Contact Laura Patton, via email or 913-327-8236.
Propaganda is the use of persuasive communication to influence the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of a group of people. Propaganda may promote positive social goals, such as convincing people not to smoke cigarettes or drink and drive. Propaganda is often used in advertising campaigns that convince us we will improve our game if we wear certain shoes or be more healthy if we eat a particular brand of cereal. Propaganda is frequently used by politicians to earn our votes.
In 21st century America, the word propaganda carries a connotation that makes us uneasy. We equate it with manipulation for nefarious purposes. Much of this perspective is born out of the propaganda from World War II – especially the propaganda created by the Nazis.
During the Nazi period, propaganda was used for a variety of purposes. The Nazi Party used it to persuade Germans to vote for their party’s platform. They used propaganda to gain the loyalty of the “Aryan” German people, convincing them that the Nazi Party was improving the quality of their lives. The Nazis also used propaganda to encourage people in a highly integrated German society to regard some neighbors as inferior – worthy of exclusion and, eventually, annihilation.
Propaganda will be used as long as humans communicate, but we don’t have to let it harm people. By studying the ways the Nazis used propaganda and making connections with how propaganda is used currently, we can make choices to avoid its negative effects.
A successful essay or documentary entry will address both portions of the following prompt. At minimum, one-fourth of the finished work must be devoted to the REFLECTION.
RESEARCH: Analyze at least two examples of Nazi propaganda—one designed to promote inclusion and another designed to enforce exclusion. For each example, consider when it was produced, its intended goals, and the propaganda devices employed. Who was the target audience for inclusion, and who was excluded?
REFLECTION: Having learned about how propaganda can promote inclusion or exclusion, how does this impact how you consume and evaluate media today?
MCHE urges contestants to gain foundational knowledge about propaganda before exploring the contest documents. The secondary sources listed below are intended to help students gain this understanding. They are not to be considered among the five contest-required sources. However, students may cite ideas or primary sources contained within these works as additional sources of information for their essay or documentary.
Educators, the following instructional resources may be helpful in preparing students to research the 2025-26 White Rose contest prompt:
Excerpts from Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler “On the Use of Propaganda” (Chapter 6). 1925. Jewish Virtual Library.
Modern Political Propaganda. 1930. German Propaganda Archive, Calvin University.
Das Deutsche Madel (The German Girl) magazine, 1933-1944. BDM History: BDM Magazines.
Der Pimpf (The German Boy) magazine, 1935-1944. German Propaganda Archive, Calvin University.
Excerpts from “Heredity and Racial Science for Elementary and Secondary Schools.” A teacher’s guide for racial instruction for grades 4 through 8. 1937. German Propaganda Archive, Calvin University.
Der Giftpilz (The Poisonous Mushroom). 1938. German Propaganda Archive, Calvin University.
“Jews Out!” Board Game, 1938. German History in Documents and Images.
Hitler Youth Training Film, undated. USHMM.
Hitler Youth Quotation Posters, 1940. German Propaganda Archive, Calvin University.
Film of Germans Burning Books, 10 May 1933. USHMM.
Hubert Lanzinger’s The Standard Bearer (c. 1934–36). German Historical Institute Washington.
“But Who Are You? Why and How One Engages in Family and Kinship Research.” Pamphlet. circa 1936. USHMM.
Opening of the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. August 1936. Photo. USHMM.
Photo from a Public Pool in Fürth, Germany. Sign banning Jews, circa 1936. USHMM.
Photograph of a “Strength through Joy” Event at Strandbad Wannsee, 24 April 1937. USHMM.
“Healthy Woman – Healthy Nation.” Film (clip). 1937. USHMM.
Leaflet advertising the Nazi magazine Neues Volk. 1937 or 1938. USHMM.
Front page of the most popular issue ever of Der Stürmer newspaper. 1939. USHMM.
“When You See This Symbol…” Pamphlet distributed with ration cards throughout Germany to justify the 1 Sept 1941 edict that all German Jews wear the yellow star. German Propaganda Archive, Calvin University.
NOTE: Excellent sources that were considered, but not ultimately selected, as contest documents may be found on our PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS webpage: See “Nazi Propaganda.”
MCHE’s White Rose Research Contest Guide is a handy reference in an easy-to-print, PDF format. It provides contest rules, format guidelines, FAQs, and tips for success – written by a teacher who has sponsored White Rose finalists. You will find FAQs and tips in the Guide that aren’t on the website. We encourage all participants and sponsoring teachers to download, save, and refer to the Contest Guide while working on and before submitting their essays and documentaries.
Contest Eligibility Guidelines:
The following resources about thesis statements may be helpful to essayists, documentarians, and educators:
The following resources about citations may be helpful to students and educators:
Here is a short video from Lasseter’s Lab titled “How to make a documentary for a school project.” It has solid advice for beginners.
These tips come from the New York Film Academy (NYFA). Titled “How to Write a Documentary Script,” the article describes seven steps and provides an example of a script that we used as a model for our template.
We created this script template for you to use in planning your White Rose documentary entry. This template was made in Word. Save your own copy! Then click and drag the row and column lines to make the cells larger or smaller as needed.
More from NYFA… “How to Prepare and Conduct a Documentary Interview.”
Many of these sources above refer to B-roll but don’t explain what that is. B-roll is supplementary film that is used to enhance the primary film (A-roll).
For example, if you are using a clip of survivor testimony, that is your A-roll. You might want to provide the audience with additional visual information (and make your film more interesting) by interspersing historical photos that support the survivor’s testimony. These photos are the B-roll. This 2-minute demo film provides examples. (More info below.)
Neither had I! This is Laura Patton. This section is going to be a folksy chat.
I had never made a film, even though I have been coordinating White Rose for a while now. I decided I needed to learn a few things.
Before I started, I knew that IWitness from the USC Shoah Foundation is an online learning site that provides access to an extraordinary collection of survivor testimonies. The site allows students to create videos using the testimonies. (Find the Video Editor under the Features tab.) Previously, students and teachers were forced to work entirely within the site – no good for White Rose. But recently, we learned that IWitness had made it possible for students to download their work. I wanted to check this out and see how if might be useful for documentarians. Here is what I learned…
Please open this Screenshot of the IWitness video editor in a side-by-side tab, then note the following things you can see in the picture:
P.S. My short video is not necessarily an example of a documentary for White Rose. My goal was to make a short video that could be used as an illustration of FEAR as a propaganda technique. Mostly, I created the video to learn how to do it.
MCHE encourages teachers to utilize this research contest as a classroom exercise.
Learn how the White Rose Research Contest fulfills the Common Core State Standards.
Important notes about citations of sources –
We use NoodleTools to create citations – in all three formats – for all of the contest documents. We are happy to provide these citations for sponsoring teachers upon request. We learn a few things from this experience:
TIP: We find many great sources that we don’t choose for White Rose contest documents. These are linked on our website under RESOURCES – Primary Source Documents.
Important notes about contest entries:
Our goals for “Preview the Contest” are:
1) Provide the historical context needed to teach this year’s contest topic
2) Familiarize teachers with the contest documents.
3) Share what is new about the contest this year.
4) Answer teachers’ questions.
A recording of this workshop will not be available. Please sign-up and show up!
We would like this workshop to be as interactive as possible. We think the best way for teachers to gain knowledge about the documents is to read and talk about them – in both small and large groups. You know that this sort of learning experience requires prior planning – which falls apart when people don’t show up. Please RSVP, and please keep your date with us!
Contest entries will be evaluated in two rounds of judging.
View the scoring rubric for essay entries.
All White Rose Finalists and their sponsoring teachers will be recognized at MCHE’s Academic Awards Ceremony.
Winners of each contest category and age division will be announced at the ceremony. Winners will be asked to read their essays and screen their documentaries for the assembled audience.
Contest winners in each category and age division will receive a $300 prize.
Sponsoring teachers of each winner will be awarded a voucher worth $150 toward the purchase of Holocaust-related books, instructional materials, or professional development opportunities.
PLEASE review the “Format Guidelines for Written Work” in the White Rose Research Contest Guide for Educators and Students before submitting your work. Failure to follow directions causes additional work for MCHE staff. For example… Every entry gets a code number before it goes to the judges. When a student submits an entry as a PDF, we must convert it back to its original file format before we can add that code number. Removing identifying information and cover pages also slows us down.
Please submit one form per contest entry even if two students worked together on a documentary entry.
What happens after the contest deadline?
2024-2025 Contest Theme: Non-Jewish Victims of Nazi Persecution & Murder
RESEARCH: Describe why and how one category of non-Jewish victims experienced persecution and murder by the Nazis. (You may choose from among the following non-Jewish victims groups: Jehovah’s Witnesses, LGBTQ+, Roma and Sinti, and the Targets of Eugenics.) Provide as an example how that persecution was experienced by at least one person. Also consider whether the group experienced continued persecution during the post-war years.
REFLECTION: How can you apply the learning gained from your research to your developing responsibilities as a citizen in U.S. society?
During the 2024-25, contestants were allowed 1,600-words for essays and 800-words for film introductions – a change from the process paper required the previous year. In both cases, one-fourth of the word allowance was to be reserved for the reflection. The time constraint on documentaries is ten minutes, one-fourth of which must be devoted to the reflection prompt.
Lower Division Essay Winner: December Valdivia
Lower Division Documentary Winner: Olivia Griffis
Upper Division Essay Winner: Elwyn Patterson
Upper Division Documentary Winners: Addison Doyle & Addison Hild
2023-2024 Contest Theme: Americans and the Holocaust
RESEARCH: Describe the motivations and outcomes of a non-military action or policy taken by the U.S. government or American citizens to address the persecution of European Jews between 1933 and 1945. Discuss how these actions impacted the European Jewish community or Jewish individuals, citing specific examples.
REFLECTION: Based on your research, what responsibility do you believe the U.S. has toward refugees and immigrants in today’s world?
Note that the word allowance changed during the 2023-24 contest year. Contestants were allowed 1,600-words for essays and 800-words for process papers. In both cases, one-fourth of the word allowance was to be reserved for the reflection. The time restraint on documentaries is ten minutes, one-fourth of which must be devoted to the reflection prompt.
Lower Division Essay Winner: Morgan Franey
Lower Division Documentary Winner: Halen McClure & Walter Sumner — Documentary and Process Paper
Upper Division Essay Winner: Vicky Pan
Upper Division Documentary Winner: Sophia Grantham & Piper Riffe — Documentary and Process Paper
2022-2023 Contest Theme: Jewish Resistance in the Ghettos
RESEARCH: Describe the goals and obstacles to one specific form of Jewish resistance in the ghettos. Explain how that method was used by one Jewish person or group.
REFLECTION: Consider the Kansas City Holocaust memorial and Nathan Rapoport’s Memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. After researching several types of resistance, why do you think that memorialization disproportionately focuses on armed resistance? How might you elevate forms of non-armed resistance in memorialization efforts.
Note that the word allowance changed during the 2023-24 contest year. 2022-2023 contestants worked within a 1,200-word limit for essays and a 500-word limit for process papers. The time restraints on documentaries have not changed.
Lower Division Essay Winner: Sylvie Idol
Upper Division Essay Winner: Makenzie Brantner
Upper Division Documentary Winner: Braden Thompson — Documentary and Process Paper
This research contest is named in honor of the White Rose resistance movement of German university students. Hans and Sophie Scholl, Christoph Probst, other friends, and their professor were arrested and executed for distributing leaflets denouncing the policies of the Nazi regime. May memories of these brave young people inspire us to reflect upon our own responsibilities as citizens in a democratic nation.
Photo at Left: Knowing she had been spotted by a custodian, Sophie Scholl threw the remaining anti-Nazi leaflets in her possession from the balcony of this atrium at Munich University. This incident led to her arrest.
Photo at Top: Replicas of White Rose leaflets on the cobblestones at Munich University.
Our mission is to teach the history of the Holocaust, applying its lessons to counter indifference, intolerance, and genocide.
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