A short clip from this video has been making the rounds on Twitter today.
I could definitely see showing the first six minutes in class and asking students to reflect on how it might, and might not, connect to events that we are experiencing today.
Here’s a description of the video:
Don’t Be a Sucker! is a short educational film produced by the U.S. War Department in 1943 and re-released in 1947. The film depicts the rise of Nazism in Germany and warns Americans against repeating the mistakes of intolerance made in Nazi Germany. It emphasizes that Americans will lose their country if they let themselves be turned into “suckers” by the forces of fanaticism and hatred.
You can read more about the film at this Atlantic article about it.
Dear Mr. Ferlazzo.
I write to you from Brazil, though I am a New Yorker born and raised. The stomach-churning events and apologies in favor of hateful ideologies prompts me to ask you whehter you might have the screen script for ‘Don´t be a Sucker’. However strange it may seem, nazism is alive and strong in Brazil and I think a translation of the video in question might help to warn innocent bystanders of the dangers it presents. Many thanks.