Original: The Holocaust
This page is being replaced by Holocaust Version 2.
This page is being replaced by Holocaust Version 2.
Part 1: Students will:
-Develop a general introductory understanding of anti semistism over time and a significant event; the Holocaust.
Holocaust Greek- Defined as
destruction or slaughter on a mass scale, especially caused by fire or nuclear war.
2. the mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime during the period 1941–5. More than 6 million European Jews, as well as members of other persecuted groups, were murdered at concentration camps such as Auschwitz.
noun: the Holocaust
The Holocaust (Shoah) is the term for the murder of around six million Jews by the Nazi regime and their collaborators during the Second World War.Between 1941 and 1945, the Nazis sought to eliminate the entire Jewish community of Europe. Jews were murdered by death squads called Einsatzgruppen or transported to extermination camps. Six million of the eleven million European Jews perished. The Holocaust mainly occurred in Eastern Europe, in places such as Poland and Ukraine.
The term ‘Holocaust’ can also refer to the orchestrated murder of Roma. Other groups were also targeted by the Nazi regime: disabled people, Soviet Prisoners of War and civilians, Polish civilians, homosexuals, socialists, communists and trades unionists, Freemasons and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Lesson Objective: This lesson, students will develop an understanding of life for Jews in pre-war Europe.
Life in Europe for Jews before the Holocaust
Last lesson, we learned that the Holocaust (1933–1945) was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million European Jews by the Nazi German regime and its allies and collaborators. But what was life in Europe like for Jews prior to the Nazi's.
Task 2:
a) Go the linked article, 'Jewish Life in Germany Before the Holocaust and read it.
On this article at the top, you can see an arrow. Slide the pictures across to look at aspects of Jewish life in Pre Nazi Europe. Please have a look at them to help you answer the following question.
b) Write a paragraph in response to the following. Using evidence from the article, support the idea that Jews were an established ethnic group in Europe who largely fitted well into various European nations.
c) What evidence from the bottom half of the article shows, that Jews were often the target of racist activities?
Task 3: Read the article Jew in Pre- war Germany. As you read, summarise at least 10 things you learn about this group.
Task 4: Watch the film, 'A Day in Warsaw' and answer the questions that follow:
Looking at the film, what is your overall impression of life in eastern European cities such as Warsaw at the time this film was made?
Based on what you've seen in this film, what opportunities do you think were available for Polish Jews in cities during this time period?
Lesson Objective: To understand the historical racial bias against Jews.
Last lesson, we learned about the Jewish experience in Europe. But why were Jews targeted? Where did such attitudes develop? The following Video will provide some historical context.
Task 1:
a) Watch the Video and take summary notes as you view (10 minutes). Note, just scroll down the webpage and you'll see the Video.
b) Write a short explanation outlining the main reasons for Jewish persecution since Rome? (5 minutes)
Task 2: Antisemitism and Intolerance in Nai Germany EP Task (28 minutes)
a) Log in to EP- Stage 5, WWII, EP 3.
Task 3: Visit the Link to the article, 'Antisemitism'. 20 mins
a) With reference to the information, 'explain how antisemitism became progressively worse for the Jews in Germany.' Your response should include: dates and key events.
Task 1: Copy into your books:
Hitler's rise to power was based upon long-term factors - resentment in the German people, the weakness of the Weimar system - which he exploited through propaganda (paid for by his rich, Communist-fearing backers), the terror of his stormtroopers, and the brilliance of his speeches.
During the 'roaring twenties' Germans ignored this vicious little man with his programme of hatred. But when the Great Depression ruined their lives, they voted for him in increasing numbers. Needing support, and thinking he could control Hitler, President Hindenburg made the mistake in January 1933 of giving Hitler the post of Chancellor.
Task 2: Watch the Ted Talk and jot and dot 5-10 summary points.
Task 3 Complete the textbook reading in Retroactive
6a.2 T'he Nazi threat'
Task 4 Complete 'The Rise of Hitler' activities. While you can't mark the sheet, you can write them in your book.
Task 5: EP: Search 'The Rise of Nazi Germany. '
Task 2:
a) View the Video https://www.ushmm.org/learn/holocaust/path-to-nazi-genocide/chapter-3/from-citizens-to-outcasts-1933-1938 (7mins:30)
b) Post Viewing Task: How did Nazi Germany gradually isolate, segregate, impoverish, and incarcerate Jews and persecute other perceived enemies of the state between 1933 and 1939?
Task 3: Read the Article , 'Daily Life in the Warsaw Ghetto'.
a) Use the information from the article and the photos that accompany it, to answer the following response.
b) Address the following, 'The Nazi's intention of the ghettos was more than just segregate Jews, it was to humilitate and mistreat them.' Use information from the article and the pictures to support this argument.;
OR
Use the information from the article to creatively describe the ghetto from the perspective of a polish visitor who was able to get in.
Task 1. Copy Notes:
The term “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” was a euphemism used by Nazi Germany’s leaders. It referred to the mass murder of Europe’s Jews. It brought an end to policies aimed at encouraging or forcing Jews to leave the German Reich and other parts of Europe. Those policies were replaced by systematic annihilation.
Task 2. Video Watching: The development of the Final Solution
Task 3. Complete the EP task, 'The Holocaust' (27 minutes) Stage 5- HSIE- WWII- 'The Holocaust.'
Task 4: Research ONE Concentration Camp
Consolidate your knowledge of the Final Solution.
a) Research the infamous Auschwitz Concentration Camp
-when was it built. How was it ammended to become a mass murder facility.
-Describe some of the atrocities which were committed against the Jews
-How many Jews were killed here.
-Research ONE story about a Jew (who died or survived) and recall their experience. 207
Task 6: Reading of the 'EXCERPT FROM 'NIGHT', ELIE WIESEL
Answer these questions in your book
In addition to being forcibly torn away from the rest of their family, what else did Elie Wiesel and his father “leave behind”?
In this excerpt, how did the Nazis dehumanize Jews?
Why were Elie and his father told to lie about their ages?
Why do you think the older men did not want the younger men to revolt?
When Elie says that “the world would never tolerate such crimes,” his father answers that “The world is not interested in us.” Why do you think their perspectives are so different at this particular moment?
Choose a moment from the excerpt that you think represents a turning point in Elie’s life. How did this moment change his perception of the world, relationships, life, other people, or even himself?
How does the title chosen by Elie, Night, reflect the experiences of people who lived through the Holocaust?
Task 7: Testimony Reflection
Students watch testimony clips of Jewish survivors who witnessed mass killing by the Nazis: William Good (bio) and Abraham Bomba (bio) . As they watch the clips, students take notes on The One or Testimony Reflections handout.
How did you feel hearing about mass killings from a survivor? What did it add to your understanding of the Einsatzgruppen?
Why do you think William’s Jewish neighbors did not believe his story? What does this say about the mindset of ordinary people in 1941? How did this way of thinking benefit the Nazi regime?
Abraham describes Jewish prisoners with blue armbands (escorting Jews from the train to the undressing area) and red armbands (preparing Jews for the gas chamber). Why did the Germans purposefully force Jewish prisoners to take part in the extermination process?
What is the significance of the description that Abraham shares about the people being forced to undress?
In both Abraham’s and William’s stories, how did the Nazis use fear and terror to control their victims?
Abraham’s and William’s stories demonstrate how rare it was for Jews to survive Nazi violence – Abraham was one of only five out of 18,000 who were spared from the gas chamber that day. How does this statistic reflect the plans the Nazis had for the Jews?
What was your reaction to the kindness of the Polish family toward William Good after his escape? Were you surprised by their actions? Why?
Task 8: Viewing Documentary: 'The Aftermath of the Holocaust.'
Task 9: Facing Justice- The Nuremburg Trials
a) Copy notes Introduction: Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his military bunker in Berlin as the Soviet army approached to conquer the Nazis. Alfred Jodl, Chief of Staff of the German Army signed the unconditional surrender of the German Third Reich in the early morning hours of Monday, May 7, 1945. Many of Hitler's top commanders also suicided, others attempted to flee and escape to other parts of the world to escape imprisonment, or the death penalty for their crimes.
b) View the Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vywGZzb9O4M.
c) Research and outline THREE Nazi's (at least one male and one female)
-their role in Nazi Germany
-their crimes
-their penalty/sentence