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?

Begin by asking students, What is the difference between patriotism and nationalism?
After giving them a few minutes to come up with their definitions, you can share the official definitions provided by Dictionary.com.

Patriotism: Devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country; national loyalty.
Nationalism: The policy of doctrine asserting the interests of one’s own nation viewed as separate from the interests of other nations or the common interests of all nations. In short, nationalism is a kind of excessive, aggressive patriotism.

Explain to students that political parties and candidates create platforms that help translate their ideas and goals into actions. Tell the class that during this lesson they will read through the National Socialist German Workers’ Party Platform to read through provisions that Hitler proposed to the party.

Direct students to the Facing History and Ourselves source titled, National Socialist German Workers’ Party Platform and read through it together as a class. After you go through the platform, ask the class what their initial thoughts are. Does any one provision stick out to them?

Ask students to get together in small groups of two or three. Give 10-15 minutes for groups to go over the following questions:

1. Do you notice a general theme in the party platform?
2. The party puts the needs of German’s above all else, belittling other cultures and languages in German society. Do you see this sort of rhetoric happening in today’s environment?

Read the quote below by a German Nationalist in 1810 to help you answer the remaining questions:

“A state without a Volk (a people who share a language and culture) is nothing, a soulless artifice; a Volk without a state is nothing, a bodiless airy phantom, like the Gypsies* and the Jews. Only state and Volk together could forma Reich (great empire), and such a Reich cannot be preserved without Volkdom.” -Taken from Facing History and Ourselves.

1. Does this quote represent patriotism or nationalism? How can you tell?
2. Is nationalism a dangerous concept? Does it always foster an “us versus them” narrative?

Go over the questions as a class, collect answers to the main themes to use in future discussions about nationalism and propaganda.

Ask students to define propaganda as they understand it. Explore the similarities and differences between what each individual understands and then compare the class definition to the one provided by Echoes & Reflections: “False or partly false information intended to shape people’s opinion and action that fulfills the propagandist’s intent.”

Direct students to the resource “Heil Hitler!”: Lessons of Daily Life by Facing History and Ourselves. Have students read the excerpt from Erika Mann and prep their reading with the following prompts; encourage them to highlight or underline sections of the story that help answer these questions:

1. Reflect on how the definition of propaganda is demonstrated in this story.
2. What means were used to distribute the message in Nazi Germany?
3. Why was it so effective?

Divide the class into groups of three to five. Ask the students to think about messages that they hear today.

First, as a group, they should write down as many messages as they can think of that they hear echoing in their world. These may come from advertisements, from their life in their town, from school, etc.

Then, ask them to consider whether the messages they hear or see are propaganda by answering the following questions:

1. What is the intention behind these messages that you hear regularly?
2. Do the messages you hear today fit the definition of propaganda?
3. Do the messages you hear today seem to have a similar impact on you that the messages Erika Mann heard seemed to have on her and her peers?
4. Do you think there is an opportunity for people to spread propaganda in today’s society?
5. If so, how can we prevent being influenced by these messages?

Ask students to define propaganda. Discuss ways that propaganda is used today.

Go to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s online exhibit about propaganda.

Explore the different timeline sections and look through the themes. Choose one or more to explore with your students. Read through some of the subsections under these themes and click through the attached propaganda associated with it.

For example, if you click on the ‘1918-1933: Democracy‘ section and read the introduction and the subsection, ‘Hitler and Nazi Propaganda.’ Then scroll down to the subsection titled, ‘Creating a Public Image‘ and read and look through the images connected to it.

Divide the students into groups of 3 – 4 students Provide each with a current print advertisement or political ad. They can focus on these questions to present and discuss:

1. Who is the target audience?
2. What is their message?
3. How is it conveyed through images and words?
4. How effective is this message?

Come back together as a class and ask students: How do these messages shape a person’s perspective? How does this help to explain the effectiveness of Nazi propaganda?