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Three –year old Frances Cutler was living happily with her loving parents among her many friends in Paris, France. Her parents were from Poland and had fled to France for refuge when they “saw the storm clouds rising” when Nazi rule took over much of Europe in the late 1930’s. Suddenly her world was turned upside down.  The Nazis marched into her native country, France.  She and other Jewish children were harassed, and the older children were no longer permitted to attend school.

When a rumor began to circulate that Jewish children were being taken away from their families to some unknown destination, what would happen to Frances? It was arranged for Frances Cutler and other young children to be sent to a Catholic children’s home on a farm in a tiny village in France. Would these non-Jewish villagers really take in and hide Jewish refugee children?  "Let us have your children. We can hide them and save their lives until the war is over”, was the sentiment of the villagers.  Frances’ parents pondered, “How can we give our daughter to non-Jews where they will eat non-kosher food?”

The Nazis were looking for the Jewish children. If the villagers took in the children, they must never let the Nazis know that they were there. How would they hide the children if the Nazis came? This non-Jewish children’s home did agree to care for the Jewish children and soon they developed an elaborate system of forged documents, fake identities, and bogus ration coupons that allowed Jewish children to survive in the midst of the Holocaust.

As the Germans closed in, the situation became more and more difficult for the Jews.  There was no place to run, food was rationed, and daily life became unbearable. As the war raged on, the Jews in France and those who sheltered them were in increasing danger. This videoconference is the story of the years that Frances spent in a non-Jewish, Catholic children’s home; of her daily fear of being caught; and of the bittersweet life with these brave and kind people who rescued Frances and other Jewish children from the hands of the Nazis while risking their own lives to save Jewish children.

Children survived the Holocaust under various sets of circumstances. Those in hiding generally fared much better than those in concentration camps, both in terms of numbers and conditions. Their "hiding places" ranged from the "open forest"; to a claustrophobic “false closet” or subterranean floorboards; to an open-spaced farm in a rural area.

Join Frances in this videoconference and further discuss: What did these children take with them? What were their major concerns?  How did their “hidden existence” shape the rest of their lives?

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OBJECTIVES:

 

ACTIVITIES:

Literature Circles

1) Inform students that they will be reading non-fiction books that show how Hitler used fear and prejudice against Jewish people and many Jewish people's lives were totally changed.

2) Introduce each book.

3) Students will look for and write down these Focus Points:

4) Students will complete a KWL chart as a class about WWII, Hitler, and the Holocaust.

Non-Fiction Books and Suggested Grade Levels

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

A Picture Book of Anne Frank by David A. Adler

The Hidden Children by Howard Greenfield

The author weaves the stories of 25 "hidden children" into a haunting portrait of the Holocaust as lived by these young survivors.

Hiding to Survive: Stories of Jewish Children Rescued from the Holocaust by Maxine B. Rosenberg

What is it like for an eight-year-old to have to stay in a chicken coop and not be allowed to talk about a whisper? In this book, fourteen men and women tell how their childhood lives were turned upside down under the Nazi regime. First person accounts of former hidden children. Read the back of the book, the foreword and introduction aloud with the entire class.

Grades 4 and up

Tell Them We Remember: The Story of the Holocaust by Susan D. Bachrach

The book features a carefully worded historical overview together with sidebar stories of more than 20 children who suffered or died in the camps and ghettos.

Grades 4-8

Number the Stars

A Place to Hide: True Stories of Holocaust Rescues by Jayne Pettit

Readers meet rescuers who saved Jewish lives at peril of their own. Grades 4-8

 

Smoke and Ashes: The Story of the Holocaust by Barbara Rogasky

A basic yet detailed introduction to the causes, events and legacy of the Holocaust.

Grades 6 and up

 

Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss

True story about someone's life during WWII. It is an autobiography. Read the back of the book, the short letter from Johanna Reiss, and the introduction aloud with the entire class.

5-8 grade level

 

We Are Witnesses: Diaries of Five Teenagers Who Died in the Holocaust by Jacob Boas

True diaries from five teenagers who died in the Holocaust. Read the back of the book, the foreword and introduction aloud with the entire class.

Grades 7 and up

 

Rescue: The Story of How Gentiles Saved Jews in the Holocaust by Milton Meltzer

Between the years 1933 and 1945, Adolf Hitler organized the murder of six million Jews. In every Nazi-occupied country, at every level of society, there were non-Jews who had the courage to resist. Here are their stories: thrilling, terrifying, and most of all, inspiring. Read the back of the book, the foreword and introduction aloud with the entire class.

Grades 6-12

 

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