Why did the Germans vote for a party who actively hated people?
This lesson was designed for a scheme of work on the Holocaust. It looks at why the Nazis won the election in 1932. It could equally be used in a rise of the Nazis scheme of work.
The lesson begins with a brief look at Nazi racial policy and gets the students to consider why Germans would vote for a party who had these views.
Starter: Mein Kampf quote
As students enter the room there is a shocking quote from Mein Kampf about how Jewish people are the personification of evil. Remind the students that this is from a book that sold millions and was a bestseller in it’s day.
Teacher Introduction:
Use the Mein Kampf quote as a way in to Nazi racial ideas. On the PPT are slides about the Ubermensch (the ideal – Aryans and the Master Race) and then a slide about the Untermensch (the sub humans – Jews, Gypsies etc.).
MAIN:
Task 1: Paired discussion
Now show the students the election results up to 1932 and get them to think about the fact that the Germans voted for a party who actively hated people. Why might people do that? Would people do this today?
Task 2: Posters
You now need to get the students to see if they can work out why people would vote for a party with these extreme views. Use the Nazi posters available from the German Propaganda Archive (linked bel0w in the Resources section) and stick these around your classroom. All these posters are pre-1933 and most are directly election posters from 1932. Explain to the students that there are five big reasons why people voted for the Nazis in 1932:
1.People were poor and desperate
2.People were looking for a strong leader
3.People were looking for a strong party
4.People wanted someone to blame for their problems
5.People were fed up of other political parties
The students need to move around the room looking at each poster and decide which group of people the poster is aimed at. Once they have done this they then need to make a prediction about why each group specifically voted for the Nazis, e.g. the poor voted for them as they promised bread and work.
Task 3: Reading
Now give out the narrative of why the Nazis won in 1932 (available in the Resources section below). Either get them to read it in silence or read as a class. Some of the terms will need defining. This will enable them to see if the predictions / inferences they made in Task 2 were correct.
Task 4: Writing
To consolidate knowledge and understanding return to the lesson enquiry. On the PPT is a differentiated task to produce a piece of structured writing on the lesson enquiry. Lower ability students will only attempt the first task, high ability students will complete all three. As the tasks progress so does the level of historical skill required.
A) Explain which ONE of the following was the most important:
1.People were poor and desperate
2.People were looking for a strong leader
3.People were looking for a strong party
4.People wanted someone to blame for their problems
5.People were fed up of other political parties
B) Explain why a second factor was LESS important than the first in leading the Germans to vote for the Nazis.
C) Add a third paragraph explaining why interpretations of this question might have changed over time, e.g. why immediately post-war someone might see this differently to now 70 years later
Plenary: Discussion
Would you have voted for the Nazis in 1932? – This is a controversial question and will need to be approached sensitively but is a valid question to ask.
RESOURCES:
Pre-1932 Nazi Posters (follow the link to the German Propaganda Archive – needed for Task 2)