The Rise of Hitler and

the Nazi Party

Adolf Hitlers Early Life

Hitler was born on April 20 th, 1889 in
AUSTRIA
He had a poor relationship with his
father and was very close to his
mother
He was an aspiring painter, and was
twice rejected by the Academy of Fine
Arts in Vienna
It was at this time, in 1908, that Hitler
began a
movement
based on the
beliefs that
Germans were
the master
race

Hitler in WWI
Hitler pleaded to be in the
Bavarian (a state in
Germany) Army and was
granted his request
He served as a messenger
in a regiment that exposed
him to enemy fire
He was shot in the leg and
suffered from a poison gas
attack
He was awarded the Iron
Cross the highest military
honour in Germany

Hitler and Early Politics

Hitler helped form the National Socialist German Workers
Party (Nazi) in 1919 and assumed leadership in 1921
Beer Hall Putsch (pooch) November 8th, 1923
Attempt by Hitler to seize power and overthrow the Bavarian
government for signing the Treaty of Versailles
The attempt failed and Hitler was imprisoned for five years for
high treason (but he was released after only serving one year
he was not considered a threat to the public)

Hitler Video

Mein Kampf
Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (My
Struggle) in 1925 while he was in
prison
This became the Nazi ideology
and it attacked Jews, Communists,
democracy, and the Treaty of
Versailles
Hitler also wrote that Germany
needed to destroy the French
Nation and conquer Russia, among
other things
The book sold/distributed 10
million copies between 1925-1934

Hitlers Rise to Power

By 1932, the Nazi Party was the
biggest political party and held
230 seats
Hitler demanded to be appointed
the position of chancellor he was
initially refused, but then given
the position
Just before the 1933 election, the
Reichstag (parliament) was
burned to the ground. The
president of Germany granted the
Nazi Party the power to quash any
political opposition, and they
intimidated and arrested socialist
and communist party members

Hitlers Rise to Power

The Enabling Act
After the 1933 election, Hitler proposed the
Enabling Act, which would essentially give him a
dictatorship and it passed!
The Enabling Act
Banned all political parties
Germany was declared a one
party state
Jews were not allowed to be
in civil service professions
Local and state governments
were staffed by Nazi members

Hitler Video

Hitler Secures Absolute

Power
When the president of

Germany died in 1934,

Hitlers cabinet passed a
law proclaiming the
presidency to him (rather
than holding elections)
The military swore an
oath to Hitler, not the
state
Hitler had obtained
absolute power, and
Germany became known
as the Third Reich

Why Vote for Hitler?

1.

2.
3.
4.

True believers
These people shared the
same ideology as Hitler and
believed he was their savior
from the depression, the
Jews, the Communists, and
the Treaty of Versailles

Ignorance
People did not consider
Hitler to be a real threat

Did not take him seriously

People just thought Hitler
was odd

New party needed

The depression and
hyperinflation highlighted
the need for new political
leadership

The Nazi Party

History of the Swastika
The Swastika is a religious symbol used by the
Egyptians, Chinese, Roman armies, and many others
The Swastika means good luck!
The Nazi Party used the Swastika because they felt it
had connections to original caste systems that
avoided racial mixing
The Swastika is banned in most countries, except for
religious or scholarly reasons

Jainis
m

Hinduis
m

Nazism

The Nazi Party

The SA (Brown Shirts)
Hitlers private army
They bullied opponents into obeying
the Nazi Party
However, once Hitler rose to power,
he had the SA replaced by a new
organization the SS
Night of the Long Knives
Leaders in the SA (Rohm) were killed
The SA was destroyed

Ernst Rohm

The Nazi Party

The SS (Black Shirts)
The SS were Hitlers private bodyguards
and were led by Heinrich Himmler
They arrested and killed anyone who challenged
Hitler
Himmler
The SS took over law enforcement in Germany
and
implemented the Final Solution

The Nazi Party

The Gestapo
The Gestapo were the secret police of
Nazi Germany
They investigated treason, espionage,
and sabotage cases against the Nazi
Party (i.e. Valkyrie)
The Gestapo also set up and
administered the concentration camps

The Gestapo Video

(Click below)

The Nazi Party

Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was an organization
under the Nazi Party
By 1936, they had over five million
members in the organization
They were indoctrinated in antiSemitism, and even drafted into the
military ranks during WWII

The Hitler State

Otto Bauer, a 56 year old business man, said on a

train in June 1942 that Germans had two
alternatives: to kill Hitler or be killed by him. He
was overhead by a married couple who reported
him [to the Gestapo]. He was beheaded on
September 16, 1943 for causing discontent and
unrest.
It was by using fear that Hitler had stopped
freedom of speech and expression everyone had
to obey Nazi policy, or face the consequences!

Nazi Propaganda
The task of propaganda is not making an
objective study of the truth.but to convince
the masses.
- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf

Propaganda Video
(Click Below)

The Role of Propaganda in Nazi

Strategy

Nazi Propaganda
The Nazis quickly recognized the value of
the media. From the early days of the
party they used aggressive advertising to
promote the Nazi ideology
Goebbels was in charge of enlightening
the German public

Book Burnings
Nazi students unload
confiscated
materials for the
public book burning
that is to take place
on the Opernplatz in
Berlin. The banner
on the back of the
truck reads:
"German students
march against the
un-German spirit."

Book Burnings
Link to
Book
Burnings

Nazi Propaganda: Methods

Word of the Week
Posters
Radio
Film
Newspapers

Nazi Control of Press

Newspapers
Censoring newspapers ensures that only
the news you want people to read is
available to the public
Nazi party members wrote many articles
for the press, ensuring that the message
was always positive
Many publications were banned

Der Sturmer

Der Sturmer

Joke of the Times

I told my wife that if I die, dont let them
put it in the newspaper, because no one
will believe it

Nazi Control of Radio

Hitlers Speeches
Hitler is considered to have been
one of the greatest public
speakers of all time.

Hitler Video
(Click Below)

Nazi Control of Film

Film was used to show Hitler in a positive light
as often as possible
The Nazis commissioned several films, each
carefully portraying a certain image
Triumph of the Will
Directed by Leni Riefenstahl
taken at Nazi Party Rally in Nuremburg-1934
considered a documentary masterpiece

Film: The Eternal Jew

Film: The Eternal Jew

Winning the Masses

One people, one
government, one
leader.

Posters Creating One

People
Posters are cheap
and easy to
distribute
Placed in prominent
positions they act as
a constant reminder
of ideology
Can be used for
many purposes

Examples of Nazi Posters

Posters
Glorifying
Aryans

Nazi Youth

All Girls Join Us

Youth Serves the Fuhrer. All

ten-year-olds join the Hitler
Youth.

Nazi Youth Video

(Click Below)

Nazi Men

Nazi Women

Nazi Women
"Healthy
Parents have
Healthy
Children."

Anti-Jewish Propaganda
Campaigns
Nazis had to determine who was and who
wasnt a full-fledged member of the
national community.

Then and Now

You are
Sharing the
Load! A
Genetically Ill
Individual Costs
Approximately
50,000
Reichsmarks
by the Age of
Sixty

Propaganda

Propaganda
'The Costs of the
Congenitally
Diseased'.

Propaganda
'60.000
reichsmarks is
what this
hereditarily ill
person will cost
the national
community over
the course of his
life. Citizen, this is
also your money!

Race Propaganda

Race Propaganda
"The result! A
loss of racial
pride."

Race Defiler
1936

Language of Propaganda

Employment office- labor mobilization

Worker- Soldier of Labor
Work- Service to Fuehrer and folk
Factory Meeting- Factory Roll Call
Production- The Production Battle

Education

Don't Trust the Fox in the Green Meadow or The Jew On His Oath.

Der Fiftpilz:
The Poisonous Mushroom
Link to The Poison
Mushroom

Education

Education

Education

Education of Death Video

(Click Below)

State of Deception

Themes of the Exhibit

Online Exhibit: Making a Leader

Guiding Question
Some have said that Hitler would not
have come to power without the work
of Goebbels. Look at the posters in
this section and determine what
traits for Hitler are being promoted?

Online Exhibit: Rallying the

Nation
Guiding Question
What does the Nazi
Party offer the
German people that
propels it to
dominate the
multitude of other
political parties?

Online Exhibit: Indoctrinating

the Youth
Guiding
Question
What are the
messages used to
educate (Nazify)
the youth?

Online Exhibit: Defining the

Enemy
Guiding Question
What strategies
were used by the
Nazi government
to move the
masses to the Nazi
Utopian society?

Online Exhibit: Writing the

News
Guiding Questions
How was the Nazi
use of media a
systematic strategy
to control the
masses?
What was their goal?
The tools used?
The outcome?

Online Exhibit: Deceiving the

Public
Guiding
Questions
What were the
deceptions?
What did the
deceptions offer
the German
nation?

Online Exhibit: Assessing Guilt

Guiding Question
1945 = Denazification
of Germany
What was the
International outcome
of the prosecution of
Julius Streicher, Hans
Fritzsche, and Leni
Riefenstahl?

Propaganda for War

1936 Olympics
Kristallnacht
Invasion of Poland

Propaganda for Mass Murder

Theresienstadt
Between July 1943 and May 1944,
German battlefield deaths averaged
70,000 per month
Did not report these figures
Instead propaganda focused on what would
happen if Germans lost