Memorial Day

  I hope you all enjoy the weekend and the nice weather.  Make sure you take some time to remember why we have Monday off. 

Option C

Can propaganda be used for good and create positive results?  

That is going to be your job for this option. You need to do the following:

1. Choose a cause.  It can be a charity, a school, a team, a politician, or a non-profit organization.   This can be something that you find interesting, are involved with or want to be involved with. 

2. Create a propaganda piece.  Using any medium you want, create propaganda for your cause.  Remember the purpose that propaganda serves and that your goal is to create positive propaganda for this assignment. 

3. Write a one and half page to two page essay on why you chose that cause, what propaganda tactics did you choose, and what group(s) are you trying to appeal to.

If you have any questions, please see me after school or before school in Gym B and I will offer any sort of advice that I can.  

Option B

Various films have been made detailing the struggles of living under the Nazi regime.  These films bring unique perspectives in their attempts to capture the environment created by the Nazis.  If you choose this option you are to choose one of the films from this list:

1. The Great Dictator

2. Life is Beautiful

3. Swing Kids

4. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

5. Paper Clips  (a documentary on teaching the Holocaust)

Please Note: These are the only films that can be used for the assignment.  If you have a recommendation for my students for next year, please let me know and I will watch it over the summer and see if it fits the curriculum. 

For the Project, you are going to write a very brief 1/2 page to 1 page summary on the film, then answer a series of questions that I will provide for you. 

I plan on showing the Great Dictator and Paper Clips after school at some point, the date has not been determined. 

Option A

There are so many amazing works of fiction and non-fiction that help to bring to life the experiences of those affected by the Holocaust. Hundred of books have been written, from many different perspectives and help to provide some deeper understanding of the magnitude of what happened in Germany, in Europe, in the world in the 1930s and 1940s.

 You can choose one of the books listed from the University of Florida list or if you have another book you would like to read you need to check with me first.  This project will count for a test grade, to receive full credit you need to meet the following requirements:

1. Write a ½ page summary of the novel, providing a general overview of the book. This should just give someone who hasn’t read the story a basic idea about what the book is about. Make sure you include the name of the book, the author, and the year it was published.

£ This must be typed.

£ It must also be sent to me via e-mail, as I plan on using these for future students. E-mail to John_Mullady@wellesley.k12.ma.us

2. Connect the book to at least one of the following questions and complete a creative project based on the topics/ideas you think are most significant. Pick at least 1 of the question groups to address, and then select a medium to express your thinking (creative writing, reflection, painting, 2D or 3D art). 

     Questions to connect the book with: 

              a. Do you think people are naturally obedient?  When do you think people are more   likely to follow orders today?  Less likely?  From whom?

               b. How did Hitler and the Nazis use education to persuade children?  To what extent       are "Children empty vessels"?  Can propaganda be positive?  Good?

c. What was the impact of radio, posters, and education in Nazi Germany?  Is there   such thing as good propaganda?  Do you think if you hear something enough people     will believe it?  

  d. How did propaganda play a role in Hitler's ability to convince others to follow him?   Why did he target the youth?  What type of propaganda targets kids today?  Teens?   How does propaganda play a role in convincing people to act or feel certain ways? 

 

 

 

 

List compiled by University of Florida, College of Education: http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/

 

Boas, Jacob. We Are Witnesses. New York: Henry Holt, 1995.

    * Abstract: A touching diary of five teenage victims of the Holocaust.

 

Flinker, Moshe. Young Moshe's Diary. New York: Board of Jewish Education, 1971.

    * Abstract: This diary was written by a young teenager who fled from the Nazis with his family until they were all captured and sent to Auschwitz. The themes and issues touched upon in this victim's diary are more sophisticated than those in Anne Frank's journal.

 

Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl. New York: Pocket Books, 1953.

    * Abstract: Still one of the most read works in Holocaust literature, this classic account presents an eloquent picture of adolescence for a Jewish girl growing up during the Holocaust.

 

Fry, Varian. Assignment: Rescue. New York: Four Winds Press, 1968.

    * Abstract: A dramatic story of how an American helped thousands of Jews escape from southern France.

 

Friedman, Ina R. The Other Victims: First-Person Stories of Non-Jews Persecuted by the Nazis. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1990.

    * Abstract: Personal narratives of Christians, Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, the physically and mentally impaired, homosexuals, and African Americans who suffered at the hands of the Nazis before and during World War II.

 

Hartman, Evert. War Without Friends. Translated from Dutch by Patricia Crampton. New York: Crown, 1979.

    * Abstract: A young Dutch member of the Hitler Youth wrestles with peer pressure, parental influence, and his own conscience.

 

Kahn, Leora and Rachel Hager, eds. When They Came to Take My Father. New York: Arcade Publications: Distributed by Little, Brown and Co.,1996.

    * Abstract: A poignant collection of fifty concise testimonials from Holocaust survivors illustrated with powerful black-and-white portrait photographs taken by Mark Seliger. The narratives emphasize the pain of their brutal experiences, and demonstrate how the combination of luck, courage, and determination allowed a few resilient individuals to survive the Holocaust and create new lives following the war.

 

Kerr, Judith. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan,1972.

    * Abstract: A nine-year-old Jewish girl and her family travel through Europe in the early 1930s and encounter many conflicts.

 

Klein, Gerda Weissmann. All But My Life. New York: Hill and Wang, 1971.

 

    * Abstract: A true story that tells about Gerda's experience as one of only 120 women who survived a three-hundred-mile march from a labor camp in western Germany to Czechoslovakia.

 

Koehn, Ilse. Mischling, Second Degree: My Childhood in Nazi Germany. New York: Puffin Books, 1990.

    * Abstract: Ilse, a little girl with one Jewish grandparent, is six-years-old when the Nuremberg laws come into effect. Her world is suddenly turned upside down with the discovery of her non-Aryan roots.

 

Laird, Christa. Shadow of the Wall. New York: Greenwillow, 1990.

 

    * Abstract: Set in 1942 in the Warsaw ghetto, this novel features a boy living with his two younger sisters in Janusz Korczak's orphanage. (Janusz Korczak was a Jewish educator and physician who refused to save his own life when the Nazis gave him opportunity. Instead, Korczak chose to die along with his children in the gas chambers of Treblinka.)

 

Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1989.

    * Abstract: In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.

 

Matas, Carol. Daniel's Story. Washington, D. C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1996.

    * Abstract: In this novel, a young boy tries to remember what "normal life" was like before the Nazis came to power. The emphasis of the story is on how individuals struggled to survive in the midst of despair. Daniel takes his readers through a journey from his hometown, Frankfurt, Germany, to the Lodz ghetto, then to Auschwitz concentration camp. His story is the written version of the children's exhibit in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D. C.

 

Meltzer, Milton. Rescue: The Story of How Gentiles Saved Jews During the Holocaust. New York: Harper & Row, 1988.

    * Abstract: Milton Meltzer presents some exciting and interesting tales of how Righteous Gentiles, at enormous risk to themselves, saved the lives of people targeted by the Nazis. The stories of Raoul Wallenberg and Oskar Schindler are recounted.

 

Moskin, Marietta. I Am Rosemarie. New York: Dell Publishing Company, 1987.

    * Abstract: Rosemarie, like Anne Frank, was deported with her family to the Westerbork transit camp and eventually to Bergen-Belsen. Unlike Anne, however, Rosemarie and most of her family survived. This novel is told in first person.

 

Nolen, Han. If I Should Die Before I Wake. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1994.

 

    * Abstract: Sixteen-year-old Hilary, a neo-Nazi initiate, lies in a coma in a Jewish hospital after a motorcycle accident. As she drifts in and out of consciousness, she finds herself transported back to Poland at the outset of World War II, where she become Chana, a Jewish girl who experiences the full range of Holocaust horrors. As Hilary lives Chana's harrowing journey, she starts to rethink her own life.

 

Orlev, Uri. The Island on Bird Street. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1984.

    * Abstract: Forced to take refuge in an abandoned building in the Warsaw Ghetto, eleven-year-old Alex learns how to survive on his own. His father disappears one day, and Alex is left waiting for him. Winner of several awards.

 

Orlev, Uri. The Man from the Other Side. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.

    * Abstract: A non-Jewish boy living outside the Warsaw ghetto joins his stepfather in smuggling goods and people in and out of the Warsaw ghetto through the sewer system.

 

Ramati, Alexander. And the Violins Stopped Playing: A Story of the Gypsy Holocaust. New York: Franklin Watts, 1986.

    * Abstract: Mirga, a gypsy, tells of her experiences from 1942 to 1945, when she escaped from Nazis in Poland only to be caught in Hungary and sent to Auschwitz.

 

Reiss, Johanna. The Upstairs Room. New York: HarperCollins, 1990.

    * Abstract: Reiss tells the story of the years she spent hiding with her sister in the farmhouse of a Dutch family who protected them.

 

Richter, Hans P. Friedrich. New York: Puffin Books, 1987.

    * Abstract: This autobiographical novel describes the friendship between two German boys, one Jewish and the other not, during the Nazis' rise to power.

 

Richter, Hans P. I Was There. Fort Worth, TX: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1972.

    * Abstract: In this powerful book, Richter tells the story of how three German boys grow up under the dark shadow of Nazism.

 

Rittner, Carol, and Sondra Myers. The Courage to Care: Rescuers of the Jews During the Holocaust. New York: NY Univ. Press, 1986.

    * Abstract: This collection includes stories, essays, and photos and provides readers with response questions.

 

Toll, Nelly S. Behind the Secret Window: A Memoir of a Hidden Childhood. New York: Dial Books, 1993.

    * Abstract: This memoir is told through a child's perspective and tells of Toll's eighteen months in hiding with her mother. The novel is accompanied by twenty-nine watercolor paintings created by Toll while in hiding.

 

Treseder, Terry Walton. Hear O Israel: A Story of the Warsaw Ghetto. New York: Atheneum, 1990.

 

    * Abstract: This book tells the story of how a family of Polish Jews lived in the Warsaw ghetto until they were deported to Treblinka.

 

Vos, Ida. Hide and Seek. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981.

·       Abstract: In this award-winning novel, the young heroine, Rachel, tells how her family hid from the Nazis during the German occupation of Holland.

 

 

 

 

More Advanced reading, some more mature topics.

 

 

Appleman-Jurman, Alicia. Alicia: My Story. New York: Bantam Books, 1988.

    * Abstract: Alicia was thirteen when she escaped alone from a firing squad and, while hiding from Nazis and collaborators, began saving the lives of strangers. She states, "I believe that the book will teach young people what enormous reserves of strength they possess within themselves. "

 

Bierman, John. The Story of Raoul Wallenberg, Missing Hero of the Holocaust. New York: Viking Press, 1981.

    * Abstract: This is the story of one of the most famous rescuers, Raoul Wallenberg, whose fate remains a mystery to this day. He is credited with saving the lives of close to 100,000 Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust.

 

Boas, Jacob. We are Witnesses. New York: Henry Holt, 1995.

    * Abstract: A touching diary of five teenage victims of the Holocaust.

 

Borowski, Tadeusz. This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen. New York: Penguin, 1976.

    * Abstract: Stories of daily life in Auschwitz describe the relations among the inmates, their various duties within the camp, and the hardships they endured.

 

Fink, Ina. A Scrap of Time. New York: Schocken, 1989.

    * Abstract: This collection of short stories describes people that are placed in a variety of normal human situations that have been distorted by war.

 

Friedman, Philip. Their Brothers' Keepers. New York: Crown, 1957.

    * Abstract: This classic volume contains the first documented evidence of Christian aid to the Jews during the Holocaust. Friedman has collected eyewitness accounts, personal letters, and diaries as source material. He also conducted interviews across Europe to discover and record stories of rescue.

 

Gies, Miep and Allison L. Gold. Anne Frank Remembered. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988.

    * Abstract: Miep Gies, along with her husband, were among those who helped the Frank family while they were in hiding. Her story is an important supplement to Anne Frank's diary as it adds historical background as well as an outside perspective to Anne's story. Gies enables the reader to understand what was happening both inside and outside the Annex.

 

Hersey, John. The Wall. New York: Knopf, 1950.

    * Abstract: This fiction describes the creation of the Warsaw Ghetto, the building of the "Wall" around it, and the uprising and eventual destruction of the ghetto.

 

Kahane, David. Lvov Ghetto Diary. Amherst: Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 1990.

    * Abstract: This rabbi's memoir sheds light on the relatively unknown ghetto Lvov. Kahane also investigates a still disputed Holocaust theme: the attitudes of Ukrainians towards European Jews.

 

Keneally, Thomas. Schindler's List. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982.

    * Abstract: Thomas Keneally's famous novel tells the story of a remarkable man, Oskar Schindler, who saved the lives of thousands of Jews by harboring them in his factory during the Holocaust.

 

Klein, Gerda Weissmann. All But My Life. New York: Hill and Wang, 1971.

    * Abstract: A true story that tells about Gerda's experience as one of only 120 women who survived a three-hundred-mile march from a labor camp in western Germany to Czechoslovakia.

 

Kosinski, Jerzy. The Painted Bird. New York: Modern Library, 1982.

    * Abstract: A young boy abandoned by his parents in Eastern Europe during World War II encounters terror and brutality. For mature readers only.

 

Leitner, Isabella. Fragments of Isabella: A Memoir of Auschwitz. New York: Dell, 1983.

    * Abstract: A survivor of Auschwitz recounts the ordeal of holding her family together after her mother is killed in the camp.

 

Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz. New York: Collier, 1973.

    * Abstract: This memoir of a young Italian chemist describes life inside Auschwitz in a direct yet sophisticated manner.

 

Meed, Vladka. On Both Sides of the Wall. New York: Holocaust Publications, 1979.

    * Abstract: A young smuggler from the Warsaw ghetto maintains contact between the ghetto and the Aryan side of the city.

 

Miller, Arthur. Playing for Time. New York: Bantam Books, 1981.

    * Abstract: This is the dramatic version of Fania Fenelon's story of her days as a musician at Auschwitz.

 

Ozick, Cynthia. The Shawl. New York: Random House, 1990.

 

    * Abstract: A book of short stories. The title story tells of a mother witnessing her baby's death at the hands of camp guards. Another story, "Rose," describes that same mother thirty years later, still haunted by the event.

 

Sender, Ruth M. The Cage. New York: Macmillan, 1986.

    * Abstract: This novel begins just before the Nazi invasion of Poland and continues through life in the Lodz ghetto and finally, at Auschwitz.

 

Siegal, Aranka. Upon the Head of a Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939-44 New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1981.

    * Abstract: In this award-winning book, Aranka Siegal tells the story of her family and her life in Hungary as a child. In 1944 she and her family were taken to Auschwitz.

 

Steiner, Jean-Francois. Treblinka. New York: Bard/Avon, 1975.

    * Abstract: A powerful novel about the Treblinka extermination camp and a revolt by the prisoners there.

 

Wiesel, Elie. The Gates of the Forest. New York: Schocken, 1982.

    * Abstract: A young Hungarian Jew escapes to the forest during the Nazi occupation, and assumes various roles in order to stay alive. He later joins a partisan group to fight against the Nazis.

 

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Bantam, 1982.

·       Abstract: Wiesel, one of the most eloquent writers of the Holocaust, is known best for this novel. A compelling narrative, Night describes Wiesel's own experiences in Auschwitz.

·        

Zar, Rose. In the Mouth of the Wolf. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1983.

·       Abstract: A young girl in Poland during the Holocaust secures a job working in the household of an SS officer and his wife, using her false papers.

 

List compiled by University of Florida, College of Education: http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/

We are witnesses : five diaries of teenagers who died in the Holocaust                  

920 WE    [edited] by Jacob Boas ; foreword by Patricia C. McKissack.

 

 The hidden children                

 940.53 Gre    Greenfeld, Howard.

              

Sky : a true story of resistance during World War II : illustrated with photographs, documents, and letters from the author's collection                 940.53 IPP    Ippisch, Hanneke.

                         

Memories of survival   

940.53 K    Krinitz, Esther Nisenthal.

             

A friend called Anne : one girl's story of war, peace, and a unique friendship with Ann

940.53 L    Lee, Carol Ann.

                          

No pretty pictures: a child of war

940.53 Lob    Lobel, Anita.

              

In my hands : memories of a Holocaust rescuer                 In

   [ Book ]               940.53 Opd    Opdyke, Irene Gut. 1921-

             

             

             

Four perfect pebbles : a Holocaust story                 In

   [ Book ]               940.53 Per    Perl, Lila.

              Published 1999

             

             

Thanks to my mother                 In

   [ Book ]               940.53 Rab    Rabinovici, Schoschana, 1932-

              Published 1998

             

             

Hiding to survive : stories of Jewish children rescued from the Holocaust                 In

   [ Book ]               940.53 Ros    Rosenberg, Maxine B.

              Published 1994

             

             

Bearing witness : stories of the Holocaust                 In

   [ Book ]               940.531 BEA    selected by Hazel Rochman and Darlene Z. McCampbell.

              Published 1999

              Reading Level: 7.0              

             

             

The cage                 In

   [ Book ]               940.5315 Sen    Sender, Ruth Minsky.

              Published 1986

             

             

Child of the holocaust                 In

   [ Book ]               940.54 Kup    Kuper, Jack.

              Published 1993

             

             

Night.                 In

   [ Book ]               940.54 Wie    Wiesel, Elie, 1928-

              Published 1960

             

             

A hero and the Holocaust : the story of Janusz Korczak and his children                 In

   [ Book ]               943.8 ADL    Adler, David A.

              Published 2002

             

             

Anne Frank                 In

   [ Book ]               B FRA    Poole, Josephine.

              Published 2005

              Reading Level: 3.8  Interest Level: 3-6              

             

             

Anne Frank and children of the Holocaust                 In

   [ Book ]               B FRA    Lee, Carol Ann.

              Published 2006

              Reading Level: 6.6  Interest Level: 5-8              

             

             

Anne Frank: The diary of a young girl                 In

   [ Book ]               B Fra    Frank, Anne. 1929-1945.

              Published 1952

             

             

Anne Frank : the young writer who told the world her story                 In

   [ Book ]               B FRA    Kramer, Ann, 1946-

              Published 2007

              Reading Level: 5.9  Interest Level: 3-6              

             

             

Anne Frank: A hidden life                 In

   [ Book ]               B FRANK    Pressler, Mirjam

              Published 2000

             

             

Anne Frank, beyond the diary : a photographic remembrance                 In

   [ Book ]               B FRANK    Rol, Ruud van der.

              Published 1993

             

             

Memories of Anne Frank reflections of a childhood friend                 In

   [ Book ]               B Frank    Gold, Alison Leslie.

              Published 1997

             

             

I have lived a thousand years : growing up in the Holocaust                 In

   [ Book ]               B Friedmann    Jackson, Livia Bitton.

              Published 1997

             

             

I will plant you a lilac tree : a memoir of a Schindler's list survivor                 In

   [ Book ]               B HIL    Hillman, Laura.

              Published 2005

              Interest Level: Young Adult              

             

             

Clara's story                 In

   [ Book ]               B Isa    Isaacman, Clara.

              Published 1984

 

 

FICTION

 

 

Parallel journeys                    In

   [ Book ]               B AYE    Ayer, Eleanor H.

              Published 1995

             

             

October 45; childhood memories of the war.                 In

   [ Book ]               B BESSON    Besson, Jean-Louis.

              Published 1995

             

             

The journey that saved Curious George : the true wartime escape of Margret and H.A. Rey                 In

   [ Book ]               B BOR    Borden, Louise.

              Published 2005

              Reading Level: 4.9  Interest Level: 3-6              

             

             

Margaret Bourke-White : her pictures were her life                 In

   [ Book ]               B BOURKE- WHITE    Rubin, Susan Goldman.

              Published 1999

             

             

Hana's suitcase : a true story                 In

   [ Book ]               B BRADY    Levine, Karen.

              Published 2003

              Reading Level: 5.3  Interest Level: 5-8              

             

             

Anne Frank and children of the Holocaust                 In

   [ Book ]               B FRA    Lee, Carol Ann.

              Published 2006

              Reading Level: 6.6  Interest Level: 5-8              

             

             

Anne Frank: The diary of a young girl                 In

   [ Book ]               B Fra    Frank, Anne. 1929-1945.

              Published 1952

             

             

Anne Frank : the young writer who told the world her story                 In

   [ Book ]               B FRA    Kramer, Ann, 1946-

              Published 2007

              Reading Level: 5.9  Interest Level: 3-6              

             

             

Anne Frank: A hidden life                 In

   [ Book ]               B FRANK    Pressler, Mirjam

              Published 2000

             

             

Anne Frank, beyond the diary : a photographic remembrance                 In

   [ Book ]               B FRANK    Rol, Ruud van der.

              Published 1993

             

             

Memories of Anne Frank reflections of a childhood friend                 In

   [ Book ]               B Frank    Gold, Alison Leslie.

              Published 1997

             

             

I have lived a thousand years : growing up in the Holocaust                 In

   [ Book ]               B Friedmann    Jackson, Livia Bitton.

              Published 1997

             

             

The endless steppe : growing up in Siberia                 In

   [ Book ]               B Hau    Hautzig, Esther Rudomin.

              Published 1987

             

             

The endless steppe : growing up in Siberia                 In

   [ Book ]               B HAU    Hautzig, Esther Rudomin.

              Published 1987

              Reading Level: 6.8  Interest Level: Young Adult              

             

             

I will plant you a lilac tree : a memoir of a Schindler's list survivor                 In

   [ Book ]               B HIL    Hillman, Laura.

              Published 2005

              Interest Level: Young Adult              

             

             

Heinrich Himmler : murderous architect of the Holocaust                 In

   [ Book ]               B HIM    Worth, Richard.

              Published 2005

              Interest Level: Young Adult              

             

             

The life and death of Adolf Hitler                 In

   [ Book ]               B HIT    Giblin, James.

              Published 2002

              Interest Level: Young Adult              

             

             

Clara's story                 In

   [ Book ]               B Isa    Isaacman, Clara.

              Published 1984

             

             

My Bridges of Hope                 In

   [ Book ]               B Jackson    Jackson, Livia Bitton.

              Published 1999

             

             

Hiding in Plain Sight The incredible true story of a German-Jewish teenager's struggle to survive in Nazi-occupied Poland                 In

   [ Book ]               B Lau    Lauer, Betty

             

             

             

Hidden child                 In

   [ Book ]               B MIL    Millman, Isaac.

              Published 2005

              Reading Level: 5.8  Interest Level: 5-8              

             

             

The beautiful days of my youth : my six months in Auschwitz and Plaszow                 In

   [ Book ]               B NOVAC    Novac, Ana.

              Published 1997

             

             

Forging freedom: a true story of heroism during the Holocaust                 In

   [ Book ]               B PENRAAT    Talbott, Hudson.

              Published 2000

             

             

The upstairs room.                 In

   [ Book ]               B Rei    Reiss, Johanna.

              Published 1972

             

             

We're alive and life goes on               In

   [ Book ]               B Rou    Roubickova, Eva

              Published 1998

              

Quiz Tomorrow for Periods 1,6, and 7

Here is a check list for the quiz tomorrow.

1. Be able to define militarism and nationalism.  How did those two beliefs help cause World War I?

2. What was the Treaty of Versailles?  How did it impact Germany?

3. Define inflation.  What caused the inflation in Germany in the early 1920s?

4. Describe two positive aspects of the Weimar Republic.

5. What was the Dawes Plan?

Life in Weimar Germany...Print this 3 and 4 and Pat Mac

The Weimar Republic 1918-1933

German soldiers returning from World War I came home to a very different Germany. Gone was the German Empire with colonies in Asia and Africa led by the Kaiser Wilhelm II. Gone was the industrial Rhineland, as well as the port city of Danzig. Many came home to find that their homes or businesses had been destroyed in the conflict. The capital of the German Empire had been the proud city of Berlin; the new government had the capital in the city of Weimar.

The new Republic faced an uphill battle of rebuilding a nation that had lost over 1.7 million men in combat, had over 4.2 million men return home wounded. In addition to the loss of human life, many German farms and factories had been destroyed in the fighting. Soldiers and civilians lost their jobs and unemployment soared. The “War Guilt Clause” made it nearly impossible for the German nation to begin rebuilding. The Treaty of Versailles placed Germany responsible for the War, and had to pay damages to Great Britain, France, and Belgium.

1919-1923

From 1919-1923, the Republic faced years of crisis. Many conservative groups in Germany wanted a return to an authoritarian style of government like the old German Empire. The groups began to blame the Republic for the defeat of Germany during the first World War, claiming that the Republic had allied itself with Jews and Socialist, brining Germany to defeat. Many veterans of W.W.I joined these groups, fueled by their anger and resentment.

The Republic’s economy faced a severe depression during this time period as well. Prices for basic goods soared throughout the country. The Weimar Republic began to print out more money to try and help the German citizens deal with high prices, this proved to be a disaster. The value of the German deutschemark (German currency) before W.W.I was 4.2 to 1 U.S. dollar. By August 1923, 1 million deutschemarks equaled 1 U.S. dollar.

By 1923, the German government was unable to pay the reparations to Britain, France, and Belgium. As a result the French and the Belgium governments sent in troops to occupy the Ruhr Valley in Germany. The Ruhr Valley was the industrial center of Germany, home to coal mines, factories, iron deposits, and steel mills. German workers refused to work for the French or the Belgiums and went on strike. Fights broke out between the Germans and the French, and some German workers were killed. The rest of Germany demanded that the French and Belgium troops leave Germany, and protests took place all over the country.

1924-1929

The United States looked on the crisis in Germany with growing concern. The last thing that the U.S. wanted was another war in Europe. Charles Dawes was asked by Britain and the United States to formulate a plan that would bail out the German economy. The Dawes Plan, had the United States loan Germany money so that the German government could pay off its debts to the Allied nations of Europe. In addition to this the German economy was going to be restructured and issue a new type of currency. One the loans were put in place, France and Belgium agreed to withdraw their troops from the Ruhr Valley.

This eased the economic burden that was placed on Germany. For the next five years the German economy would grow and the Weimar Republic flourished. Germany became one of the leading nations in architecture, music, math and science, and fashion.

The Bauhaus style of architecture revolutionized modern buildings in cities across the world. The type of design was radically different from the previous style of the 19^th century.

Arnold Schoenberg was a composer living in Germany. He developed a new twelve tone technique that influenced an entire generation of composers across the world. Along with Richard Strauss, Germany was at the center of the Classical Musical World.

During this period Fritz Lang produces what many consider the first scientific film, Metropolis. The film painted a dark future where the population of the world had been divided. Planners and Thinkers live on Earth in luxury, while the workers live underground. The German film industry of the Weimar Republic influenced American Hollywood film studios during the 1920s and '30s. 

In October of 1929, the stock market crashes in America and the U.S. enters what historians call, “The Great Depression.” As the American economy worsened, banks and businesses began to close. The American government cancels the Dawes Plan, and the Depression spreads to Germany.

1929-1933

The Depression quickly ended the period of economic growth that Germany had briefly enjoyed.  The numbers of unemployed Germans grows at an alarming rate, from 1.8 million in 1928 to over 6 million in 1932. As more and more Germans lose their jobs and savings, many blamed the Weimar Republic for failing to provide for them. The people of Germany felt that the democratic system had failed them and that it would take a strong leader, like the kaiser to bring the country out of the Depression.