A World of Inf luence
Understanding the Atrocities of the Holocaust
 Before trying to understand how the atrocities of the
Holocaust could occur, you must research the
influences of the time.
 Unfortunately, your examination of this topic will
merely scratch the surface of the inhumanity of man
and the devastation it can accrue.
 In groups of three, have each member choose one of
the topics to research on every slide and consider how
the chosen topic influenced the mindset of one of the
following: Hitler, Germany, America, Japan, or the
world.
 Darwinism: Explore how Darwin’s theory of survival of
the fittest was manipulated to support the Nazi
objective.
 Eugenics: How is this concept applied to Hitler’s goal?
 E = mc2: How is Einstein’s theory of relativity pertinent
to WWII?
German Propaganda Explained:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGNyc_LlJhs
Determine the purpose of this actual German film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfhsm0b8414
Mein Kampf:
Consider what genre and point-of-view is used in Hitler’s Mein
Kampf and determine how his choices propitiate his
propaganda.
 http://archive.org/stream/meinkampf035176mbp/meinkampf03
5176mbp_djvu.txt
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 What is the significance of the characters used in this Japanese
propaganda? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icVu-acHlpU
 Compare and contrast American propaganda to
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Germany and Japan’s propaganda.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8bCuNiJ-NI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHL-sPV01q4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYvr28-5QKw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_plJofzijg
What is Japanese Internment?
Find one of Dr. Seuss’s cartoons that promoted the
idea of Japanese Internment.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/politicaldrseuss
/seuss_fla.html
 The Nietzsche Controversy: What was the controversy
and how did Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche play a role?
 How does Hitler use Nietzsche’s well known
philosophy to his advantage?
http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/133p/133p04papers/MKalishNietzNazi046.htm
 Mein Kampf:
 According to Hitler, what must the Germans do in
order to have the right to colonize beyond their
borders? (Look in Chapter 1 in the Mein Kampf
http://archive.org/stream/meinkampf035176mbp/meinkampf035176mbp_djvu.txt
 Proclamation by Hitler:
http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/document/HITLER2.htm
 What does his proclamation reveal about Germany’s
past relationship with Britain?
 Hitler uses a different term for the Treaty of Versailles
that ended WWI. What term does he use and how
does it reflect his attitude toward the document?
 The Great Depression: Consider the global impact.
http://www.fofweb.com/NuHistory/default.asp?ItemID=WE53
 How did this hardship help facilitate Hitler to
persuade his country to follow the Nazi Party?
 Prior to and during WWII the Allies and Axis powers
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carefully chose words to communicate and propagate.
Examine Einstein’s letter to FDR and its response and
analyze the different tones in these letters.
Change the word “interesting” in FDR’s response to
alarming to determine how one word can change the
tone of the entire letter.
Einstein’s Letter:
FDR’s Response:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/truman-ein39/
http://www.mphpa.org/classic/COLLECTIONS/MP-PFIL/Pages/MPP-PFIL-020.htm
Thus the Greeks, the most humane people of ancient time, have a trait
of cruelty, of tiger-like pleasure in destruction, in them: a trait which is
even clearly visible in Alexander the Great, that grotesquely enlarged
reflection of the Hellene, and which, in their whole history, and also their
mythology, must strike fear into us when we approach them with the
emasculated concept of modern humanity. When Alexander has the feet
pierced of the brave defender of Gaza, Batis, and ties his live body to his
chariot in order to drag him around to the scorn of his own soldiers (:1) this
is a nauseating caricature of Achilles, who abused the corpse of Hector at
night by similarly dragging it around; but for us, even Achilles’ action has
something offensive and horrific about it. Here we look into the bottomless pit of
hatred.
- Nietzsche
What is the author’s attitude about human nature and its innate cruelty?