Stories from the People of Germany | Facing History & Ourselves

Stories from the People of Germany

Resources 6
Last Modified April 8, 2021
Description
Video

Witnessing Antisemitic Violence

Edith Reiss, from Bolton, England, describes witnessing antisemitic violence on the streets of Göttingen, Germany, when she was a visitor there in 1939.

Reading

Controlling the Universities

Learn how the Nazis pushed their ideology onto German universities, and how academics like Heidegger and Einstein responded.  

 

Notes
Taking over the Universities
 Students contribute anti-German books to be destroyed at a Berlin book-burning on May 10, 1933. About 40,000 people attended the event.
Reading

Where They Burn Books...

Consider the significance of the public burning of books in Nazi Germany in 1933.

 Students contribute anti-German books to be destroyed at a Berlin book-burning on May 10, 1933. About 40,000 people attended the event.
Reading

The Birthday Party

Gain insight into the pressures that compelled young people and their families to support Nazi youth organizations with this story about a member of the Hitler Youth.

Hitler Youth groups educated young people according to Nazi principles, and the encouraged comradeship and physical fitness through outdoor activities
Reading

“Heil Hitler!”: Lessons of Daily Life

Get a glimpse into the daily lives of children in Nazi Germany, and consider how the Nazis “educated” Germany’s youth.

Notes
School for Barbarians
Leni Riefenstahl's documentary-style film Triumph of the Will  glorified Hitler and the Nazi party. It was shot at the 1934 Nazi Party congress and rally in Nuremberg.
Reading

Schooling for the National Community

Learn how the Nazis transformed German schools to advance their nationalist and racial ideologies.

Notes
Changing Cirriculum
This propaganda poster from 1933 reads, “Hitler’s fight and Luther’s teaching are the best defense for the German people.”