In the autumn in the 1940’s, Esther Loeb and her family fled from the Nazis in Poland to the Ukraine to get away from the Nazis’ persecution. When Esther left her native Polish village, she had no idea that life as she knew it was over.
They were captured by the Germans, accused of being spies, and packed onto a train . After a terrifying journey, Esther and her family found themselves in a brutal work camp, where food was scarce and horror was everywhere. She and her family were imprisoned by the Germans in Lodz, a refugee camp in Siberia where conditions were inhuman.
This vast concentration camp system throughout Siberia had been created by Stalin. The Nazis created a huge network of camps, from the first concentration camps for their political opponents, to the death camps where millions of Jews and other "undesirables" were gassed. The SS ran the camps and valued some prisoners more than others.
Esther struggled to find meaning in this harsh, painful world. Esther's stark story details the events of a typical day in a brutal, arctic slave labor camp in Siberia in the 1940's. Esther describes how they made their way from one day to the next, surviving one moment to the next. The fact that people in the camps did what they had to do to survive speaks to the fact that life is precious and hope continues.
This video conference describes what happened in the labor, concentration, and death camps from a eyewitness experience of a Holocaust survivor. Details include the processing of new arrivals; the living and working conditions; and the methods used to kill the prisoners. Esther suggests how some people managed to survive the appalling conditions and why millions of others did not.
Esther’s account is a tragic, triumphant, and deeply moving story that you won’t soon forget.
Register Here
OBJECTIVES:
1) Students will learn the political, economic, and social reasons why the Holocaust was possible.
2) Students will explore the environment in which this happened.
3) Students will list the characteristics of people who were rescuers versus those who were participants.
4) What were the roles of various people? Rescuers? Resistance? Perpetrators?
5) Students will understand the risks associated with decision making and make mindful decisions.
ACTIVITIES:
Rescuers from the Holocaust
Students will read accounts of those rescuers and write reflective essays for these compelling stories.
Many people in the Nazi occupied countries stood idly by as millions of people were rounded up and put to their deaths. However, there was a small group of individuals who risked their lives and careers to help the victims of Nazi persecution. In this lesson you will meet a few of them and learn their stories.
1) Go to http://www.humboldt.edu/~rescuers/ Read the introduction and go to the table of contents. Pick one of the rescuers stories and answer the following questions (you may want to consult the synopses of stories to help you decide).
2) First read about the conditions of the country in which the story takes place. List three factors that made it easy/difficult to hide people in that country.
- 3) Read one of the rescuers stories (you may want to print it out and read away from the computer). Answer the following:
- · Why did this person risk their life to save the Jews? Do they provide any explanation in their story? If not, try to explain their motivation based upon what you have read.
- · How did the rescuers hide the people they sought to protect? On a separate piece of paper draw a diagram to explain how the Jews were hid.
- · Did they ever come close to being discovered? Explain.
- 4) Next, read the accompanying story of the person who they rescued.
- · Can you detect any differences in these two versions of the same story? If so, what?
- · Why do you think there may be different versions of the same story?
- · Can you think of any examples from your own life where people have told the same story in different ways? If so, explain.
|
National Standards
Social Sciences:
NSS-WH.5-12.8
Language Arts:
NL-ENG.K-12.1
NL-ENG.K-12.2
NL-ENG.K-12.6
NL-ENG.K-12.7
NL-ENG.K-12.8
NL-ENG.K-12.9
- History of Human Civilization: 7a. Understand the development and role of religion in early civilization. They will be able to discuss how religion established a code of conduct for the people and influences it had in different societies.
- Government/Civics: 1a. Acquire critical thinking and analytical skills; that is, they will use visual and mathematical data presented in various forms to assist in interpreting historical events. Students will chronologically organize significant events and people who form the foundation of early history.
- Geography: 4a. Understand that geography enables people to comprehend the relationships between people, places, and environments over time.
- Economics: 2b. Understand there are many influences on economic systems all over the world and the importance of their functions.
