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| Adolf Hitler | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Airdate | December 16, 2006 | ||
| Curriculum | Social Studies | ||
Adolf Hitler is a BrainPOP Social Studies video that launched on December 16, 2006. It focuses on Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), an infamous German dictator who was the leader of the Nazi Party and the primary mastermind of World War II.
Summary[]
Tim and Moby are playing World of Tanks, before Moby destroys the game by pulling the remote controllers' wires. Tim reads a letter and discusses about Adolf Hitler, an absolute ruler and dictator.
At the end, Moby says he would let Tim rule aside him. Tim doesn’t know what this means.
FYI[]
In Depth[]
While Adolf Hitler was one of history’s most notorious anti-Semites, it’s important to remember that he didn’t invent anti-Semitism (hatred of the Jewish people). In fact, it was a part of European culture for more than a thousand years before Hitler’s birth.
During the Middle Ages, a faulty reading of the New Testament convinced most European Christians that the Jewish people should forever be held responsible for the death of Jesus. Jews were accused of causing plague outbreaks, ritually murdering Christian children, and making deals with the Devil to gain magical powers.
Many of the restrictions Hitler placed on Jews have their origins in European history. Hitler forced Jews to wear a yellow star as identification. This was similar to a papal edict from 1215, which demanded that all Jews wear identifying clothing. Hitler restricted the jobs Jews could hold; so did the governments of many medieval cities and territories. This often forced Jews into jobs considered “beneath” Christians, such as tax-collecting and money-lending.
Hitler also isolated Jewish populations inside ghettoes. Jews had been forced to live in concentrated areas since 1462, and the word "ghetto" actually comes from the name of the Jewish area of Venice, which was created in 1516. And Hitler tried to rid Europe of Jews; during the Middle Ages, Jews were expelled from France, Spain, and numerous principalities within modern Germany and Austria.
Sadly, although Hitler is gone, anti-Semitism still continues.
Did You Know[]
Hitler’s name was a big part of German culture during the Nazi era. “Heil Hitler” was the official Nazi salute, and was chanted over and over by massive crowds at military and political gatherings. It reached the point where people would say “Heil Hitler” instead of “Hello” when answering the phone.
But believe it or not, Adolf Hitler’s name could easily have been Adolf Schicklgruber--a name that sounds just as ridiculous in German as it does in English (in fact, it means "latrine digger" in German).
Hitler’s father, Alois, was born out of wedlock to a woman named Maria Schicklgruber. After he was born, Maria married a man named Heidler. Maria died shortly thereafter, and young Alois was raised by Hiedler's brother.
By 1876, Alois Schicklgruber had become a high-ranking customs official in Vienna, and his elderly step-uncle convinced him to change his name. To this day, no one knows why. It’s possible that Alois wanted to lay claim to an inheritance, or to remove all reminders that he was born out of wedlock.
Either way, Alois Schicklgruber went back to the church in his hometown, and swore in front of three witnesses that Hiedler, his mother’s ex-husband, was his real father. The clerk entered Alois’ new name in the baptismal register as “Hitler.” So thirteen years later, when Alois and his wife, Klara, gave birth to a son, the child’s name was officially Adolf Hitler.
Politics[]
One of the keys to Hitler's rise to power was his skill with propaganda. That's the art of spreading highly biased information to promote a political cause or agenda. It's a powerful tool designed to arouse fear, patriotism, or other strong emotions.
Nazi propaganda used posters, books, and movies to demonize Jews as greedy, bloodthirsty monsters, or disgusting vermin, like rats or bugs. In contrast, it portrayed the rest of German society as cultural, scientific, and intellectual elites. All of Germany's misfortunes were blamed on the Jews, from the economic depression to the nation's loss of power and prestige following World War I. Hitler himself was usually shown as a God-like figure.
Propaganda was so important to the Nazi regime that Hitler created a Ministry of Propaganda and Information. He appointed Josef Goebbels to run it. Goebbels (pictured) used censorship to control everything the German people read, saw, and heard. He ensured that Nazi policies were only ever discussed in positive terms. And he organized the sale of cheap radios, so that Hitler's speeches could be heard in every German home.
Hitler also chose artist Leni Riefenstahl as his official filmmaker. Her film The Triumph of the Will depicted a massive Nazi rally. It used striking cinematic images to promote that idea that Hitler's party would restore Germany to its former greatness. The propaganda film seared images of Nazi power, glory, and unity into the brains of its viewers. In spite of the hideous subject matter, Riefenstahl's technique and artistry are still admired by film critics. Echoes of the film's imagery can be found in movies as diverse as Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and The Lion King.
Quotables[]
Paula Hitler, Adolf Hitler's younger sister
“How fortunate for leaders that men do not think.” – Adolf Hitler.
"All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to.” – Adolf Hitler.
“I have not come into this world to make men better, but to make use of their weaknesses.” – Adolf Hitler.
“In five centuries, we'll look back and say the story of the century was not Hitler or Stalin; it was the survival of the human spirit in the face of genocide.” – Martin E. Marty, American religious scholar.
“Before Hitler, we thought we had sounded the depths of human nature. He showed how much lower we could go, and that's what was so horrifying.” – Ron Rosenbaum, American journalist.
“I would have preferred it if he'd followed his original ambition and become an architect.” – Paula Hitler (pictured), Hitler’s younger sister, after World War II.