Name______

Lesson # 3

Anti-Jewish Policy

1.Julia Lentini describes wanting to join the Hitler Youth along with her friends. What made the Hitler Youth attractive to her? What are some possible reasons why her parents wouldn’t let her join?

2.What are some of the specific ways that Herman Cohn says his life changed after the Nuremberg laws were adopted? Herman says that things were much harder for children than for their parents. Why did he feel this way—what specific examples does he share to support his thinking?

3.How does Margaret Lambert say things changed in Germany after 1933? How did her personal relationships change? What kinds of things was she forced to give up?

Nazi Germany and Anti-Jewish Policy

4. How do you think a Jewish person might react to all of these restrictions and laws?

  1. How do you think a German might react to these policies?
  1. What would you imagine the overall atmosphere in Germany to be during this time?
  1. What is the purpose of laws?
  1. What was the purpose of the Nuremberg Laws?
  1. What other laws, if any, do you know about that have dehumanized people?

Kristallnacht Pogrom

  1. After listening to Esther Clifford’s testimony, what picture do you begin to create in your mind about her experiences during the Kristallnacht Pogrom?
  1. What does Esther say in her testimony that supports that the Kristallnacht Pogrom was a government-sponsored terrorist action against the Jews of Germany and Austria?
  1. Do you think that the Kristallnacht Pogrom reflected a turning point for Jews in Germany? On what have you based your response?

Pyramid of Hate

  1. What was the turning point for Esther’s family? Where did they want to go and how did they try to accomplish their goal?
  1. According to Esther, how did countries around the world respond to Jews trying to leave Germany?
  1. What evidence is presented in Esther’s testimony that supports the idea that the Nazis were set on destroying the economic life of Jews?
  1. Discuss the significance of Alfred Gottschalk’s statement “nothing Jews had done for their country made any difference.”
  1. How did Ellen Brandt respond to what was happening around her in Germany at the time? How does she say she changed?
  1. In what ways did the daily routines of German Jews change during the years 1933-1939?

Discussion

  1. Which parts of the pyramid primarily reflect acts by individuals?
  1. Which parts of the pyramid reflect state-sponsored acts that need government support to continue?
  1. Did the events on this pyramid always follow an upward progression or were there instances when the actions would represent an earlier segment of the pyramid (e.g., violent acts followed by acts of discrimination and then back to violent acts again)
  1. What were some possible explanations for why this might have happened?
  1. Explain how the Kristallnacht Pogrom represented an escalation of anti-Jewish acts.

“In Germany, they came first for the communists, and I didn’t speak up because I was not a communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn’t speak up because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me… and by that time there was no one left to speak up.”

---Reverend Martin Niemoller