Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2013, History

This paper examines Leopold von Mildenstein, the chief of the Judenreferat of the SD, the intelligence service of the Nazi SS and his attempt to solve the so-called Jewish Question through Zionist emigration in prewar Nazi Germany. Mildenstein's Zionism was contingent upon the German Zionist movement's success in effecting Jewish emigration to Palestine. When international factors such as the Arab revolt made this impossible, Mildenstein left the SD and joined the Propaganda Ministry where he worked to undermine his former policies by inciting Arabs in Palestine against British rule and Jewish colonization. Mildenstein's story is exemplary of the broader radicalization of Nazi Jewish policy. It demonstrates the importance of international factors as well as the reluctance of the SD and its parent organization, the SS, to implement more radical measures to solve the Jewish Question.

Committee: Jay Geller Phd (Advisor); Kenneth Ledford Phd (Committee Member); John Broich Phd (Committee Member) Subjects: History

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2024, History

This thesis examines how the Nazi regime systematically shaped the worldview of German schoolchildren through various forms of propaganda between 1933 and 1939, with a particular focus on the periodical Hilf mit! Published by the National Socialist Teachers League (NSLB), this periodical served as a tool for soft power, embedding National Socialist ideologies within the educational content presented to young readers. By analyzing stories, games, and articles from Hilf mit!, the study explores the themes of community, gender roles, and the concept of sacrifice as propagated by the Nazi regime. It argues that these narratives and educational materials aimed to create a sense of duty, belonging, and nationalistic fervor among children, effectively undermining familial authority in favor of loyalty to the state. This research contributes to the historiography of Nazi education by highlighting the subtle methods of indoctrination employed by the NSLB, and how these methods sought to romanticize Germanness and instill a readiness for personal sacrifice among the youth. Through a detailed examination of the periodical's content and memoirs of those who were educated during the Nazi era, the thesis provides insights into the broader strategy of ideological indoctrination.

Committee: Erik Jensen (Advisor); Lindsay Schakenbach Regele (Committee Member); Nicole Thesz (Committee Member) Subjects: History

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2023, History

John M. Sant was a World War II bomber co-pilot who was shot down over German-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1944. He and the other eight surviving crew members were captured and sent to Stalag Luft I, a German prison camp near the Baltic Sea. Sant spent the next ten months in captivity, keeping a logistical journal of his daily life in the camp. With this journal, along with primary documents, copies of declassified military paperwork, and a typed account of Sant's narrative located in the Skinner Personal Archive as a chronological framework, this thesis constructs a biographical narrative of Sant's life and wartime experiences. Sant's journal provided an indirect glimpse into his inner thoughts. His entries reflect a fear of being overlooked, both during captivity and following release. Sant found solace in escapism through literature and reminisced about home life, emphasizing the importance of morale and interpersonal connections among the POWs. Elements of optimism infuse the passages he chose to copy down, showing his enduring belief in the strength of the Allied forces. The journal also served as a covert way to challenge the authority of the main camp authorities. Sant's hopefulness played a crucial role in maintaining his emotional well-being, a theme more prominent in his post-war writings. The arrival of new prisoners, while disheartening, meant access to more current information. Sant's diary entries not only reflect his emotional state regarding his fellow POWs but also his reaction to news like General Patton's progress in Europe, offering him temporary relief from worries about America's military effectiveness. His aspirations for post-war life served as a comfort and a way to look forward to a future beyond the uncertainty of war. The journal also played a key role in asserting Sant's sense of self-determination under the strict confines of his POW status. While it contained no information unknown to his captors, it provided him with a sense of con (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Randolph Roth (Committee Member); David Staley (Advisor) Subjects: American History; Armed Forces; History; Military History; Military Studies; Modern History

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1966, History

Committee: Grover C. Platt (Advisor) Subjects: History

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2022, Journalism (Communication)

This thesis examines three United States newspapers' (the New York Times, Chicago Defender, and Montgomery Advertiser) coverage on race issues within the United States, and their coverage on discrimination and race issues from the Nazis from 1933 to 1945. It compares and contrasts how these influential newspapers covered these two country's discriminatory laws and ideologies. James Q. Whitman argued in his book, Hitler's American Model, that leading Nazis and Hitler himself looked at the United States for inspiration for discriminatory methods. After performing a textual analysis of over 140 newspaper articles, this thesis argues that there were differences in how the journalists covered Nazi issues versus local issues. The journalists were quick to be critical of the Nazis, but often shied away from criticizing American racism.

Committee: Aimee Edmondson (Advisor); Mirna Zakić (Committee Member); Olaf Stieglitz (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; History; Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media

Bachelor of Arts, Walsh University, 2019, Honors

World War Ⅱ is one of the most researched topics in the field of history, with repercussions still impacting the international museum and art communities. Because the Nazis looted an estimated one-third of European art, works of art were scattered across Europe and North America, appearing in both public museum collections and private collections. Internationally, restitution efforts were revived in the 1990s, arising from the field of Holocaust-Era Art Restitution. This is known as Transitional Justice, addressing previous generations' wrongs through legislative or non-legislative efforts. Since the early 1990s, museums have come to be at the center of legal battles, conferences, and national declarations as they confront the issue of looted art in their collections, specifically Holocaust-era. This study will explain the United States' legal, historical context for Holocaust-era art restitution and the difficulties with the current restitution efforts through litigation as well as analyze alternatives to this paradigm through three case studies of recent restitution efforts in the US. The goal of this study is to assist museum professionals by explaining the complications of litigation as a solution and evaluating two alternatives for those who are concerned about public trust, transitional justice, and the practice of high ethical standards regarding the restitution of works looted in connection with the events of World War Ⅱ.

Committee: Katherine Brown (Advisor); Rachel Constance (Other); Ty Hawkins (Other) Subjects: Art History; Arts Management; Legal Studies; Museum Studies; Museums

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2017, History

Toward the end of World War II, the United States government initiated Operation Paperclip which set out to secretly secure the top rocket scientists from Nazi Germany. To accomplish this, officials manipulated policy procedures, covered their tracks, and years later misrepresented their knowledge of the project's details. The resulting problematic immigration policy enabled the government to allow former Nazi scientists to travel to the U.S. and be employed by the military well ahead of executive approval, and amidst strong dissent. This thesis will take these arguments a step further by contextualizing it within two personal narratives of participants of Operation Paperclip. The two examined scientists, Wernher von Braun and his colleague Arthur L. Rudolph, became highly regarded in their field and were bestowed with public praise, titles, and awards, yet their fates were drastically different. As this thesis tracks the constantly shifting immigration policy that was shaped by America's national interests in the immediate post-WWII era, it will explain the unchecked and unstable procedures that resulted in skewed perceptions of von Braun and Rudolph. Although von Braun worked alongside Rudolph, and held powerful positions of authority, his prominence and importance to the U.S. space program allowed for his Nazi past to be rehabilitated. Moreover, while he remained alive this protection also extended to those close to him, including Rudolph. When he passed, however, this veil of protection was lifted, exposing his colleagues to a different fate. This thesis does not question the contributions that von Braun and Rudolph made to the U.S. space program and development of NASA. Instead, it calls to question how much officials manipulated policy to grant von Braun, and subsequently Rudolph and his team, wide ranging liberties after escorting them out of Nazi Germany. This immigration policy is what first began the crafting of von Braun's “veil of protection,” an (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Walter Grunden Ph. D. (Advisor); Benjamin Greene Ph. D. (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; Ethics; History; International Relations; Military History; Public Policy; World History

BA, Oberlin College, 2016, History

In 1960, during a resurgence of anti-Semitism, the Munich government initiated a program to invite Jewish former residents of Munich (who left during the 1930s and early 1940s due to the Nazis) back to their hometown for two-week visits. This program offered the participants a chance to reminisce about their childhoods, reconnect with their heritage, and visit their former communities. For the government, this program provided a crucial connection between the old prewar Munich and the new Munich of the 1960s, between Munich as the birthplace of National Socialism and Munich as a newly rebuilt city, ready to move forward from the Holocaust. This thesis relies primarily on correspondence between program participants and the Munich government from the Munich City Archive, oral interviews with individuals involved with the program, and secondary sources about postwar Munich and historical memory.

Committee: Annemarie Sammartino (Advisor) Subjects: European History; European Studies; Foreign Language; Germanic Literature; History; Holocaust Studies; Judaic Studies; Language; Modern History; Modern Language; Religion; Religious History

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Art History

For centuries, political leaders have used propaganda to promote ideology and acts of military aggression. In his studies of this concept, Walter Benjamin, in his aestheticization theory of historical experience and sense perception focused on Nazi Germany's use of aesthetics politics and propaganda to redefine the political as the autonomous realm of absolute power over ethical norms. The Third Reich manipulated Nazi culture and aesthetics to create a backdrop for political ideology and the coordination of all cultural expressions during the Nazi period. Under Hitler and the realm of the Third Reich, fascist politics infiltrated the arts and film industry tapping its access to the masses. Two events most indicative of the exploitation of art for propaganda use were the Great German Art Exhibition and the syndication of Leni Riefenstahl's film Triumph of the Will. Discussed in this paper is Hitler's use of art as a tool to influence the populace and recruit support for his cause. Using a qualitative method and a sociological case study research design supported by a critical literature review and the conceptual framework of Benjamin's theory of Aestheticization of Politics under German Fascism, I examine how Nazi propaganda, using the arts of the time selectively apportions acceptance of its social members.

Committee: Harold Herzog Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Kimberly Paice Ph.D. (Committee Member); Morgan Thomas Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Art History

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2016, History (Arts and Sciences)

This thesis examines foreign men accused of homosexuality in Nazi Germany. Most scholarship has focused solely on German men accused of homosexuality. Court records from the General State Prosecutor's Office of the State Court of Berlin records show that foreign homosexual men were given lighter sentences than German men, especially given the context of the law and the punishments foreigners received for other crimes. This discrepancy is likely due to Nazi confusion about homosexuality, the foreign contribution to the German war effort, issues of gender, and because these men were not a part of any German government, military, or all-male organizations.

Committee: Mirna Zakic Dr. (Advisor) Subjects: European History; Gender; History; Holocaust Studies

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2015, Arts and Sciences: Germanic Languages and Literature

This thesis analyzes the use of film in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia as extensions of propaganda and sociopolitical indoctrination within both regimes. Moreover, this thesis analyzes the ways in which each respective nation's concept of homeland ('Heimat' in German, 'Rodina' in Russian) coincided with political thought. Through this, both regimes utilized cinema as a platform for propagating ideas of homeland via the portrayal of the perfect citizen of their regime. This study demonstrates this through the analysis of Nazi German and Soviet Russian films of similar content, themes, and production dates. This study thus argues that a homeland, as demonstrated through select films produced by each regime between the years of 1933-1945, is comprised of its people, whom each State attempted to mold into perfect citizens. Although ideas of what defined the perfect citizen varied between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, many similarities between them are to be drawn. Dissecting these similarities allows for greater academic understanding of the atrocities and events that occurred throughout the twentieth century in the name of both schools of thought.

Committee: Valerie Weinstein Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Sunnie Rucker-Chang Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: European Studies

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2015, History

Despite the plethora of scholarship focused on German cinema under the National Socialist regime, few works pay much attention to the development of the soldierly archetype in the feature-length films of the Nazi-era. This study attempts to fill this void by providing a systematic treatment of the “soldier” as portrayed in the cinema of the Third Reich (1933-1945). The first chapter focuses on the representation of German soldiers in combat, arguing that the depiction of the “model” German soldier in Nazi-era cinema evolved according to the external political and military circumstances facing Adolf Hitler's regime. Chapter Two is concerned exclusively with gender relations between soldiers and women. A number of films released during the Second World War in particular suggest that both German men and women must contribute to the war effort. However, it is important to note that in these films both genders must contribute within their segregated public and private spheres of influence. Finally, the third chapter analyzes films that present the “enemy” soldier, arguing that the caricatures of Germany's military opponents were intended to strike fear in cinema-going audiences during the war. Altogether, this thesis intends to present a more nuanced look at the solider in Nazi-era cinema, while also providing the reader with a greater understanding of the use of propaganda under the Nazi state.

Committee: Beth Griech-Polelle Dr. (Advisor); Douglas Forsyth Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: History

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2014, History

This dissertation investigates the worldview of German frontline soldiers during the Eastern Front conflict of the Second World War. It argues that Nazi era propaganda's creation of a racial and ideological “Other” in the Soviet Union had a significant impact on the attitude of the military in the East. These ideological imaginations of the enemy were often transformed by the realities at the front through the experiences of common enlisted men. While the Nazis constructed a racially and politically charged image of the enemy to justify a war of conquest, the German soldiers fighting in the East developed their own views of an expanding imperial landscape. An identity transformation amongst German combatants took place during the Eastern Front campaign for many reasons, including the effects of Nazi dogma, a foreign environment and local populace, the strains of combat, changing war circumstances, and genocidal policies. This project utilizes the wartime writings of Hitler's ordinary men to provide a partial reconstruction of their mentality, revealing their beliefs, fears, and perceptions of the Soviet enemy.

Committee: Larry Wilcox (Committee Chair); Beth Griech-Polelle (Committee Co-Chair); Roberto Padilla (Committee Member); Robert McCollough (Committee Member) Subjects: European Studies; History; Holocaust Studies; Military History

Bachelor of Arts, Wittenberg University, 2008, German

Essentially since 1945, Germans have struggled with issues both of national and personal responsibility for the events of the Holocaust and the Second World War. In an effort to alleviate the pain of the past, many, especially in the beginning, simply kept silent on the matter. But as writers and thinkers have begun to break this silence, a complex set of questions emerges. To what extent are the ordinary Germans who collaborated with the Nazis to be held accountable for their actions? What does it mean when we still love these perpetrators? And what shall we tell our children about their heritage and their stake in their nation's legacy? Through an analysis of works that grapple with these issues, I will attempt to understand the cultural phenomena that led to the Holocaust, as well as some of the philosophies that modern writer and theorists have submitted in response to such questions.

Committee: Timothy Bennett PhD (Advisor); David Barry PhD (Committee Member); Robert Davis PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: European History; Literature

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2012, Philosophy

My thesis explicates Hannah Arendt's Socratic notion of thinking, the adversarial dialogue one has with oneself that enables one to take moral account of past and future actions. Plato's Socrates and Nazi officer Adolph Eichmann are utilized by Arendt as paradigmatic cases of thinking and non-thinking, respectively. My concern is how the thinking activity may become corrupt or even spoiled, whereby one is rendered genuinely incapable of thought, and hence, of moral action. I suspect such spoiling, if possible, could occur under one or both of the following conditions: (a) habituated refusal to engage in critical self-reflection; or (b) never developing the conceptual tools and language to adequately reflect on one's moral self. I show that if we interpret Arendt's claim that Eichmann was “never” capable of thinking to be absolute, in accordance with condition (b), then Arendt cannot justifiably levy moral and legal responsibility upon a man who helped send hundreds of thousands of Jews to their murderous death. However, if we interpret Eichmann's failure to think as the product of condition (a), it suggests that at some point in his past Eichmann was capable of thought, and hence, moral action. Under such a reading, Arendt can have her cake and eat it too.

Committee: Benjamin Grazzini PhD (Committee Chair); Renee Heberle PhD (Committee Member); Charles Blatz PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Ethics; Modern History; Peace Studies; Philosophy; Political Science; Social Psychology; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2009, History (Arts and Sciences)

This dissertation investigates Nazi Germany's diplomacy and intelligence-gathering in Argentina from 1933-1945. It does so from three perspectives. This study first explores the rivalries that characterized the bureaucracy in the Third Reich. It argues that those rivalries negatively affected Germany's diplomatic position in Argentina. The actions of the AO in Argentina in the 1930s were indicative of this trend. This created a fear of fifth-column activity among Latin American governments with large German populations. Second, this study explores the rivalry between the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service, SD) of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office, RSHA) and Auswartiges Amt (Foreign Ministry, AA). It argues that the rivalry between these two organizations in Argentina was part of a larger plan on the part of Amt VI, SS Foreign Intelligence to usurp the functions of the AA. Intelligence operations were not necessarily undertaken to further the foreign policy goals of Nazi Germany, but to further the ambitions of the head of Amt VI, Walter Schellenberg. Third, this dissertation looks at the issue of ideology. Argentina was one of the last countries to break relations with Nazi Germany. This dissertation attempts to answer the question of how much ideology permeated individuals who were not exposed to Nazi ideology on a daily basis. This section attempts to add to recent studies that have argued the importance of ideology in Nazi Germany. In answering these questions, this study mainly relies on the German-language records of the AA held in College Park, MD. It also utilizes interrogation reports of individuals involved in diplomacy and espionage in Argentina, as well as messages decrypted by the British between German spies in Argentina and their superiors in Berlin. This study fits into new examinations of the nexus between intelligence and diplomacy and the role of ideology in the Third Reich.

Committee: Norman J. W. Goda PhD (Committee Chair); Peter Brobst PhD (Committee Member); Brad Jockisch PhD (Committee Member); Steven Miner PhD (Committee Member); Patrick Barr-Melej PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: History

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2006, History (Arts and Sciences)

This is an examination of the motives of twenty-two perpetrators of the Jewish Holocaust. Each served as an officer of the Einsatzgruppen, mobile killing units which beginning in June 1941, carried out mass execution of Jews in the German-occupied portion of the Soviet Union. Following World War II the subjects of this study were tried before a U.S. Military Tribunal as part of the thirteen Nuremberg Trials, and this study is based on the records of their trial, known as Case IX or more commonly as teh Einsatzgruppen Trial. From these records the thesis concludes that the twenty-two men were shaped politically by their experiences during the Weimar Era (1919-1932), and that as perpetrators of the Holocaust their actions were informed primarily by the tenets of Nazism, particularly anti-Semitism.

Committee: Norman Goda (Advisor) Subjects: History, European

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2006, Comparative Arts (Fine Arts)

This study, utilizing Michel Foucault's theory from which to interpret visual abnormality in art, analyzes the reasons why the Nazis believed visual dysfunction and mental illness were the operative forces behind modern art. In Munich, Germany in 1937 the National Socialist party, fearing that German culture was slowly degenerating into madness, sponsored two art events largely for the purposes of contrast. At the largely monolithic Great German Art Exhibition the Nazis hastened to forward their own aesthetic vision by displaying art works representing human forms in the language of classicism. The Degenerate Art Exhibition (held a day later) showcased early twentieth-century German avant-garde paintings, which, the Nazis claimed, were the products of abnormal vision and mental illness. The importance of visual perception in art is first detected in the period Foucault identifies as the Classical episteme, a period that regards man's capacity for representation as the primary tool for ordering knowledge about the world. The roots of this way of thinking about representation go back to the fifteenth-century theorist Leonbattista Alberti, who established rules in art for the normal and healthy perception of nature. Such rules, including linear perspective and an emphasis on line, continued to be supported after the advent of what Foucault calls the Modern episteme, which began roughly around the late eighteenth century. The Modern episteme still regarded man's knowledge of the world as fundamentally representational, but, in addition, saw man's representational capacities as an object of knowledge. This line of thought contributed to Immanuel Kant's theory of knowledge, in particular his view on how the subjective awareness of beauty opens up for the subjects solidarity with others in judging beauty, that is, a judgment of taste's claim to universality. Kant's aesthetics thus becomes a space where a consensus about the visual perception of art is now possible. This ty (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Charles Buchanan (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Ohio University, 2002, Theater - General (Fine Arts)

This thesis is a study of two government-sponsored theaters: the Federal Theatre Project in the United States (1935-1939), and the national theater in Nazi Germany (1933-1945). It analyzes the policies that regulated the theaters and the performances and the degree to which these regulations were followed by each of the theaters. The study includes opinions from respected theater historians, quotes from individuals who worked for the Federal Theatre Project and the national theater in Nazi Germany, and conclusions of my own. The thesis asserts that, despite the differing philosophies of the United States and Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, the two government-sponsored theaters had more similarities than differences.

Committee: Ame Wilson (Advisor) Subjects: Theater

MA, Kent State University, 2012, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History

This study explores the policies, ideals, and resistance tactics used by northeast Ohio's most active non-sectarian anti-Nazi organization from 1933 to 1946, The League for Human Rights Against Nazism. Led by famed Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver and local activist Grace Mayette, the League conducted public boycotts, informational speeches, and rallies, as well as secretive investigation campaigns against domestic fascist organizations like the German American Bund and Silver Shirt Legion. As the nation entered World War Two, the League altered their activities by engaging more heavily with the local community through their weekly newspaper column, “The Rumor Roundup” and releasing "This is Cleveland," a magazine/study into Cleveland's legacy as the nation's leading liberal and multiracial city. Moreover, this thesis challenges two historiographical trends. First, it shows how clandestine vigilance tactics were often used against perceived enemies and was a response to the perception that the federal government was not aggressively pursuing domestic fascist groups. Second, it shows that Jewish and sympathetic Gentile anti-Nazi resistance in the United States was much stronger, targeted, and organized than previous historians have claimed. In all, this thesis reviews the various roles the League played in Cleveland and northeast Ohio as the region's leading anti-Nazi voice, vigilant spy network, public information organization, civil rights advocate, and leader in uniting the local Jewish population while simultaneously adding to and challenging old historiographical trends.

Committee: Kenneth Bindas PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Richard Steigmann-Gall PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Clarence Wunderlin PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: History