Weimar Republic Final Reflections

Important quotes/statements

Some years ago, when I taught General Science at an alternative HS here in Chicago, I would start each class with quotes by scientists or related to some scientific concept we studied ("bell ringers"). It was a great way to focus the students. I began to use quotes, later in my humanities class as the focus of discussion circles and small group discussions and sometimes, as "exit tickets."

• "A nation cannot put its strength into a war and keep its head level..." (Wilson, pg 112)


• Mosse makes a statement ," War was a powerful engine for the enforcement of conformity, a fact which strengthened the stereotype not only of the foreign enemy, but also of those within the borders who were regarded as a threat..." (pg 112)


• "Because of his belief in common or shared ownership of land & other resources, the system Marx envisioned was known as communism." (114) How would this compare to Native or indigenous peoples' view of land as shared property?


• "...leaders would establish a dictatorship of the proletariat..." (114) Dictatorship seems a contradictory concept to the idea of the proletariat? Could this be part of a discussion of how some government policies don't always make sense or seem contradictory?


• "we were taught history as a series of facts....If we tried to relate ideas we got from lit or history to current events, our teachers changed the subject." (pg 128). Reading 7 is a great selection to use with Weimar/WWII units but also at any point in school year when a discussion of the purpose of education is desired. It also serves as a tool to talk about the existence of absolute knowledge in the universe (Ascent of Man).


• "We lived for the future. We had to think very little, take almost no initiative, our days were charted out for us." (129) How can this be used with the Giver or "Harrison Bergeron"?


• "Freedom of expression is critical to a democratic society...what other ways do individuals criticize their society?" This is an excellent way to bring in music, film, internet and other media forms in comparison to the art included with Reading 9. I do feel that it would be good to have these images on screen (lcd projection) or to have color copies available for students to view/critique.


• "...Hitler believed that if a lie was told often enough, people would come to believe it." (pg 138). This statement alone would spark great discussion about Hitler and what he did but also about the role of stereotypes, myths and legends in society, in general.
• "How do people measure the success of a nation? Of its government?" (151). This is a great bell ringer (getting kids thinking about the status of our nation today, but ready to talk more about the Weimar Republic as well).

Miscellaneous Connections

• Friedrich is described as a novel that reveals something about "how neighbor can come to turn against neighbor." This is a great, quick read for students and can be used to talk about any kind of conflict, not just Holocaust.
• Based on one of the question at the end of reading 11 (141), students could engage in a small group research activity comparing and contrasting the ethnic cleansing of Serbia, anti-semitism of Weimar Republic, the Holocaust, the genocide in Rwanda and lynchings and/or race riots in the USA
• Significance, symbolism and use of trains in Weimar era, under the Nazi regime vs. use by Central American immigrants heading to El Norte (see Enrique's Journey or "Wetback: the undocumented documentary") or vs. use of trains by southern Blacks during the Great Migration (see "The Promised Land" or The Great Migration or Color Me Dark)
• At the end of reading 12, there's a poem written by an african american. This is an excellent way to bring in literature and poetry by finding works by Jewish poets, but also using "You have to live in someone else's country to understand" or "what do we do with a variation?" (from race & membership). "Incident" by Countee Cullen is another good piece by a Harlem Renaissance (African American) poet. After reading/discussing/analyzing these pieces, students could then write their own poems.
• Reading 12 Schoenberg question (last question) could be used in a discussion of cultures of violence and how they are created.
• Compare/contrast the Weimar SPD party with US' Republican Party (20th century and beyond)
• compare/contrast Weimar election results (1928-1932) to US Presidential election results (2000-2008)

Lingering Questions

• Why were young men of Europe so "enthusiastic" about the start of WWI?


• What can be done with students to discuss the ethics of scientific inquiry, specifically the role of science and scientists in socio-political policies that lead to and/or support war?


• How is it possible for war to be a unifying factor in a nation? Is it a false unification?


• What is the relationship between emotion and logic in warfare? For example, how has "hatred" been used to justify actions supported by the law?
  Why do we kill people to show that killing people is wrong?


• "Why is myth stronger than truth?" (pg 113)


• Can a comparison be made between the young Jews that fought for Germany vs. Japanese or African Americans (like, Buffalo Soldiers, Tuskegee Airmen or The Golden 13) who fought in US wars?


• How do you make a world "safe for democracy?" Is the goal to make it safe for democracy or to make it conducive for capitalism?


• How can reading 3 be used as a jump off to a discussion of government decision-making policies (Weimar vs. USA)? A discussion on the rights of citizenship? A discussion on nation building? How can it be used to discuss the rights of citizens when a government seems to go against its ideals and/or when the people become dissatisfied with it (revolutions- looking at the right to alter/abolish or overthrow governments)?


• Can there be a lesson on inflation in Weimar vs. US today? (reading 10)
• What is/was article 48 to the German Constitution?
• What is the process to become a German citizen? What did Hitler have to do to become a citizen?
• What are the requirements for political office in Germany during the Weimar Republic?


• How can reading 10 be used with immigration units and texts like Becoming American and Enrique's Journey?


• Public figures/Politicians and the Law - Can the reading 11 be used as the base of an activity about the law and consequences for breaking the law for public figures vs. common people?


• Why were Gypsies targeted?


• How can someone not from a country eventually rise to become its chancellor (reading 11 & others)? Would he have been considered an immigrant to Germany? how does this compare to our standards for government participation for immigrants?
• What is the role of US industrialists in the Weimar Republic and the rise of anti-semitism in the world? (henry ford reference, pg 141)


• Reading 6 relays the story of a heated discussion on a train between a Henry Buxbaum, a Jew and some angry German passengers. Buxbaum quiets as threats of physical danger arise and is astonished to see (in the light of their train stop) that one of those that was threatening him was someone he knew. How can this be used with other readings on race? (This correlates well with a similar scene in the James Weldon Johnson novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/jwj/auto.htm). This novel is about the experiences of a biracial man who decides to "pass for white" for his adult life. While passing he engages in a conversation with 4 white passengers on his way back South after a long stay in Europe (where he basically lived as a white man). The 4 passengers, "in debating the Negro question," represent attempt to represent many of the ideas/movement prominent during the mid-1900's - A southern planter, a Union veteran, a Jewish manufacturer and a northern professor.)