Explain to students that Nazism became increasingly popular during the Great Depression and during a time of political crisis in Germany’s Weimar Republic. Ask your students to think critically about why they think this could be the case. What was it about the struggles of German life during this time that made the extremist views of the Nazis more appealing?

Print out the article by Facing History and Ourselves titled, Hitler in Power. Break people into small groups and have them read the page, underlining and making notes for each paragraph before moving on. After reading through, have students discuss the Connection Questions found at the bottom of the page.

After they go through the first resource, give them the resource, “Restoring” Germany’s Civil Service by Facing History and Ourselves. Let them do the same thing with this reading in their small groups. Have students go through the Connection Questions at the bottom of this page as well.

Devote approximately 15 minutes to each reading.

In an open discussion, ask students what they learned from going through the readings. What surprised them about the relationship between Adolf Hitler and President Paul von Hindenburg?

Explain to students that the Nuremberg Laws were the first official step in systematic persecution of Jews in Germany. Creating this definition was not an easy task, it took years for German officials to agree on what being Jewish meant. This initial step in identifying and separating Jews from society was essential to carry out the persecution that followed.

Take the students through the resource, Nuremberg Race Laws by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. With a partner, ask the students to go through the resource and take notes using the 3Ps method, jotting down what they find a) Profound b) Puzzling and c) Propelling.

In order to familiarize yourself, and your class with this model, please look over this guide: 3Ps: A Critical Reading Guide.

Have the pairs partner up with another group to form groups of four. As they gather in these groups, provide them with the following instructions:

1. Go over what you and your partner took notes on as part of their 3Ps. Perhaps the new pair can clear up your puzzling section, if not be sure to ask the teacher to go over it.
2. Discuss the three critical thinking questions located at the bottom of the resource.
3. Come up with your own thought-provoking question with your group. The question should attempt to take what we learned from this lesson on the Nuremberg Laws and relate it to something in the present day.

Give students 20 minutes to complete these tasks and use the last 10 minutes to hear what the groups came up with for their questions.

Begin by asking your students if they have heard of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. What does it state? What was the theory applied to?

Show students a YouTube video titled, Key Historical Concepts in Holocaust Education: Race Doctrine by Yad Vashem. Before starting the video, give students the list of questions. Let them know they will have a chance to watch the video a second time.

1. What did the Nazis base the categorization of races from?
2. What did this theory state?
3. How did Hitler alter this theory to fit his preconceived notion of the division of races?
4. Where did Jews fall in his hierarchy of races?
5. What did Hitler say would happen if Aryans were to mix with the lesser races?

Give students a few minutes to finish writing down their answers. Watch the video a second time if needed and then go over the questions as a class.

Divide the class into groups of four. Provide them with this quote by American novelist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Toni Morrison, “There is no such thing as race. None. There is just a human race – scientifically, anthropologically.”

In their groups, ask students to have a discussion with the questions below:

1. The video placed heavy influence on the importance of race and hierarchy of humans. How does this quote combat that view?
2. In what ways is race still an important part of society today?

Reconvene as a class to open up the discussion. Were there any disagreements within the groups?

Ask students what they might already know about Kristallnacht, “The Night of Broken Glass.”

Provide a brief overview of Kristallnacht with the students. Use the resource, Kristallnacht by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Holocaust Encyclopedia article as a resource for this. You do not need to go over the entire article, merely use it as a reference to provide some background information.

Divide the class into groups and ask them to watch the video Confessions of a Hitler Youth.
Ask them to answer these questions:

1. Why do you think Alfons Heck believed so strongly in Hitler and the Nazi’s message? Why do you think he continued to believe in this message even after witnessing Kristallnacht?
2. Do you think it would have been possible to prevent the events of Kristallnacht?
3. Based on what Alfons Heck tells us about what he witnessed, why do you think he said, “From now on, not one of us could ever maintain that we did not know what was in store for the Jews”?
4.  What was meant by the comment, “Children are like empty vessels”? What is the danger in this?

Ask students, “What happened on November 10, 1938?”

Show students the video, Kristallnacht: The November 1938 Pogroms by Facing History and Ourselves.

Divide the class into groups of three to five and assign a reading to each group.

Group 1: The Night of the Pogrom
Group 2: Opportunism during Kristallnacht
Group 3: A Family Responds to Kristallnacht
Group 4: Thoroughly Reprehensible Behavior
Group 5: A Visitor’s Perspective on Kristallnacht
Group 6: World Responses to Kristallnacht

Ask students to complete these steps after they read their group assigned reading as outlined in the Facing History lesson:

1. Who was the author of this reading? Who was the audience (if it is stated)? What kind of document is this?When was it created or written?
2. Based on the background information you gather, what was the document’s significance or purpose? What new information does the document contribute to your understanding of this historical moment?
3. Discuss one of the “Connection Questions” found at the bottom of your resource with your group.

Once completed, pose the question again, “What happened on November 10th, 1938?” What can they now add to this question? Where did they get this information?

Ask students what they might already know about Kristallnacht.

For the younger grades, or if the students are newly being introduced to Holocaust education, include some additional information. For example, tell students the name “Kristallnacht” is translated as “Night of Crystal” but is often referred to as the “Night of Broken Glass.” Some may know this name more than the official one. If they are not sure, have them guess what it could be based on the name.

Direct students to the resource, Kristallnacht by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Read through the document as a class. Start with the three key facts at the top of the page so students understand the main points as they go through the reading.

In a class discussion, go over the following questions:

1. What led up to the event of Kristallnacht?
2. How did the events of Kristallnacht compare to previous anti-Jewish actions and violence in Germany under the Nazis?

Divide the class into groups of three to five and ask them to answer these questions about the reading. Ask students to take notes on their answers.

1. How did Kristallnacht propel the Nazi agenda forward?
2. What steps were taken to help the Jews by the German government and by other countries following that night and the next months?
3. What do you suppose the response from other nations was to Hitler and the Nazi party?

If time permits, come together as a class to go over the answers the groups came up with.

Ask students, what is segregation? Have them come up with some examples of ways in which people can be segregated from one another. Open the class into a brief conversation about segregation by asking the questions below.

1. Can segregation occur naturally? (city lines, areas of ethnic concentration, etc.)
2. What problems can segregation cause?

Pull up the video, From Citizens to Outcasts, by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Introduce the video by reading through the context that can be found directly above the Discussion Question. Provide students with the question below prior to starting the video. While they watch, have students take notes to answer it.

How did Nazi Germany gradually isolate, segregate, impoverish, and incarcerate Jews and persecute other perceived enemies of the state between 1933 and 1939?

Reiterate to students that Nazi Germany took great measurers in order to dehumanize the Jews. Propaganda made them out to be enemies of the state. These tactics made many non-Jewish Germans take little notice or regard for the mistreatment and grave injustice that would continue against the Jews.

Divide the class into groups of five. Provide the groups with the instructions below. Give students the opportunity and time to research if necessary.

1. Answer the question, What lesson does looking back at Nazi Germany’s mistreatment of Jews teach us about present day injustices?
2. Think of a current or recent example where you can see an injustice being done against a particular group.
   1. Who is this group?
   2. Why are they being persecuted against?
   3. What is being said about them?
   4. What injustices are being taken out against them?
   5. Is there potential that things could escalate?
3. Prepare a brief presentation on the group you chose to highlight. Presentations can be done verbally, or if desired, with PowerPoint or Prezi.

Begin by asking the class to write a short response answering the questions below. Assure students they will not be asked to share what they have written.

1. What is segregation? What does it mean to you?
2. Is segregation a thing of the past or does it have a place in today’s world?

You may also want to provide students with the official definition. Take this time to mention to students that segregation can be racial and religious.

Segregation: the enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community, or establishment.

It is equally important to note that segregation can be further identified as being de jure or de facto. De jure segregation is implemented by laws while de facto segregation is based off common understanding and personal choice.

Watch video testimonies on Kurt Baum (clips 19-23; 19:00-23:00 minutes) and Nomick Cyanmon (clip 17; 4:32-6:45) on USC IWitness.

Show testimonies one at a time, stopping to answer the questions for one before moving on to the other.

Questions for Kurt Baum:

1. What changes did Kurt Baum describe from his social circle?
2. How did Kurt’s father react to being kicked off the board from his club?
3. What were some other instances of segregation in the community that he describes?

Questions for Nomick Cynamon:

1. What did Nomick notice when he returned to the United States?
2. How did he react to segregation that he saw?
3. Why do you think he reacted the way he did?

In an open forum, ask students for examples of segregation in communities, both in times of the Holocaust and in modern times.

1. What was the purpose of segregating the Jews?
2. In what ways can a community reinforce or dismantle segregation?
3. Did your initial thoughts of segregation change over the course of this lesson?

Give students some time to add to what they wrote down at the beginning of the class.

Ask students who the initial aggressor was in WWII?

Given that it was Germany, and given that Germany was not supposed to be capable of war, how did they become the aggressor?

Tell students that they will be reading about the initial actions taken by Hitler that would ultimately drive Germany toward war. Note that they will also be exploring how these illegal actions were perceived by people at the time.

Direct students to the source, Battle for Work, which is an excerpt from Facing History and Ourselves. Have them read through the document individually first, taking note of sections, words or ideas that they didn’t understand clearly. Give students about 10 minutes to read this text.

Then, divide the class into five groups. Start them on the path toward understanding by having them attempt to answer one another’s questions about the text.

Ask the large group whether they think Hitler’s jobs program might have been attractive to Germans, amidst a depression and in the wake of the defeat of WWI. Then, ask each person to read, Rearming Germany by Facing History and Ourselves.

In the same small groups, have students discuss the questions available on the ‘Rearming Germany’ page. For the first fifteen minutes, ask each group to talk through each question and discuss what they think about each. Then, assign one question to each group and ask them to quickly prepare a short response to their question to kick off the broader, full class discussion about that question.

Tell students that they will be watching a video on the aftermath of World War I. Ask students why they think it is important to study World War I when setting the groundwork for Holocaust education.

Watch the video, Chapter 1: Aftermath of World War I and the Rise of Nazism, 1918-1933 by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

While the students watch, have them answer the following questions:

1. What was the political and economic scene like after World War I?
2. What did Hitler do while in jail? How might his incarceration have helped his public image?
3. How did Hitler get into a position of power? Was he elected?
4. How did the emergency decree get signed? What impact did it have?

Go over the questions as a class, clearing up any points of confusion any of the students may have.

Open up a class discussion with the questions below using pre-writing or pair-and-share if appropriate for your students.

1. Advances in technology meant that war became more destructive, the video mentions the introduction of poison gas. What advancements in war have been made since World War II that cause more destruction? Are there any advantages to the new methods of war?
2. Why do you think it was so hard for Germans to accept that they had lost the war?
3. Were there any signs you noticed that could have foreshadowed what was to come?