Topic #1: The History of Antisemitism

Open Ended

Welcome Work

Consider this quote: "The Holocaust is the most infamous crime in the history of the world." (1)

Do Now: List/describe THREE other adjectives or phrases that illustrate what YOU perceive the Holocaust to be...

(1) Laurence Rees, The Holocaust: A New History, xv.

Topic #1:

The History of Antisemitism

History of the Holocaust

OHDELA

How did antisemitism develop over time and why did the Nazis come to most vehemently manifest antisemitic sentiment?

Topic Essential Question

​C1: Explain/describe the history of antisemitism from ancient times to the present, emphasizing Nazi ideology and its implications.

​​Competency Addressed

Daily Agenda

Objective & Rationale:

• First thing's first -- please minimize all other screens/tabs so we can meaningfully focus!

• Second -- I need a reader or two for today...would anybody be willing to participate that way?

• Students will more deeply explore the history of antisemitism in order to better grasp its negative implications in general and its role as a catalyst for Nazi ascension in particular.

How and Show:

• Students will engage and actively participate in this Quizizz Activity to deepen their learning, which will be captured and accessible via posted recording and Quizizz results.

Asynchronous:

• Remember to be working in your Competency Portfolio! Today's Quizizz Activity counts as 1 piece of Learning Evidence you can use to support the submission of a Competency IOE.

Multiple Select

Prior Knowledge

Which answer(s) best describes the term "antisemitism" in action?

• a German girl joins the League of German Girls and reads nationalist literature

• a German boy in the Hitler Youth verbally abuses a Jewish neighbor boy down the street

• a German man joins the Gestapo and destroys Jewish property on Kristallnacht

Multiple Choice

Germany is...

• east of France

• east of Poland

• west of Italy

• north of Denmark

Exploring Antisemitism through Time

Antisemitism in Context

• Jews have been despised in most of the world in different forms throughout time

  • by Christians in Roman times; in medieval times; in early modern times; during the Enlightenment and scientific revolution; during the 19th century; through to today

  • rumors like the blood libel; pogroms like the Inquisition

• in the German context, the concept of Volk was central

  • tied Germans to their heritage through connection to soil ('blood and soil' later on)

  • countryside vs city >> Jews symbolized the antithesis of the rural völkisch ideal

  • prejudice fueled Germans' sympathies and perceptions >> problem? ...blame a Jew

  • an antisemitic view in 1887: "The Jews were 'a people that has contributed nothing to history over thousands of years.'"; another in 1912: "[Germans need to] 'return to health in our national life'...[with Jewish influence being] 'completely expunged.'" (Rees, The Holocaust, 5-6)

Multiple Choice

A straight line between Munich and Berlin would pass between which two cities?

• Breslau & Vienna

• Frankfurt am Main & Weimar

• Hamburg & Flensburg

• Dresden & Weimar

Exploring Antisemitism through Time

Antisemitism in Context

• in the German context, the concept of pseudo-science was also central

  • "fake science" that was seemingly grounded in rationalism and reason >> justification for hatred

  • quasi-intellectual support came from many directions, especially regarding "race"

    • Arthur de Gobineau in 1855: three races of black, yellow, and white (inferior to superior)

    • Houston Stewart Chamberlain in 1899: Jews were between white (Aryan) and yellow, and so Aryans were destined to struggle against the Jews for racial supremacy

  • the science of eugenics ("good race" in Greek) was widespread >> 'racial hygiene' as outgrowth

    • Jewishness was 'in the blood' and therefore inescapable >> racial not religious hatred

• despite all this, the Jewish population in early 20th-century Germany was less than 1%

  • 1893 Reichstag elections saw only 16 representatives from openly antisemitic parties

  • other countries also antisemitic >> Germany not in the "extermination" predictions

Open Ended

Describe the connection between the concepts of 'the Volk' and pseudo-science to support antisemitic sentiment by the early 20th century.

Exploring Antisemitism through Time

Antisemitism in Context

• in the German context, a third central concept was that of the postwar socialist revolution

  • wave of socialist revolution in Bavaria >> put down by right-wing Freikorps paramilitaries

  • "A number of key Communist revolutionaries had been Jewish." (Rees, Holocaust, 12)

    • many made the connection between Judaism and Communism >> 'nearly the same'

• Jews were also blamed for "the loss of the war; the destruction of the old political regime based on the Kaiser; agreeing to the terms of the hated Versailles treaty; and participating in the Weimar government which presided over the hyperinflation of the early 1920s." (Rees, 12)

  • antisemites exploited partial truths: Jews did hold some positions in the postwar government, but collectively the Jews were not and should not have been held responsible

  • "Prejudice works only if some facts are ignored and others are exaggerated..." (Rees, 13)

  • "Many turned to anti-Semitism as a convenient way of explaining their misery." (Rees, 13)

Multiple Choice

With the association made between Judaism and Communism, German antisemitism in the 1920s facilitated a perceived need to fix the dire situation with a(n) ________ solution.

• economic

• social

• political

Changing Tides in German Politics

From the Weimar Republic to the Nazi Third Reich

• in the wake of socialist uprising in Munich, the democratic Weimar Republic was formed

  • Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated >> constitutional parliament and president; checks and balances

  • HOWEVER: new rule from below equated to lack of political and social consensus

    • Rightists didn't actually support republican ideals; Leftists continually destabilized it

  • Gustav Stresemann, chancellor and foreign minister during the 1920s, brought stability through fiscal policy (ending inflation and adjusting reparations payments) and foreign policy (better cooperation with Allies and entrance into League of Nations)

  • Paul von Hindenburg, president from 1925-32, stabilized the republic by focusing his efforts on the nation's welfare and not party politics; he also offered a sense of security to most Germans

• the worldwide depression beginning in 1929 plunged Germany into a downward spiral once more

  • Germans were hit hard again >> who can help the German people if not the government?

Multiple Choice

Given that the familiar monarchy under Kaiser Wilhelm II was right-leaning on the political spectrum, the Communist threat of the revolution came from the left of the spectrum, and the experimental democratic Weimar Republic was more in the middle of the spectrum, where do you think most Germans looked for a new solution amid the Great Depression into the early 1930s?

• Political parties on the Left

• Political parties in the Center

• Political parties on the Right

Changing Tides in German Politics

From the Weimar Republic to the Nazi Third Reich

• "It was in this atmosphere of economic panic, popular anxiety and radicalization, party strife, and paralysis within the parliament that the presidential system was born." (Bendersky, A Concise History of Nazi Germany, 62) >> president, chancellor, and cabinet ministers ruling with emergency powers

  • the shared aim by the initial chancellors was that of national stability

• the Nazis made great progress in national elections, growing in size and representation

  • 1930 - increased from 12 seats to 107 seats in the Reichstag

  • 1932 - increased from 107 to 230 seats (largest party)

• amid the depression, potential civil unrest was contingent on a political solution to stabilize things

  • President Hindenburg was presented with 'the Papen plan' that would create a coalition government that included the Nazis rather than left-leaning parties >> "lesser of two evils"

    • Hindenburg appointed Hitler as chancellor on January 30, 1933

Multiple Choice

Final Formative

What factors combined to bring the Nazis into the German national government?

• antisemitic rhetoric, expanded Party membership, and political consensus

• antisemitic rhetoric, economic prosperity, and social cohesion

• antisemitic rhetoric, nationalist ideals, and political circumstances

How did antisemitism develop over time and why did the Nazis come to most vehemently manifest antisemitic sentiment?

Topic Essential Question

​Explain/describe the history of antisemitism from ancient times to the present, emphasizing Nazi ideology and its implications.

​​Competency Addressed

Daily Agenda

Objective & Rationale:

• Students will more deeply explore the history of antisemitism in order to better grasp its negative implications in general and its role as a catalyst for Nazi ascension in particular.

How and Show:

• Students will engage and actively participate in this Quizizz Activity to deepen their learning, which will be captured and accessible via posted recording and Quizizz results.

Asynchronous:

• Remember to be working in your Competency Portfolio! Today's Quizizz Activity counts as 1 piece of Learning Evidence you can use to support the submission of a Competency IOE.

FOR THE NEXT CLASS:

• Come ready to Concept Map at least THREE key people, places, or events in this Topic. Also, keep your THREE adjectives or phrases to describe what the Holocaust is in mind.

​References

• Bendersky, Joseph W. A Concise History of Nazi Germany, 4th Edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2014.

• Rees, Laurence. The Holocaust: A New History. New York: Public Affairs, 2017.