Society, Culture, and the Arts Handout

Society, Culture, and the Arts Handout

1. How did Volksgemeinschaft play a role in the everyday life of Germans?

• Volksgemeinschaft: a people’s community, stressed the development of a harmonious, socially unified, and racially pure community
• in order to achieve his goals (revival of German power and foundation of pure racial state) Hitler believed that every facet of cultural and social life had to be regulated to serve Nazi ideological ideas

2. Why did the German Labor Front (DAF) play a large role in German employment?

• trade unions were banned, forcing workers to join the only option-the DAF
• working class was the largest social group in Germany
• responsible for almost all areas of work:
• setting hours, wages and consequences for disobedience
• running training workshops
• supervising working conditions through the Beauty of Labor which aimed to provide cleaning, meals, etc
• organizing recreational activities through the Strength through Joy for loyal members

3. What was the importance of the term “blood and soil” being emphasized in society and also in the arts?

• called for a “back to the land approach”
• sympathy for role of peasants in society
• portrayed peasants as purest racial element, providers of Germany’s food, and symbol of traditional German values
• was a recurring theme in theater
• if art did not adhere to “blood and soil” ideology, it was labeled “degenerate art”

4. What is the significance of Goebbels heading the Reich Chamber of Culture and being the Chief of Propaganda?

• unity of spread/type of propaganda throughout Germany
• held both party and state positions-various levels of power

5. How effective were the Nazis in creating a “new Nazi cultural identity”?

• did they follow a unifying theme effectively?
• what aspects were a part of the new cultural identity?

6. Nazi leaders eating a meal together helped encourage Volksgemeinschaft, how would this message affect society adopting this ideology ? positively? negatively?

• shows the important leaders working together (socially unified)
• could either be encouraging or instill fear

7. What short-term and long-term effects would censoring news have on German’s views of their own society?

• short-term: close mindedness, blindly following Hitler and the Nazis, unaware of government mistakes, unification of ideas and actions
• long-term: cultural identity problems, distrust in government
  German music & effect of people

• encouraged German folk songs, songs that honored heroes of the movement
• meant to rouse a fighting spirit
• revival of military spirit led to military marching music

9. How did degenerate art effect society’s role in visual arts?

• degenerate art: modern or “Jewish” art
• racial decline led to degenerate art-only Aryans could produce true art
• new German art would glorify the strong, healthy and heroic (Aryan characteristics)
• focused on German traditions and genre painting
• removal of degenerate art from public display was a visual symbol that the Weimar Republic had been overthrown

10. coimmon themes of german art

• convey a deeper National Socialist message
• realistic/natural-everyday scenes
• have important sounding titles
• emphasis on healthy, hard-working and sacredness of Aryan values

11. To what extent do you agree with this statement? “Hitler’s censorship of culture and art reflect his close-minded ideology.”

• opinion based  (answer may vary)
• agree: In Hitler’s mind everyone had to be part of the Aryan race, so censorship of art and culture was a way of weeding out other views that disagreed with his ideology.
• disagree: The censoring of art and culture was a natural thing for the government to control because the Nazi’s kept increasing their power and control over the people.  Thus, this censorship reflects the Nazi regime’s close-mindedness rather than Hitler’s close-mindedness.

12. Based on the what you have learned, do you believe that Nazism’s Volksgemeinschaft created a social revolution?

• opinion based (answers may vary)
• The ideology of Volksgemeinschaft purpose was to a create society that got rid of anyone who did not fit the perfect Aryan race, like the Jews.
• agree: Yes, Volksgemeinschaft created a social revolution because Volksgemeinschaft reinforced the traditional class structure.
• disagree: No, Volksgemeinschaft did not create a social revolution because the Nazis had only been in power for 12 years and this would be too short of a time to create a social revolution.