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Analyze the political cartoon and attempt to hypothesize causes for WWII.

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Why do we see Hitler crawling out of what seems to be the Treaty of Versailles? Recall this was the treaty that ended WWI.

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Why Hitler?  How did he gain so much power and influence?

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Why Hitler?  How did he gain so much power and influence?

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Please watch the video and consider possible responses to the question above.

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Know about Hitler's rise to power as Head of Government Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz

NARRATOR: With staged events, the Nazis celebrate their Seizure of Power in 1933. But their advance is by no means unstoppable. At the beginning of the year, the brown specter seems to have almost vanished. In its New Year's edition, the satirical magazine Simplicissimus writes "There's only one thing for sure: Hitler is feeling the heat. This leader's time is up!"

STÉPHANE ROUSSEL: "Hitler's party had lost votes, the economic situation had improved, but Hitler and his party lived from the fact that Germany was doing badly."

ADOLPH HITLER: "We will not capitulate!"

NARRATOR: Despite dwindling votes, Hitler does not give up. A true demagogue, he knows how to appeal to the masses. For conservatives he is a trump card against the communists. The outsider thus proves helpful in the intrigue for power, driven primarily by Franz von Papen, the German ex-chancellor. In league with Hitler, he hopes for a political return.

TISA VON DER SCHULENBURG: "He was probably not taken seriously enough. People tended to joke about him rather than believe that he would gain such power."

NARRATOR: President von Hindenburg ultimately engages with Hitler. With his help, he hopes to resolve the political deadlock. There is no indication on the morning of the 30th of January, 1933 that the radical enemy of the Republic would on this day be appointed Head of Government by von Hindenburg. Aside from Hitler, only two ministers are from the Nazi Party. Key posts are taken by conservative politicians.

WILHELM GREWE: "Many people believed that by doing this, they had integrated Hitler and rendered him powerless."

NARRATOR: The triumphal procession that evening suggests that more has occurred than a mere cabinet reshuffle.

HANS MAYER: "We all felt that it was a turning point. Nobody could imagine, however, that it would be the fateful day of the entire century."

NARRATOR: Using promises and threats, Hitler soon coerces the parliamentary majority to grant him autocratic power with the so-called Enabling Act.

HITLER: "On January 30 in Germany, the dice have fallen. And I do not believe that the opponents who were laughing then are still laughing today!"

NARRATOR: Almost unhindered, the dictator pursues the harassment of his opponents. It is the beginning of a reign of terror.

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Know about Hitler's rise to power as Head of Government

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NARRATOR: With staged events, the Nazis celebrate their Seizure of Power in 1933. But their advance is by no means unstoppable. At the beginning of the year, the brown specter seems to have almost vanished. In its New Year's edition, the satirical magazine Simplicissimus writes "There's only one thing for sure: Hitler is feeling the heat.

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Please listen to the podcast and determine the ideology associated with Nazism.

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By Professor Benjamin Ziemann. Produced by Simon Brown, published 12th August 2015

The Aryan Race

In this podcast Professor Benjamin Ziemann of the University of Sheffield looks at Nazi ideology.

1. Introduction to Nazi Ideology
2. Core notions - The Germans as a distinctive Race.
3. The notion of a Volksgemeinschaft.
4. An aggressive form of antisemitism.

In order to access the full content of the podcasts please or

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By Professor Benjamin Ziemann. Produced by Simon Brown, published 12th August 2015 In this podcast Professor Benjamin Ziemann of the University of Sheffield looks at Nazi ideology. 1. Introduction to Nazi Ideology 2. Core notions - The Germans as a distinctive Race. 3. The notion of a Volksgemeinschaft. 4.

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Please review the images and information presented by the National WWII Museum.

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The Holocaust | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

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The Holocaust was Nazi Germany’s deliberate, organized, state-sponsored persecution and machinelike murder of approximately six million European Jews and at least five million Soviet prisoners of war, Romany, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, and other victims.

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Why is it important to remember the consequences of the Holocaust?

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Why is it important to remember the consequences of the Holocaust?

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Please watch the video and be prepared to discuss the consequences of the Holocaust.

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Media Essay

"I was afraid of this thing, I thought it's sacreligious, to laugh and to smile and go to nightclubs and to coffeehouses."
Find out more about the experiences of survivors in the aftermath of the Holocaust as they grappled with the challenges of rebuilding their lives.

Madeline Deutsch describes adjusting to social and educational life after the war
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Madeline was born into a middle class family in an area of Czechoslovakia that was annexed by Hungary in 1938-1939. Her father worked out of their home and her mother was a homemaker. Madeline attended high school. In April 1944 her family was forced into a Hungarian ghetto. The family lived in the ghetto for two weeks before being transported to Auschwitz. Madeline and her mother were separated from her father and older brother. Neither her father nor brother survived the war. A week after arriving in Auschwitz, Madeline and her mother were sent to work in an ammunition factory in Breslau. They were in the Peterswaldau subcamp of Gross-Rosen for one year until liberation by Soviet forces in May 1945. Madeline and her mother lived in a displaced persons camp in Munich while awaiting visas to the United States. They arrived in New York in March 1949.
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Blanka Rothschild describes returning to Lodz after the war to look for family members
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Blanka was an only child in a close-knit family in Lodz, Poland. Her father died in 1937. After the German invasion of Poland, Blanka and her mother remained in Lodz with Blanka's grandmother, who was unable to travel. Along with other relatives, they were forced into the Lodz ghetto in 1940. There, Blanka worked in a bakery. She and her mother later worked in a hospital in the Lodz ghetto, where they remained until late 1944 when they were deported to the Ravensbrueck camp in Germany. From Ravensbrueck, Blanka and her mother were sent to a subcamp of Sachsenhausen. Blanka was forced to work in an airplane factory (Arado-Werke). Her mother was sent to another camp. Soviet forces liberated Blanka in spring 1945. Blanka, living in abandoned houses, made her way back to Lodz. She discovered that none of her relatives, including her mother, had survived. Blanka then moved westward to Berlin, eventually to a displaced persons camp. She immigrated to the United States in 1947.
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Francis Akos describes experiences in the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust
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After the Germans occupied Hungary in March 1944, Francis was deported to Neuengamme, a concentration camp located on the outskirts of Hamburg, Germany. Later, as Allied forces advanced, Francis and other prisoners were transported from Neuengamme. They were placed on a cargo ship which sailed into Luebeck Bay, where the prisoners were crowded onto the "Cap Arcona." The "Cap Arcona" and other ships were bombed in early May 1945. Francis was rescued and came ashore in the German town of Neustadt, where British troops forced the inhabitants to provide survivors with food and clothes. Francis, a musician, then worked in the British officers' mess. He returned to Budapest in September 1945, and eventually immigrated to the United States.
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Thomas Buergenthal describes the difficulties involved in postwar migrations
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Thomas's family moved to Zilina in 1938. As the Slovak Hlinka Guard increased its harassment of Jews, the family decided to leave. Thomas and his family ultimately entered Poland, but the German invasion in September 1939 prevented them from leaving for Great Britain. The family ended up in Kielce, where a ghetto was established in April 1941. When the Kielce ghetto was liquidated in August 1942, Thomas and his family avoided the deportations to Treblinka that occurred in the same month. They were sent instead to a forced-labor camp. He and his parents were deported to Auschwitz in August 1944. As Soviet troops advanced in January 1945, Thomas and other prisoners were forced on a death march from Auschwitz. He was sent to the Sachsenhausen camp in Germany. After the Soviet liberation of Sachsenhausen in April 1945, Thomas was placed in an orphanage. Relatives located him, and he was reunited with his mother in Goettingen. He moved to the United States in 1951.
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Irene Hizme describes life in a Catholic orphanage in postwar France
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Irene and her twin brother Rene were born Renate and Rene Guttmann. The family moved to Prague shortly after the twins' birth, where they were living when the Germans occupied Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939. A few months later, uniformed Germans arrested their father. Decades later, Irene and Rene learned that he was killed at the Auschwitz camp in December 1941. Irene, Rene, and their mother were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto, and later to the Auschwitz camp. At Auschwitz, the twins were separated and subjected to medical experiments. Irene and Rene remained separated for some time after their liberation from Auschwitz. Irene was sent to several orphanages in Europe. The group Rescue Children brought her to the United States in 1947, where she was reunited with Rene in 1950.
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Rene Slotkin describes experiencing antisemitism in school in postwar Kosice
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Rene and his twin sister Irene were born Rene and Renate Guttman. The family moved to Prague shortly after the twins' birth, where they were living when the Germans occupied Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939. A few months later, uniformed Germans arrested their father. Decades later, Rene and Irene learned that he was killed in the Auschwitz camp in December 1941. Rene, Irene, and their thier mother were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto, and later to Auschwitz. There, the twins were separated and subjected to medical experiments. After the war Rene stayed with a doctor's family in Kosice, Czechoslovakia, before moving to the United States and being reunited with Irene.
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Charlene Schiff describes difficulties in gaining entry to the United States in the aftermath of the Holocaust
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Both of Charlene's parents were local Jewish community leaders, and the family was active in community life. Charlene's father was a professor of philosophy at the State University of Lvov. World War II began with the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. Charlene's town was in the part of eastern Poland occupied by the Soviet Union under the German-Soviet Pact of August 1939. Under the Soviet occupation, the family remained in its home and Charlene's father continued to teach. The Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, and arrested Charlene's father after they occupied the town. She never saw him again. Charlene, her mother, and sister were forced into a ghetto the Germans established in Horochow. In 1942, Charlene and her mother fled from the ghetto after hearing rumors that the Germans were about to destroy it. Her sister attempted to hide separately, but was never heard from again. Charlene and her mother hid in underbrush at the river's edge, and avoided discovery by submerging themselves in the water for part of the time. They hid for several days. One day, Charlene awoke to find that her mother had disappeared. Charlene survived by herself in the forests near Horochow, and was liberated by Soviet troops. She eventually immigrated to the United States.
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Madeline Deutsch describes her postwar experiences
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Madeline was born into a middle class family in an area of Czechoslovakia that was annexed by Hungary in 1938-1939. Her father worked out of their home and her mother was a homemaker. Madeline attended high school. In April 1944 her family was forced into a Hungarian ghetto. The family lived in the ghetto for two weeks before being transported to Auschwitz. Madeline and her mother were separated from her father and older brother. Neither her father nor brother survived the war. A week after arriving in Auschwitz, Madeline and her mother were sent to work in an ammunition factory in Breslau. They were in the Peterswaldau subcamp of Gross-Rosen for one year until liberation by Soviet forces in May 1945. Madeline and her mother lived in a displaced persons camp in Munich while awaiting visas to the United States. They arrived in New York in March 1949.
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Frima L. describes how her Holocaust experiences affect her life today
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While Frima's family was confined to a ghetto, Nazis used her father as an interpreter. He later perished. By pretending not to be Jews, Frima, her mother, and sister escaped a German mobile killing unit massacre. They were later discovered and jailed. Again, her mother devised an escape. Frima's mother and sister were smuggled to Romania, while Frima wandered in search of safekeeping until her mother could arrange to smuggle her out. In Romania, they were reunited and liberated.
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Ruth Meyerowitz describes her memories of the Auschwitz crematoria
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The Aftermath of the Holocaust: Personal Histories

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Media Essay "I was afraid of this thing, I thought it's sacreligious, to laugh and to smile and go to nightclubs and to coffeehouses." Find out more about the experiences of survivors in the aftermath of the Holocaust as they grappled with the challenges of rebuilding their lives.