Decision-Making in Times of Injustice Lesson 10

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Lesson 10 142

The Nazis in Power: Discrimination, Obedience, and

Opportunism

?WHY teach this material?Rationale

In this lesson, students will continue to explore the concept of obedience through thelens of the laws passed during Hitlers first years in power. The suggested activities focusstudents attention on how these laws might have influenced the attitudes and actions ofindividuals living in Germany during the 1930s. Later in this unit, students will be ableto trace how laws which gradually stripped Jews of their rights as citizens laid the ground-

work for their deportation and extermination during the Holocaust. In this lesson, as stu-dents consider why people chose to follow unjust laws in Nazi Germany, they also havethe opportunity to reflect on discrimination in their communities today, especially the

ways that it might be possible to confront unjust laws within a democratic society.

L E A R N I N G G O A L S

The purpose of this lesson is to help students:

Reflect on these guiding questions: What laws were passed once Hitler gained power? How do you think these laws

might have shaped the attitudes and actions of individuals living in Germany inthe 1930s?

What is discrimination? Who benefits from discrimination? Who suffers? Why might Germans have followed these laws, even though many of them discrim-

inated against their Jewish neighbors? Under the Nazi dictatorship, what optionsmight have been available to Germans who did not agree with these laws?

Why are individuals more vulnerable to being discriminated against under a dic-tatorship than a democratic system of government? How might democratic institu-tions (elections, freedom of press, courts) help groups and individuals combat dis-crimination in communities today?

Practice these interdisciplinary skills: Paraphrasing primary source documents Drawing conclusions from evidence in primary source documents

Presenting information to peers

Deepen understanding of these key terms: Dictatorship Nuremberg laws Discrimination OpportunismFear

To deepen your understanding of the ideas in this lesson, read Chapter Four in Facing

History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior.

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Obedience

Resistance (dissent)

(See the main glossary in the units Introduction for definitions of these keyterms.)

?WHAT is this lesson about?

When Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, he was finally in a position where he could usethe power of law to control German society. His ability to pass laws continued to getstronger, culminating in 1934 when the German electorate approved the decree that gaveHitler dictatorial power. Once Hitler established a dictatorship, any vestiges of demo-cratic institutions were destroyed. Without a parliament, courts, or elections to stop him,Hitler had the power to make all of the rules. There was no system of checks and bal-ances; institutions paid homage not to a constitution (i.e., the rule of law) but to adesire to please the Fhrer.* This attitude is exemplified by the first law Hitler passed afterbecoming Fhrer. On August 20, 1934, Hitler declared that all soldiers and government

officials were obliged to recite an oath not to German law or nation, but to Hitler him-self.

The timeline in Lesson 8 demonstrates how even before he became Fhrer, Hitler usedlaws to further the goals of the Nazi Party at the expense of civil liberties and democraticinstitutions. The Nazi Party platform clearly articulated these goals which included strip-ping Jews of citizenship and their right to vote. Hitler did not attempt to realize thesegoals overnight. Rather, he took a gradual approach, eliminating the rights of Jews onestep at a time. Beginning in 1933, only a few months after he became Chancellor, Hitlerproposed the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service which made itillegal for communists, Jews, and other individuals deemed unfit to work in the civilservice as doctors, teachers, police, judges, or other state employees. This law was Hitlers

first step in using laws to define who is a Jew and who is not a Jew, an important stage inthe Nazis ultimate goal to remove all Jews from Germany. It identified Jews as someone

with at least three Jewish grandparents, and it provided more specifications to help deter-mine how to evaluate the status of individuals who may be from one Jewish parent andone Aryan parent or whose parents may have converted and do not belong to the Jewishcommunity at this time.

Yet, it was not until 1935 that Hitler and the Nazis finally achieved their goal of strippingJews of citizenship, creating a legal distinction between Germans and their Jewish neigh-bors. At a Nazi Party conference in the town of Nuremberg, Hitler announced three newlaws, thereafter referred to as the Nuremberg laws. (See handout 2, documents 1 and 2for an excerpt of the Nuremberg Laws.) These laws redefined what it meant to beGerman. Until this point, Jews living in Germany considered themselves to be Germancitizens, and were often treated accordingly. Many Jews spoke German, attended Germanschools, and voted in national and regional elections. The Nuremberg laws, however,explicitly stated that a Jew could no longer be a German citizen protected by Germanlaws. Because the Nazis were preoccupied with protecting Aryan blood from contamina-tion with Jewish blood, these laws also made it illegal for Jews and Aryans to share sexual

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* Fhrer had been used for centuries as a title for German rulers. It means leader in German. When Hitler assumed thistitle for himself in 1934, he was connecting his rule to that of German kings and emperors that had come before him.


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relations, and even made it illegal for youngGerman women to work in a Jewish home.The Nuremberg laws went on to define who

was a Jew, continuing the work which beganin 1933. Being a Jew was no longer a matterof self-definition or self-identification. Now

a person was considered a Jew because ofwhat his or her parents or grandparents hadchosen to believe.

The Nuremberg laws were crucial to theprocess of dehumanization that the Nazisinstitutionalized once they took power, andthe laws helped set the stage for the organ-ized violence and mass murder that wouldcome later in the regime. While theNuremberg laws explicitly mentioned Jews,the interpretation of these laws also accusedGypsies* and blacks as having alienblood.1 And dozens of laws passed by theNazis targeted other groups deemed unde-sirable, including communists, homosexuals,and Jehovahs Witnesses. Accordingly, thepolicies established by Hitler, supported bythe Nazis and followed by most Germans,reveal how rampant discriminationthe useof laws, policies, and practices to treat indi-viduals differently based on their member-ship in a specific groupbecame a corner-

stone of Hitlers governing strategy.

The majority of Germans reacted to these laws with enthusiasm, or at least passivity.Within Germany explicit resistance to the Nuremberg Laws, and other discriminatorypolicies instituted by the Nazis, was virtually unheard of. Why was this the case whensurely many Germans had Jewish neighbors? In many German towns and cities, Jews andGermans had lived together in relative peace. Germans had Jewish teachers and Jewishdoctors. They attended schools with Jews and had served in the military with them.Because of intermarriage, some German families had members who identified as Jews or

were now being identified as Jewish by the Nazis. There is no simple answer to the ques-tion of why Germans did not resist these unjust laws, including laws aimed at vulnerablegroups other than Jews. As described in the previous lesson, obedience is one factor that

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The Nuremberg laws were the first step in legally defining Jews as sep-

arate from the German people. Samuel Baks painting, Signal of

Identity, emphasizes the yellow stars Jews were later forced to wear as

an outward symbol of their status as noncitizens.

* At the time of the Holocaust, Germans and other Europeans used the name Gypsies when referring to an ethnic groupof people whose origins can be traced to South Asia. (The name actually stems from the word Egyptianbecause Europeansoriginally believed that they came from Egypt.) Over time, the label Gypsy was conferred on any nomadic group withsimilar physical appearance (i.e., darker skin and hair), lifestyle, and customs. Most of the individuals labeled as Gypsies areactually members of the Romani or Sinti community. Recently, in recognition of the inaccurate and derogatory qualities ofthe label Gypsy, the international community has adopted the more respectful Roma, Romani, or Sinti. However, toavoid historical anachronism, in the lesson plans we use the word Gypsies when identifying the groups of people who weretargeted for segregation and annihilation by the Nazis, since this is what the Nazis called them at the time. Refer to the fol-lowing websites for more information about the Roma people and their history: http://www.romani.org, http://www.religioustolerance.org/roma.htm, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Roma_history.


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influenced the behavior of Germans at this time. In Nazi Germany, children, men, andwomen were rewarded for obeying Nazi policies and faced consequences for refusals toobey. Opportunism is another factor that influenced Germans to follow these laws. Whileminority groups were being denied basic civil and human rights, many Germans bene-fited from these discriminatory practices. For example, Germans were given the jobs that

were held by Jews and others who were forcibly fired in accordance with the Law for the

Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. Later, Germans claimed property, includinghomes, paintings, jewelry, and other valuables, that were confiscated from Jews, commu-nists, and other political prisoners. Moreover, the desire to belong (conformity) and thefear of ostracism may have motivated some people to follow laws, even laws that theyknew were unjust. In the film The Nazis: A Warning from HistoryChaos and Conspiracy,Erna Kranz explains, When the masses were shouting Heil, what could the individualperson do? You went with it. We were the ones who went along. 2 The willingness ofmany Germans to support Nazi policies, the lack of resistance to discriminatory laws, andthe cooperation of institutions, including churches, raise the question of how much the

Jews had really been accepted in German society prior to Hitler coming to power.

Additionally, to understand the reasons why Germans obeyed Hitlers laws, we must rec-ognize the fact that Germany was a totalitarian state when many, but not all, of theselaws were passed. Once Hitler became Fhrer, it was certainly more difficult for Germansto resist following Nazi laws. By 1935, Hitler had already established many mechanismsaimed at preventing a grassroots protest movement: he had instituted an active secretservice and state police, had opened a well-known concentration camp for those whoopposed Nazi ideals, and had bombarded public spaces, including schools, with Nazipropaganda aimed at convincing the public that Hitler was acting in the best interests ofGermany. While these policies and institutions certainly made political dissent more chal-lenging, in the 1930s it was still possible for many Germans (those without ties to theCommunist Party or Jewish ancestry) to resist without facing severe consequences. Thehistorical evidence does not indicate that Germans who passively resisted Nazi ideology

were sent to concentration camps. To be sure, Germans who demonstrated less zeal forNazi policies could be denied promotions or could lose their jobs entirely. For example,Ricarda Huch, a poet and a writer, had to resign from her position at the prestigiousPrussian Academy of Arts when she refused to take Hitlers oath of loyalty.3 During theyears of the Third Reich, she lived in internal exile, unable to publish her writing or teachat the university. At the same time, she was not jailed or physically harmed for her refusalto support Nazi policies. Thus, in the early years of the Nazi regime, there were opportu-nities for Germans who were not Jews to protest the laws being enacted. The Nazis moni-tored public opinion and when they learned of reservations among people they wereoften willing to modify policies and change the timetable for their implementation. It isunclear what would have happened if more people chose to engage in various forms ofresistance during the first months and years of the regime. According to historian Daniel

Goldhagen, the fact that few Germans decided to protest Nazi policies might representtheir willingness to tacitly accept Nazi laws, for reasons such as self-preservation, oppor-tunism, peer pressure, antisemitism, or prejudice.4

While a minority of Germans struggled, unsuccessfully, to find meaningful ways to dis-sent, this task was even more difficult for groups targeted by the Nazi Party. Withoutaccess to a free press, an independent judiciary, and the right to vote, Jews and otherminority groups in Germany did not have access to levers of power that groups haveused during other struggles for civil rights, such as the civil rights movement in the

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Lesson 10 146

United States. Studying the history of Nazi Germany illuminates how minority groupsbecome especially vulnerable to discrimination when they live under a dictatorship. Asstudents continue their study of the steps leading up to the Holocaust, they will see howthe laws declared by Hitler throughout the 1930s provided the foundation for genocide.

Related readings in

Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human BehaviorDefining a Jew, pp. 2012The People Respond, p. 203The Hangman, pp. 2046

?HOW can we help students engage with this material?Duration: one class period

Materials

Handout 1: Laws Passed by Hitler and the Nazis: Documents (16)Handout 2: Laws Passed by Hitler and the Nazis: Document analysis worksheet

Opener

To prepare students for the material in this lesson, you can begin class by asking studentsto review the material from the previous lessons about Germanys shift from democracyto dictatorship. The main idea you want students to recall is that Hitler went from hav-ing no formal power, to some power, to all of the power in Germany. At the same time,citizens went from having the power to elect representatives, join political parties, andenjoy civil rights such as freedom of speech, to losing all of that power when they electedHitler as Fhrer.

Next, ask students to respond to the question, Now that Hitler is Fhrer (dictator), theNazis have power to declare any law that he wants. Based on your knowledge of the goalsof the Nazi Party, what new laws might he declare? Have students review the Nazi Party

HelpingStudents Understand theConcept of Dictatorship

Most students in your classroom probably have not experienced living under a dictatorship,but most, if not all, students have likely experienced playing or watching games with estab-lished rules and referees. If you think your students need more help understanding the implica-tions of living under a dictatorship, one way to help them is by using a sports analogy. You canask students how a game would changefor example, basketball, football, or baseballif

someone took over the league, tossed out the rule book, and fired all of the umpires. Whatcould this leader do if he or she wanted a particular team to win or a particular team to lose?

What would happen to the game without a referee? A sports or game metaphor provides anopportunity to explain the implications of Hitler revoking the Weimar Constitution (i.e., likethrowing out the rule book) and controlling the courts (i.e., like firing all of the umpires andhiring new ones who will do what you say). Of course, this metaphor is not accurate when youcompare the consequences of an unfair game versus an unfair dictatorship. You can open upthe following question to students: How are the consequences of an unfair game different thanthe consequences of an unfair government system?


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platform to spark their thinking. Students can record answers in their journals and youcan ask for volunteers to share their thoughts with the class.

Main Activities

Explain to students that the purpose of the main activity is to help them learn about

some of the laws the Nazis passed before and after Hitler became dictator, and to con-sider how these laws might have impacted people living in Germany. Handout 1 includesexcerpts of six laws passed by Hitler between 1933 and 1936. You do not have to use allof the laws for this activity. You can help students comprehend and analyze the laws as a

whole class activity or you can have them work in small groups. You might decide tofocus on only a few laws. If so, we strongly suggest you focus on the Nuremberg laws(documents 1 and 2) because they constituted an essential step that contributed to theHolocaust.

There are many ways you could structure this class. You might decide to review the lawstogether as a whole-class activity. Or your students could be assigned to present one ofthe laws to the rest of the class. You might organize this activity as a jigsaw. In a jigsaw,

students first work in expert groups with one document. Handout 2 includes compre-hension, interpretive, and universal questions designed to help students think about theimpact of the specific law they have been assigned and the idea of fairness or just laws.

While working in small groups, students can focus on answering the comprehension andinterpretive questions. [Note: The suggestions in the follow-through activity build on stu-dents answers to the universal questions about fairness and discrimination.] Once expertshave had the opportunity to successfully analyze their law, new groups are formed. Thesenew groups include at least one student from each expert group. Students can present thelaw they have been assigned to their new group. As students learn about the laws declaredby Hitler, they can add them to the timeline they started during Lesson 7 (or they canbegin a new timeline).

To reinforce students understanding of laws in Nazi Germany, students can return to thepredictions they made during the opening activity. To what extent were students able tosuccessfully predict some of the laws Hitler declared? Help students review the laws they

just learned about through the lens of the Nazi Party platform. How did the laws passedby Hitler support the principles in the platform? Did Hitler pass any laws that wentagainst any of the ideas in the platform? You might ask students to think back to theGerman citizen they were assigned during Lesson 7. How might this individual have feltabout these laws? Would he/she have been pleased, concerned, or surprised by any ofthese laws? Students can respond to these questions in their journals before discussingtheir ideas in small groups or as a whole class.

Follow-Through (in class or at home)

The laws passed by Hitler exemplify unjust laws because of the way they discriminateagainst individuals because of their membership in a specific group. Debriefing this activ-ity provides an opportunity to review the meaning of the word discrimination, whichyou may have defined during Lesson 5. What does it mean to discriminate? What is therelationship between discrimination and prejudice? Who benefits from laws discriminat-ing against members of particular groups? Is discrimination ever justified? Why are indi-viduals more vulnerable to being discriminated against under a dictatorship than a demo-cratic system of government? How might democratic institutions (elections, freedom of

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press, courts) help groups combat discrimination in communities today? These are allquestions you can use as prompts for journal writing or a class discussion. If you haveorganized this activity using the jigsaw method, you could ask all of the mixed groupsto discuss the universal questions on handout 2 after they have presented their docu-ments. Then each small group can present their idea about the qualities that make a fairor just law.

One important learning goal for this unit is for students to recognize how ordinary peo-plepeople like you and mewent along with the unjust policies of the Nazi Party. Toemphasize this point, ask students to respond to the following prompt in their journals:

Identify an experience (from your own life or from history) with a rule or law thatyou thought was unfair to a particular group of people in your neighborhood orschool (i.e., girls, boys, older students, younger students, non-English speakers, immi-grants, athletes, etc.) How did you respond to this rule? Did you follow it or resist it?

Why?

Volunteers can share their responses. After several students have shared, ask students if

writing the journal entry and listening to their peers changed their understanding of whyGermans followed Hitlers laws. If so, in what ways have their ideas changed? By 1934,the Germans lived under a dictatorship. Yet, students in the United States live in ademocracy. Ask students if any of their responses to unfair laws might have been differentif they lived in a dictatorship, and why this might be the case.

Assessment(s)

Students responses on handout 2 can be used to evaluate their ability to paraphrase andinterpret a primary source document. Their work on handout 2 and their comments dur-ing class discussion will provide evidence of how students are able to explain how a lawmight impact individual and group behavior. Another way to evaluate students historical

understanding is to ask them to describe how the laws passed by Hitler represent theideas in the Nazi Party platform. Finally, in students journal entries and comments dur-ing class discussion, look for students to express a deeper understanding of discrimina-tion. Students should be able to define discrimination as specific laws, policies, or prac-tices that treat individuals differently because of their membership in a particular group,and they should be developing an awareness of how some groups might benefit from dis-criminatory policies while other groups suffer as a result of these same practices. Students

with a sophisticated understanding of this material will be able to recognize the ethicaldilemmas raised by unjust laws, especially when individuals benefit from the laws andcould suffer as a result of resisting them.

Extensions

Each of the laws included in this lesson impacted the attitudes and actions of theGerman people in ways that contributed to the Holocaust. There will be plenty of oppor-tunities in the rest of the unit to refer to these laws. For example, as students learn aboutHitlers use of indoctrination, education, and propaganda to control German youth, youcan remind students of the law requiring German children to join the Hitler YouthMovement. The Nuremberg laws are especially significant because they allowed the Nazigovernment to decide who was a Jew and who was not a Jew, and then they stripped Jewsof their citizenship. You might want to spend more time analyzing the significance of the

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Nuremberg laws. Most adolescents experience moments when they are stuck betweenhow others, such as parents or peers, define them and how they want to define them-selves. So, the fact that the Nazi government had the power to define and label individu-als, often against their own will, has the power to provoke students own thoughts on theconcept of identity. Questions you might use to prompts students reflections in writingor discussion include: What does it mean to lose the right to define yourself? What are

examples from today or the past of when individuals have been defined by others? Arethese labels and definitions always negative? What gives groups or individuals the powerto define and label other people?

This lesson includes only several of the hundreds of laws the Nazis passed to pro-mote their racist ideology and control the hearts and minds of the German people.

You or your students can learn about other Nazi laws, including laws targetinggroups other than Jews, such as the Gypsies and the disabled, by searching on thefollowing online archives:

Yad Vashem, Documents of the HolocaustGermany and Austriahttp://www1.yadvashem.org/about_holocaust/index_about_holocaust.html

Yale Law SchoolThe Avalon Project, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression Vol. 4http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/nca_v4menu.asp

If students are constructing a timeline of the events leading up to the Holocaust,you can ask them to add these laws to their timelines. By searching on the Internet,students can add images to their timelines to illustrate these laws. Or if students donot have access to computers with Internet connections, you could find images forthe students and ask them to attach the image to the most relevant place on thetimeline. The following websites have a large collection of images from Germany inthe 1930s:

United States Holocaust Museum and Memorial (http://www.ushmm.org)

The History Place Holocaust Timeline(http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/timeline.html)

The Holocaust Chronicle (http://www.holocaustchronicle.org/)

Yad Vashem(http://www1.yadvashem.org/about_holocaust/index_about_holocaust.html)

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Purpose: To deepen understanding of the power of conformity and discrimination in Nazi Germany and in society today. 150

Laws Passed by Hitler and the Nazis

Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor(also called the Nuremberg laws) September 15, 19355

Firm in the knowledge that the purity of German blood is the basis for the survival of theGerman people and inspired by the unshakeable determination to safeguard the future ofthe German nation, the Reichstag has unanimously resolved upon the following law. . .

Section 1

Marriages between Jews and citizens of German or some related blood are

forbidden. Such marriages . . . are invalid, even if they take place abroad in

order to avoid the law.

Section 2

Sexual relations outside marriage between Jews and citizens of German or

related blood are forbidden.

Section 3

Jews will not be permitted to employ female citizens of German or related

blood who are under 45 years as housekeepers.

Section 4

1. Jews are forbidden to raise the national flag or display the national colors.

2. However, they are allowed to display the Jewish colors. The exercise ofthis right is protected by the State.

Section 5

Anyone who disregards Section 1 . . . Section 2 . . . Sections 3 or 4 will be pun-

ished with imprisonment up to one year or with a fine, or with one of these

penalties. . . .

Lesson 10: Handout 1, Document 1


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The Reich Citizenship Law(also called the Nuremberg laws) September 15, 1935

Article 16

Section 2

1. A Reich citizen is that subject who is of German or related blood only and

who through his behavior demonstrates that he is ready and able to serve

faithfully the German people and Reich.

2. The right to citizenship of the Reich is acquired by the grant of citizenship

papers.

3. A citizen of the Reich is the sole bearer of full political rights as provided

by the law.

Addition to the Reich Citizenship LawNovember 14, 1935 (also called the Nuremberg laws)7

Article 4

1. A Jew cannot be a Reich citizen. He has no voting rights in political

matters; he cannot occupy a public office.

2. Jewish officials will retire as of December 31, 1935 . . . .

Article 51. A Jew is a person descended from at least three grandparents who are full

Jews by race . . . .

2. A Mischling [someone of mixed background] . . . is also considered a Jew if

he is descended from two full Jewish grandparents . . . .




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LawsPassedbyHitler and the Nazis

Oath of Reich Officials and of German Soldiers,of 20 August 19348

Article 1

The public officials and the soldiers of the armed forces must take an oath

of loyalty on entering service.

Article 2

1. The oath of loyalty of public officials will be: I swear: I shall be loyal and

obedient to Adolf Hitler, the Fhrer of the German Reich and people,

respect the laws, and fulfill my official duties conscientiously, so help me

God.2. The oath of loyalty of the soldiers of the armed forces will be: I swear by

God this sacred oath: I will render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler,

the Fhrer of the German Reich and people, Supreme Commander of the

Armed Forces, and will be ready as a brave soldier to risk my life at any time

for this oath.

Article 3

Officials already in service must swear this oath without delay according to

Article 2 number 1.




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Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, April 7, 19339

The Reich Government has enacted the following Law . . .

Article 11. To restore a national professional civil service and to simplify administration, civil servants maybe dismissed from office in accordance with the following regulations, even where there wouldbe no grounds for such action under the prevailing Law.

Article 21. Civil servants who have entered the service since November 9, 1918, without possessing therequired or customary educational background or other qualifications are to be dismissed fromthe service. Their previous salaries will continue to be paid for a period of three months followingtheir dismissal.

Article 31. Civil servants who are not of Aryan descent are to be retired; if they are honorary officials, theyare to be dismissed from their official status.2. Section 1 does not apply to civil servants in office from August 1, 1914, who fought at the Frontfor the German Reich or its Allies in the World War, or whose fathers or sons fell in the World War.

Article 41. Civil servants whose previous political activities afford no assurance that they will at all timesgive their fullest support to the national State, can be dismissed from the service. . . .

Amendment to the Administration of the Law for theRestoration of the Professional Civil Service of 11 April 193310

Regarding Article 2:Unfit, are all civil servants who belong to the communist party or communist aid or supplemen-tary organization. They are, therefore, to be discharged.

Regarding Article 3:1. A person is to be regarded as non-Aryan, who is descended from non-Aryans, especially Jewishparents or grandparents. This holds true even if only one parent or grandparent is of non-Aryandescent. This premise especially obtains if one parent or grandparent was of Jewish faith.

3. If Aryan descent is doubtful, an opinion must be obtained from the expert on racial researchcommissioned by the Reich Minister of the Interior.




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LawsPassedbyHitler and the Nazis

Law Concerning the Hitler Youth ofDecember 1, 193611

It is on youth that the future of the German Nation depends. Hence, it isnecessary to prepare the entire German youth for its coming duties. The

government therefore has passed the following law . . .

Article 1

The entire German youth within the borders of the Reich is organized in the

Hitler Youth.

Article 2

It is not only in home and school, but in the Hitler Youth as well that all ofGermanys youth is to be educated, physically, mentally, and morally, in the

spirit of National Socialism, to serve the nation and the racial community.

Article 3

The task of educating the entire German youth is entrusted to the Reich

Youth Leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party. He thus

becomes the Youth Leader of the German Reich. His office shall rank with

that of a ministry. He shall reside in Berlin, and be responsible directly to

the Fhrer and Chancellor.




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Law Against the Establishment of Parties, 14 July 193312

Article IThe National Socialist German Workers Party constitutes the only political

party in Germany.

Article 2

Whoever undertakes to maintain the organization of another political party

or to form a new political party shall be punished with penal servitude of up

to three years or with imprisonment of between six months and three years,

unless the act is subject to a heavier penalty under other regulations.




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Lesson 10: Handout 2


Document analysis worksheet

Comprehension questions

1. Name of the law you are presenting:

2. What is the meaning of this law? Explain the law in your own words.

Interpretive questions

3. Who did you think might have benefited from this law?

4. Who suffered as a result of this law?

5. How might this law have influenced the attitudes and actions of the German people?

How might their lives and beliefs have changed as a result of this law?

6. Why do you think the Nazis created this law?

Universal questions

7. Do you think this law is fair? Why or why not?

8. What are the qualities of a fair or just law?



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Notes

1 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Sinti and Roma: Victims of the Nazi Era, Holocaust TeacherResource Center website, http://www.holocaust-trc.org/sinti.htm (accessed January 8, 2009).

2 Laurence Rees, The Nazis: A Warning from History, DVD (Burbank: BBC Video, 2005).3 Wolfgang Beutin, A History of German Literature(Abingdon: Routledge, 1993), 496.4 Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust,

http://www.historyplace.com/pointsofview/goldhagen.htm (accessed January 9, 2009). For further readingon Goldhagens perspective, read Hitlers Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust (NewYork: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1996).

5 Law for Protection of German Blood and German Honor, Holocaust Education and Archive ResearchTeam website, http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/holoprelude/pbgh.html (accessed January 10,2009).

6 Nuremberg Laws on Reich Citizenship, September 15, 1935, Yad Vashem website,http://www1.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%201998.pdf (accessed January 10,2009).

7 The Reich Citizenship Law (September 15, 1935) and the First Regulation to the Reich Citizenship Law(November 14, 1935), German History in Documents and Images website, http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/docpage.cfm?docpage_id=2171 (accessed January 10, 2009).

8 Oath of Reich Officials and of German Soldiers, of 20 August 1934, The Avalon Project, Yale Law Schoolwebsite, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/2061-ps.asp (accessed January 12, 2009).

9

Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, April 7, 1933, Yad Vashem website,http://www1.yadvashem.org/about_holocaust/documents/part1/doc10.html (accessed January 12, 2009).

10 First Regulation for Administration of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service of 11April 1933, The Avalon Project, Yale Law School website, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/2012-ps.asp(accessed January 12, 2009).

11 Law Concerning the Hitler Youth of December 1, 1936, History of the Holocaust website,http://www.cdojerusalem.org/iconsmultimedia/ClientsArea/HoH/LIBARC/ARCHIVE/Chapters/Stabiliz/Racial/LawConce.html (accessed January 12, 2009).

12 Law against the Establishment of Parties, History of the Holocaust website,http://www.cdojerusalem.org/iconsmultimedia/ClientsArea/HoH/LIBARC/ARCHIVE/Chapters/Forging/Seizure/LawAgain.html (accessed January 12, 2009).

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Decision-Making in Times of Injustice Lesson 10

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Transcript of Decision-Making in Times of Injustice Lesson 10