Learning Activities

In this learning activity, students will explore the contrasting worlds of the Hitler Youth and youth resistance groups such as the Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing Kids during the Nazi era in Germany. Students will examine the motivations behind these youth groups, and the methods of resistance used by the Edelweiss Pirates and the Swing Kids. This learning activity culminates in a writing assignment that asks students to memorialize a member of the Edelweiss Pirates or Swing Kids in an obituary.

In this learning activity, students will investigate the ways in which ordinary citizens responded to Nazi authoritarian rule. Students will consider how the resistors responded to Nazi oppression and attempted to undermine the Nazi government’s authority. Additionally, students will focus on the life and efforts of Hans and Sophie Scholl and the White Rose Movement. This learning activity culminates in a writing assignment that examines the similarities and differences between the White Rose and modern social justice movements.