...applied to enter the Vienna Academy of Art but his application was rejected. After the death of his mother Klara, Hitler decided to move to Vienna. He drifted from job to job, often selling sketches or painting scenes of Old Vienna and it was a period that he himself later called the most miserable period of his life. Many of Hitler’s views of the world were shaped by his experiences on the streets of Vienna and it is probable that his violent anti-Semitism dates from this time. In 1924 Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for his part in the Munich Putsch. During this time in prison Hitler began work on his book entitled Mein Kamph (My Struggle). The book outlines some of Hitler’s political ideas and his views on race and Germany’s future role in world affairs. Hitler had a racist view of world history and the dominant theme running through Mein Kamph was his concept of race. In Hitler’s view, civilization and nations decline when the fail to maintain the purity of the race. “Mixing blood and lowering of racial quality” according to Hitler is the “sole cause for the decline of all culture, for humans do not perish from lost wars but from the loss of that power of resistance that is characteristic only of pure blood”*. The fundamental duty of the government in Hitler’s mind was to preserve the racial purity of state for only this way can the superior race maintains it dominance over inferior races. To Hitler, the Aryan (an earlier Indo-European race from which the Germans...
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...Historically, people have used literacy to obtain political power. In the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, it is evident that books, reading, and words themselves represent power for different characters in different ways. Close analysis of Liesel Meminger and Max Vandenburg reveals that power can be achieved through literacy in a context where literacy is severely limited. Literacy plays a major role in Liesel’s adolescence. Liesel obtains power through literacy as it gives her a sense of comfort and control. The act of reading and writing gives Liesel the strength to cope with and heal from her emotional trauma. Reading and finishing the book The Gravedigger’s Handbook helps Liesel find the courage to move on from the loss of her brother. Although Liesel does not yet know how to read when she arrives at the Hubermann’s on Himmel Street, she keeps the book to comfort her, as it is the last object she has relating to her brother. When papa and Liesel finish reading the book, Liesel “trot[s] out, involuntarily” (Zusak 87) by explaining to Hans that her brother’s name “‘was Werner’” (87). The act of Liesel’s words being spoken involuntarily suggests that “she is finding some freedom in the effects of her disturbing experiences” (Lee 14). Liesel does not have to force herself to speak to Hans about her brother as she has gained emotional stability. Additionally, literacy helps Liesel recover from her distress as Hans reads to her nightly. Hans reads to Liesel “to soothe...
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...Hitler’s Ideas on Race and Struggle Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” depicts his struggle with the world that he is living in based on his twisted views of society. In this piece Hitler describes the Jewish population as a ‘race’ of people who defile and disgrace the world that he is living he. In fact, in most cases he refers to them as ‘it’ and does not even have the decency to accept them as human beings. He believes that the Jews are the masters of lying and deception and will trick the world into falling into their trap which he calls Communism. In Marx’s Communist Manifesto, Hitler believes that the people who Marx says will spread Communism are the Jews although Marx never states this whatsoever. Essentially Hitler believes that the Jews are the worst people in the world calling them “a parasite in the body of other nations.” He thought that the Jews should not coexist with the Aryans because the Aryans were a perfect race that should not be tainted by the Jewish existence. Hitler wished to create a world that is totalitarian and virtually only Aryan, and the only way to do this was to eliminate the Jews and their supposed desire to spread the ideal of Communism. Hitler gave all of the credit of the creation of art, literature, technology and culture and that the Jews would just infringe on his Aryan world. Hitler’s ideas were obviously flawed but through his experiences and research he truly believed that the Jews would destroy the German economy and society....
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...Animal Farm Journal “Propaganda is as powerful as heroin; it surreptitiously dissolves all capacity to think.” (Courtemanche) I think in this quote Gil Courtemanche is stating that propaganda is so powerful that it can easily corrupt people’s minds and change the way they think and their view on things. I agree with Courtemanche’s statement because propaganda can take away people’s ability to think for themselves and can cause people to believe in a distorted truth. For instance, propaganda was huge in manipulating the German people during World War II. The Nazis only allowed certain messages and information to be released to the public, which shaped Hitler’s character as a hero and almost God-like. Hitler’s book, “Mein Kampf” was distributed to schools and used to indoctrinate the youth. Anti-Semitic campaigns were used by the Nazis to corrupt the minds of Germans, making them believe that the Jewish public were to blame for Germany’s social and economic problems. As a result of this, eleven million innocent people were murdered. Germans mindlessly idolized Hitler only because they were repeatedly told what a great man he was. As a result, the German people were not able to think or make their own decisions. They agreed with whatever Hitler said because they were drawn into a false illusion that Hitler was a good man who only wanted the best for Germany. George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm contains numerous examples of the power of propaganda and how it can easily brainwash...
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...Hitler's Book "Mein Kampf" Although it is thought of as having been 'written' by Hitler, Mein Kampf is not a book in the usual sense. Hitler never actually sat down and pecked at a typewriter or wrote longhand, but instead dictated it to Rudolph Hess while pacing around his prison cell in 1923-24 and later at an inn at Berchtesgaden. Reading Mein Kampf is like listening to Hitler speak at length about his youth, early days in the Nazi Party, future plans for Germany, and ideas on politics and race. The original title Hitler chose was "Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice." His Nazi publisher knew better and shortened it to "Mein Kampf," simply My Struggle, or My Battle. In his book, Hitler divides humans into categories based on physical appearance, establishing higher and lower orders, or types of humans. At the top, according to Hitler, is the Germanic man with his fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes. Hitler refers to this type of person as an Aryan. He asserts that the Aryan is the supreme form of human, or master race. And so it follows in Hitler's thinking, if there is a supreme form of human, then there must be others less than supreme, the Untermenschen, or racially inferior. Hitler assigns this position to Jews and the Slavic peoples, notably the Czechs, Poles, and Russians. "...it [Nazi philosophy] by no means believes in an equality of races, but along with their difference it recognizes their higher or lesser...
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...Extreme Makeover: Criminal Court Edition This paper is going to discuss and argue points regarding tattoos and the meaning behind the tattoos, which will also disagree with Article titled: Extreme Makeover: Criminal Court Edition, By John Schwartz, and Published in December 5, 2010 in Clearwater, Florida. A Florida judge has agreed with a defense request to have John Ditullio’s tattoos covered up by a makeup artist so that they cannot influence the jury in his murder trial. The court paid $125 a day for the services of a cosmetologist and the process took process 45 minutes. Criminal “John Ditullio goes on trial for murder charges related to a double stabbing that wounded a woman and killed a teenager in 2006. This is Mr. Ditullio’s second trial for the murder; the first, which also involved the services of a cosmetologist, ended last year in a mistrial. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Jurors will not see the large swastika tattooed on his neck. Or the crude insults tattooed on the other side of his neck, or know about the taunting Christmas card he sent to the victim’s family from prison. Or the fact that he was a Neo-Nazi group member. The judge was wrong to have agreed with defense to cover up John Ditullip‘s tattoos by a hiring maker-up artist, because tattoos have a communicative value, especially the ones with high public visibility (see plot below). According to research performed by Kathleen Doss & Amy S Ebesu Hubbard , tattoos...
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...The Book Thief Summary How It All Goes Down The Book Thief is narrated by Death, who tells us the story of Liesel Meminger. It's January 1939, and Liesel, who is about ten-years-old, is traveling by train with her mother and her little brother Werner. Liesel and Werner are being taken to the small town of Molching, just outside of Munich, Germany, to live with foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Werner dies on the train of mysterious causes having to do with poverty, hunger, cold, and lack of medical treatment. Before Liesel arrives in Molching, she attends her brother's burial in a snowy graveyard. She steals The Grave Digger's Handbook from the cemetery after it falls from a young grave digger's coat. The kicker is, Liesel can't read. Liesel is reluctant to enter the Hubermann house on Himmel Street, but is coaxed by her foster father, Hans, to whom she takes an immediate liking. She's not sure about Rosa, though. Liesel begins school, but suffers because she doesn't know how to read yet. She also meets Rudy Steiner, who is soon to be her best friend, not to mention her partner in book and food thievery. One night, Hans finds The Grave Digger's Handbook hidden in Liesel's mattress after her usual nightmare of seeing her brother dying on the train. This is what inspires him to begin teaching her to read. When Liesel learns to write, she begins composing letters to her mother, but these letters go unanswered. Finally, we find out that her mother has disappeared. ...
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...in Japan and China all Western literature was forbidden. Recent (20th century) repressive regimes (e.g. communism in Eastern Europe and China) placed strong restrictions on so called "foreign propaganda". In many cases this resulted in people defending themselves by creating political jokes. Jokes through history have been a powerful instrument to undermine state authority and the public truth associated with it. Today's (2005) examples in repressive regimes are still uncountable but even liberal societies sometimes impose limits to the freedom of the individual to spread information that is not politically correct. For example, Germany bans the publication of certain books associated with the Nazi regime (most prominently, Hitler's Mein Kampf). The United States now (after 2001) limits the publication of formerly freely available information which can potentially be related to the production of biological and nuclear...
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...forthwith on Berlin. On the morning of the 9th November, however, no Bavarian support was forthcoming, and Hitler's demonstration was met by the armed forces of the Reichswehr and the Police. Only a few volleys were fired; and after a dozen of his followers had been killed, Hitler fled for his life, and the demonstration was over. The defendants Streicher, Frick and Hess all took part in the attempted rising. Hitler was later tried for high treason, and was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. The SA was outlawed. Hitler was released from prison in 1924 and in 1925 the Schutzstaffel, or SS, was created, nominally to act as his personal bodyguard, but in reality to terrorise political opponents. This was also the year of the publication of Mein Kampf, containing the political views and aims of Hitler, which came to be regarded as the authentic source of Nazi doctrine. Did their compliance emerge from pathological characteristics of the German people? In order to place the complete control of the machinery of Government in the hands of the Nazi leaders, a series of laws and decrees were passed which reduced the powers of regional and local governments throughout Germany, transforming them into subordinate divisions of the Government of the Reich. Representative assemblies in the Laender were abolished and with them all local elections. The Government then proceeded to secure control of the Civil Service. This was achieved by a process of centralisation, and by a careful sifting of...
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...famed and later despised person’s in human history. Many have written about his life and what he accomplished or yet, what he did. Many have tried to explain the why in hopes that history does not repeat itself. To this day, I do not think it has to that scale however; there will always be ones to try. It is important for that reason, to always understand why he succeeded, not to enable anyone to repeat his actions but instead to ensure the human race does not put such an evil man into power ever again. His rise to power, I believe was put deliberately in motion when in 1923 Hitler attempted to seize power in Bavaria. This failed and as a result Hitler was imprisoned. While in prison Hitler took the time to write what is known as, “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle). The sale of this writing added to the funds that later he would use to manipulate himself higher and higher up the power chain. He spent only 9 months in prison but afterwards, he carefully and deliberately restructured the National Socialist Party (Nazi Party) in such a way that it had become a daunting political force run by what many now label as a Mad Man. “By June 1932, it was the largest political party in the German parliament, the Reichstag” (Historynet.com, n.d.). Hitler ran for President and lost but he was able to use his position within...
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...was born on April 20th, 1899 to Alois Hitler and Klara Polzi. He was the second youngest child out of his five siblings. Both Alois and Klara had known poverty but had strived for a better way to live. The Hitler’s led a fairly comfortable middle- class life but family dynamics left much to be desired. As a father Alois was stern, distant, and irritable and as a husband he expected full obedience from his wife. (cite hitler book) He enjoyed spending outside over spending time with his family, leaving them to their own devices. Luckily for the children Klara did her best to combat how their father treated them and showered them with affection. Klara developed a strong bond with Adolf that was returned with fervor. In his autobiography, Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote “I had honored my father but loved my mother.” (Hitler, 1999). Hitler was the type of child that would challenge his father on almost a daily basis and would receive severe beatings for it. He experienced death when his little brother passed away from the measles and the passing affected Hitler deeply. His father passed away in 1903 and his mother passed only four years later. At the tender age of 18, he was placed in a boarding house for men. He also experienced loss at...
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...Matthew Zeppieri Mr. Kilgallin AP English Language 8 August 2012 The Book Thief Questions In the first chapter, I discovered who the narrator was on page 21. It specifically was revealed when the narrator is talking about the dead brother of Liesel Meminger saying, “It was exactly when I knelt down and extracted his soul, holding it limply in my swollen arms” (21). revealing the narrator’s identity as Death. The narrator’s diction on the page can be described as vain due to the fact he doesn’t need an introduction when the narrator says it is “not really necessary” (4). The narrator’s diction reveals that he has a methodical, stone cold personality that puts the narrator in a more superior position then the human race. Achieving this, the diction creates an effect that the narrator is going to be a huge part in the rest of the story which creates more dramatic irony when the narrator reveals stuff to us that the characters in the story will not know. “ You will be caked in your own body.” is considered to be a metaphor. “ A scream will dribble down in the air.” is categorized as a catachresis. “ The only sound I’ll hear after that will be my own breathing, and the sound of the smell, of my footsteps.” is an example of synesthesia. “What will the sky be saying?” is an erotema. Colors in this story play an important vital role in The Book Thief and the most important colors are the colors of the Nazi flag: black, white, and red. Black symbolizes sadness because the narrator...
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...Background Research Worksheet Book Selection: The Boy in the stripped Pajamas Author: John Boyne Instructions: For each question, respond in one or more paragraphs of at least four complete sentences. Include supporting facts and details from your research in each response. Provide the sources for your supporting research. Using support from your research materials, identify and explain any political, social, economic, or cultural issues that may shape the story. A political issue that shapes my story is the Holocaust. This affect the boy in story because he doesn’t realize what is going on around him and why the girl behind the fence is always so hungry and tired . He didn't know any of this because of Nazi Propaganda. To him everything was fine and didn't have a care in the world besides playing with his friends and going to school. His parents really didn't tell him anything so he was clueless on why he had to move in the first place away from his friends and why his dad lost his job. The Propaganda to him was just Hitler trying to help Germany after the war and get ready for there next but little did he know that this would happen. Source: Nazi Propaganda Imagine what it would be like to live in this situation. Using supporting details from your research, discuss the greatest challenges people might face under these circumstances. Being a child in this situation would be scary if i knew what was actually going on around me. Almost 1.5 million kids...
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...“Do you still play the accordion?” (Zusak 173), this is the first thing that Max says to Hans when he arrives at Himmel street, which shows us the accordion's symbol as the connection between the Hubermann's and Max which gives Max safety. In the fiction book, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Erik Vandenburg has an accordion before he is killed in battle and the accordion is given to Hans. He frequently plays it throughout the novel and it brings comfort. It symbolizes the comfort and protection of Hans and the Hubermann household to Liesel and later Max. When Liesel is reading in the shelter and thinks “This, it said, is your accordion.” (381) it shows that the accordion is a symbol of protection, safety, hope, distraction and comfort. The...
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...formally known in German as the “Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei,” often referred to as Nazi. Being very artistic, Adolf designed the Nazi banner himself. Before his reign and during campaign times, Adolf gave very powerful and influential speeches, mostly against rival politicians, the Treaty of Versailles, Marxists, and Jews. In November 1923, Adolf was accused of treason against Germany due to the fact that during a speech, Adolf claimed that he was going to start a revolt against the government, and have a new form of government that would be run by him. This is where his mental instability and his reign commence. During his prison sentence, Adolf used this, what felt like, interminable time to write a story called “Mein Kampf,” which translate to “My Fight/Struggle” in English. Adolf used this story as propaganda to try to persuade the German population into getting into a movement that would transform the German society into a one based race. As Germany was in a financial, political, and social downfall at the time, the book became intriguing to the German population. As Adolf wrote two volumes, he shows zero mercy in giving his perspective on powerful expansion using brutal force and Semitism. Although the book contained profanity, frequent content of grammatical errors, and what seemed to be unachievable goals/targets, the book was able to produce over five million copies in eleven different languages. After his prison sentence, the Great Depression...
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