From the Beaches of Normandy to a Michigan Classroom a New Opportunity for Collaboration Challenges Solutions 1

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

From the Beaches of Normandy to a Michigan Classroom a New Opportunity for Collaboration Challenges Solutions 1 TEACHING THE HOLOCAUST IN A 21st CENTURY BLENDED LEARNING CLASSROOM 2014 MAME CONFERENCE Scott Durham Margaret Lincoln Lakeview School District MICHIGAN LOWER SAXONY SESSION OVERVIEW I. INTRODUCTIONS & COLLABORATIONS: Prior experience and projects II. FROM BEACHES OF NORMANDY TO A MICHIGAN CLASSROOM: Opportunity for a new online learning collaboration III. ONGOING TEACHING OF THE HOLOCAUST: Vision for an instructional model IV. BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER: Implementation of a 21st century blended unit on the Holocaust V. QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION Prior experience and projects INTRODUCTIONS & COLLABORATIONS SCOTT DURHAM AND MARGARET LINCOLN SELECTED AS LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AMERICAN MEMORY FELLOWS 2000 USHMM OSKAR SCHINDLER EXHIBITION IN BATTLE CREEK HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR NESSE GODIN SPEAKS IN BATTLE CREEK USHMM HIDDEN CHILDREN AT BATTLE CREEK ART CENTER http://www.artcenterofbattle creek.org/shadows / BATTLE CREEK STUDENTS VIEW LIFE IN SHADOWS EXHIBITION GERDA WEISSMANN KLEIN WEBLOG LINKS STUDENTS AND SENIOR CITIZENS. http://mlincoln.lishost.org JIM CROW MUSEUM OF RACIST MEMORABILIA EXHIBIT COACH HERMAN BOONE IN BATTLE CREEK COLLABORATIVE WORK WITH MIRIAM BRYSK MICHIGAN LEARNS ONLINE MOODLE LESSONS Lesson overview & link to Teacher’s Page Guest login at http://bitly.com/HolocaustArtBrysk IMAGE ANALYSIS & WRITING PROMPT IN MOODLE LESSON . Student views image while responding to prompt and proceeds to next question. Describe what you see in the artworks “Vilna-Ponar” and “He Perished in Ponar.” Write down only what you actually observe. HOLOCAUST ART EXHIBIT IN BATTLE CREEK . Miriam Brysk brought an exhibit to the Battle Creek Art Center that imparted faces to events of history. Scroll of Remembrance was a powerful visual narrative depicting Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust. Over 1600 students and adults viewed the exhibit over a 3-week period in May 2014. Teachers received supplemental books from Ravitz Foundation. Paris-Auschwitz I (France-Poland) Photo courtesy of Battle Creek Enquirer.. HOLOCAUST EDUCATION WORKSHOP IN BATTLE CREEK . The International School for Holocaust Studies from Yad Vashem (Jerusalem) conducted a one-day workshop at Lakeview High School in May 2014. No cost; lunch + SCECHs were provided. Each attendee received Echoes and Reflections curriculum guide & DVDs, valued at $100.00. A COLLABORATIVE SUCCESS STORY LESSONS LEARNED THROUGH COLLABORATION . Maximize your contacts/resources. Seek out expertise in areas you do not have expertise. Be bold. Do not be afraid to try something you’ve never done. There is safety in collaboration. Be willing to put in the hard work required. Be willing to let someone else do some work by giving up control. Be open to new opportunities. Opportunity for an online learning collaboration FROM THE BEACHES OF NORMANDY TO A MICHIGAN CLASSROOM A NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR COLLABORATION CHALLENGES SOLUTIONS 1. Curriculum Standards aligned 2. Instruction Blended learning 3. Resources Michigan eLibrary 4. Technology iPads, laptops, Google 5. Schedule Cohorts A, B, C 6. Engagement Real world connections 7. Management Moodle 1. MDE, CCSS, AASL STANDARDS 2. BLENDED LEARNING MODELS 3. RESOURCES FROM MICHIGAN eLIBRARY 4. TECHNOLOGY HARDWARE & SOFTWARE Chromebooks Adobe Connect Prezi Wordpress PowerPoint RSS YouTube Apple iPad Laptops Google Hangouts Email Camtasia 5. SCHEDULE AND CLASS ROTATION Cohort A Cohort B Monday, 9/9 Library Module 1 Monday, 9/9 A 206 Module 2 Tuesday, 9/10 A 206 Module 2 Tuesday, 9/10 Library Module 1 Wednesday, 9/11 Library Module 3 Wednesday, 9/11 A 206 Module 4 Thursday, 9/12 A 206 Module 4 Thursday, 9/12 Library Module 3 Friday, 9/13 Forum Module 5 Friday, 9/13 Forum Module 5 6. ENGAGEMENT & REAL WORLD CONNECTIONS Scott Durham with Sir Nicholas Winton in London http://bit.ly/1oCHvv5 7. COURSE MANAGEMENT WITH MOODLE . Project planning took place April to August 2013. Students surveyed to determine technology needs. Lessons designed and lectures recorded. Assessments created. Long-term substitute hired. Presentation to School Board in June 2013. SCREENCAST FOR MOODLE COURSE SITE Sidebar resources Primary documents & images from Library of Congress Guest login for original World at War Online course is at http://bitly.com/1rZGRMf WHAT THE INTERACTION LOOKED LIKE SEEING THE RESULTS OF PLANNING TRIP HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO EDITED WHILE ON LOCATION Vision for an instructional model ONGOING TEACHING OF THE HOLOCAUST PART III – The Collapse (1942-1945) PART III – The Collapse (1942-1945) PART II – Chipping Away the Blocks (1933-1942) PART III – The Collapse (1942-1945) PART II – Chipping Away the Blocks (1933-1942) PART I – A Meaningful & Purposeful Life (Pre-1933) PART IV – Resiliency & Rebuilding (1945 - Today) PART III – The Collapse (1942-1945) PART II – Chipping Away the Blocks (1933-1942) PART I – A Meaningful & Purposeful Life (Pre-1933) Building Meaningful & Purposeful Lives Through the Study of the Holocaust PART V: A Meaningful & Purposeful Life PART IV: Resiliency & Rebuilding (1945-Today) PART III: The Collapse (1942-1945) RESCUE PART II: Chipping Away the Blocks (1933-1942) RESISTANCE PART I: A Meaningful & Purposeful Life (Pre-1933) Implementation of a 21st century blended unit on the Holocaust BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER WORLD AT WAR HOLOCAUST UNIT Blended Learning Holocaust . Curriculum . Emotional and Personal Connections . Instruction . More than just the Final . Resources Solution – Much more . Technology . Bystanders, Perpetrators, and . Schedule Rescuers . Engagement . Offer opportunities to make the study MEAN . Management something President Barack Obama and Elie Wiesel reflected in a wall in the Hall of Remembrance Part I A Meaningful & Purposeful Life Part II Chipping Away the Blocks Part III The Collapse Part IV Rebuilding & Resilience Part V Building Blocks of a Meaningful & Purposeful Life from Ugliness & Conflict of Humanity ACTIVITIES & ASSESSMENTS ON MOODLE Part I. A Meaningful & Purposeful Life - Activities & Assessments Activity 1: Introduction to model/diagram. Assessment 3A: What "blocks" are required for one to live a meaningful & purposeful life? Answer here. Activity 2: Prewar Jewish Life For over two thousand years, Jewish people had lived in Europe. Life was often difficult and Jews were subjected to persecutions, expulsions and pogroms. Despite these trying circumstances, Jewish culture thrived and flourished. Jews made important contributions to European society during the prewar years. Jewish Life before the Holocaust Yosef Neuhaus Life Before War Vilna, la Jérusalem du nord, n'est plus SIX EXAMPLES . Students are first introduced to these six individuals visually. Diarist excerpts, readings, films are then provided. Lives of survivors and victims are followed through Parts I – V: I. A Meaningful & Purposeful Life II. Chipping Away the Blocks III. The Collapse IV. Resiliency & Rebuilding V. Building the Blocks of a Meaningful and Purposeful Life from the Ugliness and Conflict of Inhumanity HOLOCAUST VIDEO ANALYSIS & REFLECTION (EDpuzzle) Check for understanding, embed writing prompts. Edit, crop, insert audio comments & reflection questions into videos. http://bitly.com/JewishLifePreHolocaust EMBEDDED LIBRARIAN SUPPORT FOR WORLD AT WAR ASK A LIBRARIAN ONLINE SOURCES NEWS ALERTS Please email Mrs. Holocaust (RSS) Lincoln with research Holocaust (NYT) questions or for help PRISM: An with the course. Interdisciplinary Journal Unearthing a Barbarous for Holocaust Educators Past in Poland USHMM Teaching COURSE NOTES Split Up by Holocaust, Materials World at War Note Top Collection of Taking Wiki Voice/Vision Holocaust Yiddish Works Will Survivor Oral History Reunite Digitally Evernote Archive Who's On Trial, Google Docs at LHS Yad VaShem Eichmann or Arendt? EasyBib DID WE KNOW? BC ENQUIRER RESEARCH PROJECT . What did the United States know about the Holocaust and could government officials have done more to intervene? . How did average citizens (including Battle Creek residents) learn about events unfolding in Europe? . An examination of local WWII era newspapers provided by Willard Library is allowing students to answer these questions and to participate in a USHMM sponsored project. 1. American Newspaper Coverage of Jewish Persecution in Nazi Germany 2. Willard Library Guide to Chronicling Historical Local Newspapers 3. Newspaper Article Analysis Form SEARCHING BATTLE CREEK HISTORIC NEWSPAPERS SAVING/EMAILING/CLIPPING NEWSPAPER ARTICLES USC SHOAH FOUNDATION LIBERATOR TESTIMONY Leon Bass Bernard Bermack Howard Cwick James Hayes Kurt Klein Barton Nagata Paul Parks James Zuidema Focus on the words of one liberator whose story you found especially memorable. What does this testimony teach us about the importance of human action, human rights and the human spirit? PART V - BUILDING THE BLOCKS OF A MEANINGFUL & PURPOSEFUL LIFE FROM THE UGLINESS & CONFLICT OF HUMANITY Activity 1: Brainstorm as a class or in small groups the blocks needed to rebuild a meaningful and purposeful life for the following kinds of people: An American soldier in WWII; A Holocaust survivor; The Family of a Holocaust victim; A Holocaust rescuer; Bystanders of war. Activity 2: Brainstorm individually the blocks that you will need to build a meaningful & purposeful life. Activity 3: Compare the blocks from Activity 1 and Activity 2. Find at least three that are in both - ones that YOU share with victims and participants in war. Activity 4: Watch the following interview with Gerda Weissmann Klein. Activity 5: Now, using at least one of those shared blocks, you will write an
Recommended publications
  • Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2017 Remarks at the United States
    Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2017 Remarks at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Days of Remembrance Ceremony April 25, 2017 Thank you very much. Thank you. Friends, Members of Congress, Ambassadors, veterans, and most especially, to the survivors here with us today: It's an honor to join you on this very, very solemn occasion. I am deeply moved to stand before those who survived history's darkest hour. Your cherished presence transforms this place into a sacred gathering. Thank you, Tom Bernstein, Allan Holt, Sara Bloomfield, and everyone at the Holocaust Memorial Council and Museum for your vital work and tireless contributions. We are privileged to be joined by Israel's Ambassador to the United States, friend of mine— he's done a great job and said some wonderful words—Ron Dermer. The State of Israel is an eternal monument to the undying strength of the Jewish people. The fervent dream that burned in the hearts of the oppressed is now filled with the breath of life, and the Star of David waves atop a great nation arisen from the desert. To those in the audience who have served America in uniform, our country eternally thanks you. We are proud and grateful to be joined today by veterans of the Second World War who liberated survivors from the camps. Your sacrifice helped save freedom for the world, for the entire world. Sadly, this year marks the first Day of Remembrance since the passing of Elie Wiesel, a great person, a great man. His absence leaves an empty space in our hearts, but his spirit fills this room.
    [Show full text]
  • One Survivor Remembers Teacher’S Guide 0 Grades 8 Through 12 Contents a Summary of Gerda’S Story 3 How to Use This Kit 4 a Note About the Primary Documents 5
    ONE SURVIVOR REMEMBERS Teacher’s Guide 0 Grades 8 ThrouGh 12 Contents A Summary of Gerda’s Story 3 How to Use This Kit 4 A Note About the Primary Documents 5 LESSON PLANS Providing Context for the Film Tapping Students’ Prior Knowledge 7 Holocaust Timeline Activity 10 Viewing the Film Discussing the Film 11 Connecting with Gerda 34 Empathizing with Loss 37 Humanizing the Dehumanized 39 Building on the Film’s Themes Antisemitism 42 Bullies & Bystanders 49 Holding Onto Hope 54 Applying the Film’s Themes A Call to Action: Service Learning 58 Intolerance Today 61 EXTRAS Recommended Resources 69 Content Standards 70 Acknowledgements 71 A Note from Gerda 73 one survivor remembers PREFACE A Summary of Gerda’s Story by Michael Berenbaum This is a story about the strength of the human spirit, the story of a woman who survived the Holocaust and emerged with her humanity intact. Stripped of family, friends, pos- sessions and freedom, she lived to tell her story, a story she tells eloquently and power- fully in One Survivor Remembers. A Polish Jew, Gerda Weissmann lived six years under German rule. It was a time when Jews were stigmatized, discriminated against, harassed and beaten. Their houses of worship were burned; their places of business, looted. They were driven from their homes, imprisoned in ghettos and forced to work in slave-labor camps. And they were murdered — some where they lived, town by town, person by person; others in death camps, where millions were gassed in an assembly-line process that mimicked the great factories of industrialized Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • H. Res. 1743 in the House of Representatives, U
    H. Res. 1743 In the House of Representatives, U. S., December 15, 2010. Whereas Gerda Weissmann was born in Bielsko, Poland in 1924; Whereas within months of the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Ms. Weissmann’s brother Arthur was taken away by the Germans and the remainder of her family was forced to live in a ghetto; Whereas Ms. Weissmann was soon separated from her par- ents, who were sent to Auschwitz; Whereas Ms. Weissmann was forced to spend the next 3 years in a succession of slave-labor and concentration camps; Whereas in 1945, Ms. Weissmann was forced to walk in a 350-mile death march during which 2,000 women, includ- ing Ms. Weissmann, were subjected to starvation, expo- sure, and arbitrary execution; Whereas the death march ended in Volary, Czechoslovakia, when the survivors were liberated by the United States Army; Whereas Ms. Weissmann was one of less than 120 women to survive the death march; 2 Whereas one of the American Army officers who helped lib- erate the survivors was German-born Lieutenant Kurt Klein, whose parents had been murdered in Auschwitz; Whereas Ms. Weissmann and Lieutenant Klein fell in love, got married, and moved to the United States to start a family; Whereas upon moving to the United States, Mrs. Weissmann Klein worked vigilantly to promote Holocaust education and remembrance, teach tolerance, and combat hunger; Whereas Mrs. Weissmann Klein’s first book, All But My Life, was published in 1957, and chronicles her courageous struggle for survival during the Holocaust; Whereas One Survivor Remembers, a documentary about Mrs.
    [Show full text]
  • Testimonies Aligned with Topics to Teach
    LESSON: Teaching with Holocaust Survivor Testimony HANDOUT: Testimonies Aligned with Topics to Teach One of the most powerful ways of remembering the Holocaust and honoring its victims is to bring the voices of survivors to your students. Precisely because they portray people in the fullness of their lives and not just as victims, first-person accounts and memoir literature add individual voices to a collective experience and help students make meaning out of the statistics. As you teach about key historical topics, incorporate survivor testimony to personalize the history, to emphasize its impact on individuals, and to highlight the diversity of experiences individuals had during this event. When including survivor testimony, providing context is essential. The museum’s Guidelines for Teaching about the Holocaust suggest placing events described in survivor testimony into historical context so students can understand the circumstances that led to particular actions or events. Below are resources to assist you in identifying survivor testimonies to enhance your teaching of Holocaust history. ● Survivor Testimony Video Clips – short clips taken from interviews with survivors of the Holocaust and persecution by the Nazis and their collaborators ● Complete Oral Histories - Over 17,000 digitized oral histories are available online via the Museum’s collections database. ● First Person podcast – This audio series features interviews with Holocaust survivors excerpted from the Museums First Person program. ● First Person: Conversations with Holocaust Survivors – This hour long program is offered live via streaming video of Holocaust survivors as they share their remarkable personal stories of hope, tragedy, and survival with visitors at the Museum; recordings of previous years’ programs are available to stream via YouTube.
    [Show full text]
  • The Holocaust: a Learning Site for Students
    MUSEUM EDUCATION RESEARCH HISTORY REMEMBRANCE GENOCIDE SUPPORT CONNECT The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students Browse all Oral Histories [1-50/67] Pages: 1 2 Agnes Mandl Adachi. Abraham Bomba. Abraham Lewent. Beno Helmer. Describes Describes rescue activity Describes gassing Describes conditions in conditions in the Lodz on the banks of the operations at Treblinka the Warsaw ghetto ghetto Danube River and the role of Raoul Wallenberg Benjamin (Ben) Meed. Benjamin (Ben) Meed. Chaim Engel. Recalls the Chaim Engel. Describes Describes Warsaw shortly Describes the burning of Sobibor uprising and his plans for the Sobibor after the German the Warsaw ghetto escape uprising. Chaim refers to occupation in 1939, and during the 1943 ghetto [Gustav] Wagner, his first experience of uprising Sobibor's deputy antisemitism commandant Charlene Schiff. Describes Esther Raab. Describes Emanuel Tanay. Describes Fritzie Weiss Fritzshall. a clandestine school for planning for the uprising the establishment of the Describes selection children in the Horochow in Sobibor Miechow ghetto process in Auschwitz ghetto Franz Wohlfahrt. Gerda Weissmann Klein. Gerda Blachmann Hanne Hirsch Liebmann. Describes imprisonment Describes liberation in Wilchfort. Describes the Describes harassment in Graz Czechoslovakia by U.S. mood of passengers on and anti-Jewish soldier the "St. Louis" after they sentiment in Germany were denied entry into Cuba Hessy Levinsons Taft. John Komski. Describes Johanna Gerechter Joseph Stanley Wardzala. Describes father's Krakow after the Neumann. Describes Describes the badge Poles attempts to obtain visas outbreak of World War II Kristallnacht in Hamburg had to wear in forced- for the family to emigrate labor camps in Germany from Nice, in the south of France Leif Donde.
    [Show full text]
  • Dossier 60E Anniversaire Auschwitz.Pdf
    Journée de la mémoire de l’Holocauste et de la prévention des crimes contre l’Humanité Lycée Français de Varsovie Dossier réalisé par A. Léonard, professeur d’Histoire-Géographie. I. Quelques données générales sur les camps et les ghettos Document 1 : Les principaux camps dans l’Europe nazie et les 6 camps d’extermination sur le territoire polonais Document 2 : Les victimes du nazisme Civils et prisonniers de guerre exterminés par les nazis Nombre de victimes juives réparties selon la cause du Prisonniers soviétiques 3 500 000 décès (selon R. Hilberg) Détenus dans les camps de concentration 1 100 000 Ghettos et privations 800 000 Euthanasie des malades mentaux 70 000 Fusillades en dehors des camps 1 300 000 Tziganes 240 000 Camps de la mort 2 700 000 Juifs 5 100 000* Autres camps 300 000 * D’après Raul Hilberg, La Destruction des Juifs d’Europe, Paris, Total 5 100 000 Fayard, 1988. D’après Les Collections de l’Histoire, octobre 1998, p. 40. Document 3 : Répartition des victimes juives du génocide par pays (dans les frontières de 1937)* - Europe de l’Est : Pologne environ 3 000 000, Roumanie 270 000, Lituanie environ 130 000, Lettonie 70 000, Estonie 2 000 - URSS : plus de 700 000 - Europe centrale et balkanique : Hongrie plus de 400 000, Tchécoslovaquie 260 000, Allemagne environ 120 000, Yougoslavie 60 000, Grèce 60 000, Autriche environ 50 000 - Europe occidentale : Pays-Bas environ 100 000, France 75 000 (au total, de mars 1942 à août 1944, 75.721 Juifs seront déportés de France, dont 11.000 enfants), Belgique 24 000, Italie (y compris Rhodes) 9 000, Luxembourg environ 1 000, Norvège environ 1 000 Total général environ 5 100 0001 * D’après Raul Hilberg, La Destruction des Juifs d’Europe, Fayard, 1988 et pour la Hongrie d’après L’Histoire, Le dossier Auschwitz, janvier 2005, p.33 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Gerda Weissmann Klein
    Gerda Weissmann Klein For decades author, historian, and speaker Gerda Weissmann Klein has captivated audiences worldwide with her powerful message of hope, inspiration, love and humanity. In her speeches and books, Klein draws from her wealth of life experiences: from surviving the Holocaust, meeting her future husband on the day of her liberation, to her journey to the United States, accepting an Oscar and Emmy for a documentary based on her life, and her constant fight to promote tolerance and combat hunger. In 1939, 15 year-old Gerda Weissmann Klein's life changed forever as German troops invaded her home in Bielsko, Poland. After being forced to live in the basement of her childhood home for nearly three years, Gerda was separated from her parents. Never losing hope, Gerda Weissmann Klein would spend the next three years in a succession of slave-labor and concentration camps, until she was forced to walk in a 350-mile death march in which 2,000 women were subjected to exposure, starvation, and arbitrary execution and fewer than 120 of them survived. Despite such atrocities, Klein never lost the will to survive. Gerda Weissmann Klein’s account of her experience is documented in her classic autobiography, All But My Life, which is now 51 years in print in 62 editions. It was the foundation for the Oscar and Emmy-winning HBO documentary One Survivor Remembers. One of the most remarkable chapters in Gerda Weissmann Klein’s life began when her future husband, Kurt Klein, a U. S. Army intelligence officer--and himself a refugee from Germany--liberated her.
    [Show full text]
  • An Interview with Gerda Weissmann Klein from the Fall 2005 Issue of Teaching Tolerance, Interview by Jeff Sapp
    one survivor remembers An Interview with Gerda Weissmann Klein From the Fall 2005 issue of Teaching Tolerance, Interview by Jeff Sapp “Suse, we are free!” Gerda Weissmann called to her friend. The war was over. They had endured six years in Nazi concen- tration camps, followed by a three-month death march in bitter winter. Weissmann was 21. Her hair had turned white. She weighed 68 pounds. She hadn’t had a bath in three years. But Suse did not answer; she died on the very day of liberation. Gerda had lost all but her life. Weissmann was 15 years old in September 1939 when Germany invaded the city of Bielitz (pres- ent-day Bielsko), Poland. She lived with her father and mother, Julius and Helene, and her brother, Artur. In her memoir, All But My Life, she recounts the horror of los- ing family and friends, of life in concentration camps, of the death march and of liberation in 1945 by an American soldier named Kurt Klein, who later became her husband. Her memoir is the basis of a Kary Antholis documentary film, “One Survivor Remembers,” co-produced by HBO and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; the film won the 1995 Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. Kurt Klein died in 2002, and Gerda Weissmann Klein keeps his memory alive. Gerda’s liberator, Kurt Klein, who would leter become her husband one survivor remembers You have said that your mes- sage is threefold: remembering the past, appreciating the great- ness of the present and the hope for the future.
    [Show full text]
  • Lend a Hand! the World by Helping Others INSIDE:INSIDE: ● One Family’S Mission to Promote Tolerance and Respect Made ● Fighting Hunger Possible by in America
    StandStand Up,Up, SpeakSpeak Out,Out, Changing Lend a Hand! the World by Helping Others INSIDE:INSIDE: G One family’s mission to promote tolerance and respect Made G Fighting hunger possible by in America www.kleinfoundation.org www.kimmel.org www.centeronhunger.org FromFrom TerrorTerror toto ToleranceTolerance How Two Activist Spirits Were Born Gerda Weissmann Klein and Kurt Klein were both teens when the horrors of World War II changed their lives. From their personal suffer- ing and loss, they developed a deeply held belief in the essential values of tolerance and respect for others—and the importance of taking action through service to help people everywhere. CARLCOXPHOTO.COM ERDA WEISSMANN TURNED Gerda saw her father for the last was a German Jew who had fled the 15 ON MAY 8, 1939. It was time. The next day, she was separat- Nazis at age 17. Though Kurt Klein Gthe last birthday she would ed from her mother. Her parents hadn’t suffered the physical tor- ever celebrate with her family perished in the gas chambers. ments that Gerda had, he knew loss. together—mother, father and broth- Through three years in slave er, Arthur. It was the last she would labor camps—dressed in rags, A Failed Rescue celebrate in freedom until 1945. By always hungry, with the knowledge Kurt Klein grew up in Walldorf, then, Gerda, a Polish Jew, was the that death could come at any time— Germany. He turned 13 in 1933, the only one of her family and close Gerda carried on. She stayed close year Hitler came to power.
    [Show full text]
  • Bielitz (Bielsko) 1
    All But My Life by Gerda Weismann Klein All But My Life is Gerda Weissmann Klein’s memoir of her experiences during World War II. Klein was born on May 8, 1924, in Bielitz (now Bielsko), Poland. She remembers her childhood as being happy, even idyllic. The Weissmanns were a Jewish family, and their town had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before 1919. Like most of the residents in the area, the Weissmann family was bilingual, speaking both Polish and German, and Klein’s older brother, Arthur, studied English as well. Klein’s father, Julius, was a business executive who had lived in Bielitz for more than twenty years, and Helene, her mother, was born there, as were both Klein and Arthur. The family was horrified when German Nazi forces invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Despite the fact that Britain and the United States declared war on Germany two days later, it took the Nazis only eighteen days to conquer Poland. Soon afterward, the entire Jewish population of Bielitz was forced to register with the police, and soon, sanctions were imposed against the Jews. First, they were required to turn in all gold, automobiles, bicycles, and radios. Many Jews were forced out of their homes, and the local temple was burned down. In October of 1939, all Jewish men between the ages of sixteen and fifty were forced to register, whereupon they were sent in cattle cars to rebuild parts of Poland that had been destroyed by Allied attacks. Klein’s brother was sent to the interior of Poland in one of these transports.
    [Show full text]
  • Gerda Weissmann Klein 48 Arizona Women
    GERDA WEISSMANN KLEIN CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT / SOCIAL CHANGE Gerda began writing and speaking about her experiences Klein’s life as a young woman in Europe during World War II during the Holocaust. is documented in her autobiography, “All But My Life.” The title describes what she lost under the brutal rule of the Nazi After Kurt retired in 1985, they moved to Arizona to be regime – her home, her freedom, her family and best friend. closer to their daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren in the Phoenix area. The book is the foundation for “One Survivor Remembers,” an HBO documentary that won Oscar and Emmy awards. She has dedicated more than six decades of her life to crusading for tolerance and other social causes. Klein was 15 when German troops invaded the town in Poland where she lived with her parents and brother. The “All But My Life” is in its 66th edition and is used in middle family was forced to live in the basement of their home for and high school classes throughout the world. The film three years. “Testimony,” based on her story, is on permanent exhibit at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in the nation’s capitol. Later separated from her parents, she was imprisoned for the next three years in slave-labor and concentration camps. She has spoken in schools and to community groups in all 50 states. Her portrait is featured on the cover of the textbook As the American Army and their allied forces overtook the “The Americans,” along with photographs of Franklin Nazis, Klein was among 2,000 women forced on a four-month, Delano Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan 350-mile death march through bitter cold, during and Norman Schwarzkopf.
    [Show full text]
  • Teaching the Holocaust Nonfiction Resources
    TEACHING THE HOLOCAUST NONFICTION RESOURCES This list has been compiled to assist educators in their search for literature to use in teaching the Holocaust to children at all grade levels, K-12. This list is comprehensive but certainly not exhaustive. This research aid contains NONFICTION books whose primary topic is Jewish children who lived during or through the Holocaust. Comprising it is a mixture of literature about Jewish children who did survive the Holocaust and those who did not (most of which are in diary format). Although far fewer in number, books that tell of a person’s life after the War (i.e. in Eretz Israel or the United States) have also been included. Poetry can be found on the fiction resources list. A title’s inclusion herein was based solely upon whatever summary of a book could be found, which has been provided (copied-and-pasted) along with its source (as a website address). The author of this listing made very minor corrections to summaries where needed, including but not limited to: italicizing book titles; changing foreign words (to make spelling uniform throughout); editing for overall mechanics and spelling. Not included in this listing: • Any books whose title suggested appropriateness for inclusion on this list but for which a summary could not be found. • Books whose primary topic is of others (adults or children) who helped Jewish children (to hide, etc.) during the Holocaust or who helped to rescue them. • Books told from the perspective of a non-Jewish child who may have witnessed the mistreatment of Jews or assisted any Jewish person in some way.
    [Show full text]