History of Med- Primary Sources

Context:

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: Specially trained scribes

When: ~ 3200 BCE

Where: Ancient Sumer, (Lower Mesopotamia)

Type of Source: Sumerian Cuneiform tablet, written script, administrative or accounting tablet

What was going on at the time: The rise of cities and states in Mesopotamia led to increased social complexity, requiring records for tax, labor, and trade (bureaucratic revolution). This marks the dawn of writing for administrative purposes. Most people were illiterate, so scribes were specially trained

Explain the literal meaning:

Explain the literal meaning:

This tablet records a transaction of goods, labor, or rations, used to manage resources. It includes numerical representations and pictures, organized into sections

Explain the significance:

Explain the significance:

• arguably the earliest script we have written in the world

• tells us about literacy and the economy at the time

• Once writing and documentation began, information could be preserved and passed on, showing political transformation.

• development of writing as an administrative tool that facilitated the rise of complex societies.

• provides insights into the economy, social hierarchy, and the political transformations occurring in Mesopotamia, marking a pivotal moment in human history.

• most people at this time weren’t literate, scribes were specially trained in schools to generate many of the records, this is arguably the earliest script we have written in the world and tells us about literacy and economy at the time.

Context:

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: Likely a scribe, official, or royalty

When: ~ 2300-2100 BCE

Where: Mesopotamia

Type of Source: Cylinder seal impression (object engraved and rolled onto wet clay)

What was going on at the time: This period provides insight into Mesopotamian ritual and purification practices, as well as the significance of astrology and divine interactions with the natural world.

Explain the literal meaning:

“The Lower Register of BLMJ 2789”

• Cylinder seal impression… engraved with detailed scene of healing/cleansing ritual of patient

• within image:

  • There is signs of a dog jumping on stone

  • 7 star constellation (astrology)

  • a priest

  • 3 people within the tomb-like structure

  • incantation being done by a priest

  • someone holding a lamp

  • a bearded man dressed in a tunic or quilt, holding bow towards the hut, in a defensive or assertive pose. P

  • erson in hut reclined is likely being treated or healed by priest

Explain the significance:

• insight into Mesopotamian ritual and purification practices

• significance of astrology and other divine aspects interacting with the natural world

• represents the structure of society, with an assertive figure protecting the ill and a priest healing.

• It can be interpreted as a ritual of healing or purification, giving insight into ideas about medicine at this time, where health and illness were believed to require divine intervention.

Code of Hammurabi

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: Hammurabi (ruler of Babylon)

When: ~ 1754 BCE

Where: Babylon, Mesopotamia (discovered in Persia in 1901)

Type of Source: A list of laws

What was going on at the time: Babylon was one of the first bustling empires of the ancient world, ruled by an intelligent leader. This period saw the development of early legal and social structures.

Code of Hammurabi

Explain the literal meaning:

The source is a list of laws presented in an "if this, then that" format, outlining the consequences for breaking each law. It includes the principle of "eye-for-eye".

Code of Hammurabi

Explain the significance:

• one of the earliest known examples of a written legal code

• provides insight into the legal and social structures of early civilization.

• The "eye-for-eye" principle shows an early form of legal reasoning.

• reveals the types of disputes that were common, ideas of justice, and the evolution of legal ideas and punishment.

Explain the context:

"The Agnew Clinic"

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: Thomas Eakins (artist)

When: 1889

Where: A University Lecture Hall

Type of Source: Oil painting - historical medical painting

What was going on at the time: This was a time of transition from premodern to modern medicine, characterized by embracing scientific methods, formal training for doctors, and hospital-based clinical instruction. Surgical practices were taught with audiences present.

Explain the literal meaning:

• depicts Dr. Agnew performing surgery in front of an audience at a university.

• The light is focused on the operation- spotlight signifies importance.

• The students observing are all male, white, and dressed nicely (upper class).

• The only female present is a nurse.

• Dr. Agnew's stance, attire, and body language suggest he is powerful, clean, and respected. (heirarchy).

• The body is exposed, indicating an impersonal treatment for learning purposes.

Explain the significance:

• reflects a time of transition in medicine.

• highlights the emerging scientific methods and formal medical training.

• illustrates the gender roles of the time,

  • women as caregivers, men as hands-on, decision-makers.

• The exposed body shows a shift towards a more impersonal, scientific approach to medicine in educational setting

• composition also subtly reveals the social stratification of the time through the depiction of the students.

• all students eager to see the surgery demonstrates the evolution of surgery as an essential component of medical education (importance of demonstrations in teaching practices)

This photograph is similar to which other primary source

"The Agnew Clinic"

both are dr. Agnew demonstrations to students

^{(not primary source, just important image)}

^{Explain what is meant by:}

^distance

^choice

^{interpretive lense}

distance: ex. May find something cruel that was once thought to be funny

choices: ex. Where we focus research temporally and spatially (what questions will I ask)

interpretive lenses: ex focus on political history, gender history, etc

^{not primary source but likely to come up}

Fill in the blank

^{not primary source but likely to come up}

Fill in the blank

• according to Galen, food absorbed, transported to liver...  transformed with natural spirit (liver referred to as seed of life)

•   food goes to liver and transforms to blood... goes to lung where it is filled with "vital spirit" (air)

• then blood flows outward to arteries and veins, to all organs including brain

• at brain it has animal spirit- a source of motion

•  health depends on balance of humour and how strong is life forces.... animal spirit and vital spirit.

Explain the context:

2 Pages of the Qur’an

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: The words are attributed to Muhammed (prophet) who received visions and voices from the angel Gabriel.

When: The visions began around 610 CE in Hira Cave. This manuscript is dated to 645 CE.

Where: The visions occurred in Hira Cave, near Mecca. The manuscript itself is one of the earliest surviving examples.

Type of Source: Manuscript - religious text

What was going on at the time: This marks the early period of Islam. The revelations were initially orally transmitted and then gradually written down. Communal reading and teaching were important.

Explain the literal meaning:

• The source consists of two pages of the Qur’an written in Arabic.

• Written in Arabic

Explain the significance:

• earliest surviving known manuscript of the Qur’an.

• holds immense religious and cultural significance for Muslims.

• represents the preservation of the Qur’an and the foundation of Islamic religious and cultural identity

Explain the context:

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: The ideas presented came from Aristotle, who believed men and women were the same sex, but women were "less developed". The manuscript is housed in the Oxford Library.

When: 1250-1310 (mid 13th to early 14th century)

Where: Likely Western Europe, within the Roman world's influence.

Type of Source: Manuscript - medical anatomical

What was going on at the time: This period represents Christian medicine and its understanding of anatomy, heavily influenced by classical ideas, but with limited empirical research due to a lack of dissection.

Explain the literal meaning:

• diagram of male anatomy on the left

• female anatomy on the right.

• female anatomy is displayed as an inverted male, suggesting a "one-sex model."

• A muscular baby is depicted inside the female diagram.

• The vaginal canal is shown as an inverted penal shaft.

• menstrual blood drawn in sacs

• Mirror images of each other

Explain the significance:

reveals the ideas of Christian medicine & lack of research in female anatomy during this period.

• exemplifies the "one-sex model" (we are all men at different stages of development)

• Humoural theory: women are colder, genitalia need to be inside

  • They “didn’t cook” long enough (women wet and cold, men dry and warm)

  • Considered underdeveloped men

• drawings not based on dissection, indicating limitations in medical knowledge and educational practices.

• demonstrates the belief that women were inferior and needed care.

• inclusion of the baby reinforces the expectation of women carrying children.

• These ideas contributed to gender bias in biology, medicine, and society, with lasting social and cultural effects, including restrictions on women's rights.

• The belief that male semen was "pure" and menstrual blood "impure" further reinforced these biases.

Explain the circular logic

(how women were viewed, “one-sex model”)

Context:

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: Unknown

When: 1349

Where: Netherlands, Tournai (Doornik)

Type of Source: drawing/art- Medieval manuscript illustration

What was going on at the time: the plague (Black Death)

Literal Meaning:

• Flagellants (“Brothers of the Cross")

  • self-punishing religious devotees

• marching barefoot in white robes (purity & repentance) and dark hats (signifying mourning)

• public displays of self-flagellation (whipping themselves in an act of penance)

• Some holding religious symbols (crucifix, banner with a depiction of a scourged hand)

Significance:

• Illustrates a religious response to the plague

• would go from village to village ringing bells, attracting people, promoting whipping

• believed self-inflicted pain could makeup for sins and ward off the disease.

  • belief that god would stop the plague

• church used to prescribe (involuntary) public whippings

  • these whippings, were voluntary, promoted by flagellants

• shows role religion played in the plague

• became radicalized, targeting Jews communities

• leads into attacking of jewish communities…

  • anti-jewish conspiracies → Scapegoats (jews poisoning wells)

  • killed many individuals

  • mob mentality, everyone turns against their neighbour

• Emotional Tone: The figures appear solemn, with downcast eyes, reinforcing the seriousness of their actions. The act of communal suffering is evident.

• seeking any type of answer/explanation in time of hardship

• The Decameron:describes how people responded to the Black Death with extreme religious devotion, isolation, or hedonism. This image aligns with the intense religious fervor seen in medieval European society during pandemics.

• Fear and desperation led to radical social movements.

Context:

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: ?

When: 1349

Where: Tourani

Type of Source: Medieval manuscript illustration

What was going on at the time: plague

• overwhelming number of deaths led to the breakdown of burial customs.

• Traditional Christian burials = impossible (too many victims)

  • lead to mass graves, desperate situation.

Literal Meaning:

• mass burials of plague victims during the plague

• Several individuals are engaged in the handling of corpses, placing them in graves or coffins.

• Others are mourning or participating in funerary rites.

Significance:

• Death was deeply tied to religious doctrine in medieval Europe. Many believed the plague was divine punishment for sins, and proper burial was essential for the soul’s passage to the afterlife. The depiction of clergy among the figures suggests the importance of last rites, though many victims likely died without them.

• presence of clergy suggestsinvolvement of the Church in burial rites, despite the crisis.

• chaotic handling of bodies reflects urgency & desperation

• figures appear to be struggling under the weight of the deceased (large-scale death)

• dark, muted color palette and detailed facial expressions convey sorrow, exhaustion, and despair.

  • scene is grim, reinforcing horror of the plague. Figures are overwhelmed by death, widespread devastation.

• overwhelmed traditional institutions, including burial practices and religious rites.

• Scale of death challenged religious authorities ability to provide spiritual guidance.

Context:

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: Gilles li Muisis (French poet)

When: 1340s

Where: ?

Type of Source: History book- Royal Library of Belgium

What was going on at the time: Plague- targeting Jews as a Scapegoat

Literal Meaning:

• mass burning of people

• figures on the left, dressed in medieval attire (nobility, clergy, or town leaders)

• figures on the right are forcing victims into the fire

• The burning bodies in the center

Significance:

• plague led to widespread paranoia

• seek explanations for the plague.

  • Jews were often scapegoated (accused of poisoning wells, spreading the disease)

• accusations led to violent massacres (particularly in Holy Roman Empire, France, and Spain)

• Entire Jewish communities exterminated through executions, expulsions, and burnings

  • fuelled by deep-seated anti-Semitic beliefs.

• marginalization of Jewish communities, which continued for centuries.

• The burning pyre = focal point, illustrating brutality

• facial expressions and body language of the executioners = lack of remorse (widespread acceptance of violence)

  • passivity of onlookers = normalized violence against marginalized groups

• presence clergy watching the event, these massacres often sanctioned by local authorities.

• children among the victims emphasizes the indiscriminate nature of killings.

Context:

The Triumph of Death

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: Pieter Bruegel the Elder

When: 1562

Where: ?

Type of Source: painting

What was going on at the time: Plague, widespread death taking on humanity

Literal Meaning:

• woman holding spindle while dying

• skeletons everywhere

• dog eating baby in dying woman’s arms

• skeleton stealing belongings (hats)

• king dying, skeleton holding up hourglass

• dead bodies everywhere

Significance:

• fragility of life and the inevitability of death. spread of disease

• Death is an unstoppable force, sweeping away all in its path. 

• skeletons represent death → The Dance of Death

• hourglass= time is running out

• ultimate defeat of life. 

• skeletons razes the Earth, scorch the land, pollutes, and deforests. 

• barren landscape with warm tones → hellish atmosphere. 

• People react in different ways to Death, some fighting to survive, others resigned or frightened. 

• skeleton of death leads his armies on a red horse (hell)

• woman still holding spindle, shows what was expected of women at the time

Context:

“Pope Gregory the Great's procession”

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: Limbourg brothers (Paul, Johan and Herman)

When: early 15th century

Where: Rome

Type of Source: Christian prayer book (“The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry”)

What was going on at the time: Plague

Literal Meaning:

• Pope Gregory the Great leading a procession in Rome, praying for an end to the first pandemic plague

• someone is sick and dying

• pope leading the way

• doctors, priests, patients

Significance:

• Illustrates role of religious leadership and public prayer in response to widespread disease in the early medieval period.

  • Pope Gregory I in 589 when plague struck Rome.

  • Pope Pelagius died by plague, all of Rome acclaimed Gregory as Pope.

  • He fled to a cave, but the people found him and brought him back to Rome

• The later date of the prayerbook also shows the enduring memory of the plague

• doctors and priests worked side by side at beds of those sick and dying

  • priests- administer last rights

  • doctor- judge if they would survive or not

  • patient- make final will, confess sins

• praying away the plague came from notion that society did something wrong, they offended god in some way

• as christian people they couldn't understand why god would let them suffer like this

• submit self, beg for gods mercy, show how sorry they are

• rise of religious devotion during plague.

Context:

“a winter landscape with Bird Trap”

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: Peter Brueghel the Elder (artist)

When: 1565

Where: Europe - Hadsburg Netherlands

Type of Source: Painting

What was going on at the time: the little ice age → period of colder temperatures, harsher winters, impacted agriculture and social life

Explain the literal meaning:

• ice skating, playing games, on frozen water

• snow, bare trees.

• There is a bird trap (wooden structure) on the right.

• The people are wearing winter clothing.

Explain the significance:

• reflects cultural, climatic, and social context of "the little ice age"

• shows how rural life adapted to cold temperatures and harsh winters for recreation

• seemingly positive picture…

  • The bird trap = subtle reminder of danger and fate (even in a seemingly peaceful scene)

  • highlights the challenges (famine & disease) during/for years after this period.

Context:

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: ?

When: 15th century

Where: Northern Europe, likely France

Type of Source: Painting from medieval prayer book

What was going on at the time: period followed the Black Death → ongoing effects of colder weather, impacting peasant life and agriculture

Explain the literal meaning:

• represents peasant life, agricultural labor, and farmhouse living

  • years of poor weather.

• man splitting wood

• people bundled up

• cow inside the house

• windmill in background

• snow-covered home

• People huddling around church.

Explain the significance:

• reflects the poor weather conditions

  • changes in behaviour & poor harvests.

• Bringing animals inside = adaptation to stay warm (body heat).

• People around church = turning to religion in hardship

• climate pressure made ordinary tasks harder, requiring adaptation

• insight into societal structures → gender roles

  • men working, women caring for infants

• dire times and living conditions.

• Identify: when, where

• Literal Meaning:

• Analysis:

• Identify:

  • from the Luttrell Psalter (English manuscript)

  • 14th century.

• Literal Meaning:

  • child in a wheelchair being pushed

• Analysis:

  • visual representation of daily routine, social interaction, and material culture. Th

  • Representation of Disability

  • helpers/companions pushing wheelchair → suggests social support for individuals with disabilities, how communities may accommodate individuals

  • chair → early form of assistive technology, adapted tools to assist those with mobility issues.

  • inclusion of this scene in a manuscript = awareness and acknowledgment of disability within society

  • implies a degree of integration within the community. Rather than being hidden away, child is participating in/observing daily activities (social inclusion)

• glimpse into how disability might have been perceived/managed in medieval times, practical and social aspects of care and inclusion.

• Identify: when, where

• Literal Meaning:

• Analysis:

Image 2 (English Psalter, ca. 1250)

• Identify:

  • manuscript illumination from an English (prayer book)

  • ~1250

• Literal Meaning:

  • person holding a staff.

• Analysis:

  • The staff = mobility aid.

  • Its presence in a prayer book suggests inclusion of individuals with disabilities in religious life

  • integration of people with disabilities into society

• Identify: when, what

• Literal Meaning:

• Analysis:

• Identify:

  • 15th-century

  • "medieval marginalia".

• Literal Meaning:

  • specific type of aid, similar to crutches

• Analysis:

  • specific assistive devices existed in the 15th century

  • people with disabilities recognized + given resources (mobility aids)

• Identify:

• Literal Meaning:

• Analysis:

• Identify:

  • 15th-century

  • German illustration

• Literal Meaning:

  • image depicts crutches. The prompt asks for a comparison to the image above, which implies a different depiction of an aid.

• Analysis:

  • evolution/variations in assistive devices during the medieval period.

    • different than "medieval marginalia", more modern

• Identify: when

• Literal Meaning:

• Analysis:

• Identify:

  • 13th-century manuscript

• Literal Meaning:

  • individual using hand trestles as mobility aid

• Analysis:

  • presence of hand trestles indicates various types of mobility aids were used in medieval era.

  • basic principles of support and mobility have been adapted over time.

• Identify: when

• Literal Meaning:

• Analysis:

• Identify:

  • from the Luttrell Psalter

  • 1325

  • "two lame and one blind"

• Literal Meaning:

  • pilgrims with mobility issues traveling to visit a shrine.

• Analysis:

  • people with disabilities participated in pilgrimages and religious journeys.

  • suggests the availability of aids in the 14th century

  • existence of shrines, act of pilgrimage imply importance of faith and healing in medieval society

• Identify:

• Literal Meaning:

• Analysis:

• Identify: An illustration of rural life in 15th-century Germany.

• Literal Meaning: The image depicts a scene of rural life, including people with a prosthetic and mobility aids.

• Analysis: This image provides insight into how people with disabilities were integrated into rural communities in 15th-century Germany. The presence of a prosthetic and other mobility aids suggests that efforts were made to accommodate individuals with physical impairments. The question of whether those with disabilities are "marginalized" or "visible" encourages an analysis of their social roles and integration into daily life.

• Identify: when

• Literal Meaning:

• Analysis:

Image 8 (15th-century French Book of Hours)

• Identify:

  • 15th-century

  • French prayer book

• Literal Meaning:

  • bandage below the knee.

• Analysis:

  • bandage suggests:

    • awareness of wound care

    • amputation

    • securing assistive devices,

  • indicating attention to the practical needs of people with disabilities.

• Identify: when, where

• Literal Meaning:

• Analysis:

• Identify:

  • two-part illustration

  • from the Yate Thompson manuscript

  • England

  • 1330s

• Literal Meaning:

  • St. Dominic on the far right.

  • left looks injured

  • right looks to be healed, praying, etc

• Analysis:

  • religion = form of healing

Context:

London Great Plague Primary Source Analysis

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: Henry Muddiman (journalist, writer for the London Gazette)

When: 1665

Where: London, England

Type of Source: letter (to Joseph Williamson- Politician in King Charles II government)

What was going on at the time: Plague

Literal meaning:

• letter discusses the total amount of death, infections, and burials.

• these numbers are 1 higher than they should be

  • miracle recovery (the butcher).

  • This man was presumed dead,

  • ‘neglect of the boarders’ → those responsible for the disposal of the bodies of the dead didnt come get him

  • once thought to be dead man turned to his daughter and requested ale, tobacco and rabbit, followed by him turning to God to thank him for being saved.

Explain the significance:

• suggests an intervention from God was believed to have occurred

• implying the large religious focus during the time of the plague

• large impact of the plague as well as what it was like to live during this time of sickness and death.

• tells us about different roles in society (boarders, searchers)

Context:

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: James Gillray (artist)

When: 1802

Where: England

Type of Source: Painting - antivax propaganda (political cartoon)

What was going on at the time:

• Edward Jenner recently introduced smallpox vaccine,

  • faced public resistance, skepticism, and misinformation

  • This period represents a clash between emerging medical science and popular belief systems at the end of the Enlightenment.

Explain the literal meaning:

• people with mutations

• turning into monsters with cow parts (horns, snouts, etc.).

• A dairymaid is in the middle

• a man (likely Edward Jenner) distributing vaccines.

• painting in the background shows the golden bot statue

• People with shovels

Explain the significance:

• attempt to induce public fear, skepticism towards smallpox vaccine

• represents public resistance to medical innovation

• pseudoscientific fears vaccines

• painting symbolizes a clash between emerging medical science and traditional beliefs,

  • some placed their hope in divine intervention ("golden bot statue") rather than scientific advancements.

• It highlights the use of propaganda to spread misinformation.

  • similar to COVID-19… anti vax is not new!

Context:

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: John Snow (physician)

When: Mid-1800s

Where: Soho, London

Type of Source: Map

What was going on at the time:

• Cholera outbreaks = major public health concern

• The prevailing miasma theory suggested that disease came from bad smells/air

• debate about the causes of disease

Explain the literal meaning:

• map (Soho area of London) shows

  • streets

  • buildings

  • water pumps

• Black squares on the map indicate tracked cases of cholera.

Explain the significance:

• first use of data visualization and disease mapping for public health

• plotting cholera cases (traced to the Broad Street pump)

• disproved the idea that poverty = disease

  • that anyone using the contaminated pump could get sick regardless of their status.

• evidence went against miasma theory

  • suggesting that cholera was waterborne.

• led to the first water boil advisory

• kickstarted urban sanitization and public health efforts

• demonstrates power of scientific communication and advocacy

  • challenging established beliefs, even when facing resistance from authorities.

Context:

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: Issued by the government of Rwanda.

When: Post-colonial period, into the 20th century.

Where: Rwanda.

Type of Source: Legal identification document, resembling a passport and claimed to be a "vaccination record".

What was going on at the time: This period saw the imposition of racial hierarchies based on pseudoscience by colonial powers and their legacies. Socially fluid identities were being categorized rigidly.

Explain the literal meaning:

• passport-style photograph

• birthplace

• parents' names

• government stamp of authentication

• classification of the individual as Hutu, Tutsi, or Twa.

Explain the significance:

• exemplifies racial hierarchy based on pseudoscience

  • Tutsis favoured (deemed "closer to European")

• froze socially fluid identities into rigid categories

• conflict between Tutsi and Hutu populations

• Identity defined by the state rather than personal history

• system led to unequal opportunities

• fostered cultures of fear, paranoia, and resentment

• ultimately contributed to the Rwandan genocide

  • Hutu used identity cards were used to target and kill Tutsi’s

Context:

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: ?

When: 1873.

Where: Likely the United States.

Type of Source: Painting.

What was going on at the time:

• period of westward expansion in the United States

• driven by the ideology of Manifest Destiny

  • belief that the expansion of the US across continents = justified & inevitable

Explain the literal meaning:

• Indigenous people on the left chased out towards the west

• An angelic-looking, able-bodied white woman dressed in white

  • moving towards the west

  • carrying a bible

  • accompanied by symbols of progress (power lines, trains)

Explain the significance:

• exceptionalist mentalities

• belief in a god-given right to take over and cultivate land

• white woman symbolizes destiny, bringing Western ideas, "brightness and light," to the land.

• ideology that white people needed to come and make change

  • justifying displacement & oppression of Indigenous populations.

• reminder of crimes committed during the nation-state building process in countries like Canada and the US.

Context:

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who: Wolfgang Willrich (artist).

When: 1938.

Where: Nazi Germany.

Type of Source: Painting - propaganda image.

What was going on at the time:

• during the Nazi regime

• promoted idea of Aryan supremacy

• aimed to "purify" German culture → creating idealized image of the "Aryan" family.

• involved the persecution of those deemed "impure".

Explain the literal meaning:

• family with white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes

• sitting in garden

• plenty of food and flowers

• little girl is holding a doll

• older daughter looking lovingly at baby

• son is working in the dirt

• strong jawlines and rosy cheeks,

• suggestions of rural living.

• son's clothing resembles that of the Hitler Youth.

Explain the significance:

• used as propaganda

• encourage the idea of "purifying" German culture

  • promoting an ideal image of the "Aryan family"

    • desirable genetics

    • healthy connection to the land

• reinforces traditional gender roles

  • daughters seemingly destined for motherhood

  • son as a worker, fitting Nazi ideology (planting seed as future of germany).

• depiction of simpler, rural living (Nazi ideal)

• propaganda aimed to promote the "fit" & the patriarchy

• dehumanizing those considered "impure".

• Imagery was weaponized to support Nazi racial ideologies.

Context:

Literal Meaning:

Significance:

• Context:

  • American propaganda during World War II.

  • ~early 1940s

• Literal Meaning:

  • two-headed giant (representing Hitler and another leader) tearing down the Statue of Liberty

  • . The monster= huge and unstoppable

• Significance:

  • Destruction of lady liberty symbol of destruction of freedom and democratic values

  • unstoppable monster → urging everyone to resist, need to all work together

  • aimed to instill fear of the enemy, mobilize the American population (decision-makers, soldiers, civilians)

  • aim to unite against the Axis powers

  • dehumanizes the enemy, making it easier to accept the violence of war.

Context:

Literal Meaning:

Significance:

• Context:

  • Soviet Union propaganda during World War II, after the Nazi invasion.

  • 1941

• Literal Meaning:

  • dark, feline-like creature (representing the Nazis)

  • creature drooling over blonde, pure, helpless woman who has been hanged.

  • creature emerges from the darkness above.

• Significance:

  • helpless woman → This inverts Nazi racialism by portraying the supposed "Aryan" woman as a victim.

  • intended to evoke strong emotional responses (fear, outrage)

  • promote violence against Nazi invaders (depicting them as a fearful, supernatural force threatening vulnerable women)

  • dehumanizes the enemy, desensitizes people to violence by portraying them as monstrous.

Context:

Who:

When:

Where:

Type of Source:

What was going on at the time:

Who:

• photo at US Holocaust Memorial Museum

• experiment conducted by Nazi doctors on prisoners in Dachau concentration camp.

When: 1942.

Where: Dachau concentration camp, Nazi Germany.

Type of Source: Photograph - historical record of Nazi war crimes.

What was going on at the time:

• Nazi regime perpetrating systematic persecution and murder of various groups

• conducting unethical, inhumane medical experiments on concentration camp prisoners

  • in the name of "scientific" research to benefit the "Aryan race”

Explain the literal meaning:

• male prisoner

  • concentration camp uniform

• strapped into a medical testing apparatus

• low-pressure simulation chamber.

• prisoner appears unconscious.

Explain the significance:

• record of Nazi crimes against humanity

• violation of all ethical standards of medical research

• These "necessary" experiments, conducted on individuals deemed unworthy of life.

• evidence of the dehumanization of prisoners who were treated as objects of experimentation.

• knowledge gained from such experiments has led to significant ethical debates about whether it should be used, despite its unethical origins.

• led to the development of modern research ethics, such as the Nuremberg Code

• findings contributed to safety protocols for aviation regarding the effects of pressure on the human body.