The Century America's Time: Over the Edge

1. Germany hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics.  How did Hitler use the 1936 Olympics 
to promote his Nazi Party? 
2. American Jesse Owens’ stunning victory in the 100-meter race angered Adolph 
Hitler.  How did Owens’ victory shatter the Nazi propaganda about Aryan 
supremacy? 
3. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a master of the media.  How did he use the media to 
do battle in the Great Depression?  How did he use the media to rally support during 
World War II? 
4. Discuss the impact of radio on American history and American culture in the 
twentieth century. 
5. How did Adolph Hitler use propaganda and the media to achieve his desired goals? 
6. In the late 1930s, the Nazi Party in Germany burned books.  Why did they do this?  
How can books be considered such a threat that some might find it necessary to burn 
them? 
7. What were the Nuremberg Laws?  How did they affect the Jewish population of 
Germany and German-occupied states? 
8. World War II was not the first time anti-Semitism reared its ugly head.  Discuss the 
history of anti-Semitism in Europe. 
9. England and its Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, seemed to appease Hitler.  
Why did they choose this passive strategy? 
10. What was Kristallnacht?  What prompted this show of Nazi aggression? 
11. Why did the United States refuse to let the St. Louis dock in the United States and 
allow its passengers to emigrate?