Introduction
Understanding the history and culture that is the setting for the literature we read is very important if we are to understand what we read. I want you to ask yourself the following questions: 1. How does learning about the historical period help you understand what you read?2. Can you decide your own destiny?3. How can a person define their identity in a time such as the Holocaust?4. Can one person really make a difference? The time period when Hitler was in power in Germany was a time filled with heartache and many terrible events. There were many reasons why things happened the way they did, and why Hitler and the Nazi party was not stopped sooner. I want you to discover some of the historical setting of the novel we are goijng to read together about the Holocaust as seen through the eyes of a child.
Process
Visit the following sites and answer all the questions in complete sentences on a sheet of loose-leaf paper.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007043
1. Define "genocide" in your own words.
2. Who created the word "genocide"? What was his occupation?
3. What levels of German society were most drawn to Hitler and the Nazi Party?
4. What was Hitler's term for the "master race"? Describe this type of person.
5. What types of German citizens were victims of the Nazi Party?
6. Define antisemitism.
7. When did it begin?
8. What other nations treated Jews as scapegoats (blamed them for some trouble)?
9. According to the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, how did the German government decide if someone was Jewish?
10. What did the German government require of Jews in German society?
Kristallnacht: The Night of Broken Glass
11. What happened on November 9, 1938? What caused the violence?
12. Many Jews escaped Germany during this time. What countries accepted the most Jewish refugees?
13. Why did the US not allow entrance to more refugees before WWII?
14. What was the goal of the "Final Solution?"
15. How many ghettos existed in German occupied territories?
16. Describe the largest ghetto.
17. Describe the picture and say how people are treated.
Abe's Story: Conditions Worsen
18. Describe how the conditions worsened.
19. What does Abe do? Where does he go? Why?
20. What were the first Nazi concentration camps?
21. What was the primary purpose of these camps?
22. Describe what happens to most "workers".
23. What happened at most of these camps?
24. Why were people forced to go on "death marches"?
25. Create your own caption for this photo. Describe what the family is doing and where they are going.
26. Choose two images from this site. Include their title and a description of each picture.
27. When the Soviet soldiers liberated Auschwitz Death Camp, how many shoes did they find?
28. Describe one hardship survivors had to face.
29. Read the poem, and summarize what it is about in a few sentences.
http://www.oprah.com/world/Inside-Auschwitz
30. Elie Weisel, author of the novel Night, takes Oprah on a tour of one of the most infamous concentration camps. This concentration camp is the camp that Weisel writes about in his novel, and it is the camp that caused him to suffer greatly as a young man. Take a look at the pictures and description and then write which photograph was the most powerful. Explain how this photograph made you feel.
Conclusion
Extra Credit: Follow all the steps below!
1. Choose to either write from the perspective of perpertrator, victim, bystander, or rescuer during the Holocaust.
2. Use an online dictionary to look up the term you chose,and write down the definition of the word on a piece of paper.
3. Then, use the links below this message to find information about a real person who lived during the Holocaust that matches the definition you found. For example, if you chose "victim", you could write about someone who died in a concentration camp, or someone who survived but lost family members.
4. Fill up your paper with notes about that person's experiences during the Holocaust.
5. Write an "I Am" Poem from that person's perspective. The last line should say, "I am (the name of the person), a Holocaust _____________." Fill the blank in with the word you chose (bystander, perpetrator, victim, or rescuer).
The purpose is to give clues about the person's life throughout the poem, and then reveal their name and their role at the end. For example, "I am Anne Frank, a Holocaust victim."
I Am poem outline:
I am ______________________________________________________________
(Two special characteristics)
I wonder ___________________________________________________________
(Something you are curious about)
I hear _____________________________________________________________
(An imaginary sound)
I see ______________________________________________________________
(An imaginary sight)
I want _____________________________________________________________
(A desire you have)
I am ______________________________________________________________
(The first line of the poem repeated)
I pretend ____________________________________________________________
(Something you pretend to do)
I feel _____________________________________________________________
(A feeling about something imaginary)
I touch _____________________________________________________________
(An imaginary touch)
I worry _____________________________________________________________
(Something that bothers you)
I cry _____________________________________________________________
(Something that makes you sad)
I am _____________________________________________________________
(The first line of the poem repeated)
I understand _______________________________________________________
(Something you know is true)
I say _____________________________________________________________
(Something you believe in)
I dream _____________________________________________________________
(Something you dream about)
I try _____________________________________________________________
(Something you make an effort on)
I hope _____________________________________________________________
(Something you hope for)
I am _____________________________________________________________
(The first line of the poem repeated)
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