Taking a Stand

The reading "Taking a Stand" is located on moodle under "Boy in the Striped Pajamas" section.  Read it, and respond to the following:  Describe the choices that were made by Germans in response to Kristillnacht.  What choice might you have made? 

The Germans saw the Kristallnacht as a turning point of the country. They had to make important choices the days after. One family chose to leave the country because their son was told to throw stones at the Jews. Other Germans protested by resigning from the NAZI party. Others sent letters to foreign embassies anonymously. But others sent food and other necessities to their Jewish friends. But a majority of Germans just stood by and watched, ignoring what was going on at that time.
If I was in Germany at that time, I would send letters to the foreign embassies in protest to what was happening.

Analyzing Visual Images

The Caption on the poster on the left reads "Healthy Parents Have Healthy Children".  On your post please do the following:

1.  Describe what you see in the picture.  Consider color, placement, people and objects, and composition.  Everything that you see.

In the picture, I see a German family; a father and mother and four children; two boys and two girls. this family is shown to be very happy and the children are laughing and energetic. The family is shown to be  The poster is in black and white with light falling on the family. In this poster, the family are in the middle, with the youngest daughter having a doll and the elder son looks like he wants to be like his father; "strong and proud".
 

2.  Interpret:  Guess about the creator is trying to express through the caption and images.  Why is this message being conveyed?

I think that the message the creator is trying to convey is that all the German families should be more or less like the one in the poster.

Evaluate:  What is the intended purpose of this image?  The intended audience? Does the image achieve its purpose?
The intended purpose of this image is to tell the public that this is the way a German family should be.The audience is the normal public. I think that the image does serve its purpose and the capion also helps the viewer understand the purpose.

Propaganda and analyzing visual images

Today we studied some of the aspects of propaganda and its uses, particularly in regard to NAZI Germany.  First of all, answer this question: What is the definition of the word propaganda?  Next, why was it used so extensively by Hitler and the NAZIs?

The word propaganda means "information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc".

Propaganda was used extensively by Hitler and the NAZIs so that they would get the support they needed to win elections and have the citizens listen to them. They could also misguide the Germans and make them think that the Jews, hippies and other communities that did not fit Hitler's vision of "perfect" with blond hair and blue eyes, were not good and therefore discriminated against. The propaganda and campaign posters also had the color red on them that caught people's attentions.

Where do they stand? Wilhelm Schlutz's Point of View

Introduction:


I stand for Wilhelm Schultz. He works with his father on the family farm in East Prussia. His uncle and grandfather live in Poland and Danzig because the Treaty of Versailles spilt up East Prussia. The family cannot visit them without a passport and other official documents, but this doesn't seem right to Wilhelm. He was taught to admire the German heroes, so he is disappointed with the government that affected his family so much. He also worries about the Communists because his father and he are proud of their land.


Views:

I think that Wilhelm will vote for the NAZI Party because he disagrees which what the Communist Party and the Social Democrat Party both stand for. I think that he also wants Germany to have a new leader and direction.

Response to Readings: "Anger and Humiliation" and "Voices in the Dark"

Read and annotate "Anger and Humiliation" with questions and comments.  Make special note of the description of Adolf Hitler.  Highlight any clues or statements on his personality, personal life, beliefs. In class on Tuesday we will be making an identity chart for him.  Also, on pg. 124, carefully read the Nazi Party program.  

Choose two points of this program that you think are especially unfair.  

The two points that I chose were (4) "German blood as a requirement for German citizenship. No Jew can be a member of the nation" and (7) "The state ensures that every citizen live decently and earn his livelihood. If it is impossible to provide food for the entire population, then aliens must be expelled".

Why are they unfair?  

I think that these points are unfair because who determines who is fit to be a member of any community or nation. I also think that during a food shortage, kicking out a certain community of people just because you can't feed the rest of the population is totally unfair.

Which ones do you have questions about?
I have a question about (3) "Land and territory (colonies) for our surplus population". What does this point mean?

Then, read "Voices in the Dark".  Annotate with questions and comments.  Then, answer this question:  

If you had been on the train, do you think you would have said or done anything?  Have you or someone you know ever had a similar experience?

If I was on that train, I would have just sat there and not have said anything because then what good will it do to me? I have had an experience like that when my friends were having a discussion about the computers we owned. I told them that I had an old HP computer that I was still using and the next morning they weren't talking to me because of that.