home learning activity pack - the anne frank trust uk

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FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AGED YEARS OLD

THE NAZIS

HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK

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The loss of the war meant that Germany

had to sign the Treaty of Versailles. One of

the clauses in this treaty was that they

accepted the blame for the war. Many

people thought this was deeply unfair.

Germany had no choice but to sign,

leaving them to pay huge reparations—

£6.6 BILLION.

WORLD WAR 1

This bankrupted Germany, leading to hyperinflation

(money becoming worthless), huge unemployment

and starvation of people. More and more Germans

began to believe the ‘Stab in the Back’ theory,

which blamed the Jews for the loss in the war.

A fter 4 long years of war, Germany

waved the white flag and admitted

defeat on 11th November 1918. Many

of the German troops couldn’t believe it – they

believed they were winning the war. The only

explanation to many of these soldiers is that the

government had ‘stabbed them in the back.’

HOME LEARNING ACTIVITY PACK 2

THE NAZIS

Otto Frank (left) and his brother

Robert (right) both fought for

Germany in WW1

A protest about the Treaty of

Versailles in Berlin in 1932.

Children playing with

worthless banknotes in 1923

GERMANY AFTER

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Although Germany did begin to recover in the 1920s with the help of the Dawes Plan (where

America loaned Germany $45million and gave them longer to repay the war debt) many former

soldiers especially still believed they’d been betrayed.

In 1929 the Wall Street Crash hit, crashing Germany’s econo-

my back to post WW1 levels. Germans were angry, frustrated

and wanted somebody to blame.

Hitler used the ‘Stab in the Back’ myth to blame Jewish people

for the problems in Germany – and people started to listen.

In 1933 Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany with 33% of

the vote. Over the next year he managed to end all opposition

to him. With the death of the German president Hidenburg,

became Fuhrer and Germany was now under a dictatorship.

HOW DID HITLER RISE TO POWER?


THE NAZIS

Hitler at the annual Nazi rally in

Nuremburg 1927

Hitler attracts a growing following.

In 1930, 18.3% of Germans vote

for the Nazi party

In 1923 Adolf Hitler tried to overthrow the government in the

Munich Putsch. He did not have enough support at this time to

be successful - and this landed him in prison where he wrote

his book ‘Mein Kampf.’

Look through pages 2-3 and find out more information on the terms in bold.

EXTRA RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

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Activity


THE NAZIS

Complete the grid below using the information on the next pages. Through this activity

you will have a brief overview of how the Nazis changed life for many people living in

Germany; and then occupied Europe.

LIFE UNDER THE NAZIS

Name of Group What The Nazis Did The Benefits Disadvantages

WOMEN

TEACHERS

UNEMPLOYED

CHRISTIANS

YOUNG

PEOPLE

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The Hitler Youth catered for 10 to 18 year olds. There were separate organisations for boys and girls. The task of the boys section was to prepare the boys for military service. For girls, the organisation prepared them for motherhood.

HITLER YOUTH

"The weak must be chiselled away. I want young men and women who

can suffer pain. A young German must be as swift as a greyhound, as

tough as leather, and as hard as Krupp's steel." – Adolf Hitler

After Hitler came to power, all other youth movements

were abolished and as a result the Hitler Youth grew

quickly. In 1936, the figure stood at 4 million members

and it became compulsory to join the Hitler Youth.


THE NAZIS

This Hitler Youth poster

translates:

”Youth serves the Führer”

The Führer - the name Hitler

gave to himself meaning

Emperor / Leader

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One of the earliest laws passed by Hitler once he came to power in 1933

was the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage. This law encouraged

couples to have lots of children. The Motherhood Cross was awarded to

women who had given birth to the largest number of children. The gold

cross went to women who had produced 8 children; silver was for 6

children and bronze was for 4 children.

"The mission of women is to be beautiful and to

bring children into the world. This is not at all

as un-modern as it sounds. The female bird

pretties herself for her mate and hatches eggs

for him. In exchange, the male takes care of

gathering food, and stands guard and wards off

the enemy." Joseph Goebbels, a leading Nazi, writing in 1929.


THE NAZIS

IN NAZI GERMANY WOMEN

Women were not expected to work in Nazi Germany. There had been

100,000 female teachers, 3000 female doctors and 13,000 female

musicians. By the start of the Second World War, very few German

women were in fulltime work.

As housewives and mothers, their lives were controlled. Women were

not expected to wear make-up or trousers. The dyeing of hair was not

allowed nor were perms. Only flat shoes were expected to be worn.

Women were discouraged from slimming as this was considered bad for

child birth. Women were also discouraged from smoking because it was

considered non-German to do so.

Cover of the Nazi Party

Magazine in 1939

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Changes to the school day were seen as necessary to the

Nazis, and these changes depended on the loyalty of

teachers to Hitler. Teachers had to join the Nazi

Teachers Association, where their history was checked,

to make sure they were pure Germans. Pupils were

encouraged to contact authorities if teachers did

anything against Nazi policy.

"To keep a mentally ill person costs approximately 4 marks a day. There are

300,000 mentally ill people in care. How much do these people cost to keep in

total? How many marriage loans of 1000 marks could be granted with this

money?" Extract from a Nazi Maths Textbook used in schools in 1936.


THE NAZIS

TEACHERS

Biology became a study of the different races to 'prove'

that the Nazi belief in racial superiority was a sound

belief. Science had a military-slant to it. The curriculum

required that the principles of shooting be studied;

military aviation science; bridge building and the impact

of poisonous gasses.

Girls had a different curriculum aimed at preparing them to be a good wife and mother.

As housewives and mothers, their lives were controlled. Women were not expected to

wear make-up or trousers. The dyeing of hair was not allowed nor were perms. Only flat

shoes were expected to be worn. Women were discouraged from slimming as this was

considered bad for child birth. Women were also discouraged from smoking because it

was considered non-German to do so.

From 1935 on, after the Nuremburg

Laws, Jewish school children were not

allowed to attend schools. The Nazi

government claimed that a German pupil

sitting next to a Jew could become

contaminated by the experience.

PE took up 15% of a school's weekly

timetable. Boxing became compulsory

for boys. Those who failed fitness

tests could be expelled from their

schools - and face humiliation from

those who had passed such tests.

‘Away with Him’ – the cartoon is

of a Jewish teacher being

dragged away by the Nazis.

Teacher who were sympathetic of

the Jews also risked getting fired.

IN NAZI

GERMANY

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The unemployed were given a very simple choice:

do whatever work is given to you by the

government or be classed as "work-shy" and be

put in a concentration camp.


THE NAZIS

UNEMPLOYED

The Nazis introduced public work schemes for

men who worked in the National Labour Service

(RAD). Their work would have included digging

ditches, building the new autobahns (motorways)

or planting new forests. The men of the RAD

wore a military style uniform, lived in camps near

to where they were working and received only

what we would term pocket money.

Cheap holidays and the offer of them was a good way to win the support of the

average person in the street. There was also a scheme offering a car. The

Volkswagen - People's Car - was designed so that most could afford it. The

Beetle, designed by Ferdinand Porsche, cost 990 marks. This was about 35

weeks wages for the average worker. To pay for one, workers went on a hire

purchase scheme. They paid 5 marks a week into an account.

Some workers worked from 60 to 72 per week

(incl. overtime) by 1939. Strikes were outlawed.

The average factory worker was earning 10 times

more than those on dole (benefit) money.

Conscription was brought in (1935) and men had

to do their time in the army. To equip these men

with weapons, factories were built and this took

even more off of the unemployment figure.

January 1933 - 6 million January 1934 - 3.3 million January 1935 - 2.9 million January 1936 - 2.5 million January 1937 - 1.8 million January 1938 - 1.0 million January 1939 - 302,000

Unemployment Figures in Germany

Hitler performed an ‘economic miracle’ by

cutting unemployment so drastically.

Although he removed women from the

statistics as they were expected to be at

home with children.

“Workers of the mind and hand!

Vote for the front soldier Adolf Hitler!"

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Originally the Nazi’s promised religious freedom for all those religions

except those which endangered the German race. Once Hitler gained

power he was quick to express his hatred of the Jews. The Jehovah's

Witnesses were also persecuted in Nazi Germany as they refused to do

military service. Its members were sent to Germany's concentration

camps.


THE NAZIS

CHRISTIANS & RELIGIOUS PEOPLE

During the 1930s Hitler tried to create a

church he ran (with restrictions)

allowing only German membership.

Some Protestants resisted by forming

the Confessing Church. However,

generally members of the Christian

Church stayed silent.

In 1943 members of the Confessing church tried to assassinate Hitler.

This included Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Many protestants were arrested and

some executed, including Bonhoeffer. There were 2720 church leaders

taken to camps such as Dachau. 1034 did not survive.

In 1934 Michael von Faulhaber, the

Archbishop of Munich, defended racial

tolerance and called for the people of

Germany to respect the Jewish religion.

However, Faulhaber, and other Catholic

bishops, made no open protest against

the atrocities being committed against

the Jews in Germany.

IN NAZI GERMANY

The New Christianity:

100% Aryan

Philip Zec, A Jewish Cartoonist,

Daily Mirror (1941)

Showing Hitler’s attack on

Religion and also showing what

a ‘pure’ race might look like

(Zec is very anti-Nazi)

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What have you learned about life under the Nazis?

What lessons can we learn from this today?

Many people living in Germany in the 1930s were what we

describe as ‘Bystanders’ – what do you think this means?

REFLECT

From what you’ve learned can you start to suggest reasons at this point as to why so

many people did not stand up for the Jewish community?

You will already know that the Nazi party was deeply antisemitic (they hated Jewish people).


THE NAZIS

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