WWIIBrynne Bona-Miner

11th Grade

Rationale

Unit on WWII will look at leading causes and effects of the Second World War, including a brief overview of events leading to U.S. incolvement, discussion of Pearl Harbor and lessons on U.S. activity at home, in the European field and in the Pacific arena. This unit is necessary for students to have a grasp on events of the latter 20th century and to connect events of 1941-1945 to the world political and social climate of today. This unit is also necessary to fulfill the Core requirements issued by the Utah Office of Education.

Some questions which will be discussed are:1. Why did the U.S. wait to enter WWII until after Pearl Harbor, and how

would that decision be made differently today if at all? 2. What were some of the issues that were not resolved after WWI and how

did they influence decisions made in WWII? Have those issues been eliminated or are they still with us today?

3. Does Adolph Hitler deserve the reputation he has as being the only instigator and only villain of WWII? Should anyone else be blamed?

Unit Objectives

Didactic1. The student will be able to identify major figures in WWII, including Hitler,

Mussolini, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt.2. The student will be able to describe the political positions and allies of major

powers in WWII.3. The student will be able to construct a timeline of the major events leading to,

during and following WWII.

Reflective1. The student will be able to compare and contrast the experience of nations

involved in WWI and WWII, including the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, France and Russia, but not limited to these.

2. The student will be able to hypothesize on the cause and effect of events in WWII.

Affective1. The student will be able to assess whether the U.S. could have remained

separate from WWII, and whether the U.S. took the most advantageous position in becoming involved.

Course Content Outline

I. General Timeline1918—WWI ends with German defeat1919—League of Nations founded1921—Hitler becomes leader of National Socialist ‘Nazi’ party1929—Stock Market crash on Wall Street1933—Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany

First Concentration camp opened at Orianienbug (outside Berlin)Dachau opened

1935—German Jews stripped of rights by Nuremburg Race Laws1938—German military mobilizes

Chamberlain appeases Hitler at MunichNazis invade Sudetenland

1939—Nazis capture CzechoslovakiaGermany and Italy and Germany and Soviet Union sign pact of friendship Britain and Poland sign Mutual Assistance TreatyGermany invades Poland Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand and Canada declare war on

Germany U.S. proclaims neutrality

1940—Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Holland

British and German air raids on Berlin and LondonGerman Blitz on London beginsAxis Pact signed by Germany, Italy and Japan

1941—Roosevelt signs Lend-Lease ActU.S. freezes German and Italian and Japanese assetsMutual Assistance Pact between British and SovietsNazis order Jews to wear yellow stars

Dec 7, 1941—Japanese bomb Pearl HarborDec 8, 1941—U.S. and Britain declare war on JapanDec 11, 1941—Germany declares war on U.S.1942—First U.S. forces in Great Britain

Japanese-Americans sent to relocation centersGassing of Jews begins at AuschwitzFirst all-U.S. air-attack in EuropeProfessor Enrico Fermi sets up an atomic reactor in Chicago

1943—German and Italian troops surrender in N. AfricaItalian surrender announcedItaly declares war on Germany

June 6, 1944—D-Day landings1944—First liberation of concentration camp by Soviets at Majdanek.

Anne Frank and family arrested in HollandLiberation of Paris

Last use of gas chambers at AuschwitzBattle of the Bulge

1945—Soviet troops liberate AuschwitzYalta conference with Stalin, Churchill and RooseveltDachau liberated by U.S. 7th Army

April 30, 1945—Adolf Hitler commits suicideMay 7, 1945—Unconditional surrender of all German ForcesMay 8, 1945—V-E (Victory in Europe) DayAug 6, 1945—First Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima JapanAug 9, 1945—Second Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki JapanAug 14, 1945—Unconditional surrender of Japanese forcesSep 2, 1945—V-J (Victory over Japan) DayOct 24, 1945—United Nations formedNov 20, 1945—Nuremburg war crimes trials begin

II. Leaders in WWIIA. Adolf Hitler-Leader of Nazi Germany

1. Fought in WWI, disillusioned with Germany’s defeat2. Attempted coup on German Government in 1923 unsuccessful, sentenced to five years in prison for treason, only served 9 months, worked on Mein Kampf while incarcerated3. Organizes Nazi Party, becomes Chancellor and later Fuhrer of Germany, Instigates WWII.4. Last Solution policy allows/encourages killing of millions of Jews

B. Benito Mussolini-Leader of Fascist Italy1. Strong Nationalist emphasis2. Dictator- Title was Il Duce3. Alliance with Hitler, was forced to implement anti-semitic policies but not enforced. 4. When Italy fell, was rescued by Germans, set up as head of puppet government until captured by Italians, who shot and then hung him along with his mistress

C. Josef Stalin-Leader of Communist Russia1. Took power after death of Lenin2. Instigated Five-Year plans3. Maintained absolute dictatorship by executing any who opposed4. Signed non-aggression pact with Germany hoping to stay uninvolved in WWII, invaded by Germany, joined the Allied powers against Nazi Germany and consolidated power after end of WWII by adding all of Eastern Europe to USSR.

D. Winston Churchill1. Became Prime Minister when Chamberlain resigned at beginning of WWII. 2. Amazing orator, speeches key in maintaining British morale3. Characterized by bold and decisive action

E. Franklin D. Roosevelt1. New Deal legislation helped America out of Great Depression2. Beloved by U.S. people3. First gave assistance (monetary and weapons) then men to WWII4. Died in office, succeeded by Harry Truman who finished WWII

III. Map of Allied and Axis Powers and lands held at various points during WWIIA. Extent of Nazi Germany in Dec 1941B. Map of location of concentration camps and ghettos of WWIIC. Look at borders pre-WWI, after Versailles Treaty, during WWII and after WWII including dissolution of German state

Initiating ActivitiesLook at photos of soldiers in WWII, important political figures, everyday people, concentration camp victims and determine how their life was different from the students and what made it that way.

Listen to video of Adolph Hitler and Franklin Roosevelt giving speeches and discuss the differences between their manner.

Brainstorm on answers to the big picture questions.

Discuss what students already know about subject, what they’ve learned from other classes, what they have seen in movies or read about, and how those things fit into what we will be discussing later in the unit.

Lesson One

Objectives: Introduction to WWII, determine what students already know about WWII,

start students thinking about what they want to study for final group project for unit.

Bell Ringer Activity: Students will come into class and immediately sit with their groups,

and start brainstorming about what they know about WWII, mainly focusing on specific

dates, where what they know fits on a timeline.

Instructional Input: The first strategy students will go through is a basic group activity. I

anticipate at least six groups of five students, each group will be challenged to come up

with at least five events that they can arrange on a timeline. Each group will then have

their members go to the board one at a time and each put up one event on the timeline

that has been drawn on the board. Each group will be advised to come up with extra

events or extra information in case the one they were thinking of has already been taken.

After each group has finished, I will make sure the time-line is arranged correctly,

looking for respectful student input on things that may not be correct, and adding

important ideas that they may have missed. Then, each student will have time to copy

down the timeline individually, as this will serve as one of their study-guides for the test.

The groups will then have an opportunity to brainstorm about what they would like to do

their final presentation on, narrowing their choices to about ten key ideas, either events

like Pearl Harbor or D-Day, the experiences of a group, either Jews in the Holocaust or

Women on the Homefront, or the individuals involved such as Franklin D. Roosevelt or

Adolph Hitler. Once a list has been compiled, the topics will be placed in a hat and

selected at random so that the students don’t feel like they got stuck with an uninteresting

idea because they weren’t the favorite group, but so that there aren’t four groups dealing

with the Holocaust and no one looking at Pearl Harbor. The students will then look at a

video clip which will serve as an overview of the unit, perhaps something from PBS or a

manufactured video with sound clips from President Roosevelt’s address after Pearl

Harbor, a speech by Hitler, a video of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If extra

time is left, the students may either read the assignment for Day Three, which will deal

with the primary source documents, or may get with groups to quietly decide what their

plan of attack on the presentation will be.

Day Two

Objectives: Look at differences between American and European ideas of WWII,

especially differences between U.S. and Germany. To be able to describe differences in

personality, political persuasion, economic situation, traditions and habits of leaders in

WWII and their respective nations.

Bell Ringer Activity: Have photos posted around the room with paper available

underneath for students to jot down responses or expressions of why those pictures are

significant. As students enter the room, they will be advised to respond to at least five

photos, more if they like, then write in their journals about their feelings. The photos will

include pictures of Holocaust victims, the mushroom cloud after the dropping of the

atomic bomb on Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Hitler, Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin and

Mussolini, Rosie the Riveter, Dresden after the bombing, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,

Normandy Beach or other significant photos available.

Instructional Input: After discussing the bell-ringer activity, the students will be asked to

discuss what made the European experience and the American experience, as well as the

situation of the times. Expected topics are the treatment of women, of minorities, the

Great Depression, why different leaders were able to rise to power in Europe at this time.

Students will then be asked to number off from one to six and group accordingly. Each

group will make a Historical Head for the following: 1: Germany and Hitler, 2: Russia

and Stalin, 3: Italy and Mussolini, 4: Japan and the Emperor, 5: England and Churchill, 6:

America and Roosevelt. Each group will have resources available to learn about their

topic and compile the most important things to know about each. Students will come up

with their ideas as a group but make their own Historical Heads. Each member of a group

will then letter off according to the number of the smallest group and will recombine into

groups with the same letter, hopefully resulting in groups made up of one member from

each numbered group. These students will serve as the experts, student 1 being an expert

in Hitler and using his/her Historical Head to teach the other students about their topic.

Each student will discuss what they learned and what they expect their classmates will

need to know. Students may want to take quick notes on what they learned in order to use

it later. The rest of the time will be devoted to whole class discussion, looking at what

students learned from each other and what they would like to know more about. Ideally,

each numbered group will have picked a spokesman to share that groups information

with the whole class, making sure that each individual member learns what they need.

With remaining time the students may choose to work on their group presentation or read

the assignment for Day Three which is the Primary Source Document. Students will also

be asked to bring an AP Parts worksheet regarding the Primary Source Documents to

class with them for Day 3.

Day Three

Objective: Students will learn about American reasons for joining WWII after Pearl

Harbor, the political significance of doing so, the similarities between U.S. involvement

in world affairs then and now. Students will also look at the differences between U.S.

motivation and German motivation for WWII.

Bell Ringer Activity: Students will be asked to respond to one or both of two questions

posted on the board when they enter the classroom: “Does the U.S. have any reason to be

involved in foreign affairs such as Bosnia, Afghanistan or Iraq? What would Americans

say one hundred years ago?” or “Have you ever been completely humiliated by another

person? If so, did you desire to retaliate in some way? How far would you go to ensure

that it didn’t happen again?” Students will be asked to write quietly for ten minutes and

summarize what their response was with a neighbor. If any students want to share with

the class they will be encouraged to do so.

Instructional Input: Students will be asked to get out their AP Parts worksheets that they

did on their own, and recall the most significant ideas of the readings. We will then look

at the significance as a class, discussing the time and manner in which this address was

given by President Roosevelt, perhaps listening to part of it that was recorded on radio-

broadcasts. We will also discuss as a class what happened Dec.7, 1941 and the effect it

had on Americans at home. The students who responded to the first question in their

journals will be asked to elaborate on what they wrote, connecting the events of WWII to

the current situation. Students will be expected to understand the idea of Isolationism

from previous units, but the subject will be reviewed as it pertains to the shift that

happened during WWI but WWII especially. If still involved in the Middle East, students

will have an opportunity to respectfully air their views on U.S. Military involvement

overseas. We will then discuss the reasons Hitler was so popular, why strong leadership

was so alluring to the German people, even in the face of horrible atrocities. We will

discuss the perceived humiliation of the Versailles Treaty, the Depression suffered in

Europe but especially Germany and the underlying racism of the time. Students will also

be able to hear from veterans of the time, if not from an actual veteran in person from a

video source. Group work will be able to be done in any remaining time.

Day Four

Objectives: Describe the end of WWII and what results/conclusions can be reached. Look

at D-Day and the end of WWII in Europe and the use of the Atomic Bombs in Japan and

the end of WWII in its entireity.

Bell Ringer Activity: Students will be asked to respond in their journals to the question

“In a day and age where there is so much uproar about Weapons of Mass Destruction and

biological/chemical warfare, what significance is in the fact that we were the first and

most deadly users of such weapons? Is that important and why or why not?”

Instructional Input: Using the time-line formed the first day of the unit, students will

mark out what happened in the last year of WWII, looking for patterns and results.

Students will have a chance to present what they know about D-Day and the end of the

war on the European Front. Students will also look at the forces which combined to end

the war on the Pacific Front, including events like Iwo Jima and ultimately, the use of

atomic weaponry. Students will also discuss President Truman’s involvement in the war,

both before and after the death of President Roosevelt, especially in regards to the

Manhattan Project. A brief overview of the process which culminated in the viable

weapons will be discussed, but not focused on. The students will then be asked to divide

into two groups for the Philosophical Chairs activity. One side will be for using the

atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the other will be against. The students

should be clear that this will be a respectful debate, not using personal jabs in order to

prove a point. The students will be allowed to confer with their fellow team-mates before

they begin, in order to solidify their own position and to anticipate what arguments the

other side may present. If possible it would be nice to get someone who was involved in

the war or who has unique knowledge related to the subject to be administrators, but if

that isn’t possible the neutral students may serve as time keepers and rule enforcers.

Possible examples include veterans, chemistry/weaponry experts, political scientists,

military strategists. Time-outs will be called to direct the discussion towards benefits and

detriments of the decision, knowledge available to public and government officials,

possible alternatives and current significance. Students will also be instructed that the

time limit for the discussion is set at 30 mins, but if the students desire to go longer they

can finish their group presentations outside of class time.

Day 5

Objective: Assess what groups learned from their group projects, and synthesize

individual projects with class learning.

Bell Ringer Activity: None, as students enter room they will be advised to solidify what

they are going to present and make sure they are ready to go.

Instructional Input: Students will have a few minutes at beginning of class to organize as

a group, then each group will have their topics in the same hat that they were selected

from initially and each group will go when their topic is chosen. Groups will have the

option of presenting orally, making a visual presentation, or directing a class discussion.

The assignment is meant to be flexible enough that those students who are deathly afraid

of presenting in front of their peers still feel comfortable, but still be a challenge. The

students will be required to have some sort of one-page handout of key information that

the class needs to know about their subject, and they must show genuine proof of putting

time into their presentation. Each group will have 10-15 minutes to present, leaving time

for class discussion or questions. Students who aren’t presenting will be asked to come

up with at least one question to ask the presenters and students will be called on randomly

to ask their questions in order to ensure that they are involved in the presentation. If there

is time left after presentations, the class will be asked to review what they learned.

RADIO ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES BROADCAST

FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1941

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1941WAR WITH JAPANFellow Citizens: The sudden criminal attacks perpetrated by the Japanese in the Pacific provide the climax of a decade of international immorality. Powerful and resourceful gangsters have banded together to make war upon the whole human race. Their challenge has now been flung at the United States of America. The Japanese have treacherously violated the long- standing peace between us. Many American soldiers and sailors have been killed by enemy action. American ships have been sunk, American airplanes have been destroyed. The Congress and the people of the United States have accepted that challenge. Together with other free peoples, we are now fighting to maintain our right to live among our world neighbors in freedom and in common decency, without fear of assault. I have prepared the full record of our past relations with Japan, and it will be submitted to the Congress. It begins with the visit of Commodore Perry to Japan 88 years ago. It ends with the visit of two Japanese emissaries to the Secretary of State last Sunday, an hour after Japanese forces had loosed their bombs and machine guns against our flag, our forces, and our citizens. I can say with utmost confidence that no Americans today or a thousand years hence, need feel anything but pride in our patience and our efforts through all the years toward achieving a peace in the Pacific which would be fair and honorable to every nation, large or small. And no honest person, today or a thousand years hence, will be able to suppress a sense of indignation and horror at the treachery committed by the military dictators of Japan under the very shadow of the flag of peace borne by their special envoys in our midst. The course that Japan has followed for the past 10 years in Asia has paralleled the course of Hitler and Mussolini in Europe and Africa. Today, it has become far more than a parallel. It is collaboration so well calculated that all the continents of the world, and all the oceans, are now considered by the Axis strategists as one gigantic battlefield. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchukuo without warning. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia without warning. In 1938, Hitler occupied Austria without warning. In 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia without warning. Later in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland without warning. In 1940, Hitler invaded Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg without warning. In 1940, Italy attacked France and later Greece without warning. In 1941, the Axis Powers attacked Jugoslavia and Greece and they dominated the Balkans without warning. In 1941, Hitler invaded Russia without warning. And now Japan has attacked Malaya and Thailand and the United States without warning. It is all of one pattern.

We are now in this war. We are all in it all the way. Every single man, woman, and child is a partner in the most tremendous undertaking of our American history. We must share together the bad news and the good news, the defeats and the victories the changing fortunes of war. So far, the news has all been bad. We have suffered a serious set-back in Hawaii. Our forces in the Philippines, which include the brave people of that commonwealth, are taking punishment, but are defending themselves vigorously. The reports from Guam and Wake and Midway Islands are still confused, but we must be prepared for the announcement that all these three outposts have been seized. The casualty lists of these first few days will undoubtedly be large. I deeply feel the anxiety of all families of the men in our armed forces and the relatives of people in cities which have been bombed. I can only give them my solemn promise that they will get news just as quickly as possible. This Government will put its trust in the stamina of the American people, and will give the facts to the public as soon as two conditions have been fulfilled: First, that the information has been definitely and officially confirmed; and, second, that the release of the information at the time it is received will not prove valuable to the enemy, directly or indirectly. Most earnestly I urge my countrymen to reject all rumors. These ugly little hints of complete disaster fly thick and fast in wartime. They have to be examined and appraised. As an example, I can tell you frankly that until further surveys are made, I have not sufficient information to state the exact damage which has been done to our naval vessels at Pearl Harbor. Admittedly the damage is serious. But no one can say how serious, until we know how much of this damage can be repaired and how quickly the necessary repairs can be made. I cite as another example a statement made on Sunday night that a Japanese carrier had been located and sunk of the Canal Zone. And when you hear statements that are attributed to what they call "an authoritative source," you can be reasonably sure that under these war circumstances the "authoritative source" was not any person in authority. Many rumors and reports which we now hear originate with enemy sources. For instance, today the Japanese are claiming that as a result of their one action against Hawaii they have gained naval supremacy in the Pacific. This is an old trick of propaganda which has been used innumerable times by the Nazis. The purposes of such fantastic claims are, of course, to spread fear and confusion among us, and to goad us into revealing military information which our enemies are desperately anxious to obtain.. Our Government will not be caught in this obvious trap and neither will our people. It must be remembered by each and every one of us that our free and rapid communication must be greatly restricted in wartime. It is not possible to receive full, speedy, accurate reports from distant areas of combat. This is particularly true where naval operations are concerned. For in these days of the marvels of radio it is often impossible for the commanders of various units to report their activities by radio, for the very simple reason that this information would become available to the enemy, and would disclose their position and their plan of defense or attack. Of necessity there will be delays in officially confirming or denying reports of operations but we will not hide facts from the country if we know the facts and if the enemy will not be aided by their disclosure.

To all newspapers and radio stations all those who reach the eyes and ears of the American people I say this: You have a most grave responsibility to the Nation now and for the duration of this war. If you feel that your Government is not disclosing enough of the truth, you have every right to say so. But in the absence of all the facts, as revealed by official sources you have no right to deal out unconfirmed reports in such a way as to make people believe they are gospel truth. Every citizen, in every walk of life, shares this same responsibility. The lives of our soldiers and sailors-the whole future of this Nation- depend upon the manner in which each and every one of us fulfills his obligation to our country. Now a word about the recent past and the future. A year and a half has elapsed since the fall of France, when the whole world first realized the mechanized might which the Axis nations had been building for so many years. America has used that year and a half to great advantage. Knowing that the attack might reach us in all too short a time, we immediately began greatly to increase our industrial strength and our capacity to meet the demands of modern warfare. Precious months were gained by sending vast quantities of our war materials to the nations of the world still able to resist Axis aggression. Our policy rested on the fundamental truth that the defense of any country resisting Hitler or Japan was in the long run the defense of our own country. That policy has been justified. It has given us time, invaluable time, to build our American assembly lines of production. Assembly lines are now in operation. Others are being rushed to completion. A steady stream of tanks and planes, of guns and ships, of shells and equipment that is what these 18 months have given us. But it is all only a beginning of what has to be done. We must be set to face a long war against crafty and powerful bandits. The attack at Pearl Harbor can be repeated at any one of many points in both oceans and along both our coast lines and against all the rest of the hemisphere. It will not only be a long war, it will be a hard war. That is the basis on which we now lay all our plans. That is the yardstick by which we measure what we shall need and demand money, materials, doubled and quadrupled production, ever increasing. The production must be not only for our own Army and Navy and air forces. It must reinforce the other armies and navies and air forces fighting the Nazis and the war lords of Japan throughout the Americas and the world. I have been working today on the subject of production. Your Government has decided on two broad policies. The first is to speed up all existing production by working on a 7-day- week basis in every war industry, including the production of essential raw materials. The second policy, now being put into form, is to rush additions to the capacity of production by building more new plants, by adding to old plants, and by using the many smaller plants for war needs. Over the hard road of the past months we have at times met obstacles and difficulties, divisions and disputes, indifference and callousness. That is now all past and, I am sure, forgotten. The fact is that the country now has an organization in Washington built around men and women who are recognized experts in their own fields. I think the country knows that the

people who are actually responsible in each and every one of these many fields are pulling together with a teamwork that has never before been excelled. On the road ahead there lies hard work grueling work day and night, every hour and every minute. I was about to add that ahead there lies sacrifice for all of us. But it is not correct to use that word. The United States does not consider it a sacrifice to do all one can, to give one's best to our Nation when the Nation is fighting for its existence and its future life. It is not a sacrifice for any man, old or young, to be in the Army or the Navy of the United States. Rather is it a privilege. It is not a sacrifice for the industrialist or the wage earner, the farmer or the shopkeeper, the trainman or the doctor, to pay more taxes, to buy more bonds, to forego extra profits, to work longer or harder at the task for which he is best fitted. Rather is it a privilege. It is not a sacrifice to do without many things to which we are accustomed if the national defense calls for doing without. A review this morning leads me to the conclusion that at present we shall not have to curtail the normal articles of food. There is enough food for all of us and enough left over to send to those who are fighting on the same side with us. There will be a clear and definite shortage of metals of many kinds for civilian use, for the very good reason that in our increased program we shall need for war purposes more than half of that portion of the principal metals which during the past year have gone into articles or civilian use. We shall have to give up many things entirely. I am sure that the people in every part of the Nation are prepared in their individual living to win this war. I am sure they will cheerfully help to pay a large part of its financial cost while it goes on. I am sure they will cheerfully give up those material things they are asked to give up. I am sure that they will retain all those great spiritual things without which we cannot win through. I repeat that the United States can accept no result save victory, final and complete. Not only must the shame of Japanese treachery be wiped out, but the sources of international brutality, wherever they exist, must be absolutely and finally broken. In my message to the Congress yesterday I said that we "will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again." In order to achieve that certainty, we must begin the great task that is before us by abandoning once and for all the illusion that we can ever again isolate ourselves from the rest of humanity. In these past few years and, most violently. In the past few days we have learned a terrible lesson. It is our obligation to our dead it is our sacred obligation to their children and our children that we must never forget what we have learned. And what we all have learned is this: There is no such thing as security for any nation or any individual in a world ruled by the principles of gangsterism. There is no such thing as impregnable defense against powerful aggressors who sneak up in the dark and strike without warning. We have learned that our ocean-girt hemisphere is not immune from severe attack that we cannot measure our safety in terms of miles on any map.

We may acknowledge that our enemies have performed a brilliant feat of deception, perfectly timed and executed with great skill. It was a thoroughly dishonorable deed, but we must face the fact that modern warfare as conducted in the Nazi manner is a dirty business. We don't like it we didn't want to get in it but we are in it, and we're going to fight it with everything we've got. I do not think any American has any doubt of our ability to administer proper punishment to the perpetrators of these crimes. Your Government knows that for weeks Germany has been telling Japan that if Japan did not attack the United States, Japan would not share in dividing the spoils with Germany when peace came. She was promised by Germany that if she came in she would receive the complete and perpetual control of the whole of the Pacific area and that means not only the Far East, not only all of the islands in the Pacific, but also a stranglehold on the west coast of North, Central, and South America. We also know that Germany and Japan are conducting their military and naval operations in accordance with a joint plan. That plan considers all peoples and nations which are not helping the Axis Powers as common enemies of each and every one of the Axis Powers. That is their simple and obvious grand strategy. That is why the American people must realize that it can be matched only with similar grand strategy. We must realize, for example, that Japanese successes against the United States in the Pacific are helpful to German operations in Libya; that any German success against the Caucasus is inevitably an assistance to Japan in her operations against the Dutch East Indies; that a German attack against Algiers or Morocco opens the way to a German attack against South America. On the other side of the picture we must learn to know that guerrilla warfare against the Germans in Serbia helps us; that a successful Russian of fensive against the Germans helps us; and that British successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands. Remember always that Germany and Italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the United States at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with Britain and Russia. And Germany puts all the other republics of the Americas into the category of enemies. The people of the hemisphere can be honored by that. The true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. When we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. We Americans are not destroyers; we are builders. We are now in the midst of a war, not for conquest, not for vengeance, but for a world in which this Nation, and all that this Nation represents, will be safe for our children. We expect to eliminate the danger from Japan, but it would serve us ill if we accomplished that and found that the rest of the world was dominated by Hitler and Mussolini. We are going to win the war, and we are going to win the peace that follows. And in the dark hours of this day and through dark days that may yet to come we will know that the vast majority of the members the human race are on our side. Many of them are fighting with us. All of them are praying for us. For, in representing our cause, we represent theirs as well our hope and their hope for liberty under God.

Hitler's Political StatementOn April 29, 1945, in his underground bunker, Adolf Hitler readied himself for death. Instead of surrendering to the Allies, Hitler had decided to end his own life. Early in the morning, after he had already written his Last Will, Hitler wrote his Political Statement. The Political Statement is made up of two sections. In the first section, Hitler lays all blame on "International Jewry" and urges all Germans to continue fighting. In the second section, Hitler expels Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler and appoints their successors. The following afternoon, Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide. The Political Statement*

First PartMore than thirty years have now passed since I in 1914 made my modest contribution as a volunteer in the first world war that was forced upon the Reich. In these three decades I have been actuated solely by love and loyalty to my people in all my thoughts, acts, and life. They gave me the strength to make the most difficult decisions which have ever confronted mortal man. I have spent my time, my working strength, and my health in these three decades. It is untrue that I or anyone else in Germany wanted the war in 1939. It was desired and instigated exclusively by those international statesmen who were either of Jewish descent or worked for Jewish interests. I have made too many offers for the control and limitation of armaments, which posterity will not for all time be able to disregard for the responsibility for the outbreak of this war to be laid on me. I have further never wished that after the first fatal world war a second against England, or even against America, should break out. Centuries will pass away, but out of the ruins of our towns and monuments the hatred against those finally responsible whom we have to thank for everything, International Jewry and its helpers, will grow. Three days before the outbreak of the German-Polish war I again proposed to the British ambassador in Berlin a solution to the German-Polish problem - similar to that in the case of the Saar district, under international control. This offer also cannot be denied. It was only rejected because the leading circles in English politics wanted the war, partly on account of the business hoped for and partly under influence of propaganda organized by International Jewry. I have also made it quite plain that, if the nations of Europe are again to be regarded as mere shares to be bought and sold by these international conspirators in money and finance, then that race, Jewry, which is the real criminal of this murderous struggle, will be saddled with the responsibility. I further left no one in doubt that this time not only would millions of children of Europe's Aryan people die of hunger, not only would millions of grown men suffer death, and not only hundreds of thousands of women and children be burnt and bombed to death in the towns, without the real criminal having to atone for this guilt, even if by more humane means. After six years of war, which in spite of all setbacks, will go down one day in history as the most glorious and valiant demonstration of a nation's life purpose, I cannot forsake the city which is the capital of this Reich. As the forces are too small to make any further stand against the enemy attack at this place and our resistance is gradually being weakened by men who are as deluded as they are lacking in initiative, I should like, by remaining in this town, to share my fate with those, the millions of others, who have also

taken upon themselves to do so. Moreover I do not wish to fall into the hands of an enemy who requires a new spectacle organized by the Jews for the amusement of their hysterical masses. I have decided therefore to remain in Berlin and there of my own free will to choose death at the moment when I believe the position of the Führer and Chancellor itself can no longer be held. I die with a happy heart, aware of the immeasurable deeds and achievements of our soldiers at the front, our women at home, the achievements of our farmers and workers and the work, unique in history, of our youth who bear my name. That from the bottom of my heart I express my thanks to you all, is just as self-evident as my wish that you should, because of that, on no account give up the struggle, but rather continue it against the enemies of the Fatherland, no matter where, true to the creed of a great Clausewitz. From the sacrifice of our soldiers and from my own unity with them unto death, will in any case spring up in the history of Germany, the seed of a radiant renaissance of the National Socialist movement and thus of the realization of a true community of nations. Many of the most courageous men and women have decided to unite their lives with mine until the very last. I have begged and finally ordered them not to do this, but to take part in the further battle of the Nation. I beg the heads of the Armies, the Navy and the Air Force to strengthen by all possible means the spirit of resistance of our soldiers in the National Socialist sense, with special reference to the fact that also I myself, as founder and creator of this movement, have preferred death to cowardly abdication or even capitulation. May it, at some future time, become part of the code of honor of the German officer - as is already the case in our Navy - that the surrender of a district or of a town is impossible, and that above all the leaders here must march ahead as shining examples, faithfully fulfilling their duty unto death. Second PartBefore my death I expel the former Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring from the party and deprive him of all rights which he may enjoy by virtue of the decree of June 29th, 1941; and also by virtue of my statement in the Reichstag on September 1st, 1939, I appoint in his place Grossadmiral Dönitz, President of the Reich and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Before my death I expel the former Reichsführer-SS and Minister of the Interior Heinrich Himmler, from the party and from all offices of State. In his stead I appoint Gauleiter Karl Hanke as Reichsführer-SS and Chief of the German Police, and Gauleiter Paul Giesler as Reich Minister of the Interior. Göring and Himmler, quite apart from their disloyalty to my person, have done immeasurable harm to the country and the whole nation by secret negotiations with the enemy, which they have conducted without my knowledge and against my wishes, and by illegally attempting to seize power in the State for themselves. . . . Although a number of men, such as Martin Bormann, Dr. Goebbels, etc., together with their wives, have joined me of their own free will and did not wish to leave the capital of the Reich under any circumstances, but were willing to perish with me here, I must nevertheless ask them to obey my request, and in this case set the interests of the nation above their own feelings. By their work and loyalty as comrades they will be just as close

to me after death, as I hope that my spirit will linger among them and always go with them. Let them be hard but never unjust, but above all let them never allow fear to influence their actions, and set the honor of the nation above everything in the world. Finally, let them be conscious of the fact that our task, that of continuing the building of a National Socialist State, represents the work of the coming centuries, which places every single person under an obligation always to serve the common interest and to subordinate his own advantage to this end. I demand of all Germans, all National Socialists, men, women and all the men of the Armed Forces, that they be faithful and obedient unto death to the new government and its President. Above all I charge the leaders of the nation and those under them to scrupulous observance of the laws of race and to merciless opposition to the universal poisoner of all peoples, International Jewry. Given in Berlin, this 29th day of April 1945, 4:00 A.M. Adolf Hitler [Witnesses]Dr. Joseph GoebbelsWilhelm BurgdorfMartin BormannHans Krebs* Translated in the Office of United States Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1946-1948, vol. VI, pg. 260-263.