand how the images and symbols related to propaganda influenced the perceptions and mindset of the German people. Click on the website link here.

__//**A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust - Florida Center for Instructional Technology**//__ This web-based resource has a large collection of primary source materials related to the Holocaust. Students will be utilizing this resource to do a research assignment on the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. Click on the website link here.

__//**Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive**//__ This web-based resource is a unique and accessible collection of Holocaust survivor oral histories that connects listeners with the voices of survivors in order to promote understanding and tolerance in how people relate with one another. Students will be doing a bio-sketch assignment about one of the survivors of the Holocaust. Click on the website link here.

__//**Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust**//__ This is a website for the Museum of Jewish Heritage located in New York City. Students will be reviewing this website in preparation for the field trip to the museum. The students will be doing the tour of the exhibit entitled: Meeting Hate with Humanity - Life During the Holocaust. Click on the website link here.

__//**United States Holocaust Memorial Museum**//__ This web-based resource is dedicated to serve as a living memorial to the Holocaust. The website contains a vast collection of resource materials related to the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. Students will be utilizing this resource as part of their small-group research projects related to culture and society in Germany. Click on the website link here.


 * __5 Text-based information selections:__**

__**The History Place - Hitler's Book "Mein Kampf"**__ This is a text-based article about that provides an general overview of "Mein Kampf." As part of the unit lesson, The Rise of Adolf Hitler, students will be assessing Hitler's perceptions of Germany through his writing of "Mein Kampf." Click on the website link here.
 * Flesch-Kincaid Readability Grade Level: 12.7**

__**Program of the National Socialist German Workers' Party - primary document**__ This is a primary source document detailing the political agenda of what was to become the Nazi party under the leadership of Hitler. Students will be examining this document to understand the conditions that were being set by the Nazis in their pursuit of gaining control over Germany. Click on the document link here.
 * Flesch-Kincaid Readability Grade Level: 9.1**

__**New York Times Archive - "Hitler Endorse By 9 to 1 in Poll on His Dictatorship, but Opposition is Doubled." August 19, 1934**__ This is a primary newspaper source document detailing the German election results that led Hitler to attaining greater power in Germany. Students will be examining this document as part of the unit lesson on the Rise of Adolf Hitler. Click on the document link here.
 * Flesch-Kincaid Readability Grade Level: 9.4**

__**"Mein Kampf Is Being Republished, and That's Good News for Germany," by Jacob Heilbrunn,The Atlantic Weekly - April 25, 2012**__ This is a current event article about the potential republishing in 2015 of Mein Kampf in Germany which has been banned since the end of World War II. Students will be reading this article to understand and assess how present day Germany is dealing with the legacy of Hitler and Nazism. Click on the document link here.
 * Flesch-Kincaid Readability Grade Level: 10.3**

__**"Should Mein Kampf Be Un-Banned?" by Ursula Sautter, TIME - August 13, 2008**__ This is another current event article about republishing of Mein Kampf which students will compare and contrast with the aboved Atlantic Weekly article. Click on the document link here.
 * Flesch-Kincaid Readability Grade Level: 11.3**


 * Posted by John Adams**