Week 2 Discussion: Origins
Students respond to three discussion questions each week (5 points each).
First, choose a quote from the reading assigned to the discussion question and include it in the post (1 point).
Then, explain how the quote answers the discussion question (2 points).
Also, the discussion should be at least 100 words in length / each (1 points).
Finally, cite the source by copying and pasting it as listed in Canvas (1 point)
Students comment on two others’ posts in the discussion area (5 points each).
The comments should discuss what another post by a student or the instructor invited them think about and/or what it made them learn (3 points).
The comments should be at least 100 words in length (1 point).
They should be posted within five days after the due date of the assignment they are commenting on (1 point).
Discussion Option 1: Jewish people in Germany up to 1933
What were the most significant trends involving Jewish people in Germany up to 1933?
“Confessional Breakdown of the German Population (1871 and 1910),” GHDI, http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=710 (Links to an external site.)
“Foreign Jews in Total Jewish and Alien Populations (1910),” GHDI, http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=777 (Links to an external site.)
“Population by Religious Denomination (1910-1939),” GHDI, http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=4374 (Links to an external site.)
“The Economic and Social Status of the Jewish Population (1933 and 1939),” GHDI, http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=4387
Discussion Option 2: Early Nazi Antisemitism
Does early Nazi antisemitism indicate an intention to violently dispose of Jewish people?
“Hitler’s First Major Statement on Anti-Semitism: Reply to Adolf Gemlich (September 16, 1919),” GHDI, http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=3909 (Links to an external site.)
“Program of the German Workers’ Party (1920),” GHDI, http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=3910 (Links to an external site.)
“Joseph Goebbels, Why We Are Enemies of the Jews (July 30, 1928),” GHDI, http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=4655
Discussion Option 3: Mentalities that Led to the Rise of Nazism
In his 1947 study of film during the Weimar Republic, From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film, Siegfried Kracauer argued that mentalities that led to the rise of Nazism were present in culture in Germany beforehand. Looking at one or both of the films below, do you agree?
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (dir. Robert Weine, Germany, 1920), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP0KB2XC29o (Links to an external site.)
Nosferatu (dir. F. W. Murnau, Germany, 1922), Nosferatu (1922) [Silent Movie] (Links to an external site.)
Discussion Option 4: Targeting LGBTQ, Jewish, and Disabled Germans
How did the Nazi regime target LGBTQ, Jewish, and disabled Germans beginning in 1933?
“The Berliner Tageblatt [Berlin Daily] Lists the Gay and Lesbian Bars Closed by Berlin’s Chief of Police (March 4, 1933),” GHDI, http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=2049 (Links to an external site.)
“1933 Election Campaign: Hitler’s Election Posters Cover the Front of ‘Eldorado,’ a Berlin Transvestite Bar Closed by the Police (Early March 1933),” GHDI, http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=1881&language=english (Links to an external site.)
“Victor Klemperer’s Diary Entry on the Impending Boycott of Jewish Businesses (March 31, 1933),” GHDI, http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=1519 (Links to an external site.)
“SA Members in Front of the Tietz Department Store in Berlin (April 1, 1933),” GHDI, http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=2198 (Links to an external site.)
“Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service (April 7, 1933),” GHDI, http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=1520 (Links to an external site.)
“Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases (July 14, 1933),” GHDI, http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=1521
Discussion Option 5:
Omissions and Misrepresentations in Triumph of the Will What important features of the rise of the Nazi regime up to 1934 were omitted or misrepresented in Triumph of the Will?
Triumph of the Will (dir. Leni Riefenstahl, Germany, 1935), https://archive.org/details/TriumphOfTheWillgermanTriumphDesWillens
