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. Ask
yourself the following questions:
How does
learning about the historical period help
you understand what you read?
Can
you decide your own destiny?
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 play we are going to read together about
Anne Frank.
Visit
the following sites, and answer all the questions in complete
sentences IN YOUR OWN WORDS in
your journal.
1.
Define "genocide" in your own words. (Make sure to
click on slides 1-11.)
2.
When we refer to the "holocaust", what time period are we
talking about?
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?
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.
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.
30.
If you were going to teach others about the importance of studying
the holocaust, what three pieces of information that you've learned
would you make sure to include? Why, for each?
Extra
Credit:
- Choose one of the topics below, research it, and write a brief summary (50 words max).
- Write the information on an index card in your own words.
- At the end of the summary, make sure to write the URL (web address) of the source of your research.
Topics:
- D-Day (June 6, 1944)
- Resistance Fighters (Jewish and non-Jewish)
- The tragedy of the German ocean liner, the St. Louis (1939)