Materials | Computers with Internet access and projector, research materials, copies of the handout Staking a Historical Claim (PDF)Overview | Did the German people elevate Hitler, or did Hitler victimize the Germans? How do historians formulate claims about complex historical events? In this lesson, students consider competing historical claims about responsibility for the rise of Adolf Hitler and then examine primary sources to generate and support their own historical claims. They also consider what the significance of these claims might be for contemporary society.
Warm-Up | Show students a short film of crowds cheering as Adolf Hitler is driven through the streets of Berlin in 1940. As they watch, have students write down everything they notice. Afterward, tell students to write down at least two questions.
Have a short discussion focused on the following questions: What is happening in this film? What does it tell you about the time and place that it depicts? What more do you want to know about the setting and context? (Tell them that it shows a victory parade celebrating the Nazis’ victory over France.) What have you learned previously about Hitler and Nazi Germany? What perspective does this film give you on Hitler and his supporters? What questions do you have? And finally: How and why do you think Hitler was able to become so popular in Germany?
Related | In the article “Hitler Exhibition Explores a Wider Circle of Guilt,”Michael Slackman discusses an exhibition at the German Historical Museum in Berlin that focuses on the society that gave rise to Hitler:
As artifacts go, they are mere trinkets — an old purse, playing cards, a lantern. Even the display that caused the crowds to stop and stare is a simple embroidered tapestry, stitched by village women.
