Resource Library
Find compelling classroom resources, learn new teaching methods, meet standards, and make a difference in the lives of your students.
We are grateful to The Hammer Family Foundation for supporting the development of our on-demand learning and teaching resources.
![A group of high school students sit at desks in conversation.](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_480/public/2023-10/AdobeStock_254378868.jpg?itok=f6YAphey)
Introducing Our US History Curriculum Collection
Draw from this flexible curriculum collection as you plan any middle or high school US history course. Featuring units, C3-style inquiries, and case studies, the collection will help you explore themes of democracy and freedom with your students throughout the year.
Propaganda Portrait of Hitler
German propaganda art depicting Adolf Hitler in Medieval armor.
This portrait, The Standard Bearer, was painted by artist Hubert Lanzinger and displayed in the Great German Art Exhibition in Munich in 1937. See full-sized image for analysis.
![Painted portrait of Adolf Hitler in profile on horseback wearing a suit of armor and waving a Nazi flag.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Ch06_Image06_Medium_res.jpg?h=327453ef&itok=txA0rGz4)
Viewing Guide: The Power of Propaganda
English language arts teacher Jackie Rubino is preparing to teach the memoir Night, by Elie Wiesel. In order to build students’ historical understanding, Ms. Rubino leads her class in a lesson on the power of Nazi propaganda. Images from children’s books, Nazi recruitment posters, posters from the Hitler Youth, and other resources are shared via a gallery walk, after which students consider five discussion questions in small groups.
Propaganda Posters
Have students analyze these examples of Nazi propaganda using the Crop It teaching strategy.
![This mid-1930s poster says, “The NSDAP (Nazi Party) protects the people. Your fellow comrades need your advice and help, so join the local party organization.”](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1936_NaziRecruitmentPropaganda_FH229451.jpg?h=5e938d19&itok=Wj-dTXcd)
Battle of the Somme Film
From the 1915 propaganda film The Battle of the Somme showing a soldier rescuing a comrade under fire. Although the documentary included staged scenes, this frame was taken from a real combat scene.
![A Still image from the 1915 propaganda film The Battle of Somme. A World War I soldier carries a body on his back.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/The_Battle_of_the_Somme_film_image2.jpg?h=8e8edc7c&itok=lXwsRCvH)
Hitler Youth Propaganda
This 1935 poster promotes the Hitler Youth by stating: “Youth serves the Führer! All ten-year-olds into the Hitler Youth.”
![This 1935 poster promotes the Hitler Youth by stating: “Youth serves the Führer! All ten-year-olds into the Hitler Youth.”](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1935_HitlerYouthPropaganda_FH229453.jpg?h=281fd010&itok=hUkcmOSd)
Imperialism Cartoon, 1898
In this French political cartoon from 1898, the Qing official observes powerlessly as a pastry representing China is divided up by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, William II of Germany, Nicholas II of Russia, the French Marianne, and a samurai of Japan. The cartoon is intended to portray the imperialist tendencies towards China at the time.
![In this French political cartoon from 1898, the Qing official observes powerlessly as a pastry representing China is divided up by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, William II of Russia, the French Marianne, and a samurai of Japan.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/1898_ChineseImperialism_FH131040.jpg?h=aeb07656&itok=a5Wp4EAN)
The Influence of "The Birth of a Nation"
The three-hour silent film The Birth of a Nation did “incalculable harm” to Black Americans by creating a justification for prejudice, racism, and discrimination for decades to follow.
![Member of Ku Klux Klan holding a torch on a horse.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/REC_12_The_Birth.jpg?h=da7ce804&itok=o8NJxzoX)
Propaganda at the Movies
Learn how the Nazis used film to create an image of the “national community” and to demonize those they viewed as the enemy, such as the Jews.
![Leni Riefenstahl's documentary-style film Triumph of the Will glorified Hitler and the Nazi party. It was shot at the 1934 Nazi Party congress and rally in Nuremberg.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1934_TriumphOfTheWillPropagandaFilm_%20FH229448.jpg?h=0429cc9e&itok=aYRfG6nB)
Terezín: A Site for Deception
Discover how the Nazis used the ghetto-camp Terezín as a propaganda tool to hide what they were really doing to the Jews of Europe.
![Colorful watercolor of flowers and butterfly.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_2016_FlowersandButterfly_FH229477.jpg?h=048697cd&itok=Kv7vhuwK)
A Pact with the Soviet Union
Learn about the non-aggression pact forged by Hitler and Stalin in 1939, the pact’s secret clauses, and the role of propaganda.
![Jewish men are arrested by the SS during Kristallnacht in Baden-Baden, Germany, and forced to march through the streets to a nearby synagogue to see it destroyed.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1938_ArrestsDuringKristallnacht_%20FH229462.jpg?h=312fc7ac&itok=2A1cNlCb)
The Impact of Propaganda
Get insight on the ability and limits of propaganda to influence the beliefs, feelings, and actions of those exposed to it.
![An issue of the antisemitic propaganda newspaper Der Stürmer (The Attacker) is posted on the sidewalk in Worms, Germany, in 1935. The headline above the case says, ""The Jews Are Our Misfortune.""](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_2016_NaziPropagandaNewspaper_FH229452.jpg?h=fb0bd1b2&itok=WOgfci3M)