Lesson 12

To deepen your understanding of the ideas in this lesson, read Chapter Five in Facing
History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior.

Life for German Youth in the 1930s: Education,

Propaganda, Conformity, and Obedience

? WHY teach this material?

Rationale
In this lesson, students read narratives describing life for German youth in the 1930s.
Many of these narratives focus on experiences in school and in youth groups where
teenagers received powerful messages from teachers, peers, Nazi officials, and parents
about the proper way to act and think. The activities suggested in this lesson encourage
students to recognize how factors such as pride, fear, obedience, and peer pressure influ-
enced how German youth responded to messages disseminated by the Nazis. Analyzing
how German youth responded to messages about the proper way to think and act can
help students reflect on their own responses to such messages in their lives. In particular,
the material in this lesson provides opportunities for students to consider the messages
they receive in school about their responsibilities as citizens, and to evaluate the role of
civic education in a democracy.

LEARNING GOALS
The purpose of this lesson is to help students:
• Reflect on these guiding questions:
• What was life like for teenagers living in Germany between 1933 and 1939?
• What messages did they receive about the proper way to think and act? Where did
these messages come from? How did German youth interpret and respond to these
messages? What influenced their choices?
• What messages do you receive about the proper way to think and act? Where do
these messages come from? How do you interpret and respond to these messages?
What influences your choices?
• What is the role of school in preparing young people for their role as citizens? What
might be the difference between preparing students to live in a dictatorship versus
a democracy?
• Practice these interdisciplinary skills:
• Interpreting narrative historical documents
• Synthesizing information to answer questions about a historical time period
• Defending ideas with evidence
• Drawing connections between history and their lives
• Deepen understanding of these key terms:
• Propaganda
• Conformity
• Obedience
• Education

Lesson 12 • 172
 • Message
• Dictatorship
• Democracy
• Citizen
• Civic education
(See the main glossary in the unit’s “Introduction” for definitions of these key
terms.)

? WHAT is this lesson about?

In Lesson 11, students explored the impact of Nazi propaganda on the attitudes and
actions of the German public. One of the critical audiences for this propaganda
was German youth. Time and time again, Hitler spoke of the importance of indoctri-
nating German youth to Nazi ideals. In a 1935 speech to Nazi party officials, Hitler
declared, “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future,”1 and four years later he
announced, “I am beginning with the young. . . . With them I can make a new world.”2
What kind of youth did the Nazis believe would best support their plans for Germany?
On that point, Hitler was very specific. In the following speech, he described the ideal
German youth:

A violently active, dominating, intrepid, brutal youth—that is what I am after. Youth

must be all those things. It must be indifferent to pain. There must be no weakness or
tenderness in it. I want to see once more in its eyes the gleam of pride and independ-
ence of the beast of prey. . . . I intend to have an athletic youth—that is the first and
the chief thing. . . . I will have no intellectual training. Knowledge is ruin to my
young men.3

As soon as the Nazis came to power, they set in motion the process of permeating the life
of German youth with Nazi propaganda. One of the critical spaces where the Nazis
hoped to indoctrinate German youth was in the schools. Recalling his experience as a
student in Nazi Germany, Alfons Heck shares:

Unlike our elders, we children of the 1930s had never known a Germany without
Nazis. From our very first year in the Volksschule or elementary school, we received
daily doses of Nazism. These we swallowed as naturally as our morning milk. Never
did we question what our teachers said. We simply believed what was crammed into
us. And never for a moment did we doubt how fortunate we were to live in a country
with such a promising future.4

Heck’s memory illustrates how the Nazis redesigned the school curriculum toward teach-
ing students not to think but to unquestioningly accept. They changed the curriculum in
other ways, too. The teaching of race science in all subjects became mandatory and physi-
cal education was emphasized. Additionally, girls and boys were offered different course-
work, usually in separate schools. While the boys took classes in military history and sci-
ence, the girls took classes in cooking and child-rearing.

When studying this history, it is important to focus not only on what the Nazis did, but
on how Germans responded to their actions. In order for Hitler’s plans to work, teachers
needed to execute the Nazi curriculum in the classroom. But did they? According to

Lesson 12 • 173
 Holocaust scholars Richard Rubenstein and John Roth, teachers were among Hitler’s
staunchest supporters. They explain:

German school teachers and university professors were not Hitler’s adversaries. . . .
Quite the opposite; the teaching profession proved one of the most reliable segments
of the population as far as National Socialism was concerned. Throughout the
Weimar era, Germany’s educational establishment, continuing its long authoritarian
tradition, remained unreconciled to democracy and nationalism. Once in power, the
Nazis expunged dissenting instructors, but there were not many. On the other hand,
at least two leading Nazis, the rabid antisemites Heinrich Himmler and Julius
Streicher, had formerly been teachers. Eventually more than 30% of the top Nazi
Party leadership came from that background. Teachers, especially from elementary
schools, were by far the largest professional group represented in the party. Altogether
almost 97% of them belonged to the Nazi Teachers’ Association, and more than 30%
of that number were members of the Nazi Party itself. From such instructors, German
boys and girls learned what the Nazis wanted them to know. Hatred of Jews was cen-
tral in that curriculum.5

As Rubenstein and Roth point out, the Nazis had the power to remove any teachers who
did not support their agenda. This was demonstrated in 1933 with the passage of the
“Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service” which fired all Jewish instruc-
tors in schools and universities, and records show that teachers suspicious of Jewish sym-
pathies or not strictly teaching the curriculum were quickly fired, or even arrested. Thus,
when understanding why teachers went along with changes in instructions, it is impor-
tant to recognize that many factors, including opportunism, fear, conformity, national
pride, and antisemitism, may have been at play.

Schools were not the only space where

German youth received Nazi propaganda.
Following through on their belief in the
importance of capturing the hearts and
minds of German youth, the Nazis passed
a law in 1936 mandating that all German
youth participate in the Hitler Youth
Movement. Hitler Youth groups started at
the age of six. At ten, boys were initiated
into the Jungvolk and at fourteen pro-
moted to the Hitler Youth or HJ (for
Hitler Jugend). Girls belonged to the
Jungmaedel and then the BDM (the Bund
Deutscher Maedel or the League of German
Girls). In such groups, said Hitler, “These
young people will learn nothing else but
how to think German and act German. . . .
And they will never be free again, not in
their whole lives.”6 Parents could be pun-
ished if their children did not regularly
attend meetings. By 1939, about 90% of
the Aryan children in Germany belonged
to Nazi youth groups.
A page from the antisemitic children’s book, The Poisonous Mushroom.

Lesson 12 • 174
German youth spent a majority of their time in school or in youth groups, but even
when they were not engaged in these activities, the Nazis found ways to ensure they were
still surrounded by propaganda. Julius Streicher, as director of the Ministry of
Propaganda, published books, films, posters, and comic books exclusively written for
young audiences. This media was full of messages expressing the superiority of the
“Aryan” race and the inferiority of Jews and other undesirables. It glorified Hitler and
portrayed images of the ideal German girls and boys as fiercely loyal to the Nazi Party.
The Nazis also created holidays where Germans, especially German youth, could cele-
brate Hitler and the party. January 30 marked the day Hitler became chancellor and April
20 his birthday. Days set aside for party rallies at Nuremberg were also holidays. So was
November 9, the anniversary of the attempted coup in the Munich beer hall. It was
known as the Day of the Martyrs of the Movement. Memoirs written by Germans who
grew up during the 1930s recall the excitement of these holidays and rallies. Alfons Heck,
a high-ranking Hitler Youth member, recalls one impressionable moment at a rally on
Hitler Youth Day:
Shortly before noon, 80,000 Hitler Youth were lined up in rows as long as the entire
stadium. . . . When Hitler finally appeared, we greeted him with a thundering, triple
“Sieg Heil,” (Hail to Victory). . . . Then his voice rose. . . . “You, my youth,” he
shouted, with his eyes seeming to stare right at me, “are our nation’s most precious
guarantee for a great future. . . . You, my youth. . . . Never forget that one day you
will rule the world.” For minutes on end, we shouted at the top of our lungs, with
tears streaming down our faces: “Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil!” From that moment
on, I belonged to Adolf Hitler body and soul.7

Accordingly, the Nazis used schools, youth groups, and the media to surround German
youth with messages about the proper way to think and act in this new German totalitar-
ian state. Erika Mann, a German who opposed the Nazis, wrote a book called School for
Barbarians in which she described how the Nazi propaganda permeated the lives of young
Germans. She referred to “the Blockwart (neighborhood wardens), the swastika, the signs
reading ‘No Jews allowed’” as just part of “an atmosphere that is torture, a fuming poison
for a free born human being.”8 She continues, “The German child breathes this air. There
is no other condition wherever Nazis are in power; and here in Germany they do rule
everywhere, and their supremacy over the German child, as he learns and eats, marches,
grows up, breathes, is complete.”9 In the story “The Birthday Party” (pp. 237–39 in the
resource book), Mann illustrates how children even turned against their parents in the
name of supporting the Nazis and Hitler. After his son contradicts him in front of a
Hitler Youth leader, the father realizes that in this context he cannot trust his own son. To
be sure, this is exactly what Hitler wanted; he hoped that the German state would be
more important to children than their parents, their church, or their friends.

Like Erika Mann, not all German adults or young people accepted the Nazis’ ideas. By
the late 1930s, a number of teenagers were questioning the system Hitler created. Among
them were members of the Edelweiss Pirates, a loose collection of independent gangs in
western Germany, and the “Swing Kids,” who used dance and music as a form of resist-
ance.* And some Germany parents left Germany to avoid putting their children in the
position of following Hitler’s orders.† Yet, while some Germans resisted Nazi propaganda,

* For more information about how German youth resisted Nazi policies, read “Rebels Without a Cause,” pp. 249–50 in
Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior.
† For an account of one German family’s decision to emigrate, read “Taking a Stand,” pp. 268–69 in Facing History and
Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior.

Lesson 12 • 175
it is important to ask why many Germans, especially German youth, believed Nazi prop-
aganda and/or went along with their ideas. Surely, many German youth were motivated
out of fear—fear of losing a job, fear of being sent to jail, fear of being isolated by one’s
peers. As Erika Mann referenced in the statement above, the Nazis put spies throughout
neighborhoods (i.e., Blockwarts, the Gestapo, etc.), and children were even known to
report on their own parents. It was clear in Nazi Germany that anyone who did not act
and think in particular ways would be ostracized. In Lesson 2, students considered how
peer pressure (or conformity) influenced middle school students to alienate one of their
classmates. The material in this lesson also demonstrates how the human need to belong
and “fit in” shapes behavior. Finally, Nazi propaganda emphasized feelings of national
pride; the holidays and parades were designed to make Germans feel special and power-
ful. Eleanor Ayer, the author of numerous books on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust,
including Parallel Journeys, describes how, according to Nazi propaganda, “It was a terrific
time to be young in Germany. If you were a healthy teenager, if you were a patriotic
German, if you came from an Aryan (non-Jewish) family, a glorious future was yours.
The Nazis promised it.”10

This message of superiority, belonging, success, and progress understandably appealed to

many German teenagers, including Alfons Heck. Yet, after World War II was over and
evidence of Nazi war crimes were made public through the Nuremberg trials, Heck
described his experience growing up in Nazi Germany as “a massive case of child abuse.”
In his memoir, A Child of Hitler, he writes about the vulnerability of youth and issues a
warning to future generations:

The experience of the Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany constitutes a massive case of
child abuse. Out of millions of basically innocent children, Hitler and his regime suc-
ceeded in creating potential monsters. Could it happen again today? Of course it can.
Children are like empty vessels: you can fill them with good, you can fill them with
evil; you can fill them with compassion.11

Like their German counterparts, youth today are susceptible to being influenced by mes-
sages—messages from movies, music, advertisements, school curricula, religious institu-
tions, family members, friends—about how they are supposed to think and act. One
point that bears repeating is that Germany in the 1930s was a totalitarian state. If
German teenagers decided not to support the messages articulated by Nazi propaganda,
they would not only be ostracized from their peer group, but they could be expelled from
school or denied jobs. Even the families of rebellious teenagers could be punished for
their child’s lack of commitment to Nazi ideology. Teenagers living in a twenty-first-
century democracy often enjoy a wider range of choices about how to respond to mes-
sages about how they are supposed to think and act, and the consequences of their
decisions are typically not as severe as those felt by German adolescents in the 1930s. [To
be sure, for some youth, especially those that do not conform to mainstream gender roles
about how boys and girls are supposed to look and act, the consequences can be
extremely harsh.] Studying propaganda during the Nazi years provides an opportunity to
examine the messages that our communities and society are sending to youth. To what
extent are they being filled up with good? With prejudice and hate? With tolerance and
compassion? These are important questions for educators to consider as they prepare
youth for their role as democratic citizens and members of a global community.

Lesson 12 • 176
 Related reading in
Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior
“Changes at School,” pp. 175–76
“School for Barbarians,” pp. 228–31
“Belonging,” pp. 232–35
“Models of Obedience,” pp. 235–37
“Birthday Party,” pp. 237–40
“A Matter of Loyalty,” pp. 240–41
“Propaganda and Education,” pp. 242–43
“Racial Instruction,” pp. 243–45
“School for Girls,” pp. 245–46
“A Lesson in Current Events,” pp. 246–48
“Rebels Without a Cause,” pp. 249–50

? HOW can we help students engage with this material?

Duration: two class periods

Suggestion for how to implement this lesson over two class periods: Depending on how
you structure this lesson, an appropriate place to end the first part of the lesson is after
students are assigned a reading to analyze. This way, students can do their assigned read-
ing for homework and the second part of the lesson can begin with students meeting in
groups to discuss the text.

Materials
Handout 1: What was life like for teenagers living in Germany between 1933 and
1939?
Handout 2: Sample analysis of “Changes at School”
Handout 3: Sample analysis of “Frank S.” from Childhood Memories
Handout 4: German youth in the 1930s: Suggested excerpted documents (1–9)
Film: “Frank S.” in Childhood Memories (1:30–7:00)

Opener
The purpose of this lesson is to help students begin to understand what life was like for
young people growing up in Nazi Germany. Young people were surrounded by messages
about how they were supposed to act and the ideas they were supposed to believe in. Can
the same be said about youth today? To open this lesson, give students the opportunity to
answer the question, “What is it like for a teenager growing up today?” by responding to
these two questions: 1) What messages are being sent to you about how you are supposed
to behave and act? and 2) Who is sending these messages? Where do they come from?
[Note: You may want to rephrase this question to make it more specific to your students.
For example, you could ask “What is it like for a teenager growing up in your commu-
nity or town today?” or “What is it like for a teenager attending this school today?”]

Students can first answer this question by silently writing in their journals. Some of stu-
dents’ reflections may be private; they may not want to share pressures they feel to behave
a certain way. So, rather than ask all students to publicly share what they have written,
you might just ask students to share their response to the second set of questions (“Who

Lesson 12 • 177
is sending these messages? Where do they come from?”). Students will likely identify how
they receive messages from school, peers, their parents, and the media.

Main Activities
Explain to students that in this lesson they will be studying how the same sources that
send them messages about how to think and act (i.e., school, peers, media, parents, etc.)
also sent messages to German youth. The activity they are about to begin will help them
answer the question, “What was life like for a teenager living in Germany between 1930
and 1939?” You may want to write this on the board to remind students of this guiding
question.

In this lesson, students will read text about German youth in the 1930s. Many of these
are first-person accounts. Any of the readings listed in the “Related readings from HHB”
section would be appropriate for this lesson. The difficulty of text varies, so we suggest
you preview any readings before assigning them to your students. You can have students
read the entire text, or suggest particular paragraphs. Handout 4 includes suggested
readings that have been excerpted to make them more accessible for middle-school-level
readers.

Individually or in small groups, students will answer the following questions about their
reading: 1) Based on this reading, what messages were being sent to young Germans
about the proper way to think and act in Germany in the 1930s? 2) How might this
message have appealed to German teenagers? What might they have liked about this mes-
sage? What might have been confusing or disturbing about this message? and, 3) Given
what they know about the historical context of Germany in the 1930s, what range of
options did German teenagers have about how they could respond to this message? What
do they think most teenagers will do? Why? (See handout 1 for a graphic organizer you
can use with students to help them organize their ideas. Handout 2 includes a sample
analysis of the reading, “Changes at School.”)

Because Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior includes many
engaging readings focused on life in Germany from an adolescent perspective, we suggest
giving students the opportunity to engage with several of these readings. One way to
expose students to several readings is to use the jigsaw strategy. You can assign small
groups of students the task of becoming “experts” on one reading. After students have
had the opportunity to answer the questions on Handout 1, they can form mixed groups
with students who are experts on different readings. Students can share the information
on their handouts, and then these groups can synthesize what they know as they discuss
the question, “What was life like for a teenager living in Germany in the 1930s?”
Alternatively, this lesson can be structured to allow students to work independently. You
can provide students with a list of the readings from the resource book that focus on
experiences of German youth in the 1930s. Ask them to answer the questions on hand-
out 1 for three readings that they select.

Before students analyze a text on their own or in small groups, we suggest that you model
how to answer these questions by interpreting a vignette from the documentary Child-
hood Memories as a whole-class activity. In the first excerpt on this film, Frank S. recalls
his experience in a biology class called “raciology.” He remembers feeling humiliated
when the teacher had him stand in front of the class as a “living example of what a Jew

Lesson 12 • 178
looks like.” Later in the interview excerpt, Frank talks about how he was bullied in school
by students and teachers because he was Jewish. This testimony provides clear evidence of
how Nazi propaganda shaped the experience of young Jewish Germans. At the same time,
from listening to Frank’s experience, students can imagine the impact the teacher’s lesson
might have had on non-Jewish German teenagers as well. Handout 3 is a sample analysis
of this excerpt that can guide your class’s interpretation of this vignette.

A final discussion framed around the question, “What was life like for a teenager living in
Germany between 1933 and 1939?” should strive to help students recognize how factors
such as peer pressure (conformity), fear (bullying), and pride (influenced by Nazi propa-
ganda) might have shaped how youth responded to the messages that permeated German
society in the 1930s. The conversation might begin by having students identify how they
think teenagers were influenced by a particular message. Encourage students to consider
how the same message might impact a teenager in conflicting ways. For example, while
many of the ideas taught at schools might have engendered a feeling of purpose and
nationalistic pride, these same messages might have created moral dilemmas for teenagers.
Many non-Jewish youth lived in neighborhoods with Jewish youth. They had attended
the same schools and in many instances were friends. How might young people have
responded when learning that someone they liked, or even loved, was “unpure”? What
might have happened if information students learned in schools, such as the idea that all
Jews looked a certain way, contradicted what they knew from their own lives? What if
their parents expressed views at home that were different than those communicated at
school?

Follow-Through (in class or at home)

[Note: If students started a K-W-L chart, you can return to it at the end of this lesson.
Ask students to add information to the third column, “What did you learn?”]

One of the main ideas students will confront in this lesson is the relationship between
education, propaganda, and citizenship. Many of the readings (i.e., “Racial Instruction”
and “Current Events”) emphasize how the Nazis explicitly used classrooms as a training
ground for citizens that could make positive contributions to their dictatorship. Hitler’s
power, and the power of the Nazi Party, could be maintained if young people did not
question their authority, if they willingly volunteered to follow their laws, and if they saw
it as their responsibility to serve their Führer. After completing several readings suggested
in the materials section, students will be able to identify how the material taught in
schools supported the mission of the Nazi Party. For example, by teaching students race
science, they would come to believe that the Aryan race was superior to other races.
Hitler is quoted as saying, “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.” You might
share this statement with students. Then, ask them to reflect in their journals on why
Hitler may have believed that the youth were important and the degree to which they
agree with this idea. This could lead to an interesting discussion about the significance of
youth today to politicians, corporations, and other audiences.

The relationship between education and citizenship is certainly relevant to students’ lives
today. Indeed, many Americans agree that one of the purposes of public school is to pre-
pare students for their role as democratic citizens. Thus, you might end this lesson by
having students define the phrase “civic education” and then reflect on their own experi-
ences and ideas related to civic education. Clearly, preparing citizens for a dictatorship is

Lesson 12 • 179
different than preparing students for a democracy. You might ask students to think about
how this training or preparation is different. Also, in Nazi Germany, it is clear that the
government mandated unethical propaganda techniques, such as the teaching of lies as
truth, in school curricula. You might have students suggest what would be appropriate
ways for schools to prepare students for their role as citizens.

The barometer teaching strategy might be a useful way to help students think about
where they stand when it comes to civic education. This strategy asks students to line up
along a continuum to represent their points of view. To prepare for this activity, you need
to identify a space in the classroom where students can create a line or a U-shape. At one
end of the line, post a sign that reads “appropriate or ethical” and at the other end of the
line post a sign that reads “inappropriate or unethical.” Then you can read examples of
scenarios from the list below, or you can make up your own. After you read a scenario,
ask students to stand on the spot of the line that represents their opinion. Once all stu-
dents have lined up, ask students at different ends of the line to explain their position.
Encourage students to keep an open mind; they are allowed to move if someone shares an
argument that alters where they want to stand on the line.

Sample prompts for barometer activity: Do you think the following are appropriate or
inappropriate forms of civic education?

• Teaching students about how government works.

• Encouraging students to register to vote.
• Talking about the views of different political parties.
• Teaching students about American history from different points of view, even if
some of those perspectives reveal that the United States might have made mistakes
in its past.
• Using materials that highlight the positive aspects of living in a democracy and the
negative aspects of living in a dictatorship.
• Teaching students that it is always important to obey authority, especially govern-
ment officials and the laws of our country.
• Community service requirements for high school graduation.

Assessment(s)
To evaluate students’ comprehension and interpretation of the readings, you can collect
handout 1. Moreover, students’ responses in the class discussion will reveal the depth of
their understanding about life for German youth in the 1930s. If there are important
ideas students do not bring up themselves, such as the idea that German youth may have
experienced Nazi propaganda in different ways, you can introduce these ideas during the
discussion.

Students could write a journal entry or brief essay comparing their experience with civic
education to the experiences of German youth, and then suggesting ways their own civic
education might be improved.

To evaluate how students are able to synthesize information from many readings to
answer the question, “What was life like for teenagers in Germany in the 1930s?” you
can ask them to write a diary entry from the perspective of a German youth. First, stu-
dents would need to select the identity of their narrator (i.e., boy or girl, Jew or non-Jew,

Lesson 12 • 180
etc.). Then, they write the diary entry of how this young person might have responded to
particular aspects of German life, from specific laws passed or particular messages
expressed in Nazi propaganda.

Extensions
• Students have just engaged in five lessons focusing on the history of Germany in
the 1920s and 1930s. At this halfway point in the historical case study, many teach-
ers have found that the K-W-L teaching strategy helps students review what they
have learned and anticipate what they might learn in future lessons. Students’
responses to these prompts can be used to direct your teaching by revealing areas
of student interest and highlighting any misconceptions that may need to be
cleared up.

Directions for Making K-W-L Charts

Step 1: Ask students to create three columns on a sheet of paper:

• Column 1: What do you Know about Germany once Hitler and the Nazis came to power?
• Column 2: What do you Want to know?
• Column 3: What did you Learn? (Students can complete this column at the end of this
lesson and at the end of subsequent lessons.)
Step 2: Have students complete column 1. This can be done individually, in small groups,
or as a whole-class activity. Some teachers ask each student to contribute one idea to this
column.
Step 3: Have students record questions in column 2. Questions can reveal what they hope to
learn and might also test any predictions they have made about what will happen next.
Step 4: Explain to students that they will return to this chart at the end of the lesson and
future lessons. A class version of the K-W-L chart can be kept on the wall and referred to
throughout the unit as the material addresses students’ questions.

• The main activity of this lesson suggests that students have the opportunity to apply
information from readings in Holocaust and Human Behavior to discuss the ques-
tion, “What was life like for a teenager in Germany in the 1930s?” If you want to
organize a structured discussion with students that provides opportunities for both
active listening and speaking, you might wish to use the “fishbowl” discussion strat-
egy. In a fishbowl discussion, half of the class sits in a circle and talks about the
material while the other half of the class observes the discussion. Then, after ten
minutes or so, students switch roles, with those inside of the circle becoming the
observers and those outside of the circle becoming the talkers. Teachers who use this
strategy often ask the observers to take notes on particular themes or questions. For
example, observers might record ideas they agree with, ideas they disagree with, and
questions they have about what has been discussed. When the observers move to the
inner circles, they can use the ideas in their notes to spark discussion. After the dis-
cussion is over, teachers often give the final group of observers the opportunity to
comment on the conversation they just witnessed.

• Another way to help students synthesize material from various readings is to have
them construct a found poem. A found poem is made by selecting phrases and quo-
tations from text and arranging them to express a particular message. Students could
identify interesting words, phrases, and quotations from the suggested texts (see

Lesson 12 • 181
 materials section) and record them on slips of paper or sticky notes. Students can
build a found poem with peers who have read different texts. Students can also cre-
ate a found poem individually based on their own reading of several texts. For more
information on how to write a found poem, refer to Lesson 17, Handout 3.

• Students can write a story using the titles of the suggested readings from Holocaust
and Human Behavior but drawing from material in their own lives. For example, a
story titled “Belonging” might be focused on pressure to fit in with a certain peer
group. Or, a story called, “A Lesson in Current Events,” might explore how students
learn about the world around them. When writing their stories, students should be
encouraged to provide information that answers the following questions:
What messages are being sent about how you are supposed to think and act?
Who is sending these messages?
How can you respond to these messages? What are your options?
How do you choose to respond? Why?

• In addition to showing Frank S., you might want to show one of the other vignettes
on the Childhood Memories video. Here are some highlights from this video:

• Karl H: Karl recalls a moment in 3rd grade in 1944 when he was taught about
how the Aryan race had become diluted and that the purpose of the Nazi move-
ment was to bring back the purity of the Aryan race.
• Elizabeth D: Elizabeth shares dilemmas she faced living as a Jehovah’s Witness in
Germany. On the one hand, she remembers wanting to be an “ordinary
German,” yet she also respected the choices made by her family to be true to
their faith. Elizabeth describes how she grew up wishing she was invisible rather
than be forced to say “Heil Hitler,” which was against her religion.
• Walter K: Walter shares his experience as the only Jewish boy in a class of 55 in a
German public school. As a child, he recalls that he did not understand why he
was not allowed to say “Heil Hitler.” He could not go swimming or to the
movies. He also tells the story of when he was 11 and a teacher hit him with a
stick, without reason. Yet, he says his parents could not go to the police because
they would not help Jews. The principal, “a good man,” also said that he could
not do anything about it because he did not belong to the Nazi Party.

Lesson 12 • 182
 Lesson
Lesson 12:
12: Handout
Handout 11
What was life like for teenagers living in Germany between 1933 and 1939?

Directions: Use material from the reading to answer the questions in the chart below.

According to this reading, what message or messages are being sent to German youth about how
they should act and behave?

Who is sending and/or supporting this message?

This message might appeal to German youth because . . .

This message might confuse or disturb some German youth because . . .

Given what I know about the historical context of Germany in the 1930s, young people could respond
to this message by . . .

Given what I know about the historical context of Germany in the 1930s, I think most German
teenagers will respond to this message by . . . (possible answers include: protesting, ignoring, follow-
ing along, celebrating . . .)

I think this because . . .

Purpose: To deepen understanding of how propaganda and conformity influence decision-making. • 183
 Lesson 12: Handout 2
Sample Analysis of “Changes at School”

Directions: Use material from the reading to answer the questions in the chart below.

Title of reading: “Changes at School”

According to this reading, what message or messages are being sent to German youth about how
they should act and behave?
German youth should not be friends with non-Aryans, including Jews.

Who is sending and/or supporting this message?

The Nazi Party.

This message might appeal to German youth because . . .

They were singled out as being special and superior.

Some of them might have had Jewish friends and not know what to do or what to
This message might confuse or disturb some German youth because . . .

believe. Their own experiences with Jews might conflict with the ideas expressed by
the Nazis.

Given what I know about the historical context of Germany in the 1930s, young people could respond
to this message by . . .
They could have followed orders and stopped being friends with Jews.
They could have ignored the orders.
They could have pretended to follow the orders, but secretly find ways to let their Jewish
friends know they still like them.

Given what I know about the historical context of Germany in the 1930s, I think most German
teenagers will respond to this message by . . . (possible answers include: protesting, ignoring, follow-
ing along, celebrating . . .)
Following orders and not being friends with Jews.

I think this because . . .

Because it is easiest and because they would be scared about getting into trouble.

Purpose: To deepen understanding of how propaganda and conformity influence decision-making. • 184
 Lesson 12: Handout 3
Sample Analysis of “Frank S.” from Childhood Memories

Directions: Use material from the reading to answer the questions in the chart below.

Title of reading film: “Frank S.” from Childhood Memories

According to this reading, what message or messages are being sent to German youth about how
they should act and behave?
The message being sent is that Jews are inferior, that they are less valuable than Aryan
Germans.

Who is sending and/or supporting this message?

The teacher

This message might appeal to German youth because . . .

It would not appeal to Jewish youth, but Aryan youth might enjoy feeling superior. It
could make them feel proud.

This message might confuse or disturb some German youth because . . .

German youth — Jewish and Aryan — might be confused because the ideas the teacher is
spreading about Jews may not match their experience. For example, many Jews do not fit the
example of what a Jew is supposed to look like. Aryans and Jews who had been friends might
be disturbed by these messages that make it hard for them to keep up their friendship.

Given what I know about the historical context of Germany in the 1930s, young people could respond

They could follow the message and start to treat Jews as inferior. Or, they could ignore
to this message by . . .

it because they believe it is not true.

Given what I know about the historical context of Germany in the 1930s, I think most German
teenagers will respond to this message by . . . (possible answers include: protesting, ignoring, follow-
ing along, celebrating . . .)
I think many will go along with what their teachers tell them, because teachers are in a
position of authority. Teenagers may not want to get in trouble or they may believe what
their teachers tell them. I think that some students might respond by being extra-mean
to Jewish kids.

Purpose: To deepen understanding of how propaganda and conformity influence decision-making. • 185
Lesson 12: Handout 4, Document 1
German Youth in the 1930s: Selected excerpted documents

Changes at School
(Excerpted from “Changes at School,” pp. 175–76 in Facing History and
Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior)

Ellen Switzer, a student in Nazi Germany, recalls how her friend Ruth
responded to Nazi antisemitic propaganda:
Ruth was a totally dedicated Nazi.

Some of us . . . often asked her how she could possibly have friends who
were Jews or who had a Jewish background, when everything she read and
distributed seemed to breathe hate against us and our ancestors. “Of
course, they don’t mean you,” she would explain earnestly. “You are a good
German. It’s those other Jews . . . who betrayed Germany that Hitler wants
to remove from influence.”

When Hitler actually came to power and the word went out that students of
Jewish background were to be isolated, that “Aryan” Germans were no
longer to associate with “non-Aryans” . . . Ruth actually came around and
apologized to those of us to whom she was no longer able to talk.

Not only did she no longer speak to the suddenly ostracized group of class-
mates, she carefully noted down anybody who did, and reported them.12

Purpose: To deepen understanding of how propaganda and conformity influence decision-making. • 186
Lesson 12: Handout 4, Document 2
German Youth in the 1930s: Selected excerpted documents

Propaganda and Education

(Excerpted from “Propaganda and Education,” pp. 242–43 in Facing History
and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior)

In Education for Death, American educator Gregor Ziemer described school-

ing in Nazi Germany:
A teacher is not spoken of as a teacher (Lehrer) but an Erzieher. The word
suggests an iron disciplinarian who does not instruct but commands, and
whose orders are backed up with force if necessary. . . .

Physical education, education for action, is alone worthy of the Nazi

teacher’s attention. . . . The Nazi schools are no place for weaklings. . . .
Those who betray any weakness of body or have not the capacities for
absolute obedience and submission must be expelled. . . .

[Dr. Bernhard Rust, the Nazi Minister of Education,] decrees that in Nazi
schools the norm is physical education. After that, German, biology, science,
mathematics, and history for the boys; eugenics [race science] and home
economics for the girls. Other subjects are permissible if they are taught to
promote Nazi ideals. . . . 13

Purpose: To deepen understanding of how propaganda and conformity influence decision-making. • 187
Lesson 12: Handout 4, Document 3
German Youth in the 1930s: Selected excerpted documents

Schools for Girls

(Excerpted from “School for Girls,” pp. 245–46 in Facing History and
Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior)

German girls attended school until the age of fourteen. Although they went
to school Monday through Saturday, they had no textbooks and no home-
work. Their education was minimal except in matters relating to childbirth.
After a visit to a girls’ school Gregor Ziemer wrote:

Girls do not require the same sort of education that is essential for boys.
The schools for boys teach military science, military geography, military ide-
ology, Hitler worship; those for the girls prepare the proper mental set in
the future mates of Hitler’s soldiers.

One of Minister Rust’s officials . . . discussed the problem of co-education

with me. . . . He pointed out that the boys who learned about chemistry of
war . . . should not be bothered with the presence of girls in their classes. . . .
Every girl, he said, must learn the duties of a mother before she is sixteen,
so she can have children. Why should girls bother with higher mathematics,
or art, or drama, or literature? They could have babies without that sort of
knowledge. . . . 14

Purpose: To deepen understanding of how propaganda and conformity influence decision-making. • 188
Lesson 12: Handout 4, Document 4
German Youth in the 1930s: Selected excerpted documents

A Lesson in Current Events

(Excerpted from “A Lesson in Current Events,” pp. 246–48 in Facing History
and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior)

Gregor Ziemer visited a geography class in one school. He wrote of that

class:
The teacher was talking about Germany’s deserved place in world affairs. He
ascribed her recent swift rise to the Führer’s doctrine of race purity. . . .

“Well, which country has always called itself the ‘melting pot’ of all other
nations? Jungens, [youth] that you must know.” Then came the chorus,
“Amerika” . . .

“There are many other weaknesses as a result of this lack of racial purity,”
he continued. “Their government is corrupt. They have a low type of govern-
ment, a democracy. What is a democracy?”

I wrote down a few of the answers:

“A democracy is a government by rich Jews.”
“A democracy is a form of government in which people waste much time.”
“A democracy is a government in which there is no real leadership.”
“A democracy is a government that will be defeated by the Führer.”15

Purpose: To deepen understanding of how propaganda and conformity influence decision-making. • 189
Lesson 12: Handout 4, Document 5
German Youth in the 1930s: Selected excerpted documents

Models of Obedience, Part 1

(Excerpted from “Models of Obedience,” pp. 235–37 in Facing History and
Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior)

Hede von Nagel grew up in Nazi Germany. She writes of her childhood:

Our parents taught us to raise our arms and say “Heil Hitler” before we said
“Mama.” . . . We grew up believing that Hitler was a supergod. . . . We were
taught our German superiority in everything. Country, race, science, art,
music, history, literature. At the same time, our parents and teachers
trained my sister and me to be the unquestioning helpmates of men; as
individuals, we had no right to our own opinion, no right to speak up. We
were to be models of obedience, work and toughness . . . nor would it have
befitted a German girl to favor feminine dresses, ruffles or makeup. As for
gentleness or sweetness or tearfulness, these were forbidden traits, and any
display of them would have made us outcasts. The worst fate was to be
laughed at and publicly humiliated. . . .

The books we read were full of stories glorifying Hitler. In them, the bad guy
was usually a Jew. I had never known a Jew personally, and so the Jews I read
about were personifications of the devil—too evil to be real. 16

Purpose: To deepen understanding of how propaganda and conformity influence decision-making. • 190
Lesson 12: Handout 4, Document 6
German Youth in the 1930s: Selected excerpted documents

Models of Obedience, Part 2

(Excerpted from “Models of Obedience,” pp. 235–37 in Facing History and
Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior)

A former member of the Hitler Youth writes:

[It’s] especially easy to manipulate children at that age. . . . If you can drill
the notion into their heads, you are from a tribe, a race that is especially
valuable. And then you tell them something about the Germanic tribes, their
loyalty, their battles. . . . Then there were the songs. . . . “Before the for-
eigner robs you of your crown, O Germany, we would prefer to fall side by
side.” Or “The flag is dearer than death.” Death was nothing. The flag, the
people — they were everything. You are nothing, your people everything.
Yes, that’s how children were brought up, that’s how you can manipulate a
child.17

Purpose: To deepen understanding of how propaganda and conformity influence decision-making. • 191
Lesson 12: Handout 4, Document 7
German Youth in the 1930s: Selected excerpted documents

Models of Obedience, Part 3

(Excerpted from “Models of Obedience,” pp. 235–37 in Facing History and
Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior)

Erika Mann wrote a book about growing up in Nazi Germany called School
for Barbarians. Here is an excerpt from her book:
Every child says “Heil Hitler!” from 50 to 150 times a day. . . . The formula is
required by law. . . . This Hitler greeting, this “German” greeting, repeated
countless times from morning to bedtime, stamps the whole day. . . .

You leave the house in the morning, “Heil Hitler” on your lips; and on the
stairs of your apartment house you meet the Blockwart. A person of great
importance and some danger, the Blockwart has been installed by the gov-
ernment as a Nazi guardian. He controls the block, reporting on it regularly,
checking up on the behavior of its residents. . . .

All the way down the street, the flags are waving, every window colored
with red banners, and the black swastika in the middle of each. You don’t
stop to ask why; it’s bound to be some national event. Not a week passes
without an occasion on which families are given one reason or another to
hang out the swastika. Only the Jews are excepted under the strict regula-
tion. Jews are not Germans, they do not belong to the “Nation,” they can
have no “national events.” . . .

There are more placards as you continue past hotels, restaurants, indoor
swimming pools, to school. They read “No Jews allowed”; “Jews not desired
here”; “Not for Jews.” And what do you feel? Agreement? Pleasure? Disgust?
Opposition? You don’t feel any of these. You don’t feel anything, you’ve
seen these placards for almost five years. This is a habit, it is all perfectly
natural, of course Jews aren’t allowed here. Five years in the life of a child of
nine—that’s his life. . . .

The German child breathes this air. There is no other condition wherever
Nazis are in power; and here in Germany they do rule everywhere, and their
supremacy over the German child, as he learns and eats, marches, grows up,
breathes, is complete.18

Purpose: To deepen understanding of how propaganda and conformity influence decision-making. • 192
 Lesson 12: Handout 4, Document 8
German Youth in the 1930s: Selected excerpted documents

A Matter of Loyalty
(Excerpted from “A Matter of Loyalty,” pp. 240–41 in Facing History and Ourselves:
Holocaust and Human Behavior)

Hans Scholl was a group leader in the Hitler Youth. His sister described how he became
disappointed with the movement:
Hans had assembled a collection of folk songs. . . . He knew not only the songs of the
Hitler Youth but also the folk songs of many peoples and many lands. . . .

But some time later a peculiar change took place in Hans; he was no longer the same.
Something disturbing had entered his life. . . . His songs were forbidden, the leader had
told him. And when he had laughed at this, they threatened him with disciplinary action.
Why should he not be permitted to sing these beautiful songs? Only because they had
been created by other peoples? . . .

One day he came home with another prohibition. One of the leaders had taken away a
book by his most beloved writer, Stellar Hours of Mankind by Stefan Zweig. It was forbid-
den, he was told. Why? There had been no answer. . . .

Some time before, Hans had been promoted to standard-bearer. He and his boys had
sewn themselves a magnificent flag with a mythical beast in the center. The flag was
something very special. It had been dedicated to the Führer himself. The boys had taken
an oath on the flag because it was the symbol of their fellowship. But one evening, as
they stood with their flag in formation for inspection by a higher leader, something
unheard-of happened. The visiting leader suddenly ordered the tiny standard-bearer, a
frolicsome twelve-year-old lad, to give up the flag. “You don’t need a special flag. Just
keep the one that has been prescribed for all.” . . . Once more the leader ordered the boy
to give up the flag. [Hans] could no longer control himself. He stepped out of line and
slapped the visiting leader’s face. From then on he was no longer the standard-bearer.19

Glossary
Standard-bearer: The boy who holds the Nazi flag. This was considered a huge honor.

Purpose: To deepen understanding of how propaganda and conformity influence decision-making. • 193
Lesson 12: Handout 4, Document 9
German Youth in the 1930s: Selected excerpted documents

Parallel Journeys
(Excerpted from the book Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer)

Alfons Heck, a leader in the Hitler Youth Movement, describes what it was
like growing up in Nazi Germany:
Unlike our elders, we children of the 1930s had never known a Germany
without Nazis. From our very first year in the Volksschule or elementary
school, we received daily doses of Nazism. Those we swallowed as naturally
as our morning milk. Never did we question what our teachers said. We sim-
ply believed what was crammed into us. And never for a moment did we
doubt how fortunate we were to live in a country with such a promising
future.20

Of all the branches in the Nazi Party, the Hitler Youth was by far the
largest. . . . Its power increased each year. Soon, even our parents became
afraid of us. Never in the history of the world has such power been wielded
by teenagers.21

Here is his memory of a rally celebrating Hitler Youth Day:

Shortly before noon, 80,000 Hitler Youth were lined up in rows as long as
the entire stadium. . . . When Hitler finally appeared, we greeted him with a
thundering, triple “Sieg Heil,” (Hail to Victory). . . . Then his voice rose. . . .
”You, my youth,” he shouted, with his eyes seeming to stare right at me,
“are our nation’s most precious guarantee for a great future. . . . You, my
youth . . . never forget that one day you will rule the world.” For minutes on
end, we shouted at the top of our lungs, with tears streaming down our
faces: “Seig Heil, Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil!” From that moment on, I belonged to
Adolf Hitler body and soul.22

Purpose: To deepen understanding of how propaganda and conformity influence decision-making. • 194
Notes
1
United States Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality, United States Dept. of State,
International Military Tribunal, United States War Dept., Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression v. 1
(Washington, DC: United States Government, 1946), 320.
2
Hermann Rauschning, Hitler Speaks: A Series of Political Conversations with Adolf Hitler on His Real Aims
(London: Thornton Butterworth, 1939), 246–47.
3
Ibid., 247.
4
Eleanor Ayer and Alfons Heck, Parallel Journeys (New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1995), 1.
5
Richard L. Rubenstein and John K. Roth, Approaches to Auschwitz: The Holocaust and Its Legacy (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), 359–60.
6
Max von der Grün, Howl Like the Wolves: Growing up in Nazi Germany (New York: William Morrow,
1980), 118.
7
Ayer and Heck, Parallel Journeys, 23.
8
Erika Mann, School for Barbarians (New York: Modern Age Books, 1938), 21.
9
Ibid.
10
Ayer, Parallel Journeys, 1.
11
Alfons Heck as quoted in Heil Hitler: Confessions of a Hitler Youth, VHS (New York: Ambrose Video
Publishing, 1991).
12
Ellen Switzer, How Democracy Failed (New York: Atheneum, 1975), 90–91.
13
Gregor Ziemer, Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1941),
15–16.
14
Ibid., 129.
15
Ibid., 68–69.
16
Mede von Nagel, “The Nazi Legacy: Fearful Silence for Their Children,” The Boston Globe, October 23,
1977.
17
Dan Bar-On, Legacy of Silence: Encounters with Children of the Third Reich (Cambridge: Harvard University
Press, 1989), 216.
18
Mann, School for Barbarians, 21–23.
19
Inge Scholl, Students Against Tyranny, trans. Arthur R. Schultz (Middletown: Wesleyan University Press,
1970) 7–10.
20
Ayer, Parallel Journeys, 1.
21
Ibid., 8.
22
Ibid., 23.

195