The Weimar Republic: The Fragility of Democracy
Explore the efforts to build a democracy in Germany in the 1920s, and examine the misunderstandings, myths, and fears that often undercut those efforts.
![In addition to his depictions of World War I, Otto Dix was also known for his ruthless criticism of German society during the Weimar years.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Ch04_Image05_Medium_res.jpg?h=92903f94&itok=hFi7XgsO)
The Holocaust: Bearing Witness
Students are introduced to the enormity of the crimes committed during the Holocaust and look closely at stories of a few individuals who were targeted by Nazi brutality.
![A crowd of women and children, some with Stars of David patches on their clothing.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Ch09_Image02.jpg?h=991b0af6&itok=WRPl5J8e)
How Should We Remember?
Students both respond to and design Holocaust memorials as they consider the impact that memorials and monuments have on the way we think about history.
![In Kassel, Germany, artist Horst Hoheisel created a “counter-memorial” marking the site where a majestic fountain built by a Jewish citizen once stood; it had been destroyed by Nazis in 1939.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Ch11_image15_Medium_res.jpg?h=c6d0d1c4&itok=Gb3MH30L)
Introducing The Unit
Students develop a contract establishing a reflective classroom community in preparation for their exploration of this unit's historical case study.
![Student writing in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/2017_5-1-17FacH08212_FH256618.png?h=2992ba0a&itok=c30_X9rN)
The Holocaust: The Range of Responses
Students deepen their examination of human behavior during the Holocaust by analyzing and discussing the range of choices available to individuals, groups, and nations.
![Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, and Christoph Probst in June 1942.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_2016_WhiteRoseResistanceGroup_FH229473.jpg?h=dfc3751c&itok=BjXT-amv)
The National Socialist Revolution
Consider the factors that made it possible for the Nazis to transform Germany into a dictatorship during their first year in power.
![The Parade of the Political Administrators in Nuremberg, Germany.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1933_GermanPartyDay_%20FH229691.jpg?h=193b5c49&itok=QZdPclXH)
Kristallnacht
Students learn about the violent pogroms of Kristallnacht by watching a short documentary and then reflecting on eyewitness testimonies.
![Image showing the destruction resulting from Kristallnacht.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Test223817_Original_Medium_res.jpg?h=c8d479ee&itok=g317b1wn)
Conformity and Consent in the National Community
Investigate factors that influenced Germans in the 1930s to conform, if not consent, to the Nazi vision for society, and learn about the consequences for those excluded from that vision.
![A crowd salutes Nazi Leader Adolf Hitler outside the Reich Chancellery in Berlin after a plebiscite, which gave Hitler absolute power as German Fuhrer. August 19, 1934.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1934_SalutingHitler_FH229692.jpg?h=33252b2e&itok=wqtpArcL)
Open Aggression and World Responses
Consider the dilemmas faced by world leaders as Nazi Germany began taking aggressive action against neighboring countries and individuals in the late 1930s.
![Pedestrians in front of the demolished businesses of Jewish residents on Potsdamer St., Berlin. November 10, 1938.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1938_PedestriansFrontDestroyedJewishBusinesses_FH223827.jpg?h=603532df&itok=ov-1rXgn)
Laws and the National Community
Students are introduced to the Nazis’ idea of a “national community” and examine how the Nazis used the Nuremberg Laws to define who belonged.
![In 1933, Jewish businessman Oskar Danker and his girlfriend, a Christian woman, were forced to carry signs discouraging Jewish-German integration. Intimate relationships between “true Germans” and Jews were outlawed by 1935.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_DiscouragingGermanJewishIntegration_FH229441.jpg?h=ad1846e1&itok=dfgQyzmm)
A War for Race and Space
Explore Germany's efforts to impose a new order on Europe based on Nazi racial ideology during the first two years of World War II.
![The Jewish population in Poland being "resettled" by German soldiers, circa 1940-41.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1940_ResettlingPolishJewsInGermany_%20FH229688.jpg?h=b82ee7a4&itok=ZTl0ABqr)