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Nazi Party: Definition, Philosophies & Hitler - HISTORY

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The Nazi Party was a political organization that ruled Germany through murderous, totalitarian means from 1933 to 1945 under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler.

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During Fidel Castro's tenure as President of Cuba, he survived an estimated 638 attempts on his life - and that's just from the CIA.

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The fascist dictator of Germany and leader of the Nazis, Hitler started World War II and was responsible for the murder of millions of people.

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Discover the life of Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who was forced into hiding during World War II, in our Anne Frank facts...
All people should be treated equally, right? Well, sadly, throughout history, there have been many people who have been treated differently because of where they come from, what religion they follow, or whether they're a boy or a girl. And sometimes, this still happens today!

Thankfully, the incredible stories that people leave behind can be used to educate and inspire people to be kinder to one another, no matter their background. One such story, is that of Anne Frank...

Anne Frank facts
Anne Frank in 1942, Photo Collection Anne Frank House
Full name: Annelies Marie Frank

Born: 12 June 1929

Hometown: Frankfurt, Germany

Occupation: Jewish diarist

Died: February 1945

Best known for: Her diary entries during World War II

Also known as: Anne Frank

Who was Anne Frank?

Anne Frank was born in Germany in 1929 during a time when the country was troubled. Many people had lost their jobs and were becoming poorer and Adolf Hitler - the leader of the Nazi* party - was blaming Jews* for Germany's problems.

Afraid for their safety, Anne's parents moved the family to Holland when Anne was just four years old. Anne lived and went to school in Amsterdam, and had to learn Dutch. She made lots of friends, and spent her free time reading and playing table tennis.

But when World War II broke out, life for Anne and her family became much harder. The Nazis imposed strict rules on Jews, restricting the places they could visit, the shops they could use and even the schools they went to. Anne's father lost his company, as Jewish people were no longer allowed to run their own businesses.

Anne Frank's house

In 1942, the Nazis wanted to take Anne's elder sister, Margot, to Germany, but her family refused to be separated and went into hiding. Anne's father had spent several months preparing a hiding place, in the backhouse of his company at Prinsengracht 263. Anne later named it the ' Secret Annex'.

The Secret Annex was above the warehouse. The entrance to the Annex was later hidden behind a bookcase. Anne's father, Otto Frank, enlisted help from four of his employees who worked at the office and who became known as ' the helpers ' - Miep Gies, Bep Voskuijl, Johannes Kleiman and Victor Krugler. The helpers brought the family food, clothing and other supplies while they were in hiding. The people working in the warehouse didn't know about the people in hiding, except for Johannes Voskuijl, Bep's father, who made the book case.

The Franks were the first family to move into the Secret Annex. Soon after, another family moved in - Hermann and Auguste van Pels, and their son Peter. Later followed by Fritz Pfeffer.

The diary of Anne Frank
Anne Frank's first, red chequered diary. Photo Collection Anne Frank House.
On her 13th birthday, Anne was given a diary. She loved writing and dreamed of becoming a famous writer one day. She named her diary, Kitty.

Anne would write about everyday events in her diary; things that probably didn't seem that important at the time, but that have helped us form a picture of what life was like during this incredibly difficult time in history.

She wrote about what she ate, the film stars that she admired, the books she read, and the arguments she would have with her mother. She also wrote about being in hiding, the fears and difficulties, and how she longed to go outside.

"Footsteps in the house, the private office, the kitchen, then... on the staircase. All sounds of breathing stopped, eight hearts pounded... Then we heard a can fall, and the footsteps receded. We were out of danger, so far!"

- An extract from Anne's diary
When in hiding, the Franks, the van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer had to be incredibly careful to ensure they weren't discovered. For example, they weren't allowed to flush the toilet during the day in case the warehouse workers heard them, and Anne was only rarely allowed to open a window. She could never go outside, either.

How did Anne Frank die?

On 4th August 1944, the Nazis raided the Prinsengracht 263 and found the hiding place. They took the 8 people in hiding to Westerbork - a camp that held Jewish people and others captive - in Holland. A month later, they were sent to Auschwitz, a larger concentration camp* in Poland. Men and women were separated. Eventually, Anne and her sister Margot were separated from their mother and sent to another concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, on a crowded train.

Conditions at the camp were extremely poor. It was cold and wet, there was little food to eat and disease was common. Anne and Margot both died at the camp in February 1945 - just a few months before the end of World War II. It is believed that they died of a disease called typhus.

Anne and Margot's mother, Edith, also died at Auschwitz. Their father Otto was the only survivor of the eight people in hiding in the Secret Annex.

Anne Frank's story

Anne's diary was saved by one of the helpers, Miep. When Anne's father Otto - the only surviving member of the Frank family - returned to Amsterdam at the end of the war, he received his daughter's diary from Miep, at the day he heard that Anne and Margot died in Bergen-Belsen. He started to read Anne's diary and published it, making Anne's dream of becoming a writer a reality. The diary was published in 1947, titled: The Secret Annex.

Since its publication, Anne Frank's diary has sold millions of copies around the world and has been translated into more than 70 languages. It remains an important account of the treatment that Jewish people suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Otto hoped that his daughter's diary would educate readers on the dangers of hatred against others, prejudice and discrimination.

In 1960, with the help of Otto, the former hiding place opened its doors as a museum, named the Anne Frank House. Each year, it is visited by more than 1.2 million people from around the world, wanting to learn more about Anne Frank's life story.

*The Jews are people born into a Jewish family or practice the religion of Judaism.

*The Nazis were a group of people who followed the ideas of a German leader named Adolf Hitler.

*Concentration camps were places where Nazis held Jews and others. Many people lost their lives in camps due to the harsh treatment they faced, like being forced to work, and the lack of food, space and healthcare. Auschwitz, the largest concentration camp complex was based in Poland.

What did you think of our Anne Frank facts? Leave a comment below and let us know!

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Anne Frank facts - National Geographic Kids

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Discover the life of a Jewish family in hiding during World War II, in our Anne Frank facts. Who was Anne Frank? What did Anne write in her diary during World War II?

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Sunglasses and sun cream at the ready, gang! It's time to learn all about this cool Caribbean country in our Cuba facts!

Cuba facts

Cuban flag

Map of Cuba

Cuba: geography and landscape

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean Sea. Cuba and its neighbours form the Greater Antilles, a chain of islands created millions of years ago when two of the Earth's tectonic plates collided.

This Caribbean country is a long and narrow island. It stretches 1,200km from east to west, but it's only 100km wide in most places. High mountains and rolling hills cover about one third of Cuba, and the other two thirds of the island are lowland plains used mainly for farming.

Cuba's incredible nature

Cuba has many different habitats, from mountain forests to jungles and grasslands. There are even small deserts, too! These different ecosystems are home to unique plants and animals, some of which aren't found anywhere else on Earth.

Many interesting creatures live in Cuba's thick forests. Most famous is the bee hummingbird, the smallest bird in the world. Adult bee hummingbirds grow to only five centimetres long! The world's smallest frog lives in Cuba, too - the Mount Iberia frog, with a body only one centimetre long. How's that for teeny-tiny?!

History of Cuba

Cuba's original inhabitants were the Ciboney and Guanahatabey people. About a thousand years ago, the Taino people from Venezuela took over the island. In 1511, forces from Spain defeated the Taino and claimed the island as a Spanish territory.

The Spanish forced many of the Taino people into slave labour. Most died from overwork and from diseases brought by the Europeans. Hundreds of thousands of African slaves were then brought to Cuba, mainly to plant and harvest sugarcane.?

American forces helped drive the Spanish out of Cuba in 1898, and by 1902, Cuba had won independence. However, the United States had a strong influence over the island until 1959, when the communist revolutionaries took control, led by Fidel Castro.

Cuban government and economy

Cuba is a socialist state run by the Cuban Communist Party. Cubans vote for their leaders, but the communist party is the only legal party. Fidel Castro was president, prime minister and commander of the armed forces until February 2008, when his brother, Raúl Castro, took over. In 2018, a new leader took over, Miguel Díaz-Canel.

The United States had been hostile toward Cuba since the communists took power in 1959. But since Fidel Castro stepped down, the United States and Cuba have built a stronger relationship. In 2015 the United States reopened its embassy in Cuba - where American diplomats live to work with the Cuban government. Soon after, Cuba did the same in the United States.

Cuban people and culture

The mixture of native, African and European influences in Cuba gives this island a lively culture that is known worldwide! The introduction of communism to the country in 1959 has had a big impact on the people - both positive and negative.

Cuba's history is reflected in its food, language, art, and, most of all, its music. All year round, it seems as if bands are everywhere in Havana. The main musical form is called son, which combines lively rhythms with classical guitar. Unlike most countries in Latin America, Cuba's favorite sport is not football - it's actually baseball! Baseball came to Cuba from the United States in the 1860s. Many international baseball stars have come from Cuba, and the Cuban national team is one of the best in the world.

Credits
Huts on a beach in Cuba: Gvictoria, Dreamstime. City streets in Cuba: Evgenia Bolyukh, Dreamstime. Vinales Valley, Cuba, at sunset: Massimo Bocchi, Shutterstock. Colour buildings in Havana: Kamira, Shutterstock. Musicians playing music in Havana, Cuba: Filipe Varela, Dreamstime.

What did you make to these cool Cuba facts? Let us know in a comment, below!

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Cuba facts for kids | National Geographic Kids

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Sunglasses and sun cream at the ready, gang! It's time to learn all about this cool Caribbean country in our Cuba facts! Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean Sea. Cuba and its neighbours form the Greater Antilles, a chain of islands created millions of years ago when two of the Earth's tectonic plates collided.

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SPEAKER 1: We're standing in Munich looking at the House of Art, which was once called the House of German Art. SPEAKER 2: It was built for Adolf Hitler, and was a place to promote a very specific idea of German art. SPEAKER 1: This is thought to be the very first building that Hitler had commissioned for the Nazi state, and this was to be the first of many buildings they were to be constructed around the nation that were the embodiment of National Socialist ideology. SPEAKER 2: As we look at this building, it's hard not to notice that the Nazis were drawing on the classical tradition of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. SPEAKER 1: Yes. But by way of 19th century classical revival traditions, especially in Germany, we might think of the work of Schinkel, up in Prussia, in Berlin, especially, and we might think of the work of Klenze, here in Munich. These were artists that took the ancient tradition and appropriated them for their age. This building is a little bit different. It is even more spare. It is even more stripped down. But we can see this long door colonnade on either side, giving a sense of order and power. SPEAKER 2: And I think timelessness is another words that we should use about this architecture. There was an aspiration toward the eternal, or timelessness-- that ancient Greek architecture stood for those very values that the Nazis wanted to embody, as opposed to what they considered degenerate art, or sickly, unhealthy art, that was actually exhibited just a few blocks away. SPEAKER 1: There were two major exhibitions of art that were opened in 1937 that were meant to be seen in opposition to each other, and they were only about a block and a half from each other. The Great Exhibition of German Art opened here, at the House of German Art. But then in a temporary exhibition space was the first iteration of the Entartete Kunft Exhibition, the Degenerate Art Exhibition. SPEAKER 2: We use that word "degenerate," and what it really meant for the Nazis was an art that was sickly and unhealthy-- the art that today we hold as most dear. If you go to modern art museums, you'll be looking at the art the Nazis considered "degenerate"-- artist like Schmidt Rottluff or Paul Klee or Max Ernst, Kirchner. All of the great early modernists. And those artists were drawing on so-called primitive art. They deformed the human body. They used extreme colors. They distorted space. These were all things that Hitler rejected. He was looking for an art that was ideal and beautiful and perfect, and that represented a kind of timelessness. SPEAKER 1: So this architecture and the art that it was meant to house were tied up in National Socialist ideology. Germany had gone through a very rapid industrialization. And the National Socialists, the Nazis, looked back to a kind of invented agrarian past that they romanticized. And so the contemporary ills that came with industrialization, that came with urbanization, were vilified. And art that was representative of those changes, a kind of international character, a kind of risk taking-- all of the aspects that we associate with modern art-- is something that was vilified. And this building was built specifically as a kind of antidote. SPEAKER 2: And you could say that another aspect of modern art is that it's constantly changing. There's Cubism and Futurism and Dadaism and all of these movements, always trying to stay contemporary as opposed to what Hitler was wanting for the Third Reich, which was timeless. SPEAKER 1: In fact, Hitler spoke to this directly. SPEAKER 2: In the speech that Hitler gave on the opening of the first exhibition, he said, "Until the moment when national socialism took power, there existed in Germany a so-called 'modern art.' That is, to be sure, almost every year, another one. National Socialist Germany, however, wants, again, a German art." So when Hitler says, "a German art," make no mistake. What he means by that is eradicating another kind of art and denying those artists the ability to make art, sending some of them off to concentration camps. The artist whose work appears on the cover the Entartete Kunst exhibition was sent to a concentration camp and murdered. This was serious, frightening propaganda. SPEAKER 1: So the kind of art that was being exhibited here was really an art of exclusion, and it was really a kind of propaganda. And it reminds us of just how powerful the visual arts can be as a tool of the state. And the person who embodies this most is a man named Adolf Ziegler, who was a painter, and the man responsible for putting together the first exhibition of great German art here in the House of German Art, and also organizing the Entartete Kunst exhibition. And Ziegler was a favorite of Adolf Hitler. In fact, his painting, The Four Elements, was hung in the Reich's chancellery, in Hitler's own office in Berlin. Characteristic of Ziegler's work and characteristic of much of the painting and sculpture that was exhibited in this first exhibition in the House of German Art is a classicism-- we see an emphasis on eternal properties, like the four elements, like the four seasons. And we see an emphasis on a particularity and a kind of hyper-clarity that we might associate with 15th century northern art. SPEAKER 2: And the art that was exhibited in the degenerate art exhibition was hung with art by people who were mentally and physically handicapped. So that was art that was associated with all that the Nazis were eradicating-- literally murdering. SPEAKER 1: And it was wildly popular. Estimates put the attendance to the Entartete Kunst exhibition between two and three million people. And you know what? Even now, in the beginning of the 21st century, there is still real controversy about modernism. People still get upset. And I think it's important to understand our uncomfortableness, but also the kind of historical dimensions by which intolerance of art can become dangerous. SPEAKER 2: Very dangerous. Maybe this is a good time to read a little bit more from Hitler's speech at the inauguration of that first exhibition. "Art can, in no way, be a fashion. As little as the character in the blood of our people will change, so much will art have to lose its moral character and replace it with worthy images, expressing the life course of our people. Cubism, Dadaism, Futurism, Impressionism have nothing to do with our German people. I will therefore confess now, in this very hour, that I have come to the final, inalterable decision, to clean house-- just as I have done in the domain of political confusion-- and, from now on, rid the German art life of it's phase-mongering." Those are chilling words. SPEAKER 1: And, of course, Hitler did with people what he also did with the art. SPEAKER 2: It's interesting to note that the motto of the Austrian avant-garde-- and Hitler was, after all, Austrian. SPEAKER 1: And he was a would-be artist. SPEAKER 2: The motto was, "to each age its art, and to art it's freedom"-- the very opposite of the ideals that Hitler was trying to promote.

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Troost, House of German Art and the Entartete Kunst exhibition (video) | Khan Academy

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Paul Troost's the House of (German) Art, 1933-37 is discussed in relation to the Great Exhibition of German Art and the Entartete Kunst Exhibitions of 1937 in Munich. The House of German Art now exhibits international contemporary art in direct opposition to the original National Socialist intent.

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John F. Kennedy as president (article) | Khan Academy

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Read about the election, presidency, and assassination of president John F. Kennedy.

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Cultural heritage at risk: Syria (article) | Khan Academy

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Syria, home to some of the oldest and culturally rich cities and archaeological sites in the world, is currently experiencing significant devastation. Damage has been reported at all of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Syria, and this is only the tip of the iceberg. Not only is direct shelling and…

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War and violence make it hard to vaccinate children in certain parts of the world. In this lesson, we will look at the challenges that war brings when it comes to accessing vaccines. Let's use the war in Syria as an example.

When did the civil war in Syria start?
The civil war in Syria started in 2011, and it is still happening today.

What is the war in Syria about?
The war in Syria started as a battle between those who were for and those who were against President Bashar al-Assad. He did not allow the people of Syria to have democratic freedoms. Ordinary people did not have basic privacy, as the government watched and kept track of them. The government censored those with different views and even sent them to prison. At the same time, the economy was weak and many people struggled with poverty. These are just a few of the many factors that led to pro-democracy protests in 2011. They were part of the widespread Arab Spring uprisings and rebellions taking place throughout the Arab world.

The government used violence to try to stop the protests. The protestors then demanded that al-Assad resign as president. In response, the government used more violence. The protestors took up arms to defend themselves and tried to remove government forces from their cities.

The war in Syria keeps evolving. There are conflicts between religious groups, ethnic groups, and terrorist groups. Several other countries have become involved over the years, including Russia, Iran, the USA, the UK, France, Turkey, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. Some of these countries are directly involved in the conflict, some provide political support, and some supply weapons.
How have people in Syria been affected? "Children inside Syria tell us that they feel hopeless. They have witnessed their friends and families being killed. Their homes are now rubble. They are hungry, often sick. They can't find clean water. Hospitals are barely functioning. Even if their school is still standing, it's probably far too dangerous to attend."
- Save The Children
The war in Syria is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world today. As of March 2020, nearly 600 thousand people have been killed or are missing as a result of the war. More than 2 million people have been injured and now live with permanent disabilities.

More than 6.7 million people have had to leave their homes due to violence, but remain in Syria and are known as internally displaced persons. Another 6.6 million people have had to leave Syria, becoming refugees. Together, that's more than 13.5 million people who have fled their homes. That number is more than half of Syria's pre-war population. Since the war started, more than 1 million Syrian children have been born in neighbouring countries as refugees.

It can be difficult to imagine these overwhelming numbers. To picture them more easily, let's compare them to provinces in Canada:

More than 600,000 Syrians have been killed or have gone missing.

That's more than all of the people in Newfoundland and Labrador (521,000).

More than 13.5 million Syrians have been forced to leave their homes because it was too dangerous to stay.

That's more than the populations of British Columbia (5.1 million), Alberta (4.4 million), Manitoba (1.4 million), and Saskatchewan (1.2 million) combined.

Keep in mind that fleeing one's home involves many risks. Refugees must cross war zones, often without transportation or access to food and water. Many people have died trying. Even for those who flee safely, life is not easy. Belongings get left behind or destroyed, and refugees usually end up in a country where they don't speak the language or have many rights. They arrive without jobs, food, shelter, or money.

Canada has welcomed more than 74,000 refugees from Syria so far. These refugees have escaped from some of the most dangerous situations in the world. They have had to be smart, strong, and brave, just to survive. As members of our society, they make Canada a better country.

To hear some Syrian children talk about the war and how it has affected them, watch the video below.
How is war affecting the vaccination of children in Syria?
Given what you've learned about the civil war in Syria, it's not hard to understand why vaccinating children in any war zone is difficult and dangerous. You might wonder why it is a priority to vaccinate children during a war. The lack of proper sewage systems, clean water, and access to healthcare in a war zone make it easy for deadly diseases to spread quickly. This is why so many aid organizations in and around Syria make vaccination a priority.

Let's take a closer look at how the war in Syria has affected the immunization rate (the percentage of people vaccinated):

In 2010, Syria's immunization rate was 80%.

In 2011, Syria's civil war began.

By 2014, the immunization rate fell to 43%. This means that more than half of the people weren't vaccinated.

This drop in the immunization rate has resulted in outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio. After 15 years without a single case of polio in Syria, an outbreak was confirmed in 2017.

War has harmful effects across all aspects of society. Its impact on immunization rates is one of them. Two-thirds of all unvaccinated children in the world live in countries affected by conflict. All of the reasons for inequalities in immunization (which you learned about in previous lessons) apply in conflict zones.

During a war:

Vaccines are often unavailable, and health services can be damaged or hard to access. Doctors and nurses might not be able to move around easily, and they might get attacked or killed travelling in a war zone.

People usually lose all of their possessions when they flee their homes. Jobs disappear, leaving people with no way to make money, forcing them into poverty. Children who don't go to school can get stuck in a poverty trap.

Families might not be able to access information because telephones, internet, TV, radio, and other methods of communication are usually damaged. This makes it hard to find out why immunization is important and to schedule a vaccine appointment.

Sometimes, warring groups believe that healthcare workers are spies, or that vaccines are dangerous, or that children shouldn't get vaccinated because they are part of the enemy. Hospitals and healthcare workers can become the targets of attacks because they help wounded enemy soldiers. In Syria, hospitals get attacked so often that many people are afraid to go to them.

Immunizers such as doctors, nurses, and volunteers have been killed while trying to reach children in war zones. Between 2011 and March 2020 in Syria, there were at least 595 attacks on 350 medical buildings. These attacks killed at least 923 doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers.

Despite all of these dangers, people still risk their lives to vaccinate children. Watch this video from National Geographic to see how far some healthcare workers will go to protect children in Syria.

WARNING: The following video contains images that some people might find hard to watch. If you feel upset, you can stop watching the video and talk to your teacher about how you feel. The purpose of the video is to show how difficult it is to vaccinate children in a war zone.

More than 8,000 volunteers took part in the campaign shown in the video. They vaccinated 1.4 million children in some of the most dangerous places in Syria. Thanks to these brave vaccinators, Syria was able to stop the polio outbreak in December 2018.

Why do you think that volunteers continue to risk their lives by immunizing children?

All lessons & quizzes are free!

This was just one of the lessons in our Global Inequality section. There are over 60 lessons on Kids Boost Immunity just like this one on a variety of subjects. Each lesson includes a quiz, and every time a student scores 80% or higher on a quiz, we will donate life-saving vaccines to UNICEF Canada. Sign up now!
To see other sample lessons, click here.

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War and Violence War and violence make it hard to vaccinate children in certain parts of the world. In this lesson, we will look at the challenges that war brings when it comes to accessing vaccines. Let's use the war in Syria as an example. When did the civil war in Syria start?