1. The Holocaust
“Some of the people disapproved, but their disapproval was only silence…”
Kurt Messerschmidt, Jewish Survivor

2. Catastrophe What does catastrophe mean?
What is a working definition for your group?

3. Catastrophes… Who is likely to study human catastrophes and why?
What kinds of questions would people studying human catastrophes want to answer?
How would the questions be different from questions that might be asked about natural catastrophes?

4. Vocabulary for Holocaust Introduction…
Brownshirts Jehovah’s Witness
Collaborator Kristallnacht Program
Nazi Concentration Camp
Discrimination Pogrom
Reich European Jewry
Genocide Shoah
Gestapo Sinti-Roma
Gypsies Survivor
Holocaust Homosexual

5. Kristallnacht Program
1938, several laws passed in Germany restricting Jewish economic activity and occupational opportunities.
July 1938, Jews required to carry identification cards
Late 1938, 17,000 Polish Jews arrested and relocated to the Polish frontier in “relocation camps”

6. Kristallnacht… Among the deportees- Zindel Grynszpan
Moved to Hanover, Germany, in 1911
Owned a store
27 October forced to move back to Poland with his family
The store and home were confiscated by the Nazis

7. Kristallnacht…
Grynszpan’s seventeen year old son was living in Paris at the time…
Decides to shoot the German ambassador in France: Nov. 7th
Ambassador is away from the embassy and Grynszpan decides to shoot a low ranking diplomat.
Third Secretary, Ernst vom Roth: Died Nov. 9th

8. Kristallnacht…
Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Chief of Propaganda, views the killing as an attack against the Reich
Launches the Kristallnacht Program
“ Night of the Broken Glass”
November 9th and 10th
7500 businesses destroyed
100 Jews Killed
30,000 Jews arrested and sent to Camps

9. Assignment What questions do you have about your document?
Does your document justify what happened in the Kristallnacht Program?
What do you think the relevance of the document is for the events that have recently taken place in Germany?

11. ANTISEMITISM Antisemitism had become suddenly very rampant…
-H. Henry Sinason
Jewish Survivor

12. ANTISEMITISM
-Students should be able to define antisemitism and understand its origins.
-Identify similarities and differences between Pre-Nazi and Post-Nazi beliefs about Jews in Germany and Europe.
-Look at propaganda methods that the Nazis used to exploit antisemitic attitudes among the German people and to isolate Jews from the rest of the population.
-Consider historical and contemporary examples of antisemitism, propaganda, and stereotyping.

13. Question to ponder…
What do you think life was like for Jews in Germany prior to Hitler’s rise to power?

14. Further Questions…
What supported your thinking or disproved your thinking in the video clips you saw?
In his testimony, how does John Graham describe his feelings for Germany before the war?

15. Further Questions…
H. Henry Sinason mentions that his father considered himself German first and Jewish second. What does this tell you about how Jews identified with their country during this time period?
After listening to Margaret Lambert’s testimony, what is your sense of what the relationship between Jews and non-Jews was like before the war?

16. Terms to Understand… Stereotype: Antisemitism:
An oversimplified generalization about a person or a group of people with no regard for individual differences.
Coined in Germnay in 1879 to define anti-Jewish sentiment on a scientific basis

17. Post Nazi Rule Questions…
Describe how Henry says his friends have changed. Who does he believe is responsible for their change in attitude and behavior?
Henry Laurant makes it a point to discuss his father’s occupation and position in the community. How does Henry’s testimony ad to your understanding of what was happening in Germany during this time period?

18. Post Nazi Rule Questions…
In her testimony, Judith Becker speaks about a course on racism that was taught in schools. Why do you think the Nazis wanted to target young people with their racial ideology?
From listening to these testimonies, what do you learn about how the atmosphere of Germany was changing?

19. Nazi Germany
With the rise of Nazism, nothing Jews had done for their country made any difference…
Alfred Gottschalk
Jewish Survivor

20. Nazi Germany
Learn about the Weimar Republic and the Nazis’ rise to power
Examine historical events tht allowed for a dramatic change in social policies in Germany between 1933 and 1939
Examine materials to represent a range of Jewish responses to Nazi-German Policies
Consider the role and responsibility of the individual in interrupting the escalation of violence and hate.

21. Nazi Germany
Democracy is…

22. Nazi Germany
How does Alfred Caro characterize the Weimar Republic in his testimony?
What information does Frank Shurman share that gives insight into the “insecure situation” facing Germany at this time?
Given what you heard in the testimonies, how confident do you think the people were in the status of their government?

23. The Ghettos… “It was the beginning of the end…” -Ellis Lewin
Jewish Survivor

24. Nazi’s goal for placing Jews in the Ghettos…
The Nazi’s goal when closing the Jews in ghettos was to deprive them not only of human rights, but also human dignity.
This time period is often referred to as the “bypass death” period. More than Jews died in the ghetto of Warsaw alone.

25. Why Couldn’t Jews Leave?
The Holocaust created a world of choiceless choices…
Jews did not know their ultimate fate as we do when we look back at history.
Germans camouflaged their actions.
Ghetto conditions caused malnutrition and sickness.
Why Couldn’t Jews Leave?

26. Jews who wanted to leave often had no place to go
Jews who wanted to leave often had no place to go. Helping a Jew escape was punishable by death.
Due to quotas on immigration, Jews trying to leave Europe were often not allowed to leave. There was just no place to go.
Overall, most Jews were trapped.

27. Lodz Ghetto in Poland…
Information taken for this part of the discussion on the Holocaust focuses specifically on Lodz Ghetto. Although this ghetto has its own history and unique things that happen, it can also be used to identify patterns of events that took place in other ghetto areas throughout Nazi Europe.

28. Students should…
Identify the aims of the Nazis in establishing ghettos.
Specify countries in Eastern and Central Europe where the Nazis established ghettos.
Examine what life was like for Jews forced to live in ghettos.
Consider various ways individuals respond to unjust actions.

29. Rescuers and Non-Jewish Resistance
“Our vision in our chirch was that we always had to help those people in need…”
-Arie Van Mansum
Rescue and Aid Provider

30. Objectives…
Students will understand what types of rescue occurred in Nazi-occupied Europe.
Identify motives for rescuers.
Identify risks involved with non-Jews helping Jews. What moral choices were made?
Examine the forms of assistance given to Jews during the Holocaust.
Identify obstacles and dangers for children.
Examine the price of apathy in the face of injustice.

31. Writing Assignment…
Think about the people you have met in this lesson- Leslie Banos, Arie Van Mansum, and Miep Gies. All of them considered themselves as “ordinary” people and yet they all did extraordinary things. How might this be explained? Why do you think some people became rescuers during the Holocaust while most remained bystanders? What moral choices were made by rescuers during the Holocaust?