Teaching the Nazi Dictatorship: Focus on Youth.

Abstract

THE NATIONAL SOCIALIST REGIME remains, for many teachers, the classic example of totalitarian dictatorship. While students may have had little acquaintance with other twentieth century tyrants, all know, or at least claim to know, a thing or two about Adolf Hitler. The purpose of this essay is to offer some newer perspectives on the Hitler dictatorship and to demonstrate how the experience of young people in the Third Reich can be used as a case study. Students, whether at the secondary or college level, readily identify with the experiences of young people in times past and identifying with young people in Nazi Germany is no different. All resources (sources 1,2, 3, etc.) are available on the Internet at: . No effort has been made to provide objectives or detailed plans; it is assumed that teachers will take what is useful and tailor it in a way that fits their courses and curricula.