What was the protest?
The protest was the German anti-Nazi resistance faced in Germany in the 1940s. Though it is portrayed in media that most Germans were pro-Nazi in World War II, historical evidence suggests otherwise. It seems like many Germans disliked the Nazi's actions very much, even if it was benefiting them economically or socially. There was only one public form of protest during this time, and it actually carried out its goal to bring at least 5,000 Jewish men back to their homes. Besides that, resistance was military based, as well as literature-based, which is what I'm focusing on. I'm mainly focusing my attention within Germany's borders as well, since the anti-Nazi resistance spread as the regime spread geographically.
Why do you believe that this identity is tied to this protest in a significant way?
The identity of the German people was somewhat tarnished after being blamed as the main aggressor in World War I, but their identity was very damaged after it was made clear what the Nazis were doing to innocent people. The resistance identity within the Germans was the strongest, if only because they wanted to keep their identity clean and disassociated with Nazis. I also think that this resistance falls into the Humanitarian identity, since it doesn't revolve around the use of Fascism or the war methods used, but instead the killing of minorities within Europe.
How did the group you’re looking at participate in the protest?
My group participated through literature. They wrote pamphlets and used media, which is the big focus on helping change the German mindset from focusing on making their lives better, to trying to stop the barbaric methods to achieve that. The media works a little bit like the Federalist papers worked pre-Revolution in America, and were sort of an underground venture to change people's mindset about Hitler.
When you think about this project, what are you worried or concerned about?
My biggest worry is that many of the pieces of literature that surround the protest are in German. It will be difficult trying to either use the internet to translate these works, or find examples in English. It will be a bit of a challenging essay to read, because many quotes will be paraphrased from German. I am also worried about finding literature that is centralized in Germany and not other countries. Sifting through other anti-Nazi propaganda will bear difficult, but I am ready to take the extra time to find good sources for this topic, since I find it so interesting.
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