Nazi Propaganda

What political message(s) are these pictures trying to convey?
They show socialism as something superior and German citizens must vote for it (Hitler's party), that it's going to bring order and peace to the country.

What image of Germans are these pictures trying to convey?
These pictures try to convey that with Hitler in command; Germany can be a very powerful country and military force. With the concept of Hitler in command, he would be the "absolute leader".

How do they portray this image?
The posture Hitler adopts in this picture gives him an image of a "serious leader", one who would do anything for the prosperity of his country.

 What colors are used?
The pictures that express peace use light colours; happy ones. In the other hand, the ones that have war meanings and Jewish have dark and serious tones.

How do the people look?
German civilians look very happy in the propaganda, military autorithies look serious and Jewish people look very sad.

What characteristics of these men are similar?
Both civilians and militaries look satisfied of that political totalitarism; obviously for the convinience of them both.

How do the artists convey these characteristics?
Artists use different colours and faces expressions in their works (paintings, pictures) to reflect a certain emotion emanated by the image itself, to give "life" to it. The principal propaganda minister of the Nazi party was Joseph Goebbels, known because of his many works for Adolf Hitler, making one of the biggest campaigns ever known. They might have been evil, but they were very clever.

War Meditation

World War II, which started at 1939 and ended at 1945, is considered by many the worst event that human history has faced, ever. Besides all the cities reduced to ashes, the human casualties (estimated in millions), and the nuclear disasters at the end; there is one especific fact that was considered a real atrocity. The slavery and concentration camps. It is known that the number of civilian casualties was two times bigger than the military ones; a total of 40 million above the 20 million. From the 60 million deaths, the 10% of them where from The Holocaust. This means that from each 10 deaths, 1 of them was a slave (probably a jew) , that was been slaughtered in forms that many people could not ever imagine. That's why to many people, WWII was considered the apocalypse. The human race was self-destroying. Europe was hell and Adolf Hitler was the devil. But there is light even in the darkest corner. There where bystanders that simply couldn't stand this massacre, so they decided to act; and one of them is Oskar Schindler. If Hitler was the devil, Schindler could be compared to an angel.

Who was Oskar Schindler?

Oskar Schindler was an ethnic German industrialist born in Moravia. Well, let's skip the biography and head to the important information. Schindler saw the war as something profitable, and he owned factories in which weapons and ammunition was produced. When the Germans started pirsuiting the jewish, Oskar and his german speaking Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern obtained 1,100 Jew workers to work for them. First, it was the money that motivated this businessman to use Jews as employees, but all changed with time. Schindler started to feel that he was doing wrong, so he changed the conditions in which the Jews worked; including less hours of work, time to pray and better food. Also, Oskar did alot of ilegal activities, such as buying products for their Schindlerjuden ("Schindler's Jews") in the black market, and bribing German officers to mantain all the Jews that he could afford to. His charms and negotiation habilites made him a very respectable man in his country. After the war, he ended in bankrupt because he spent all his fortune in bribes and goods from the black market to his workers. He survived because of the charity of many Jewish organizations, at least until 1974, when he died with 66 years of age due a liver failure. At the moment of his death, he had no money; the hospital was being payed by the German goverment. Schindler's grave is located on the mountainside below Zion Gate and the Old City walls. Stones placed on top of the grave are a sign of gratitude from Jewish visitors, according to Jewish tradition. This stones have been placed by the families he saved. In the end, he saved around 1200 Jewish lives. Schindler became famous because of a novel called "Schindler's Ark", and because of a film called "Schindler's List". It was directed by Steven Spielberg and won the Academy Award for Best Pitcure/Movie. In the middle of the most catastrophic event ever, there was still hope in some places.

 "I knew the people who worked for me... When you know people, you have to behave towards them like human beings."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Schindlergrave2010.jpg

Refugee Blues, WWII Poetry

1-As you read in the introduction, the poem was written half a year before the outbreak of World War II. However, the reader can pinpoint the three major protagonists whose paths will cross tragically in the course of the war. Complete the following sentences:

1. The victims are the Jews
2. The perpetrators are the Nazis
3. The bystanders are the Germans / Europeans

2 -What particular factors led an individual to be defined as belonging to this or that group?

Nazis had a model of the perfect citizen: it was blond with blue eyes. However, they accepted German citizens in their mayority; and christians too. They divided the bands of war into two groups; allies and foes.  The mayor division of groups were the Jews. Jews were pursuited and executed during many years, they were sent to the concentration camps too. Other group that was considered a foe were the homosexuals; Nazis executed them without taking them to a court. Black people and the ones with another religion were also considered a threat.

3- Of the three groups, which was the largest? Is their any connection between your answer and the term ‘The Silent Majority’?


The bystanders composed the larger group, and they relate directly to the term "The Silent Majority" because many of them just watched the events without having any intervention, any opinion; and the term "Majority" is applied because they were in a larger number

4- What possible relationships could have developed between the victims and the bystanders?

It's a fact that many victims established friendship with many of the bystanders. Some bystanders betrayed de refugees, but many of them protected them; sometimes even hiding them in their houses.

5-Auden presents different situations in which prohibitions against the victims multiply and effectively turn them into refugees. Identify and list some of these prohibitions. What does it mean to have these things taken away from you?
Among this prohibitions are that Jews couldn't go to many public places, such as meetings and churchs. Besides they were pirsuited by German soldiers. This basic things that are taken away make this refugees look like animals; even worse, treatment to them is beyond cruelty.

6-State bureaucracies are crucial in the lives of ordinary citizens, not to mention threatened population groups like the homeless or people evicted from their homes. Identify the different functionaries or objects that represent bureaucracies for Auden.

In the poem there are stated each of the objects that represent bureaucracies; such as the passport (the jews are stated to have "old ones" and being denied each time they show it), the  consul (which prevented them to leave), the committe (told them to wait), and the public meeting (that accussed them of stealing the food).

7-In your opinion, who is a refugee? Can one become a refugee in one’s own home?

In my opinion, a refugee is someone; and it could be anybody, who must hide in order to save his life. Of course that one actually CAN be a refugee inside his own house; in fact many jews were found hidden in their own houses when the nazis occuppied Europe.

8-How can state bureaucracies help refugees or hinder efforts to help?
By changing the laws that bring difficulties to their living conditions, or simply removing them. They can reduce the punishments too.

9-In your opinion, should governments today have the responsibility to take care of refugees in their country? 

Yes. In my opinion, refugee are a priority such as poor people in a country. Most refugees live in a way that many people will consider miserable; some would even prefer death before living like them.