Introduction to. lives in Sydney, Australia grew up hearing stories about Nazi Germany, the bombings of Munich, and Jews beings marched through his mother’s.

The Book Thiefby Marcus Zusak

Introduction to

Marcus Zusak

• lives in Sydney, Australia• grew up hearing stories about Nazi Germany, the

bombings of Munich, and Jews beings marched through his mother’s small German town

• always wanted to tell these stories

Adolf Hitler

• born in Austria 1889• as a child, dreamed of being an artist / applied twice to the Vienna Academy of Art, but was

denied (headmaster of the school was Jewish)

• served 4 years in WWI and received 2 iron crosses for bravery

• injured / Germany surrendered with the Treaty of Versailles while he was recovering

continued…

felt German leaders stabbed their countrymen in the backs by surrendering;

therefore, entered politics became the leader of a small anti Jew party –

created a flag and changed the name to National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nazi Party)

attempted to take over German government in 1923, but failed – sentenced to 5 years in prison – wrote Mien Kampf before his release in only 9 months

Mien Kampf – “My Struggle”

written to help recoup legal expenses from his trial and to express his ideology and goals for the future of Germany believed the Jewish race inferior and

thought they were trying to take over the world through Communism

believed German government was failing its people and planned to replace it with the Nazi Party and save Germany

Mien Kampf – cont.

in Volume 2, explained his propaganda campaign to

rebuild the German military explained his plan to create more “living

space” by, first, spreading the German Empire to the East and enslaving the inferior Slavic people and confiscating their resources for the more racially pure, German people▪ “the Aryan race – the perfect man”

Hitler – cont.

1933 – appointed chancellor and used this position to gain absolute

power over Germany when Germany’s president, Paul von Hindenburg, died in office in August 1934

1939 – attack Poland, causing WWII 1945 – married his long-time

mistress, Eva Braun / committed suicide together one day later

Nazi Germany

1919 – party was established 1921 – Hitler took over control of

party 1933 – Hitler was appointed German

chancellor and Nazi gov’t took over all other political parties were banned Dachau – first concentration camp

opened▪ first housed political prisoners▪ Evolved into death camp for Jews, artists,

intellectuals, Gypsies, and the handicapped

Holocaust – “sacrifice by fire”

1939-1945

“The Final Solution” – a genocidal decree against the Jews gave the Nazi’s their “legal” basis for everything that occurred

involved 6 million Jews (2/3 of the Jewish population)

Holocaust – cont.

more than 11 million people total were murdered Jews were evicted from their homes and sent to

ghettos shipped to concentration camps separated from husband/wife/children those able to work, did so under horrible conditions those unable to work were gased (shower) which

could asphyxiate 2,000 people in 20 minutes▪ this method killed approximately 4 million women and

children in Auschwitz alone

Hitler Youth

“The weak must be chiseled away. I want young men and women who can suffer pain. A young German must be as swift as a greyhound, as tough as leather, and as hard as Krupp’s steel” – Hitler, Mien Kampf

created in 1920s by 1936, became all but compulsory to

join (could pay a fee to avoid, in 1939 it was made mandatory)

Hitler Youth – cont.

“He alone who owns the youth gains the future.”

– Hitler 10-18 year olds

boys were prepared for military▪ marching, bayonet drill, grenade throwing, trench

digging, map reading, gas defense, use of dugouts, getting under barbed wire fence, pistol shooting

girls were prepared for motherhood▪ had to run 60 meters in 14 seconds, throw a ball 12

meters, complete a 2 hour march, swim 100 meters, and know how to make a bed

Effects of WWII

Germany was devastated high loss of life destroyed financially disgraced due to the atrocities,

especially the Holocaust not unified again until 1990

Total deaths: 7,393,000

Jesse Owens

James Cleveland Owens “The Buckeye Bullet” African American Ohio State University won 4 gold medals at the 1936

Olympics in Berlin, which helped defeat Hitler’s belief that the Games would help him promote his idea of the perfect Aryan race