What does this have to do with us today? Remember, recognise, protect

Across seven modules, you have followed a path: from the question of how a state can be governed (“Who governs? Forms of state, democracy and dictatorship”), through the destruction of democracy in a year and a half (“From democracy to dictatorship: 1933/34”), the apparatus of power (“Who's who? The party, SA, SS, Gestapo and youth organisations”), the worldview and how it was promoted (“Worldview and persuasion: ideology and propaganda”), and young people (“Young people in the Nazi state – and the film ‘Napola’”), to persecution and genocide (“From prejudice to law: antisemitism and exclusion up to 1935”, “Step by step: from loss of rights to genocide, 1935–1945”).

Why all this? Not because you are guilty – you and your generation bear no guilt for what happened before 1945. But because the patterns have remained: scapegoats, conspiracy myths, contempt for minorities, the wish for a strongman who solves every problem, and a willingness to look away. If you know the history, you can recognise the patterns earlier – online, in the class chat and in politics. And if you recognise them, you can act differently from the majority back then.

This module has three parts: Recognise (antisemitism and conspiracy myths today), Remember (how a society keeps history alive) and Protect (what makes a democracy resilient). These are followed by a matching exercise and the glossary, a quiz covering the whole series in two parts, a self-assessment checklist and three final tasks.

You will need about two lessons for this module. A good stopping point is after the glossary – it is best to tackle the overall quiz when you are rested and have time to look things up.

The Holocaust did not end antisemitism. Jewish communities in Europe still need police protection. In 2019, a far-right extremist tried to enter a synagogue in Halle an der Saale on the holiest Jewish festival. The door held, and he then murdered two people, one in the street and one in a takeaway restaurant. After the terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 by Hamas, a terrorist organisation in the Gazastreifen, the number of antisemitic incidents in Europe rose sharply – Jewish people here were often targeted with hostility over events there. Antisemitism takes several forms today (the word is now often used for any hostility towards Jews, including the old religious anti-Judaism from “From prejudice to law: antisemitism and exclusion up to 1935”):

• Old prejudices in new forms: the claim that ‘the Jews’ are rich and powerful and secretly influence banks, the media or governments. These are the same images as in 1900 – only today they often appear in memes or comments.
• Conspiracy myths: stories claiming that a small, secret group – often called an ‘elite’ – controls pandemics, wars or financial crises. Not every such story is antisemitic. It becomes antisemitic when the supposed masterminds are portrayed as Jews – openly or in coded terms. Often, the word ‘Jew’ is not even used, but the images and hints come from older antisemitism, for example the forged ‘Protokolle der Weisen von Zion’. You saw how conspiracy myths and scapegoating are connected in “From prejudice to law: antisemitism and exclusion up to 1935”.
• Holocaust denial and trivialisation: the claim that the genocide did not happen, that the number of victims was invented or greatly exaggerated, or that the documents were forged. This is not an opinion but a lie about a proven crime (“Step by step: from loss of rights to genocide, 1935–1945”). In Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Österreich and Germany, publicly spreading such claims is a criminal offence – because it mocks the victims, stirs up hatred and prepares the ground for further violence.
• Hatred disguised as criticism: in a democracy, it is permitted to criticise a state's policies – including Israel's. Criticism becomes antisemitic when it blames ‘the Jews’ as a whole, uses old prejudices and images, or attacks Jewish people here over events there.

Three questions to help you recognise it

You do not need to memorise a list of code words – hidden hints understood only by those in the know – to recognise antisemitism. Three questions are usually enough:

1. Are individuals being turned into a group with a single will? ‘The Jews want …’, ‘the Jews control …’ – anyone who attributes a shared secret intention to millions of people is arguing like the propaganda of the past.
2. Is something complex being explained by a secret mastermind – and does it turn out to be ‘the Jews’ or an old image of them? Crises have many causes. Anyone who blames them on a small group supposedly controlling everything in secret is telling a conspiracy myth. It becomes antisemitic when that group is ‘the Jews’ or is described using the old images of hostility towards Jews.
3. The substitution test: this helps with sentences that make claims about a whole group – ‘The Jews are …’, ‘The Jews want …’. Try substituting another group, such as ‘young people’ or ‘left-handed people’. Would the sentence then be a baseless prejudice or an insult? If so, it is one with ‘Jews’ too. The test checks only generalisations about a group, not facts such as ‘Many Jewish people observe the Sabbath on Saturday’.

And what if someone says it was just a joke? Jokes that draw on a prejudice work only when everyone knows that prejudice – they keep it alive. Ask yourself: who is laughing at whom, and what is it like for someone from that group who is listening? You do not have to find such jokes funny – and you are allowed to speak up.

Remember: Antisemitism today is the old hatred in new forms: old prejudices, antisemitic conspiracy myths, Holocaust denial and hatred presented as ‘criticism’. Three checking questions help: are individuals being turned into a group with a single will? Does a secret mastermind explain everything – and does it turn out to be ‘the Jews’ or old images of them? Would the statement be a baseless prejudice or an insult if you substituted another group (the substitution test)?

Remembrance does not happen by itself. A society has to decide what it wants to remember – and how. This is called a culture of remembrance. It includes:

• 27 January. On this day in 1945, the Red Army liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau. Germany has observed it as a day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism since 1996; in 2005, the United Nations declared it International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Many schools, parliaments and governments pause to remember on this day. Liechtenstein's government designated 27 January as a day of remembrance in 2003; since 2006, it has held a public commemorative ceremony in which school pupils also take part.
• Memorial sites. Former camps such as Auschwitz, Dachau and Bergen-Belsen are now places of learning, as are the Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz in Berlin and the Anne Frank Haus in Amsterdam. They display documents, names and biographies – and also tell the stories of rescuers. Close to us, the Jüdisches Museum Hohenems commemorates Jewish life in Vorarlberg and its destruction.
• Stolpersteine. Since the 1990s, the artist Gunter Demnig has set small brass plaques into pavements outside the last homes freely chosen by victims of the Nazis: ‘Here lived …’, with a name, year of birth and account of their fate. There are now over 100 000 in more than 30 countries, including Switzerland, Österreich and, since 2022, Vaduz. You stumble with your mind, not your feet: a victim is given back their name and their place.
• Eyewitnesses. For decades, survivors told pupils in schools about their lives. The last survivors are now very old. Soon there will be nobody left who can say: I was there. Then remembrance will rest entirely with us – with books, memorial sites, recordings and what you yourself pass on.
• Research. Small countries also confront their history: in 2001, Liechtenstein established an Independent Commission of Historians to examine how the country, its companies and the Princely House had acted during the Second World War – in relation to refugees, assets and looted art, arms production and forced labour. Its final report was published in 2005.

Why this matters: remembrance is not guilt. It is responsibility – for ensuring that the patterns do not repeat themselves and that those murdered do not disappear a second time, this time from memory. Responsibility means knowing what happened, recognising the patterns, paying attention, speaking up and helping when people are excluded today. This applies to everyone who lives here, wherever their family comes from.

Remember: A culture of remembrance includes a day of remembrance (27 January), memorial sites, Stolpersteine, eyewitnesses and research. It gives victims back their names and makes us alert to the present.

The Weimar Republic was a democracy with a modern constitution – and it was destroyed within a year and a half, mostly by the summer of 1933, without a coup, through laws and decrees (“From democracy to dictatorship: 1933/34”). What can we learn from this?

1. Separation of powers must work in practice, not just on paper. The Enabling Act transferred parliament's power to the government – and a majority voted for it. A democracy needs rules that make this impossible, and representatives, judges and civil servants who apply them even under pressure.
2. Fundamental rights must apply especially in crises – and to everyone. Fundamental rights are human rights enshrined in a constitution and binding on the state: they apply to every person, regardless of origin or religion – you know this idea from “From prejudice to law: antisemitism and exclusion up to 1935”. The Nazis rejected human rights as ‘weakness’ and ‘un-German’ (“Worldview and persuasion: ideology and propaganda”). The Reichstag Fire Decree of 28 February 1933 suspended fundamental rights ‘until further notice’, with no time limit, citing the alleged threat of a communist uprising. It was never repealed and remained in force until 1945. In crises, people are afraid – and fear makes it easier to give up freedoms; in 1933, the Nazi leadership exploited exactly this. The question is whether fundamental rights can withstand such pressure – especially for minorities, who are the test: a democracy is measured by how it treats those who are different or think differently, not by how it treats the majority. In 1933, the exclusion of Jewish people began with less than one per cent of the population – and most others looked away, got used to it or even benefited. Only a few objected; some helped.
3. Civil courage is the final safeguard. No constitution protects itself. Grüninger, Hübener, the helpers at the annex in Amsterdam and the customers who shopped anyway on 1 April 1933 show that there was room to act at every stage. However, the cost rose with each stage: those who shopped anyway on 1 April 1933 risked being photographed; Grüninger lost his job in 1939 and was convicted; the helpers at the annex risked their lives; Hübener paid with his. Under a dictatorship, resistance and help often came at a high cost – in extreme cases, a person's life. Civil courage in everyday life starts much earlier and on a much smaller scale: pay attention, speak up, help and get help – without putting yourself in danger.

And Liechtenstein?

In “Who governs? Forms of state, democracy and dictatorship”, you saw that Liechtenstein is both a monarchy and a democracy: the Prince inherits his office, but laws require the approval of the popularly elected Landtag, and the constitution of 1921 limits power. Power is also divided between the Prince, the Landtag, the government and the courts. The Staatsgerichtshof, the constitutional court, ensures that the constitution is upheld, while the people can propose laws themselves through initiatives and vote on laws in referendums. Safeguards like these were dismantled in Germany in 1933. How much power the Prince and the people should each have is repeatedly debated in Liechtenstein too – and in a democracy, people are allowed and expected to debate such matters. The country was not a model in every respect back then: in 1938, it rejected more applications from Jewish refugees than it approved, and closed its borders to them in December (“Step by step: from loss of rights to genocide, 1935–1945”); through the Commission of Historians, it confronts this history. Safeguards work only as long as people use them: vote, join the discussion, speak up and protect minorities – including in small ways, at school and in the village.

Remember: Three things protect a democracy: separation of powers (nobody holds all the power), fundamental rights that apply even in crises and to minorities, and civil courage – people who do not look away. The diagram shows these three pillars – and what happened in 1933 when they were missing.

Here you will find the key terms and abbreviations from the eight modules, ordered alphabetically by their German names. Entries in ‘…’ are words used by the perpetrators or Nazi propaganda and are also labelled ‘perpetrators' term’ – we use them only in quotation marks and with an explanation.

Term	Explanation
AHS	Adolf-Hitler-Schulen (Adolf Hitler Schools): boarding schools run by the party and HJ from 1937 for boys aged 12 and over, with no fees, to train a leadership elite – the party's counterpart to the state-run Napola.
‘Anschluss’	Nazi term for the forced incorporation of Österreich into the German Reich: the Wehrmacht marched in on 12 March 1938. The word suggests a voluntary union. Perpetrators' term.
Anti-Judaism	Hostility towards Jews for religious reasons (since antiquity, especially in the Middle Ages): the accusation of ‘killing God’, legends, compulsory identification from 1215 and pogroms. The older form of hostility towards Jews; racist antisemitism only emerged in the 19th century.
Anti-communism	Hostility towards communism; the Nazis called it ‘Bolshevism’ and also portrayed it as ‘Jewish’, linking antisemitism to fear of revolution.
Antisemitism	Hatred of Jews that defines them as a supposed ‘race’ (the word dates from 1879). In its narrower sense, it means this racist hatred of Jews, as distinct from religious anti-Judaism; today, it often refers to any form of hostility towards Jews.
‘Aryan Paragraph’	§ 3 of the Civil Service Law of 7 April 1933: dismissal of ‘non-Aryan’ civil servants – a model for many professional bans. Perpetrators' term.
‘Aryan’	Nazi term from ‘racial doctrine’: ‘Aryans’ were regarded as an invented ‘master race’ (mainly Germans and Northern Europeans). In the laws, ‘Aryan’ effectively meant ‘not Jewish’. Perpetrators' term.
‘Aryanisation’	Forced sale of Jewish shops, companies and houses to non-Jewish buyers for far less than their value. Perpetrators' term.
BDM	Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls): Nazi youth organisation for girls aged 14 to 18.
Boycott	An organised refusal to buy from someone – on 1 April 1933, directed against Jewish shops, medical practices and law firms.
DAF	Deutsche Arbeitsfront (German Labour Front): compulsory Nazi organisation that replaced the banned trade unions in 1933.
DAP	Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (German Workers' Party): small party in München that Hitler joined in 1919; it became the NSDAP in 1920.
Democracy	A form of government in which power comes from the people and is kept in check: free elections, separation of powers, fundamental rights and opposition.
Denunciation	Reporting other people to the police or party – an important source of information for the Gestapo.
Deportation	Forced transport of people – from October 1941, from the Reich to ghettos and camps in the east.
‘Of German blood’ / ‘related’	Nazi terms from ‘racial doctrine’ and the Nuremberg Laws: people with no Jewish grandparents were classified as ‘of German blood’. The Reich Citizenship Law used ‘related’ for people the regime assigned to a ‘related race’, such as other Europeans – but not Jews. Only people ‘of German or related blood’ could be ‘Reich citizens’ with political rights. Perpetrators' terms.
Dictatorship	A form of government in which one person or group rules without checks: no free elections, no separation of powers and no fundamental rights.
DJ	Deutsches Jungvolk (German Young People): Nazi youth organisation for boys aged 10 to 14 (‘Pimpfe’).
DNVP	Deutschnationale Volkspartei (German National People's Party): conservative party with which the NSDAP governed from 30 January 1933.
‘Stab-in-the-back myth’	The lie of 1918/19 that the army had been betrayed ‘from within’ during the First World War; it diverted blame from the generals and made Jews scapegoats. Perpetrators' term.
Edelweisspiraten / Swing-Jugend	Nonconformist youth groups in the Nazi state: the Edelweisspiraten (Rheinland and Ruhrgebiet; their own trips and songs, clashes with the HJ-Streifendienst) and the Swing-Jugend (Hamburg and other cities; jazz, swing and English fashions). Persecution extended to youth concentration camps and execution.
Einsatzgruppen	Mobile SS and police units that carried out mass shootings behind the front from June 1941 – supported by Wehrmacht units and local collaborators.
Emancipation	The gradual granting of legal equality to Jews in the 18th and 19th centuries; legally completed in the German Reich in 1871.
‘Final Solution’	Nazi code term for the genocide of Europe's Jews. Perpetrators' term.
Culture of remembrance	How a society keeps history alive: the day of remembrance on 27 January, memorial sites, Stolpersteine, eyewitnesses and research.
Enabling Act	Law of 23 March 1933: the government could pass laws without the Reichstag – parliament stripped itself of power.
‘Euthanasia’ / ‘T4’	‘Euthanasia’ (Greek for ‘beautiful death’) was the Nazi code term for murdering disabled people and people with mental illnesses; ‘T4’ (from the Berlin address Tiergartenstrasse 4) was the code name for the centrally organised murder programme from 1939. Around 70 000 people had been murdered by August 1941; the total was around 200 000 or more. Perpetrators' terms.
Fascism	Movement founded by Mussolini in Italy after the First World War (head of government in 1922 after the ‘March on Rome’, dictatorship from 1925/26): leader worship, violence, nationalism and rejection of democracy.
Führerprinzip	The Nazi state's leadership principle: orders from the top down, obedience from the bottom up. At the top, the ‘Führer’ decides alone; at every level, ‘leaders’ appointed from above enforce his orders – no elections, no checks, no separation of powers.
Gestapo	Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police): the Nazi state's political police, which imposed ‘protective custody’ without courts.
Separation of powers	Division of state power between parliament, government and courts, which keep each other in check.
Ghetto	A sealed-off city district where Jews were forced to live – first in Venedig in 1516, later from 1940 in occupied Poland (Łódź, Warschau).
‘Gleichschaltung’	Bringing every area – states, parties, clubs, media and young people – under NSDAP control from 1933. Perpetrators' term.
Fundamental rights	Human rights enshrined in a constitution and binding on the state: freedom of expression, the press and assembly, equality and protection of the person.
‘Auxiliary police’	From 22 February 1933, the SA was officially authorised to carry out police duties in Preussen; after the Reichstag fire, it was deployed on a large scale against political opponents as a force of thugs with official powers. Perpetrators' term.
Hitler salute	‘Heil Hitler!’ with a raised arm; compulsory for civil servants from 1933 and an ever-present declaration of loyalty in daily life – a tool of propaganda.
HJ	Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth): Nazi youth organisation for boys aged 14 to 18; the state youth organisation from 1936 and compulsory from March 1939; also an umbrella term for all Nazi youth organisations (HJ, DJ, BDM, JM).
Holocaust / Shoah	The genocide of around six million European Jews in 1941–1945 (Greek for ‘completely burnt’ / Hebrew for ‘catastrophe’).
Holocaust denial	The claim that the genocide of the Jews did not happen or is greatly exaggerated – not an opinion, but a lie about a proven crime; punishable in Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Österreich and Germany.
Ideology	A closed worldview that explains how the world supposedly is and should be – and allows no disagreement.
Indoctrination	Influence that allows no disagreement – for example, during HJ club evenings.
J stamp	Red letter ‘J’ in German Jews' passports from October 1938 – proposed by the German authorities, accepted by Switzerland and used to identify and turn away Jewish refugees at the border.
JM	Jungmädelbund (League of Young Girls): Nazi youth organisation for girls aged 10 to 14.
‘Jewish star badge’	Yellow star bearing the word ‘Jude’ that Jewish people in the Reich had to wear from September 1941. Perpetrators' term.
Youth concentration camps	Camps for young people who did not comply with the regime: Moringen for boys and Uckermark for girls.
KdF	‘Kraft durch Freude’ (‘Strength through Joy’): the DAF's leisure organisation (travel, concerts, KdF car) – promoting the ‘Volksgemeinschaft’.
Kindertransporte	Rescue of around 10 000 Jewish children to Britain, December 1938 to September 1939.
Communism	Ideology according to which factories and land should belong to everyone collectively and there should no longer be social classes.
Évian Conference	Meeting of representatives from 32 countries on the Genfersee in July 1938 to discuss Jewish refugees from Germany and Österreich; hardly any country was willing to admit more people.
KPD	Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Communist Party of Germany): immediately blamed and persecuted after the Reichstag fire in 1933; its representatives were under arrest or had fled when the Enabling Act was passed.
KZ	Konzentrationslager (concentration camp): detention camp where people were held without trial, used for terror and forced labour (the first were established as early as March 1933, for example in Dachau) – not the same as an extermination camp.
‘Lebensraum’	Nazi aim of conquering land in the east (Poland and the Soviet Union) and expelling, enslaving or killing its population – a justification for the war of conquest. Perpetrators' term.
Liberalism	Political tradition that puts individual freedom and rights first.
Coming to power	A neutral description of Hitler's path to power in 1933. The Nazis spoke of ‘Machtergreifung’ (‘seizure of power’), as if they had fought for it; many researchers use ‘Machtübertragung’ (‘transfer of power’) because Hitler was legally appointed on 30 January 1933 – only seemingly legal, since terror and violations of the law followed immediately.
‘Märzgefallene’	Mocking name used by long-standing party members for the many people who joined the NSDAP after the Reichstag election in March 1933.
Human rights	Rights that belong to everyone simply because they are human – regardless of origin, religion or nationality; many are included in constitutions as fundamental rights.
Protection of minorities	The rule that the majority must not restrict minorities' rights – a feature of democracy.
‘Mischling’ / ‘Geltungsjude’	Nazi categories under the regulation of 14 November 1935, based on the grandparents' religion: two Jewish grandparents meant ‘Mischling, 1st degree’; one meant ‘Mischling, 2nd degree’. Anyone with two Jewish grandparents who belonged to a Jewish community or was married to a Jew was classified as a ‘Geltungsjude’ and treated as a ‘Jew’. Perpetrators' terms.
Monarchy / republic	A state's form based on its head of state: hereditary monarch (monarchy) or elected head of state (republic) – this says nothing about whether the state is democratic.
‘Mother's Cross’	Award for women with many children from 1938 (bronze for four or more, silver for six or more, gold for eight or more) – part of the Nazi ideal of the ‘German woman and mother’. Perpetrators' term.
Napola	Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt (NPEA, National Political Education Institute): state-run Nazi boarding school from 1933 for training a leadership elite.
November pogroms	Organised violence against Jews on 9/10 November 1938: synagogues destroyed, shops wrecked, hundreds dead, 30 000 men sent to concentration camps. The contemporary term ‘Reichskristallnacht’ plays down the violence.
NS	Short for ‘nationalsozialistisch’ (‘National Socialist’, as in Nazi state or Nazi ideology). ‘Nazi’ was originally a mocking nickname used by opponents.
NSDAP	Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party): Hitler's party, the only permitted party from July 1933.
Nuremberg Laws	Three laws of 15 September 1935: the Reich Citizenship Law, ‘Blood Protection Law’ and Reich Flag Law – Jews became second-class citizens.
Pogrom	A violent attack by a crowd on a minority involving looting, arson and murder (Russian for ‘devastation’).
‘Polenaktion’	In late October 1938, the regime deported around 17 000 Jews with Polish citizenship to the Polish border overnight; some had lived in Germany for decades. Thousands were stranded in no-man's-land. Perpetrators' term.
Porajmos	Romani word for ‘the devouring’: a name for the genocide of up to 500 000 Sinti and Roma. It is contested among Sinti and Roma, so the term ‘genocide of the Sinti and Roma’ is also used.
Propaganda	Deliberate influence on opinions and feelings through one-sided, oversimplified messages – in the Nazi state, through Goebbels' ministry.
RAD	Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich Labour Service): six months of compulsory service for young men from 1935, later also for women.
‘Racial hygiene’	Nazi term for the policy of making supposedly ‘hereditarily ill’ people infertile (law of 14 July 1933, around 400 000 forced sterilisations) and later murdering them. Perpetrators' term.
‘Racial doctrine’	The pseudoscientific Nazi claim that humanity is divided into ‘races’ of different worth. Perpetrators' term.
‘Racial defilement’	Nazi propaganda term for relationships between Jews and non-Jews, which the ‘Blood Protection Law’ prohibited in 1935; denunciations, trials and imprisonment followed, and during the war, death sentences too. Perpetrators' term.
Rule-of-law state	A state that itself respects laws and fundamental rights: nobody is punished without a trial, and the government too must obey the law.
Reichsstatthalter	Governors sent by Hitler to the German states in 1933, who replaced the state governments and governed on instructions from above – part of ‘Gleichschaltung’.
Reichstag Fire Decree	Emergency decree of 28 February 1933: suspended fundamental rights ‘until further notice’ – the basis for ‘protective custody’ and terror; it remained in force until 1945.
‘Röhm Putsch’	Nazi propaganda name for the SS's murder of the SA leadership around Ernst Röhm and other opponents from 30 June to 2 July 1934; there was no plan for a coup. Afterwards, the SA was stripped of power and the SS rose in importance. Perpetrators' term.
RSHA / SD	Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office): from 1939, the central organisation for the Gestapo, criminal police and SD (Sicherheitsdienst, the SS Security Service and party intelligence service), under Reinhard Heydrich; deportations were later also organised from here.
SA	Sturmabteilung (Storm Detachment): the NSDAP's force of thugs in brown shirts; stripped of power after the ‘Röhm Putsch’ (see that entry) in 1934.
‘Protective custody’	Detention without a court judgement, imposed by the Gestapo or police – often in a concentration camp. Perpetrators' term.
Social Darwinism	Applying the idea of ‘survival of the strongest’ to peoples: the Nazis regarded struggle and war as laws of nature, and compassion as weakness – a reinterpretation, since Darwin described adaptation in nature.
SPD	Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic Party of Germany): the only party to vote against the Enabling Act on 23 March 1933 (speech by Otto Wels).
SS	Schutzstaffel (Protection Squadron): organisation under Himmler that grew out of Hitler's bodyguard unit; ran concentration camps, supplied the Gestapo leadership and Einsatzgruppen, and organised the genocide.
Stolpersteine	Small brass plaques in pavements outside the last homes of victims of the Nazis, a project by the artist Gunter Demnig since the 1990s.
‘Atonement payment’	Forced levy of one billion Reichsmarks imposed on the Jewish victims of the November pogroms by a decree of 12 November 1938 – they had to pay for damage others had caused. Perpetrators' term.
Scapegoat	A person or group blamed for problems they did not cause.
Totalitarianism	Rule that seeks to control people's entire lives – politics, work, leisure and thought. By contrast, an authoritarian dictatorship demands only obedience; a totalitarian one demands enthusiasm and seeks to control the whole person.
Extermination camps	Camps whose main purpose was to murder those arriving as quickly as possible: Chełmno, Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka served this purpose alone; Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau were also concentration camps with forced labour.
Conspiracy myth	An invented story claiming that a secret group is behind everything bad – for example, the forged ‘Protokolle der Weisen von Zion’.
‘Volksempfänger’	Cheap radio the regime had produced from 1933 so that Hitler's speeches and propaganda could reach every household. Perpetrators' term.
‘Volksgemeinschaft’	Nazi promise of a community without classes – in reality, excluding everyone labelled an ‘outsider to the community’. Perpetrators' term.
Volksgerichtshof	The Nazi regime's special court for political trials, which allowed no fair defence – for example, it sentenced Helmuth Hübener to death.
Waffen-SS / Totenkopfverbände	The Waffen-SS was an armed SS force alongside the Wehrmacht; the SS Totenkopfverbände guarded and ran the concentration camps.
Wannsee Conference	Meeting of fifteen senior officials and SS leaders on 20 January 1942 that coordinated the implementation of the genocide already under way.
‘Wehrertüchtigung’	Nazi term for the military training of young people in the HJ – preparation for war, including shooting practice from the age of 16. Perpetrators' term.
Wehrmacht	The Nazi state's armed forces; until 1935, they were called the Reichswehr (the republic's army). On 2 August 1934, soldiers swore an oath to Hitler personally.
Weisse Rose	Student resistance group around Hans and Sophie Scholl in München that distributed leaflets against the regime and the war in 1942/43; its core members were executed in 1943.
Civil courage	Courage to stand up for others and speak out against injustice – even against the majority and despite possible disadvantages. In everyday life, this means paying attention, speaking up, helping and getting help – without putting yourself in danger. Under a dictatorship, such courage could cost people their jobs or lives (Grüninger, Hübener and the helpers at the annex).

Go through the list and assess yourself honestly. In your exercise book, write the number of each statement and mark it confident, unsure or read again. The guide below the list tells you where to look things up. The extension statements (20 to 28) are optional.

Core

1. I can distinguish monarchy and republic from democracy and dictatorship, and place Liechtenstein in the four-field matrix.
2. I can explain what totalitarianism and fascism mean and what distinguishes National Socialism from Italian fascism.
3. I can put the steps from Hitler's appointment on 30 January 1933 to 2 August 1934 (including the ‘Röhm Putsch’) in the correct order and explain the effects of the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act.
4. I can explain the Führerprinzip and ‘Gleichschaltung’.
5. I can give the full names behind NSDAP, SA, SS, Gestapo, HJ, DJ, BDM, JM, DAF, KdF and RAD, name their roles and identifying features, and explain the roles of the SA, SS and Gestapo in terror and why denunciations were so important.
6. I can explain what an ideology is, name the components of Nazi ideology and explain how ‘racial doctrine’ led to laws and murder.
7. I can name the main propaganda tools and give reasons why many people agreed, joined in or looked away after 1933.
8. I can examine propaganda using the analysis framework.
9. I can explain how the Nazi state brought young people under its control and educated them, and give examples of conformity and resistance.
10. I can explain the purpose of the elite ‘Napola’ and Adolf-Hitler-Schulen and assess a feature film such as ‘Napola’ as a portrayal of history.
11. I can distinguish anti-Judaism from antisemitism and recognise the ‘Protokolle der Weisen von Zion’ as a forgery.
12. I can explain the purpose of the enemy image for the regime, why it was internally contradictory (capitalism and communism at the same time) and how exclusion began in 1933.
13. I can assess Hitler's antisemitism: the account of Wien in ‘Mein Kampf’ and the findings of research (München, 1919).
14. I can explain the Nuremberg Laws and the ancestry rule, and say why the rule exposes ‘racial doctrine’.
15. I can name the stages of persecution from 1933 to 1945, place events within them – boycott, laws, pogroms, escape, the Jewish star badge, deportation and genocide – and relate Anne Frank's life to these stages.
16. I can describe the events of 1938 (Évian Conference, J stamp, ‘Polenaktion’, November pogroms, ‘atonement payment’, ‘Aryanisation’), explain why ‘Reichskristallnacht’ plays down the violence, and describe escape and rescue through the Kindertransporte and Paul Grüninger.
17. I can explain the difference between concentration camps and extermination camps and name the groups of victims.
18. I can recognise present-day forms of antisemitism and explain why Holocaust denial is a criminal offence.
19. I can explain what a culture of remembrance is and what protects a democracy.

Extension

20. I can explain why researchers debate whether National Socialism is ‘fascism’.
21. I can explain why the takeover of power was only seemingly legal and assess the terms ‘Machtergreifung’ (‘seizure of power’) and ‘Machtübertragung’ (‘transfer of power’).
22. I can explain the background to concentration camps, the KdF car, the RSHA and the word ‘Nazi’.
23. I can analyse Hitler's propaganda principles and recognise propaganda techniques today.
24. I can explain why Rauschning's ‘Gespräche mit Hitler’ is not a reliable source.
25. I can place the Weisse Rose in context as an example of student resistance.
26. I can use the ‘Aryan Paragraph’ to explain why the idea of a ‘Jewish race’ made baptism and assimilation worthless as ways out.
27. I can put a legal text into everyday language, write a newspaper article about the pogroms and analyse the roles of perpetrators, followers, bystanders, helpers and victims.
28. I can plan research into a Stolperstein or a place of remembrance.

Where can you look things up?

• Statements 1, 2, 20: “Who governs? Forms of state, democracy and dictatorship”
• Statements 3, 4, 21: “From democracy to dictatorship: 1933/34”
• Statements 5, 22: “Who's who? The party, SA, SS, Gestapo and youth organisations”
• Statements 6, 7, 8, 23: “Worldview and persuasion: ideology and propaganda”
• Statements 9, 10, 24, 25: “Young people in the Nazi state – and the film ‘Napola’”
• Statements 11, 12, 13, 26: “From prejudice to law: antisemitism and exclusion up to 1935”
• Statements 14, 15, 16, 17, 27: “Step by step: from loss of rights to genocide, 1935–1945”
• Statements 18, 19, 28: the ‘Recognise’, ‘Remember’ and ‘Protect’ sections earlier in this module

If you marked more than three of statements 1 to 19 as ‘read again’, it is worth going through the relevant module a second time – you can then repeat both parts of the overall quiz.