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Documents-based questions
DOCUMENTS-BASED QUESTION 1
(Higher and Ordinary Levels)
Study the two sources and answer the questions that follow.
Leaving Certificate HL 2016
Document A
In this edited extract Charles Bewley, the Irish representative in Germany from 1933 to 1939, reflects on the 1933 Nuremberg Rally. He wrote this account in the 1960s.
It is possible that, in later years, participation at Nuremberg became routine; but, in 1933, it cannot be doubted that the average SA man could imagine no higher honour than to be selected to represent his comrades at the party rally.
It was no bed of roses. They came, often by forced marches, from all parts of Germany. The nights on their straw couches were short. The days of parading or standing guard were long. But every privation was accepted as a sacrifice for the Fatherland.
There was little enthusiasm for, or comprehension of, the doctrines of National Socialism. But there was a fanatical devotion to Adolf Hitler as the man who would give the Fatherland its place in the sun and the German workman freedom from the nightmare of unemployment.
At a night meeting, surrounded by banners and searchlights, we non-Germans present could see only a commonplace figure. But there was not one of us who did not recognise that – for all his banality and lack of charm – Hitler possessed some quality that appealed to the German soul. A glance at the faces around us was enough to show that, for Germans, he was the Messiah sent to redeem his people.
Source: W.J. McCormack (ed.) Charles Bewley, Memoirs of a Wild Goose (Dublin, 1989)
Document B
In this edited extract Virginia Cowles, an American journalist, comments on a Nuremberg Rally.
A far more powerful factor than the appeal of Hitler’s doctrine was the appeal of Hitler himself. Many Germans believed that he was endowed with superhuman qualities. Certainly the idea of a superman was encouraged by the vast displays in Nuremberg.
At night the mystic quality of the ritual was exaggerated by huge burning urns at the top of the stadium, while flood-lighting by hundreds of powerful searchlights played eerily against the sky. The music had an almost religious solemnity timed by the steady beat of drums.
As the time for the Führer’s arrival drew near, I noticed that the crowd grew restless. Suddenly the beat of drums increased. A fleet of black cars rolled swiftly into the arena. In one of them, standing in the front seat, his hand outstretched in the Nazi salute, was Hitler.
When he began to speak the multitude broke into a roar of cheers. Some of them began swaying back and forth in a frenzy. I looked around and saw tears streaming down people’s cheeks. But later, when he left the stand and climbed back into his car, Hitler’s small figure suddenly became drab and unimpressive.
Source: Virgina Cowles, Looking for Trouble (London, 1941)
QUESTIONS
1 (a) According to document A, what did the average SA man think about attendance at Nuremberg? (b) What has document B to say about the music at Nuremberg? (c) How is it shown in document A that attendance at Nuremberg ‘was no bed of roses’? (d) According to document B, what lighting technique was used within the stadium and what was its effect? (20)
2 (a) Do both documents agree that the appeal of Hitler’s personality was greater than the appeal of his ideas? Explain your answer, referring to both documents. (b) Do the writers of both documents wonder why a person like Hitler can command such admiration? Explain your answer, referring to both documents. (20)
3 (a) Do you consider document A to be an objective source? Give reasons for your answer, referring to the document. (b) Which document gives the clearer idea of what happened at a Nuremberg Rally? Give reasons for your answer, referring to both documents. (20)
4 What did the Nuremberg Rallies and/or Joseph Goebbels contribute to Nazi propaganda? (40)
DOCUMENTS-BASED QUESTION 2
(Higher and Ordinary Levels)
Study the two sources and answer the questions that follow.
Document A
This is an extract from the diary of American journalist William Shirer describing the 1934 Nuremberg Rally.
I am beginning to comprehend some of the reasons for Hitler’s astounding success. Borrowing a chapter from the Roman [Catholic] church, he is restoring spectacle and colour and mysticism to the dull lives of 20th Century Germans. This morning’s opening meeting ... was more than a gorgeous show, it also had something of the mysticism and religious fervour of an Easter or Christmas Mass in a great Gothic cathedral. The hall was a sea of brightly coloured flags. Even Hitler’s arrival was made dramatic. The band stopped playing. There was a hush over the thirty thousand people packed in the hall. Then the band struck up the Badenweiler March ... Hitler appeared in the back of the auditorium and followed by his aides, Göring, Goebbels, Hess, Himmler and the others, he slowly strode down the long centre aisle while thirty thousand hands were raised in salute.
Source: www.historyplace.com
Document B
This is a still picture from the film Triumph of the Will about the 1934 Rally
QUESTIONS
1 Comprehension
(a) According to document A, what does the author say that Hitler brought into the lives of Germans? (b) According to document A, in what ways was Hitler’s arrival made more dramatic? (c) In your opinion, what impression of Nazi Germany does document B attempt to create? Support your answer with evidence from the picture.
2 Comparision (a) ‘Both documents A and B support the view that Hitler was a popular figure in Germany.’ Do you agree? Use evidence to support your answer. (b) Which document do you think is the more effective source on the Nuremberg Rallies? Explain your answer.
3 Criticism (a) What are the strengths and weaknesses of diaries as sources of information for historians? (b) In your opinion, how reliable are pictures as evidence about events from the past?
4 Contextualisation Ordinary Level (1 A4 page): What were the main events that were held during the Nuremberg Rallies? Higher Level (1.5–2 A4 pages) How was the cult of personality around Hitler promoted at the Nuremburg Rallies?
DOCUMENTS-BASED QUESTION 3
(Higher and Ordinary Levels)
Document A
A photograph of the Cathedral of Light at the 1936 Nuremberg Rally.
Document B
This is an edited extract from the official account of the Political Leaders Meeting at the 1936 Nuremberg Rally, which describes the event shown in document A.
The Nuremberg Party Rally continued Friday evening with the powerful roll call of political leaders... Just before 7:30 when it was nearly dark, a floodlight shoots heavenward. The small spotlight’s beam reveals more than 200 enormous swastika flags that fly from 12 meter flagpoles in the evening breeze... More lights illuminate the flawless white marble platform, an unforgettably beautiful sight... More lights shoot across the field, revealing the endless brown columns, showing their movements, until suddenly, at a command, the 90,000 are in place...
The voice of Dr. Ley comes over the loudspeaker: ‘Attention! The Führer is here!’The shouts that always accompany the Führer resound from the Dutzendteich train station … 180,000 people look to the heavens. 150 blue spotlights surge upward hundreds of meters, forming overhead the most powerful cathedral that mortals have ever seen.
There, at the entrance, we see the Führer. He too stands for several moments looking upward, then turns and walks, followed by his aides, past the long, long columns, 20 deep, of the fighters for his idea. An ocean of Heil-shouts and jubilation surrounds him.
