Art
The following recommendations for the study of the Holocaust within an Art or Art History class are from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.One of the goals for studying art history is to enable students to understand the role of art in society. The Holocaust can be incorporated into a study of art and art history to illuminate how the Nazis used art for propagandistic purposes, and how victims used artistic expression to communicate their protest, despair, and/or hope. A study of art during the Holocaust helps students:
- analyze the motivations for, and implications of, the Nazi's censorship activities in the fine and literary arts, theater, and music (e.g., the banning of books and certain styles of painting; the May 1933 book burnings);
- examine the values and beliefs of the Nazis and how the regime perceived the world, by, for example, examining Nazi symbols of power, Nazi propaganda posters, paintings, and drawings deemed "acceptable" rather than "degenerate";
- study how people living under Nazi control used art as a form of resistance (e.g., examining the extent to which the victims created art; the dangers they faced in doing so; the various forms of art that were created and the settings in which they were created, and the diversity of themes and content in this artistic expression);
- examine art created by Holocaust victims and survivors and explore its capacity to document diverse experiences including life prior to the Holocaust, life inside the ghettos, the deportations, and the myriad of experiences in the concentration camp system; and
- examine interpretations of the Holocaust as expressed in contemporary art, art exhibitions, and memorials.
Aryan: A term for peoples speaking the language of Europe and India. In Nazi racial theory, a person of pure German "blood." The term "non-Aryan" was used to designate Jews, part-Jews and others of supposedly inferior racial stock.
Auschwitz - Birkenau /oushvits - biakenow/
: A complex consisting of concentration, extermination, and labor camps in Upper Silesia. It was established in 1940 as a concentration camp and included a killing center in 1942. Auschwitz I: The main camp. Auschwitz II (Also known as Birkenau): The extermination center. Auschwitz III (Monowitz): The I.G. Farben labor camp, also known as Buna. In addition, there were numerous subsidiary camps.
Cabaret /kabaray/
Cantor: Leader of chanted prayers in a Jewish service; the congregational singer.
Concentration camp (Konzentrationslager abbreviated as KZ) /kontsentrationslahga/
Degenerate art (Entartete Kunst) /entatete koonst/
Dehumanization: The Nazi policy of denying Jews basic civil rights such as practicing religion, education, and adequate housing.
Displacement: The process, either official or unofficial, of people being involuntarily moved from their homes because of war, government policies, or other societal actions, requiring groups of people to find new places to live. Displacement is a recurring theme in the history of the Jewish people.
Gestapo /geshtahpoh/
Ghettos: The Nazis revived the medieval term ghetto to describe their device of concentration and control, the compulsory "Jewish Quarter." Ghettos were usually established in the poor sections of a city, where most of the Jews from the city and surrounding areas were subsequently forced to reside. Often surrounded by barbed wire or walls, the ghettos were sealed. Established mostly in Eastern Europe (e.g., Lódz, Warsaw, Vilna, Riga, or Minsk), the ghettos were characterized by overcrowding, malnutrition, and heavy labor. All were eventually dissolved, and the Jews murdered.
Nationalism: A movement, as in the arts, based on the folk idioms, history, aspirations, etc., of a nation.
Reichskammern /raikskaman/
Reichstag /raikhstag/
Riefenstahl, Leni (b. 1902)
Socialism: A theory or system of social organization that advocates the ownership and control of land, capital, industry, etc. by the community as a whole. In Marxist theory it represents the stage following capitalism in a state transforming to communism.
SS (Schutzstaffel /shoots shtahfl/ or Protection Squad)
Theresienstadt /tereysienshtat/
Third Reich /raich/: Meaning "third regime or empire," the Nazi designation of Germany and its regime from 1933-45. Historically, the First Reich was the medieval Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. The Second Reich included the German Empire from 1871-1918.
Warsaw ghetto: Established in November 1940, it was surrounded by a wall and contained nearly 500,000 Jews. About 45,000 Jews died there in 1941 alone, as a result of overcrowding, hard labor, lack of sanitation, insufficient food, starvation, and disease. During 1942, most of the ghetto residents were deported to Treblinka, leaving about 60,000 Jews in the ghetto. A revolt took place in April 1943 when the Germans, commanded by General Jürgen Stroop, attempted to raze the ghetto and deport the remaining inhabitants to Treblinka. The defense forces, commanded by Mordecai Anielewicz, included all Jewish political parties. The bitter fighting lasted twenty-eight days and ended with the destruction of the ghetto.
Weimar Republic /vaimahr/
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Discussion Questions/Research Topics
Analyze the use of propaganda by the Nazis.
Compare German and American World War II poster art and the use of war propaganda.
Research the depiction of Jews in medieval European art.
Research the history of the swastika.
Evaluate the continuing role of the mass media and propaganda in Nazi Germany, including use of the "Big Lie" and the corruption of language.
Research Holocaust art produced by women. Can any contrasts be drawn when comparing Holocaust art produced by women with art produced by men?
Many Jewish families in Germany had roots in their towns and villages for generations. Research the contributions of German Jews to their country through visual art. To narrow your research, focus on a particular region or school of art.
Compare two or more different Holocaust memorials.
Explore the role of architecture in the Third Reich.
What was considered "degenerate art" by the Nazis? Discuss using examples.
This list of artists included in the Degenerate Art exhibition includes many well-known twentieth century masters appropriate for student projects and reports.
Reproducible Student Hand-Outs
Bibliography: Art in the Third Reich.
Bibliography: Looted Art.
Bibliography: International Art Trade.
Exploitation of Art in the Third Reich: A Selected Bibliography.
Nazi Propaganda: A Selected Bibliography of Books, Dissertations, and Media.
Bibliography
of Books on Nazi Propaganda by Randall Bytwerk.
Terezín: A Selected Bibliography from the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Lesson Plans from the Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
Looking at Photographs. Students analyze photographs for details needed to unlock meanings.
Lesson Plans on Other Sites
Florida Resource Manual on Holocaust Education
The following materials from the State of Florida Resource Manual on Holocaust Education, Grades 9-12 will enrich your class's study of this topic. This manual was distributed to all Florida high schools in the spring of 1999 and should be available in your school resource center.
Antisemitic Book Illustrations Unit 3 pages 63-65 Political Cartoon on the Evian Conference Unit 4 page 35 On Movies and Memory Unit 8 page 43 Holocaust Remembrance Day Unit 10 page 48 Identity Cards Unit 10 page 60 Constructing a "Wall of Righteous People" Unit 10 page 61 Designing Tiles For A "Wall of Remembrance" Unit 10 page 62
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A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
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College of Education, University of South Florida © 1997-2013.