Educational Guide
Educational Guide
Educational Guide The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education (CHHE) is grateful to The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati for sharing our vision for this educational initiative and supporting the creation of this guide and additional educational components. We would also like to thank the Ohio Statehouse and the Ohio Jewish Communities. We are grateful for their support and partnership throughout this project.
CHHE is fortunate to have the support of a group of educators who came together during their summer vacation to brainstorm and share their insight and knowledge so that we can ensure this guide is effective, useful, and informative. We dedicate this guide to these educators and the many other dedicated and passionate educators in our Ohio community. Thank you for your ongoing support of Holocaust education, be it at the local, regional, or global level.
CHHE Staff Sarah L. Weiss, Executive Director Alexis Storch Morrisroe, Director of Education Cori Silbernagel, Collections Manager Kate Morris, Development Manager Trinity Ruggles, Education Coordinator
Sonia Marie Leikem and Kelly Stiles Educational Guide Consultants
8401 Montgomery Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45236
P: 513-487-3055 F: 513-791-4920 [email protected] www.holocaustandhumanity.org Table of Contents
Introduction 4
Preparing for a Visit to the Memorial 10
Classroom Activities for Grades Four and Five 12 - 45
Memories & Memorials 13
Exploring Ohio Identity 15
What is Democracy? 24
I Can Be the Change 37
Classroom Activities for Grades Six through Twelve 46 - 76
Sites of Memory 47
Role of Government 55
What is a Human Right? 67
Biographies of Survivors and Liberators 78
Evaluation 84
Introduction The Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial was unveiled by Governor John Kasich and architect Daniel Libeskind during a ceremony held on June 2, 2014. The ceremony was the conclusion of a three-year process that began May 4, 2011, when Governor Kasich proposed a memorial to remember Ohio Holocaust survivors and Ohio World War II veterans who liberated Nazi death camps.
The Ohio Statehouse serves as a historic symbol of who we are and what we value as Ohioans. It is a place that honors the history, memory, and people of Ohio. The Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial humbly recognizes and honors Ohio citizens who survived the Holocaust and the Ohio liberators who served in the armed forces. The Memorial is a reminder to us as citizens and to those we elect that we have a responsibility to each other.
In March 2012, Governor Kasich signed legislation authorizing the creation of a memorial with oversight of the project being given to the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board and the Ohio Arts Council. The mission of the Memorial states:
[…]to create a memorial that would help public officials and visitors to the Statehouse understand not just the history of the Holocaust, but the fact that today we must continue to stand against evil. This Memorial will remind people about man’s inhumanity to man. It is a monument to remember the victims of the Holocaust, Ohio survivors and liberators. The Memorial should inspire people to think and act differently in the face of hatred, anti-Semitism and genocide as well as motivate visitors to learn more about the topic and to serve as a springboard for other educational activities.
Now is the time to remind us of the need for tolerance, acceptance, and perseverance through placement of a meaningful memorial on the Capitol grounds.
Thanks to the generous support of The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati, The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education (CHHE), located in Cincinnati, is able to create and provide this guide for teachers looking to the Memorial as inspiration for teaching about the legacy of the Holocaust, the survivors who made their home in Ohio following the war, and Ohio veterans who served in WWII.
How to Use this Guide This guide is designed to be used with the Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial. Teachers are encouraged to visit the Memorial; however, lessons from this guide do not require a visit to the physical location. The activities are designed to highlight particular moments, individuals, and themes inspired by the Memorial. Please note a visit to the Memorial and the activities in this guide are intended to serve as a supplement to, not a replacement for, a larger exploration of the history of the Holocaust and WWII.
Making Connections The curriculum standards addressed in each activity connect with the Common Core and Ohio State Standards for grades four and above. If you would like more information on how to connect this guide with other Ohio state standards, please contact CHHE.
Literary and Testimony Connections For additional extension opportunities, each lesson outline includes suggested pieces of age-appropriate literature to connect with the theme of the lesson. The video testimonies are excerpted from the USC Shoah iWitness project. Between 1994 and 1999, the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation—now the USC Shoah Foundation—interviewed nearly 52,000 survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust. iWitness is an educational
Introduction 5 website developed by the USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education that provides access to more than 1,500 full life histories, testimonies of survivors, and witnesses to the Holocaust and other genocides for guided exploration.
In order to access the appropriate video segment outlined in each lesson of this guide, please use the following steps: 1. Go to the iWitness website and register at no cost. 2. Search for the testimony by the name of the eyewitness. 3. Select the clip #. 4. Once you are in the proper clip, select the time indicated in the guide by moving the cursor along the bottom of the video.
Viewing Survivor and Liberator Testimony Holocaust survivor and liberator testimonies represent an important perspective while examining the history of the Holocaust. These firsthand accounts help students more deeply understand both the human and inhumane dimensions of this important event. The testimonies supplement what we learn from history books by offering unique perspectives on the difficult and, at times, impossible situations that individuals were forced to confront. Teachers can ensure that students have the historical context for the testimony by including these voices as part of a visit to the Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial or within their units on the Holocaust.
While using survivor and liberator testimony presents tremendous opportunities, the difficult nature of this material can also present challenges for teachers who want to find a safe, respectful way for students to engage with this content. It is important to allow plenty of time for students to ask questions, and to reflect and discuss before, during, and after viewing the testimony of any survivor, rescuer, or liberator.
Be prepared for a range of students’ responses while reading a transcript or watching a clip of a testimony. For example, if some students respond in what appears to be insensitive ways, it may be because they are struggling with how to process this information on an emotional and intellectual level. To help students process their feelings, questions, and ideas, they should be encouraged to journal or draw.
Additional testimonies of liberators are available online from The Library of Congress Veterans History Project. To access these videos, go to http://www.loc.gov/vets/. Click on “Search the Veterans Collection”. From there, you can search or browse by name, category (including liberator, camp location, etc.) or branch of service.
Additional Resources We encourage you to use the additional resources found on the website www.ohioholocaustmemorial.org. These resources include a set of recommended guidelines to follow while teaching the Holocaust, as well as suggestions of books and films to supplement these lessons. We also suggest students review maps and an overview of the history of the Holocaust prior to and following their visit to the Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial.
Introduction 6 Learning Objectives • To enhance a visit to the Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial by providing educators with tools and resources to explore the history and lessons of the Holocaust. • To provide students the opportunity to examine their own personal sets of values and reflect on their role in our democracy. • To provide tools and resources that support educators as they seek to integrate Holocaust and genocide education into their classrooms’ curricula. • To provide background and preparation for a visit to the Memorial.
Each lesson in the guide has individual goals and aligns with specific Common Core and Ohio State Learning Standards. Please refer to each lesson for those specific standards.
Grades Four and Five Please note that we do not recommend the teaching of the history of the Holocaust to students below sixth grade. The lessons for younger learners in this guide are designed to encourage reflection on the themes of freedom, citizenship, and democracy, which the Memorial inspires. Although designed for students in grades four and five, these lessons may be adapted for older students.
Grades Six through Twelve These lessons are designed to meet the needs of older learners with prior experience learning about the Holocaust. These specific lessons are designed to encourage reflection on the role of government, human rights, and how we remember the past can influence us today.
Introduction 7 About The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education In the years following the Holocaust, hundreds of survivors built new lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. They formed the Jewish New American Society, which served to help the survivors integrate into the local Jewish community and foster community with those who had been through similar experiences. Later reorganized under the name Survivors of Nazism, the group’s primary purpose was to provide social opportunities and connections through events and special commemorations of the Holocaust.
In 1994, leaders of the Jewish Survivors of Nazism together with the children of local survivors reenvisioned the organization. Thus was born a new group called The Combined Generations of the Holocaust, which expanded to a wider mission of developing and providing education, outreach, and social programs promoting Holocaust history, understanding, and preservation. After much consideration, the committee of Combined Generations of the Holocaust approached Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion about locating a Holocaust education center on its campus, and, in 2000, CHHE opened. The space included offices and a Resource Library for teachers. CHHE expanded the annual Yom HaShoah commemoration to include a series of Holocaust awareness programs across the tri-state.
In 2007, CHHE became an independent non-profit organization, and, in 2009, relocated to its current location. In 2014, CHHE reached over 100,000 individuals through its work. CHHE continues to educate about the Holocaust, remember its victims and act on its lessons. Through innovative programs and partnerships, CHHE challenges injustice, inhumanity and prejudice, and fosters understanding, inclusion and engaged citizenship. Resources include traveling and permanent exhibits, teacher trainings, a speakers’ bureau, and a permanent exhibit open to the public, Mapping Our Tears. Mapping Our Tears also houses the Cincinnati Hillel Judaica Collection containing hundreds of pieces of Judaica.
Introduction 9 Preparing for a Visit to the Memorial Grades Four and Five
Ask students to read the description of the Holocaust below.
Not too long ago, a political party came to power in Germany. It was led by a man named Adolf Hitler. When his party, the Nazi party, gained more power, they began to separate and target people whom they believed were inferior. Their primary targets were Jewish people, who made up less than 1% of the German population. The Nazi party blamed the Jews and other persons such as Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), Jehovah’s Witnesses, and people with disabilities for Germany’s problems. They were seen as a threat to the Nazi idea of perfection. This led to many hateful and discriminatory laws. Eventually, and for many reasons, most of the German people began to believe and support the Nazi party. These laws led to violence against the Jews, which we refer to as the Holocaust. The Holocaust occurred during World War II, when many Americans fought proudly for their country against the Nazis and the Axis Powers. This Memorial was created to remember the Holocaust and those who settled in Ohio after surviving the Holocaust. It also honors the Ohio veterans who fought bravely for the United States and the impact both survivors and veterans have had on our community.
After reading together, lead a discussion on this description: 1. Does this sound familiar to you? 2. What was surprising to you? 3. Why do you think a Memorial was created to remember this event in history? 4. What are you hoping to learn during your visit to the Memorial? 5. How does this Memorial connect with the other topics we are learning about in school?
Grades Six through Twelve
Visit the website of The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education and screen the film, “Echoing Voices: The Holocaust through the Testimony of Greater Cincinnati Eyewitnesses.”
As students view the film, ask them to consider: 1. How do the experiences of Cincinnati Holocaust eyewitnesses connect with you? 2. What words, ideas, and events stand out to you as you hear some of the testimony from Ohio eyewitnesses? 3. What can testimonies of survivors, eyewitnesses, and liberators tell us about the past? About the future? 4. What is one thing you hope to learn during your visit to the Memorial?
Visit the Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial website and screen the film, “Making of the Memorial,” which tells the story of the Memorial.
As students view the film, ask them to consider: 1. Why do we have memorials? How do they transmit memory? 2. What does this film tell us about the importance of a Holocaust and Liberators Memorial on the Statehouse grounds? 3. What is one thing you hope to learn during your visit to the Memorial?
Preparing for a Visit to the Memorial 11 Classroom Activities
Grades Four and Five Memories & Memorials
Overview In this lesson students explore their family’s history as an introduction to the Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial. In addition, students will be introduced to new vocabulary including upstander, bystander, liberator, and Holocaust survivor.
Objectives • Students will identify and present an item which has significance to them. • Students will learn key vocabulary terms including upstander, bystander, liberator, and survivor. • Students will create a poster or write a short essay describing how they will be an upstander.
Essential Question: Why are memories important?
Preparation & Materials • Large paper for posters • Markers/crayons/colored pencils • TeacherTube access
Duration: 1 class period
Setup Prior to Class Session Prior to the lesson, ask students to bring in an item that has significance in their lives, is connected to a special time, or is a family heirloom.
Assessment • Formative: Class Discussion • Formal and Summative: Public Service Announcement
Classroom Activities Grades Four and Five 13 Activity Part I Activity Part II
• In pairs, ask students to share the item that they • Next, transition to explaining that they will discuss brought to class and why it is special. what it means to be an upstander. Ask students what they think “upstander” means by physically As a full class, discuss why memories are • acting it out (i.e. have them stand up, etc.). important. Use this to lead into the definition of a “memorial.” • Next, ask students what “bystander” means. Explain that bystander is the opposite of Transition into a discussion about the Ohio • upstander - someone who doesn’t stand up for Holocaust and Liberators Memorial, explaining something or someone in need. Use specific that it is a memorial which keeps the memories of examples from bullying situations to explain these liberators and Holocaust survivors alive. terms. • Define liberator and Holocaust survivor: • Load the NED Show video Be an Upstander on
TeacherTube. Liberator: a person in the military who witnessed the Holocaust as a soldier and freed people • Discuss what was seen in the video including the during World War II. four steps to being an upstander.
Holocaust Survivor: a person who survived persecution during the Nazi Regime (1933-1945).
Activity Extension Suggest students interview someone in their family or an adult mentor, asking them about a time when they were an upstander. Make sure to include questions about what motivated them to be an upstander. In small groups, and keeping in mind their interviews and the NED Show video, ask students to create their own Public Service Announcement about bullying prevention.
Making Connections Literary Connections Ohio Model Curriculum: Social Studies Amnesty International. We Are All Born Free. London: Lincoln’s Grade 4: Ohio in the United States Children’s Books, 2008. History Strand: Historical Thinking & Skills: CS 2 Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills: CS 15-16 Polacco, Patricia. The Keeping Quilt. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2001. Grade 5: Regions and People of the Western Hemisphere Geography Strand: Human Systems: CS 8, 10 Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills: CS 11 Common Core State Standards
SL.(4).4; SL.(4-5).1
Classroom Activities 14 Grades Four and Five Exploring Ohio Identity
Overview This lesson is designed to encourage students to reflect on the rich history and diversity in the state of Ohio. It also provides an overview discussion of the meaning of community in Ohio.
Objectives • Students will work collaboratively to identify and analyze the elements of identity for themselves, their school community, and the State of Ohio. • Students will be able to explain how Ohio’s heritage, history, people, culture, and geography contribute to its identity. • Students will make predictions about images and summarize their meaning.
Essential Question: What makes Ohio unique?
Preparation & Materials • Exploring Ohio Identity Handout • Station Cards - set up seven stations around the room, each with a Station Card. Please Note: For more information on the individuals featured in this activity, please visit the Ohio Statehouse website.
Connecting With Testimony • Estelle Laughlin iWitness Clip #3-4 11:53-14:20: Ms. Laughlin speaks of how her own identity developed growing up. She addresses her childhood, values, and traditions. • Ellen Brandt iWitness Clip #93 0:35-4:33: Ms. Brandt speaks of her journey to Ohio as a German refugee. She addresses her childhood, college years, and her desire to assimilate into American society.
Duration: 2 class periods
Setup Prior to Class Session Set up stations, assigning each station one or two image(s). When placing the image(s) at each station, be sure only the image, not the description is visible.
Assessment • Informal and Formative: Group Work and Class Discussion • Formal and Summative: Graphic Organizer
Classroom Activities Grades Four and Five 15 Activity Part I Activity Part II
• Distribute the Ohio Identity handout to each • Direct students to the stations set up around the student. On the first picture, students will describe classroom. Explain that each station includes an themselves - characteristics, talents, interests, image. In their groups, students will complete physical features, family, background, etc. After their graphic organizer as they visit each station. completing this section, students will discuss in In the first column, students should provide a pairs. prediction of what the picture is. Then, they can reveal the hidden explanation to complete the While in pairs, students will consider their identity • column of what they learned. Finally, they should as a school community. They should consider record their thoughts on what this image tells us where the school is located, sports, mascot, about life in and the history of Ohio. Be sure to symbols, groups, clubs, types of students, highlight that these were ordinary people doing etc. After completing this section, two pairs extraordinary things. of students should come together and share observations. • When students have completed all the stations, the teacher will have students discuss what they Lastly, in their new group, students will think • discovered about Ohio’s identity. (Lesson variation: about what is Ohio’s identity. They will write down assign groups one piece of art, memorial, or their observations in the appropriate section of person, then have them present their findings to the handout. They should think about where the the rest of the class.) state is situated, geography, landmarks, culture, people, history, and background.
Activity Extension Students can research a person from Ohio whom they think should be honored at the Statehouse. They could even nominate that person for the Ohio Statehouse “Great Ohioan” Award. http://www.ohiostatehouse.org/museum/great-ohioans
Teacher’s Note: The Ohio Statehouse is not only where the state government resides (and has for more than 150 years), but it is also dedicated to honoring the people, history, and memory of Ohio, especially those Ohioans who have distinguished themselves in extraordinary ways. Some were born here, some traveled here, and many brought experiences and memories from different places and times.
Making Connections Common Core State Standards
RI.(4).1; RI.(4).7; SL.(4-5).1d; RI.(5).9 Ohio Model Curriculum: Social Studies Literary Connections Grade 4: Ohio in the United States History Strand: Heritage: CS 3, 7-8 Louise Borden. The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Geography Strand: Human Systems: CS 13 Wartime Escape of Margret and H. A. Rey. Boston: Houghton Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills: CS 15-17 Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2005.
Grade 5: Regions and People of the Western Hemisphere Levine, Karen. Hana’s Suitcase. Morton Grove: Albert Whitman & Geography Strand: Human Systems: CS 8, 10 Company, 2003. Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills: CS 11
Classroom Activities 16 Grades Four and Five
Student Materials
Exploring Ohio Identity Name
Date
Exploring Ohio Identity Directions: Write down the characteristics and features that form the identity of each.
Describe yourself. List characteristics, talents, interests, physical features, family, background, etc. What makes you YOU?
Write some words or phrases that characterize your school community. Consider where your school is located, sports, mascot, symbols, groups, clubs, types of students, etc.
Record what determines Ohio’s identity. Consider geography, landmarks, culture, people, history, and background.
Name
Date
Directions: Each Station number connects with an image. Complete each column using the information provided and from conversations in your group.
What do you think this What does this image tell us Station Brief Description is a photo of? about Ohio history?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7 The Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial was initiated by Governor John Kasich. Architect Daniel Libeskind designed the Memorial. It opened during a ceremony on June 2, 2014. It is the newest addition to the Statehouse lawn.
The Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial at the Ohio Statehouse honors those from Ohio who fought in World War II and people who suffered under very difficult conditions during the war. The Memorial is a reminder that there are different types of bravery: as a soldier, a citizen, or a friend. Even though the war was far away in Europe, the Memorial is a symbol that when groups of people are in danger in one place, it affects all Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial Photography of us. ©Brad Feinknopf 2014
Did you know at one time women in the United States weren’t allowed to vote?
On June 16, 1919, Ohio became the sixth state to vote and pass the 19th Amendment. This amendment gave women the right to vote (suffrage). On August 26, 1920, the amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution. Shown here are women in the suffrage movement.
In 1922, six women were elected to Ohio’s 85th General Assembly. Ohio’s General Assembly is similar to the U.S. Congress: it combines both the state representatives and senate. Since 1922, more than 150 women have served in the
Image courtesy of Capitol Square Review and Advisory General Assembly. Board at the Ohio Statehouse
In June 2008, a room in the Ohio Statehouse was dedicated to those first six women. This room is called The Ladies’ Gallery. It honors all women who have served in the Ohio General Assembly. It is meant to inform and inspire all who visit, but especially young women and girls. George Washington Williams was Ohio’s first African American legislator. A room at the Ohio Statehouse was named after him to honor him and other African Americans who served in Ohio’s government.
Williams fought in the Civil War and was an ordained minister. He studied law while living in Cincinnati. He was elected to represent Hamilton County, serving one term in the House from 1880-1881. Afterwards, he became a published historian and fought for equality. He died very young at the age of 41.
Image courtesy of Capital Square Review and Advisory Board at the Ohio Statehouse
Ever wonder how we went from reading by a candle to reading by a lamp? Dawn of a New Light is an oil painting by Howard Chandler Christy. It was completed in 1950, and is on display near the Rotunda of the Ohio Statehouse. It honors Thomas Edison and his inventions, such as the light bulb. Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, in 1847, and his first house can be seen on the left side of the painting.
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor, scientist, and businessman. His inventions impacted life around the world.
Want to know more about Edison? Look up why he was nicknamed “The Wizard of Menlo Park.” Image courtesy of Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board at the Ohio Statehouse
It’s a bird; it’s a plane! Wilbur and Orville Wright and Their Accomplishments is an oil painting by Dwight Mutchler. It was completed in 1959. It honors the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, both from Ohio and the first to fly a plane. Their Dayton, Ohio, bicycle shop can be seen on the right side of the picture. This artwork is on display near the Rotunda of the Ohio Statehouse.
On December 17, 1902, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, after several failed attempts, the first plane lifted into the air. They had done it! The Wright Brothers from Dayton, Ohio, had flown! The brothers made three more flights that day, taking turns at the controls. Wilbur’s final flight covered an astounding 852 feet in 59 seconds. Image courtesy of Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board at the Ohio Statehouse Does this look familiar to you? The McKinley Memorial by H.A. McNeil was opened in 1906 to a crowd of 50,000 people on Capitol Square. The bronze-and-granite monument pays tribute to William McKinley, an Ohio Governor and United States President. It can be seen on the West Plaza at the Ohio Statehouse.
McKinley’s friendly personality helped him succeed as a politician and lawyer. He was elected as Ohio Governor in 1891 and easily won reelection to a second term. When McKinley ran for President in 1896, he waged a “front porch campaign.” He wanted to show he was a man of the people. He won the Image courtesy of Capitol Square Review and Advisory election and was later elected to a second term in 1900. Board at the Ohio Statehouse
While touring the Pan-American Exposition (fair) in Buffalo, New York, McKinley was shot. At first his doctors thought he would recover, but eight days after the shooting McKinley died.
Why are parents so proud of their kids? These Are My Jewels was designed by Levi Tucker Schofield of Cincinnati for the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition (fair). This was the first monument placed on the Statehouse lawn in 1894. Under a statue of Cornelia, it includes images of seven “jewels” of Ohio:
• General Ulysses S. Grant
• General William T. Sherman
• General James A. Garfield
• General Philip Sheridan
• Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase
• Secretary of War Edwin Stanton
• U.S. President and Ohio Governor Rutherford B. Hayes
Image courtesy of Capitol Square Review and Advisory Why these men? All these men were important military and Board at the Ohio Statehouse political leaders during the Civil War.
The story of Cornelia (the woman on top of the memorial) is that when she was among her wealthy friends, who were bragging about their expensive clothes and jewels, she brought in her two successful sons and declared, “These are my jewels.” Cornelia represents Ohio and how Ohio is proud to honor its best and brightest. What is Democracy?
Overview This lesson begins the conversation with students about their responsibility as a citizen in a democracy. Students will identify which democratic values they find most important and share that with their peers.
Objectives • Students will read and discuss quotes about democracy found in the Ohio Statehouse and on the Memorial. • Students will analyze the role and responsibility of the individual in a democratic society. • Students will define “democracy.” • Students will discuss ways to better understand and appreciate that people have different values, interests and opinions.
Essential Questions: What does democracy mean? What does it mean to be an active participant in our democracy?
Preparation & Materials • Art Gallery Items (Quotes from the Statehouse with images from the grounds and Memorial) • Art Gallery Reflection Sheet • Excerpt of Ohio Constitution (Activity Extension)
Connecting Video Testimony • Philip Markowicz iWitness Clip #135 16:24-17:45: Mr. Markowicz’s message to his grandchildren is to watch and appreciate freedom. He emphasizes the importance of education and getting involved.
Duration: 1 class period
Setup Prior to Class Session Prior to students’ arrival, set up an “Art Gallery” in the classroom with the images and quotes provided.
Teacher’s Note: Gallery items may be displayed “gallery-style” with space for students to rotate between each image.
Assessment • Informal and Formative: Group Work and Class Discussion • Formal and Summative: Reflection Handout and Definition
Classroom Activities 24 Grades Four and Five Activity Below are some sample questions which may be adapted for your students: • Write the word “democracy” on the board, and with student responses, create a web of ideas 1. What does democracy look or feel like? that come to mind when they hear the word 2. What is democracy NOT? “democracy.” 3. What is an example of democracy in the U.S.? 4. Is democracy experienced in the same way by Teacher’s Note: This may be a good time to all people? Give examples to support your introduce the structure of government in the United States as well as other countries. views. 5. Often, people value the rights that are • Divide students into groups and ask them promised to them in a democracy. What are to rotate silently through the “Art Gallery.” some responsibilities of people who live in Depending on your students’ prior knowledge, a democracy? review the quotes with the students as a group 6. Other than voting, how can ordinary people and define any unknown terms. As they walk participate in democracy? What might prevent through, they will select three quotes that struck them from doing so? them and record their reactions (i.e. questions, thoughts, etc.) on their reflection sheet. • Following the class conversation, students individually will write their own definition of • Following the gallery walk, students will pair up democracy to share with the class. If time allows, with a classmate and share with each other their students can create a poster illustrating their quotes and reflections. definition.
• After partner discussion, open it up to a larger discussion around their ideas about democracy.
Activity Extension In small groups or pairs, have students read the Preamble and Sections 1-7 of Article I of the Ohio Constitution. After reading, have students make a list of highlighted examples of democracy. Compare whether these examples match with their definition.
Making Connections Common Core State Standards
RI.(4).1; RI.(4).7; SL.(4-5).1d; RI.(5).9 Ohio Model Curriculum: Social Studies Literary Connections Grade 4: Ohio in the United States History Strand: Historical Thinking & Skills, Heritage: CS 2, 5 Polacco, Patricia. The Butterfly. New York: Puffin Books, 2009. Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills, Rules & Laws, Roles & Systems of Government: CS 15-21 Rubin, Susan Goldman. Fireflies in the Dark: The Story of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and the Children of Terezin. New York: Holiday Grade 5: Regions and People of the Western Hemisphere House, 2000. Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills, Roles & Systems of Government: CS 11, 12
Classroom Activities Grades Four and Five 25 Student Materials
What is Democracy? Ohio Constitution
Preamble: We, the people of the state of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and promote our common welfare, do establish this Constitution.
Article I: Bill Of Rights
Section 1: Inalienable Rights. §1 All men are, by nature, free and independent, and have certain inalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and seeking and obtaining happiness and safety. (1851)
Section 2: Right to alter, reform, or abolish government, and repeal special privileges. §2 All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their equal protection and benefit, and they have the right to alter, reform, or abolish the same, whenever they may deem it necessary; and no special privileges or immunities shall ever be granted, that may not be altered, revoked, or repealed by the General Assembly. (1851)
Section 3: Right to assemble. §3 The people have the right to assemble together, in a peaceable manner, to consult for the common good; to instruct their Representatives; and to petition the General Assembly for the redress of grievances. (1851)
Section 4: Bearing arms; standing armies; military powers. §4 The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security; but standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and shall not be kept up; and the military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power. (1851)
Section 5: Trial by jury. §5 The right of trial by jury shall be inviolate, except that, in civil cases, laws may be passed to authorize the rendering of a verdict by the concurrence of not less than three-fourths of the jury. (1851, Am. 1912)
Section 6: Slavery and involuntary servitude. §6 There shall be no slavery in this State; nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime. (1851)
Section 7: Rights of conscience; education; the necessity of religion and knowledge. §7 All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience. No person shall be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or maintain any form of worship, against his consent; and no preference shall be given, by law, to any religious society; nor shall any interference with the rights of conscience be permitted. No religious test shall be required, as a qualification for office, nor shall any person be incompetent to be a witness on account of his religious belief; but nothing herein shall be construed to dispense with oaths and affirmations. Religion, morality, and knowledge, however, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pass suitable laws, to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship, and to encourage schools and the means of instruction. (1851) In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King, Jr. All men are, by nature, free and independent, and have certain… rights, [including] enjoying and defending life and liberty…
Article I, Section 1, Bill of Rights to the Ohio Constitution We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union… do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Preamble to the United States Constitution A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong.
Tecumseh, Shawnee Leader The right to freedom is original in all the human race.
Reverend John Rankin, Ohio Abolitionist [Remembering WWII and the Holocaust] is a commitment to uphold human rights, above all, freedom and the sanctity of life, and the opportunity for people to live side by side in harmony.
Avner Shalev, excerpt from the Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial inscription We hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal…with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Declaration of Independence Religion, morality, and knowledge… and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.
Article 3, Northwest Ordinance of 1787 We, the people of the State of Ohio… secure its blessings and promote our common welfare, do establish this Constitution.
Preamble to the Ohio Constitution I Can Be The Change
Overview The placement of this lesson is to build on the students’ foundational knowledge of memory and democracy, and to encourage them to seek positive change in their community. This activity serves as a culmination to their learning about the Memorial and Ohio government.
Objectives • Students will identify practices and habits they would like to change in their school culture. • Students will explore how the choices they make impact others. • Students will define what it means to be an “onlooker” and an “upstander.”
Essential Questions: What does it mean to be an upstander? What role and responsibility do I have in my community?
Preparation & Materials • Venn Diagram Handout • Upstander Biography Cards • Upstander Chart Graphic Organizer • Upstander Oath • Butcher Paper & Markers • Post-It Notes
Connecting Video Testimony • Martin Lowenberg iWitness Clip #154 5:39-6:56: Mr. Lowenberg emphasizes the importance of respecting others’ differences and working to get along. • Paul Parks iWitness Clip #134 20:02-21:22: Mr. Parks describes how his experiences as a liberator of Dachau impacted his outlook and conviction to pursue civil rights in America. • Henri De Kryger iWitness Clip #49: 21:10-23:17: Mr. De Kryger describes why he helped Jews in The Netherlands receive ration cards. • Henri De Kryger iWitness Clip #70: 14:22-16:48: Mr. De Kryger describes his motivation for helping the Jews and his friend, Max Heymans. He stresses how he was able to overcome the risks to helping.
Duration: 1-2 class periods
Classroom Activities Grades Four and Five 37 Assessment • Informal and Formative: Group Work and Class Discussion • Formal and Summative: Posters and Graphic Organizer
Activity • Each student will be assigned one biography of an Ohioan who made a difference in his or her • Write the following on the board: “In the end, we community. After reading their story, students will will remember not the words of our enemies, but complete the graphic organizer. the silence of our friends.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Biographies: Teacher’s Note: You may need to provide • William Moore McCulloch the appropriate background information on Martin Luther King, Jr., the history of slavery, • Harriet Taylor Upton suffrage, and human rights. • Catherine Nelson Black • Ask students to close their eyes and think back • Harriet Beecher Stowe to a time when they spoke out or might have • Jesse Owens and Sam Stoller been in a situation where someone speaking out could have changed the outcome of the situation. • In order to complete all the remaining spots on Provide your own example to help get them their graphic organizers, students will pair up to started. share the biography information. They will rotate pairs until they fill their graphic organizers with all • Facilitate a class discussion about what is an the necessary information for each person. “upstander” and an “onlooker.” As the class is discussing, students will complete the Venn • Next, students will create a visual representation diagram. of their assigned upstander. Bring students into groups of four and trace an outline of one of their Teacher’s Note: The definitions below as well groupmates onto butcher paper. Once the outline as an example from a class reading may help has been traced, the participants will use black you guide the conversation. markers or pens to: 1) Write the traits they would
use to describe their upstander (examples might An Upstander is: be: honest, caring, took action); and 2) Fill in what types of actions were taken (examples might be: • A person or group of people who stand up for protest, spoke-up, created a movement, authored his or her beliefs. a book). • A person who does what they think is right even if they are alone. • A person who is not a bystander; not an onlooker.
An Onlooker is: • A person or group of people who witness an event and choose to be silent. • A person who does not take a positive or helpful action when they see something they believe is not right.
Classroom Activities 38 Grades Four and Five Activity Extension Distribute an Upstander Oath to each student to complete with one idea of how they will improve their community (i.e. school, neighborhood, religious). Place these in a visible location for the rest of the school to view.
Making Connections Common Core State Standards
RI.(4).1; RI.(4).7; SL.(4-5).1d; RI.(5).9 Ohio Model Curriculum Literary Connections Grade 4: Ohio in the United States History Strand: Historical Thinking & Skills, Heritage: CS 2, 3, 7 Mochiziki, Ken. Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story. New Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills, Rules & Laws: CS York: Lee & Low Books, Inc., 1997. 15-20 Vaughan, Marcia. Irena’s Jars of Secrets. New York: Lee & Low Grade 5: Regions and People of the Western Hemisphere Books, 2011. History Strand: Historical Thinking: CS 1 Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills, Roles & Systems of Government: CS 11-12
Classroom Activities Grades Four and Five 39 Student Materials
I Can Be The Change Name
Date
What risks did they take to What could have happened if Name of Person stand up for their beliefs? they did not take action?
Harriet Taylor Upton
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Jesse Owens and Sam Stoller
William Moore McCulloch
Catherine Nelson Black Name
Date
What character traits did your upstander have? What did he or she think was important? Brainstorm a list with your group and write your thoughts below.
R DE AN ST UP
SHARED
er ok lo On William Moore McCulloch (1901 – 1980)
William Moore McCulloch was born near Holmesville, Ohio. He served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1933 to 1944. McCulloch showed great patriotism and enlisted in the Army to serve his country during World War II (WWII).
After he came back from WWII, McCulloch became a leader in the 1960s Civil Rights movement and fought for equality for African Americans. As an elected official in Congress, he passed laws that would help all African Americans. His courage inspired other members of Congress to do the same.
Image Courtesy of Ohio Northern University
Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (1811 – 1896)
Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe was an American author who worked to end slavery. At the age of 21, Stowe moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Stowe was not African American, and she felt slavery was wrong.
She wrote a famous book called Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852). It was the story of what life was like for African Americans under slavery. Stowe showed that slavery impacted everyone, not just masters, traders and enslaved people. Because of her book, many people began to debate whether or not slavery should continue in the United States. Stowe and her husband supported the Underground Railroad, which was a network of people who helped enslaved people escape.
Photo Credit: Library of Congress James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens (1913 – 1980) Sam Stoller (1915 – 1985)
Photo Credit: Library of Congress
Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller (right) Image courtesy of The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama, in 1913. As a boy, Owens realized that he had a passion and talent for running. In college at The Ohio State University, he was known as the “Buckeye Bullet.”
Sam Stoller was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1915. Both Sam and Jesse went to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Stoller was one of only two Jewish men on the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team.
At this time, Adolf Hitler was the leader of Germany and had signs and posters placed around the city that showed people with dark skin and Jews as inferior. Jesse and Sam’s coach decided that Jesse should replace Stoller on the 400-meter relay race. Sam was very upset, but in the end, Owens won four gold medals, disproving Hitler’s belief that African Americans were “less than.”
When Owens came back to the United States, he joined the Civil Rights Movement so he could fight for equal rights for African Americans. Stoller went on to become an actor and singer. The U.S. Olympic Committee posthumously awarded Stoller the first ever Gen. Douglas MacArthur medal in 1998. Harriet Taylor Upton (1853 – 1945)
Harriet Taylor Upton was an author and political activist fighting for women’s suffrage (right to vote). Upton was born in Ravenna, Ohio. At age seven, her family moved to Warren, Ohio. Her father was a U.S. Congressman for Ohio and this gave her a chance to meet many people including Susan B. Anthony. Anthony encouraged Upton to become involved with granting women the same rights as men.
In 1898, she was the first woman elected to the Warren Board of Education and was the first woman to serve on the Republican National Executive Committee.
Image courtesy of Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board at the Ohio Statehouse
Catherine Nelson Black (1858 – 1936)
Catherine Nelson Black was born in Etna, Ohio, and later moved to Columbus. Black was dedicated to helping others, especially poor people. She studied healthcare and medicine at clinics throughout the United States, but she returned to Columbus to carry out her work.
She was married to the mayor of Cincinnati and saw that especially poor people were not able to have the same doctors as she and her friends. She wanted to change this and make sure everyone had the right to a good doctor. She even allowed the Columbus Cancer Clinic to have an office in her home.
Image courtesy of Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board at the Ohio Statehouse Classroom Activities
Grades Six through Twelve Sites of Memory
Overview This lesson serves to expand on the discussion of memorials and memory. In addition, it can connect with a lesson of rebuilding and justice after the Holocaust and WWII.
Objectives • Students will discuss and analyze the role of memory and memorials in history. • Students will examine memory from different perspectives and how memory changes over time. • Students will explore the mission of the Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial.
Essential Question: How and why do we remember the Holocaust at the Ohio Statehouse?
Preparation & Materials • Sites of Memory Handout #1 • Memorial Inscriptions
Connecting Video Testimony • Estelle Laughlin iWitness Clip #59-60 11:26-14:55: Ms. Laughlin speaks of the importance of remembering and keeping the truth alive, especially in the face of those who would deny the Holocaust. • Helen Marks iWitness Clip #21 22:56-24:30: Ms. Marks speaks frankly about the need to learn from the past. As long as there is hatred and prejudice, there is the danger of something like the Holocaust happening again. • The Making of a Memorial: a 27-minute video about the Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial. This can be found at OhioHolocaustMemorial.org
Duration: 1 class period
Assessment • Informal and Formative: Group and Class Discussions • Formal and Summative: Handouts and Fishbowl Discussion
Classroom Activities Grades Six through Twelve 47
Activity Part I reminds us that more than Jews were victims • Ask students to reflect on where we learn about and no one is immune to hatred. It also gives state history. us a place to remember those who served and sacrificed during WWII in order for our democratic We learn and record history based on all kinds • values and freedom to continue. of primary and secondary sources. From all these sources, we learn about the people and events that shaped our past as well as how to Activity Part II move forward in an informed way. • We make choices individually and as a larger • Through exploring different perspectives, students community about what we choose to will evaluate how the Ohio Holocaust and remember and how we choose to remember Liberators Memorial achieves its mission. Assign it. each student one of the following roles: • Ohio Soldier in WWII • Next, ask students to reflect on how this Memorial connects local and world history. Why • Ohio Politician do you think it was decided to erect a Holocaust • Holocaust Survivor memorial on the lawn of the Ohio Statehouse? • Family of Holocaust Survivor • Share the official explanation behind the • Citizen of Ohio Memorial: • Committee Member for the Ohio Statehouse
Why is this Memorial on Statehouse • Students will form groups of those who share grounds? their same role. Each student will receive both handouts. They should read the inscriptions and It is important to remember that the Holocaust did answer the questions on Handout #1 together. not begin in the concentration camps, but rather Next, students will arrange chairs in fishbowl in the halls of Government where a dictatorial • style: with an inner circle and an outer circle. 1-2 regime passed anti-Jewish legislation taking members from each group will sit in the inner their property, their businesses, their homes, circle and 2-3 members will sit in the outer circle. their freedom and ultimately their lives; it began The inner circle will discuss the questions based among lawyers who refused to protect Jewish on their different perspectives, while the outer businesses following Kristallnacht (Night of Broken circle actively listens and takes notes, preparing Glass); in schools where teachers reinforced Nazi to respond. Rotate after a few minutes and the propaganda to children, leading to the formation new group in the middle will respond to points of the Hitler Youth; among doctors who forgot addressed in the previous fishbowl. their oath and treated humans as experiments;
and among the police who refused to protect the Teacher’s Note: Often the best time to rotate most vulnerable. This public location is a reminder is when a student makes a strong argument. that the horrors of the Holocaust did not only This allows for a smooth transition to the occur in private, but were often visible and part of next round. the daily lives of men, women and children.
The Memorial reflects on the important role each of us plays to be a voice for the voiceless and stand up and speak out for our neighbors. It
Classroom Activities 48 Grades Six through Twelve Activity Extension Propose your own memorial. It could be a different Holocaust memorial or choose a person or event that you feel deserves to be remembered on the Ohio Statehouse grounds or elsewhere. Include a mission statement for your memorial (See the Mission Statement for the Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial below).
Mission Statement: The mission of this project is to create a memorial that would help public officials and visitors to the Statehouse understand not just the history of the Holocaust, but the fact that today we must continue to stand against evil. This Memorial will remind people about man’s inhumanity to man. It is a monument to remember the victims of the Holocaust, Ohio survivors and liberators. The Memorial should inspire people to think and act differently in the face of hatred, anti-Semitism and genocide as well as motivate visitors to learn more about the topic and to serve as a springboard for other educational activities.
Now is the time to remind us of the need for tolerance, acceptance, and perseverance through placement of a meaningful memorial on the Capitol grounds.
Making Connections Common Core State Standards
RI.(6-8).6; RI.(6-12).1; RI.(6-12).4; SL.(6-12).1-.1d; Ohio Model Curriculum: Social Studies RH.(6-12).1-.2 Grade 6: Regions and People of the Eastern Hemisphere Literary Connections Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills: CS 9 Grades 6 and Above Grade 7: World Studies from 750 B.C. to 1600 A.D.: Ancient Greece to the First Global Age Gross, Elly. The Poems of Elly Gross: Memories of a Holocaust Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills: CS 16 Survivor. Columbia House Publishers, 2000.
Grade 8: U.S. Studies from 1492 to 1877: Exploration through Appleman-Jurman, A. Alicia: My Story. New York: Bantam, 1989. Reconstruction History Strand: Historical Thinking & Skills: CS 1 Grades 8 and Above Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills: CS 18-19 Brostoff, Anita. Flares of Memory: Stories of Childhood during the High School Holocaust. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
U.S. History Bitton-Jackson, Livia. I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing up Historical Thinking and Skills: CS 1-4 in the Holocaust. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing From Isolation to World War (1930-1945): CS 22 Division, 1997. Social Transformations in the United States (1945-1994): CS 31 High School Students American Government Civic Participation & Skills: CS 2-4 Byers, Ann. Courageous Teen Resisters: Primary Sources from the Role of the People: CS 17 Holocaust. Berkeley Heights: Enslow Publishing Inc., 2010. Ohio State & Local Governments: CS 20 Public Policy: CS 22 Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz. New York: Collier Books, 1993.
Modern World History Historical Thinking & Skills: CS 2 Achievements and Crises (1900-1945): CS 16
Contemporary World Issues Civic Participation and Skills: CS 3-5 Civil and Human Rights: CS 10
Classroom Activities Grades Six through Twelve 49 Student Materials
Sites of Memory Name
Date Class
Sites of Memory
“Memorials are always about the past; but they are almost always also about the present in which they are erected.” David W. Blight
Directions: You will be assigned a role to play as you evaluate the Ohio Holocaust and Liberators Memorial. Answer the questions based on the role you’re assigned.
Role:
Questions to Consider: Why would you like to see this memorial constructed?
What do you want people to experience when they visit? What do you want them to walk away with?
The Ohio Statehouse is about the history and identity of Ohio. How does this memorial connect with that?
Why is the Holocaust important to remember?
What is significant about the design? Is there anything in the design that isn’t clear? Anything you found powerful?
If you could add something to the Memorial, what would it be?
What questions do you have for the other groups (WWII Soldier, Politician, Survivor, Family of Survivor, Citizen, Statehouse Committee Member)?
Notes: Ohio Holocaust & Liberators Memorial At The Statehouse
Inscribed limestone wall (inside face): INSPIRED BY THE OHIO SOLDIERS WHO WERE PART OF THE AMERICAN LIBERATION AND SURVIVORS WHO MADE OHIO THEIR HOME
IF YOU SAVE ONE LIFE, IT IS AS IF YOU SAVED THE WORLD - the Talmud
IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE SIX MILLION JEWS WHO PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST AND MILLIONS MORE INCLUDING PRISONERS OF WAR, ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS MINORITIES, FREEMASONS, HOMOSEXUALS, THE MENTALLY ILL, DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED, AND POLITICAL DISSIDENTS WHO SUFFERED UNDER NAZI GERMANY
Inscribed limestone wall (top surface): “Every human being who chooses to remember this chapter of history and to infuse it with meaning is thereby choosing to struggle for the preservation of the bedrock moral values that alone make possible the existence of a well-ordered society. This is a commitment to uphold human rights, above all, freedom and the sanctity of life, and the opportunity for people to live side by side in harmony.” - Avner Shalev
Monument Inscription: STARS Michael Schwartz arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau in August of 1944 with one of the last transports from the Lodz ghetto. Though a veteran of this first and last ghetto of Nazi Europe, Michael was in a state of shock when he was shoved out of the cattle car into the Auschwitz kingdom. The railway platform with its barking dogs, screaming S.S. men, kicking guards, and the sorrowful eyes of quick-moving prisoners in striped uniforms inspired terror, hopelessness, and a strange wish to get it over and done with as quickly as possible. Before he realized what was happening, he was separated from his family and was led away in the opposite direction with a group of young men. The men marched beneath a barrage of leather truncheons, near the edges of flaming pits where people were tossed alive. The air was filled with sulfur and the stench of burning flesh.
A few hours later, his hair shaven, his body stinging from disinfectants, wearing a striped, oversized uniform and a pair of skimpy broken clogs, Michael along with hundreds of young men was led off to the barracks. There in the barracks, he found a cousin from whom he had been separated earlier at the platform. Only after looking at his cousin did Michael realize the transformation that he himself had undergone since his arrival on that accursed platform. That night in the barracks the cousins promised each other never to part again. It was the first decision Michael had made since his arrival in Auschwitz.
Michael quickly learned the realities of Auschwitz. Survival depended on one’s ability to “organize” anything and everything, from an additional sip of coffee to a better sleeping place on the three-tiered wooden planks, and of course one had to present a healthy and useful appearance if one hoped to pass selections.
One day rumors spread in Michael’s barracks that the impending selection was of particular importance, for those selected would be transferred out of Auschwitz to work at another camp. Michael was especially anxious to pass that selection. In the few months he had been in Auschwitz he had learned that Auschwitz would eventually devour everybody, even those who deciphered its survival code.
The moment came. Michael and his cousin stood in front of Mengele, whose clean, shaven face glittered in the sun and whose eyes shone. The angel of death was in his moment of bliss. Michael’s turn came and Mengele’s finger pointed: “Right!” Then Michael heard Mengele’s death sentence on his cousin: “Left!”
A moment later Michael stood before a table where three people sat dressed in white coats. One was holding a stamp pad, one a huge rubber stamp, and the third a pen and a white sheet of paper. Michael felt the cold rubber stamp press against his forehead and saw a pen mark a line on the white sheet of paper.
Michael moved onto a group of young men, all naked like himself, wearing only a huge ink star on their foreheads. Michael realized that this star was the passport that would take him out of the camp, and that his cousin in the other group just a few meters away would be taken to the chimneys.
In the commotion of the selection Michael decided to act. He walked briskly over to his cousin, spat on his cousin’s forehead, pressed his own forehead against his cousin’s, took his cousin by the hand, and led him to the group marked with stars. Only then did he dare look at his cousin. There in the middle of his forehead was the imprint of the lucky star, the passport that would lead them out of the Auschwitz hell.
From Birkenau, Michael and his cousin were transported to Neuengamme, Braunschweig, Watenstadt, Beendorf, Ravensbrück, and Ludwigslust, where they slaved in the Hermann Goering works (factories) in private German companies engaged in the war industry.
On a May day in 1945 a tank entered a camp near Ludwigslust. On it was painted a huge white star and inside the tank sat a black-faced soldier wearing a steel helmet. After six years in the Nazi slave kingdom, Michael and his cousin were once again free men.
Based on an interview by Ellen Blakfein with Michael Schwartz, March 31, 1979. Eliach, Yaffa. “Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust” pp. 130-132. Oxford University Press, 1982. Source Notes for STARS: The text on the Memorial comes from Yaffa Eliach’s book, “Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust.” Following the interviews and viewing of the oral histories of 89 Hasidic survivors of the Holocaust, the author created this text which channels the spirit of Hasidic tales.
Hasidic Judaism (Hasidism) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism. The traditions come from eastern Europe and include strict observance of Jewish laws.
Michael Schwartz was born in Zdunska-Wola, Poland, on June 5, 1926. From 1939 to 1942 he stayed in the ghetto of his hometown, and then he was moved to the Lodz Ghetto where he remained until 1944. He worked for the ghetto authorities in Lodz, but when his injured brother was sent to Auschwitz, he followed him. Following his time at Auschwitz-Birkenau, he was then transferred to Neuengamme, Braunschweig, Watenstedt, Bendorf (salt mine), Ravensbrück and Ludwigslust concentration camps. American soldiers liberated him in 1945 from Ludwigslust. After the war he went back to his hometown in Poland, hoping to find survivors from his family. Disappointed, he went back to Germany until 1946. Then, he went to Sweden, where one sister, who had survived Bergen-Belsen, lived. There he met his wife and they later immigrated to America. The interview used to guide the writings of Yaffa Eliach’s “Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust” was done in New York City in 1979. Role of Government
Overview The lesson examines historical examples in the United States and Germany when the government not only granted freedoms, but passed discriminatory laws. It will examine and compare the Nuremberg Laws in Germany and the Jim Crow Laws in the United States.
Objectives • Students will identify and analyze how societal beliefs can shape legislation. • Students will compare and contrast the anti-Jewish laws in Germany with Jim Crow Laws in the United States. • Students will discuss how citizens in the past responded to discrimination.
Essential Questions: What is the role of the citizen when the government passes discriminatory laws? How do we reflect on these dark moments in a nation’s history?
Preparation & Materials • Role of Government Handout • Germany & United States Cards • Adolf Hitler and George Wallace Speech Excerpts • Anti-Jewish Decrees & Jim Crow Laws
Connecting Video Testimony • Werner Coppel iWitness Clip #5 5:00-6:59: Mr. Coppel recalls life under the Nuremberg Laws. • Barbara Turkeltaub iWitness Clip #19: 18:00-21:09: Ms. Turkeltaub recalls her experiences with anti-Jewish laws and how these laws humiliated, degraded, and demeaned the Jewish people.
Duration: 1 class period
Assessment • Informal and Formative: Sharing in Pairs and Class Discussion • Formal and Summative: Completion of Handouts
Classroom Activities Grades Six through Twelve 55 Activity Part I Laws, and other anti-Jewish decrees. These were a set of statutes that • Write the statement, “No one ever died illegally in discriminated against Jews in an attempt to Auschwitz.” on the front board. separate and humiliate them.
• Lead a discussion about what this statement • Leading up to World War II and until the means. Civil Rights Movement, specific American states passed discriminatory laws known as Teacher’s Note: This statement was Jim Crow Laws. referenced by historian and lawyer Dr. Harry Reicher, who studied law during • Jim Crow Laws were enacted after the Civil the Holocaust. He described how the War, the passage of the 13th Amendment Nazis made law into a weapon against the which freed all slaves, and the period of Jews. Between 1933 and 1936, the Nazi Reconstruction. These were laws that sought government passed more than 400 anti-Jewish regulations. to systematically segregate African Americans in schools, public places, • Next, distribute the handouts with questions restaurants, transportation, the workplace, about the role of government. Students will work etc. individually, then pair up with another student to exchange thoughts. They should discuss: • How does government play a role in our everyday lives? (i.e. law-making, infrastructure, police, education, military, marriage, social services, etc.) • What are major issues currently (or within the last year) in the news where the local, state, and/or national government has intervened? (i.e. healthcare, gay marriage marriage equality, education policy, family leave, minimum wage) Why have they intervened?
• Open up the discussion of the questions to the class.
Teacher’s Note: Those elected to government at all levels have the power not only to shape policy and laws, but they have the power to influence society as a whole.
• Refer the students to the first Essential Question: What is the role of the citizen when the government passes discriminatory laws? Students will have the chance to compare and contrast two examples of discriminatory laws and decrees. Points of emphasis: • The Nazi German government was a dictatorship. The National Socialist German Workers’ Party, also known as the Nazi Party, having control of the government, established a new set of anti-Jewish laws, the Nuremberg Classroom Activities 56 Grades Six through Twelve Activity Part II • Draw two columns on the board: Similarities and Differences. The class will discuss the similarities • Divide class into two groups. Students will move and differences they noticed between the two to the side of the room based on the nation’s sets of laws. legislation they receive. Then, distribute the excerpt of a speech from Adolf Hitler (1935) and • Have the class talk about the Discussion an excerpt from a speech from Alabama Governor Questions on the back of the Handout or have George Wallace (1963). students answer them on their own prior to facilitating a discussion. Teacher’s Note: If the decision is made to • Do you think we are able to compare the Jim read the speeches aloud, it is recommended Crow and Nuremberg laws? What were the that the teacher reads the excerpts, due to the hateful language. similarities? What were the differences? • How would you feel if you had to follow a law • Next, distribute one to two pieces of legislation, that you felt was unfair? each from Germany and the United States to each student. You may select which legislation fits your • What could or would you do? teaching rationale. • Identify rules/laws that you have to follow that you feel are unfair. • Students will alternate back and forth between Germany and the United States, reading the laws • Have you thought about trying to change until everyone has read those laws distributed to them? What would be the best way to go the class. about it?
Making Connections Common Core State Standards
RI.(6-12).1-.4; RI.(6-12).6; SL.(6-12).1-.1d; RH.(6-12).1-.2; RH.(6-12).4; Ohio Model Curriculum: Social Studies RH.(6-12).6 Grade 6: Regions and People of the Eastern Hemisphere Literary Connections Government Strand: Roles & Systems of Government: CS 10 Grades 6 and Above Grade 7: World Studies from 750 B.C. to 1600 A.D.: Ancient Greece to the First Global Age Toll, Nelly S. Behind the Secret Window: A Memoir of a Hidden History Strand: Historical Thinking & Skills: CS 1 Childhood During World War Two. New York: Dial Books, 1993. Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills: CS 16 Levine, Karen. Hana’s Suitcase. Morton Grove: Albert Whitman & Grade 8: U.S. Studies from 1492 to 1877: Exploration through Co., 2003. Reconstruction History Strand: Historical Thinking & Skills: CS 1 Grades 8 and Above Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills, Roles & Systems of Government: CS 18, 20-21 Scholl, Inge. The White Rose: Munich 1942-1943. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1983. High School Rulle, Karen Gray. Hidden in the Mountain: Stories of Children U.S. History Sheltered from the Nazis in Le Chambon. New York: Holiday House, Historical Thinking & Skills: CS 2 2007. Social Transformations in the United States (1945-1994): CS 28, 31 High School Students American Government Basic Principles of the U.S. Constitution: CS 7, 9 Zapruder, Alexandra. Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of the Structure and Functions of the Federal Government: CS 14-15 Holocaust. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. Role of the People: CS 16-17 Ohio’s State & Local Governments: CS 18, 20 Delbo, Charlotte. Auschwitz and After. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995. Modern World History Historical Thinking & Skills: CS 2 Achievements and Crises (1900-1945): CS 16
Contemporary World Issues Civil & Human Rights: CS 9-10
Classroom Activities Grades Six through Twelve 57 Student Materials
Role of Government Name
Date
Role of Government
How does government play a role in our everyday lives?
What are major issues currently in the news (or within the past year) where the local, state, and/or national government has intervened? Why have they intervened? Name
Date
Directions: After discussing German anti-Jewish laws and decrees and the Jim Crow Laws, answer the questions below.
Do you think we are able to compare the Jim Crow and Nuremberg Laws? What were the similarities? What were the differences?
How would you feel if you had to follow a law that you felt was unfair?
What could or would you do if you had to follow a law that you felt was unfair?
Identify rules/laws that you have to follow that you feel are unfair.
Have you thought about trying to change those rules/laws? What would be the best way to go about it? Germany Adolf Hitler: Speech to Party leaders on the importance of the Nuremberg Laws (Excerpt) - September 1935
“This international unrest in the world would unfortunately seem to have given rise to the view amongst the Jews within Germany that the time has come openly to oppose Jewish interests to those of the German nation. From numerous places vigorous complaints have been received of the provocative action of individuals belonging to this people, and the remarkable frequency of these reports and the similarity of their contents point to a certain system of operation. ...The only way to deal with the problem which remains open is that of legislative action. The German Government is in this controlled by the thought that through a single secular solution it may be possible still to create a level ground [eine Ebene] on which the German people may find a tolerable relation towards the Jewish people. Should this hope not be fulfilled and the Jewish agitation both within Germany and in the international sphere should continue, then the position must be examined afresh. The third [law] is an attempt to regulate by law [the Jewish] problem, which, should this attempt fail, must then be handed over by law to the National-Socialist Party for a final solution. Behind all three laws there stands the National-Socialist Party and with it and supporting it stands the German nation.”
United States Alabama Governor George Wallace: 1963 Inaugural Address (Excerpt) - January 1963
“Today I have stood, where once Jefferson Davis stood, and took an oath to my people. It is very appropriate then that from this Cradle of the Confederacy, this very Heart of the Great Anglo-Saxon Southland, that today we sound the drum for freedom as have our generations of forebears before us done, time and time again through history. Let us rise to the call of freedom-loving blood that is in us and send our answer to the tyranny that clanks its chains upon the South. In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny . . . and I say . . . segregation today . . . segregation tomorrow . . . segregation forever.” Anti-Jewish Laws and Decrees
Nuremberg Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor (September 15, 1935) • Article 1. Marriages between Jews and subjects of the state of German or related blood are forbidden. Marriages nevertheless concluded are invalid, even if concluded abroad to circumvent this law. • Article 4. Jews are forbidden to fly the Reich or National flag or to display the Reich colors. They are, on the other hand, permitted to display the Jewish colors. The exercise of this right is protected by the State. • First Supplementary Decree of November 14, 1935, Article 4. A Jew cannot be a citizen of the Reich [German state]. He cannot exercise the right to vote; he cannot hold public office.
Anti-Jewish Decrees: 1933 • Jewish lawyers/notaries can no longer practice in Berlin. • Jewish judges placed on “permanent” leave. • De-Naturalization Law revokes the citizenship of naturalized Jews and “undesirables”.
Anti-Jewish Decrees: 1934 • Jewish actors and actresses prohibited from performing. • Jewish students excluded from exams in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and law.
Anti-Jewish Decrees: 1936 • To prevent creating a bad impression on foreign visitors, signs with extreme anti-Jewish contents are to be removed. Signs with “Jews not wanted here” are sufficient. • The conversion from Judaism to Christianity has no bearing on race - one is still considered a Jew based on birth.
Anti-Jewish Decrees: 1938 • Jewish children no longer allowed to attend public schools. • Jews can no longer be members of the German Red Cross. • Jews to hand in drivers licenses. • Streets with Jewish names to be renamed. • Jews forced to add middle name of “Sarah” (women) or “Israel” (men). • Jews not allowed to use swimming pools. • Aryan and non-Aryan children can’t play together. • Decree on the Exclusion of Jews from German Economic Life closes all Jewish-owned businesses.
Anti-Jewish Decrees: 1939 • In Bavarian Square, Jews only allowed to sit on benches marked with yellow color. • Jews’ last will and testaments are no longer valid. • Jews to turn in gold, silver, platinum, and pearls. • Jews can be thrown out of their homes without notice and without compensation and placed in appointed “Jewish homes.”
Anti-Jewish Decree: 1940 • Jews allowed to shop for food only between 4pm and 5pm.
Anti-Jewish Decrees: 1941 • Jews may use public transportation only to go to work.
• Jews not allowed to use public transportation, if crowded. They are only permitted to sit down when none of the other passengers are standing. • Jews not allowed to use public libraries. • Jews over six years of age to wear yellow star with the word “Jew.” • Jews need police approval to leave the neighborhoods in which they reside.
Anti-Jewish Decrees: 1942 • Jews not allowed to buy books. • Jews not allowed to have pets. • Jewish homes must display the “Jewish star.” • Jews cannot testify in court against Germans. • Bakeries and candy stores off-limits to Jews. Examples of Jim Crow Laws: State and Local laws enforcing racial segregation in the southern United States. *Note some of the outdated language has been replaced and laws are abridged.
Alabama • No person or corporation shall require any white female nurse to nurse in wards or rooms in hospitals, either public or private, in which African American men are placed. • All passenger stations in this state operated by any motor transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows based on the color of your skin. • The conductor of each passenger train is authorized and required to assign each passenger to the car or the division of the car, when it is divided by a partition, designated for the race to which such passenger belongs. • It shall be unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place for the serving of food in the city, at which white and African American people are served in the same room, unless such people are effectually separated by a solid partition extending from the floor upward to a distance of seven feet or higher, and unless a separate entrance from the street is provided for each compartment. • It shall be unlawful for an African American and white person to play together or in company with each other at any game of pool or billiards. • Every employer of white or African American males shall provide for such white or African American males reasonably accessible and separate toilet facilities.
Florida • All marriages between a white person and an African American person, or between a white person and a person of African American descent to the fourth generation inclusive, are hereby forever prohibited. • The schools for white children and the schools for African American children shall be conducted separately. • There shall be separate buildings, not nearer than one fourth mile to each other, one for white boys and one for African American boys. White boys and African American boys shall not, in any manner, be associated together or worked together.
Georgia • The Board of Control shall see that proper and distinct apartments are arranged for said patients, so that in no case shall African Americans and white persons be together. • No African American barber shall serve as a barber [to] white women or girls. • The officer in charge shall not bury, or allow to be buried, any African Americans upon ground set apart or used for the burial of white persons. • It shall be unlawful for any amateur white baseball team to play baseball on any vacant lot or baseball diamond within two blocks of a playground [open to African Americans], and it shall be unlawful for any amateur African American baseball team to play baseball in any vacant lot or baseball diamond within two blocks of any [segregated] playground. • It shall be unlawful for African Americans to frequent any park owned or maintained by the city for the benefit, use and enjoyment of white persons...and unlawful for any white person to frequent any park owned or maintained by the city for the use and benefit of African Americans. • All persons licensed to conduct the business of selling beer or wine...shall serve either white people exclusively or African Americans exclusively and shall not sell to the two races within the same room at any time.
Louisiana • All circuses, shows, and tent exhibitions, to which the attendance of...more than one race is invited or expected to attend shall provide for the convenience of its patrons not less than two ticket offices with individual ticket sellers, and not less than two entrances to the said performance, with individual ticket takers and receivers, and in the case of outside or tent performances, the said ticket offices shall not be less than twenty-five (25) feet apart. • Any person...who shall rent any part of any such building to an African American person or an African American family when such building is already in whole or in part in occupancy by a white person or white family, or vice versa when the building is in occupancy by an African American person or family, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five ($25.00) nor more than one hundred ($100.00) dollars or be imprisoned not less than 10, or more than 60 days, or both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court. • The board of trustees shall...maintain a separate building...on separate ground for the admission, care, instruction, and support of all blind [African American] persons.
Maryland • All railroad companies and corporations, and all persons running or operating cars or coaches by steam on any railroad line or track in the State of Maryland, for the transportation of passengers, are hereby required to provide separate cars or coaches for the travel and transportation of the white and African American passengers.
Mississippi • Any person...who shall be guilty of printing, publishing or circulating printed, typewritten or written matter urging or presenting for public acceptance or general information, arguments or suggestions in favor of social equality or of intermarriage between whites and African Americans, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine not exceeding five hundred ($500.00) dollars or imprisonment not exceeding six (6) months or both. • There shall be maintained by the governing authorities of every hospital maintained by the state for treatment of white and African American patients separate entrances for white and African American patients and visitors, and such entrances shall be used by the race only for which they are prepared. • The warden shall see that the white convicts shall have separate apartments for both eating and sleeping from the African American convicts.
North Carolina • Books shall not be interchangeable between the [segregated] schools, but shall continue to be used by the race first using them. • The state librarian is directed to fit up and maintain a separate place for the use of the African American people who may come to the library for the purpose of reading books or periodicals. • The white and African American militia shall be separately enrolled, and shall never be compelled to serve in the same organization… African American troops shall be under the command of white officers.
Ohio • School districts will be given discretion to organize separate schools for African American children. • It is unlawful for a person of pure white blood, who intermarries, or has sexual relations with any African American or person having a distinct and visible African blood. The penalty is a fine up to $100, or imprisonment up to three months, or both. Any person who knowingly officiates such a marriage is charged with a misdemeanor and fined up to $100 or imprisoned for three months, or both.
Oklahoma • Any instructor who shall teach in any school, college or institution where members of the white and African Americans are received and enrolled as pupils for instruction shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than fifty dollars ($50.00) for each offense. • The [Conservation] Commission shall have the right to make segregation of the white and African Americans as to the exercise of rights of fishing, boating and bathing. • The baths and lockers for African Americans shall be separate from the white race, but may be in the same building. • Telephone companies...may maintain separate booths for white and African American patrons when there is a demand for such separate booths.
South Carolina • No persons, firms, or corporations, who or which furnish meals to passengers at station restaurants or station eating houses… shall furnish said meals to white and African American passengers in the same room, or at the same table, or at the same counter. • It shall be unlawful for any parent, relative, or other white person in this State, having the control or custody of any white child, by right of guardianship, natural or acquired, or otherwise, to dispose of, give or surrender such white child permanently into the custody, control, maintenance, or support, of an African American.
Virginia • Every person...operating...any public hall, theatre, opera house, motion picture show or any place of public entertainment or public assemblage which is attended by both white and African Americans… set apart and designate...certain seats therein to be occupied by white persons and a portion thereof, or certain seats therein, to be occupied by African Americans. What is a Human Right?
Overview This lesson introduces students to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It asks them to consider what rights they hold most valuable and who is responsible for ensuring their rights.
Objectives • Students will read the UDHR and be able to summarize its goals. • Students will discuss the concept of Human Rights. • Students will relate the dehumanization that occurred during the Holocaust to the creation thereafter of the UDHR. • Students will reflect on the Memorial’s quotes in relationship to Human Rights.
Essential Questions: How do we define a human right? How does our ability to enforce their protection influence politics and society?
Preparation & Materials • Background Information on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Bill of Rights • UDHR and Bill of Rights (Teacher Resource) • What is a Human Right? Handout
Connecting Video Testimony • Werner Coppel iWitness Clip #126 3:30-4:39: Mr. Coppel speaks of the importance of protecting the Constitution of the United States. • Dr. Leon Bass iWitness Clip #55 24:08-25:32: Dr. Bass describes how his experiences as a liberator, and also with racism in the United States, shaped his belief that all humanity is connected and the pain caused by bigotry, prejudice and antisemitism needs to end.
Duration: 1-2 class periods
Assessment • Formative: Class Discussion • Formal and Summative: Small Group Questions
Classroom Activities Grades Six through Twelve 67 Activity Step 2: Questions to answer in a larger group discussion: • Have students respond to the following quote and • Do you think the events of the Holocaust questions: shaped the content of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights? “Every human being who chooses to remember this chapter of history and to infuse it with • How does our definition of what is a Human meaning is thereby choosing to struggle for the Right continue to evolve today? preservation of the bedrock moral values that • Why have we seen changes in access to alone make possible the existence of a well- different rights? ordered society. This is a commitment to uphold • Can we enforce the preservation of Human human rights, above all, freedom and the sanctity Rights? of life, and the opportunity for people to live side by side in harmony.” - Avner Shalev
• Ask students to consider: How do you define a right? During a Visit to the Memorial Students will read the Background Sheet on the • Have students write a reflection considering the UDHR and the Bill of Rights. following questions:
Teacher’s Note: If time permits, introduce Why do you think the Memorial includes Shalev’s the 13th and 19th Amendments, as well, to quote? After reading the text, “Stars” engraved on the highlight additional civil rights granted by the Memorial, what rights do you think the artist, Daniel U.S. Constitution. Libeskind, thought were most important to preserve? • Divide students into groups and have them read together the UDHR and United States Bill of Rights.
Teacher’s Note: Please note that included with this activity is an abbreviated version of each article of the UDHR and The Bill of Rights.
• Students will list the rights of each document in the appropriate column on the handout.
• Ask students, in their groups, to compare the two lists and answer the following questions found in the handout:
Step 1: Questions to answer in a small group: • What items appear on both lists? • What items appear on only one list? • Why do you think some of the rights appear on one, but not on the other list? • Is there a right that is missing?
Classroom Activities 68 Grades Six through Twelve Activity Extension The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1948. Ask students to research this document further as well as information about Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term “genocide.” A key question to consider: How does one enforce the UDHR and the Genocide Convention in an international community?
Making Connections Common Core State Standards Ohio Model Curriculum: Social Studies RI.(6-12).1; RI.(6-8).2; SL.(6-12).1-.1d; RH.(6-12).1-.2; RH.(6-12).4; Grade 6: Regions and People of the Eastern Hemisphere RH.(6-12).6 Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills: CS 9 Literary Connections Grade 7: World Studies from 750 B.C. to 1600 A.D.: Ancient Greece to the First Global Age Grades 6 and Above Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills: CS 16 Watts, Irene. Good-Bye Marianne: A Story of Growing Up in Nazi Grade 8: U.S. Studies from 1492 to 1877: Exploration through Germany. Plattsburg: Tundra Books, 1998. Reconstruction History Strand: Historical Thinking & Skills: CS 1 Talbott, Hudson. Forging Freedom: A True Story of Heroism During Geography Strand: Human Systems: CS 17 the Holocaust. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2000. Government Strand: Civic Participation & Skills, Roles & Systems of Government: CS 18, 21 Grades 8 and Above
High School Boas, Jacob. We Are Witnesses: Five Diaries of Teenagers Who Died in the Holocaust. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1995. U.S. History Historical Thinking & Skills: CS 1-2 Cretsmeyer, S. Your Name is Renee: Ruth Kapp Hartz’s Story as a Historic Documents: CS 7, 9 Hidden Child in Nazi-Occupied France. New York: Oxford University Social Transformations in the United States (1945-1994): CS 28 Press, 1999.
American Government High School Students Basic Principles of the U.S. Constitution: CS 5, 7-8 Role of the People: CS 16-17 Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, I: My Father Bleeds History. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986. Modern World History Historical Thinking & Skills: CS 1-2 Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, II: And Here My Troubles Achievements and Crises (1900-1945): CS 16 Began. New York: Pantheon Books, 1991. The Cold War (1945-1991): CS 19, 22, 24
Contemporary World Issues Global Connections: CS 1 Civic Participation & Skills: CS 6, 8-10 National Security & International Diplomacy: CS 16
Classroom Activities Grades Six through Twelve 69 Student Materials
What is a Human Right? The Bill of Rights
On June 8, 1789, Representative James Madison introduced a series of thirty-nine amendments to the Constitution in the House of Representatives. Among his recommendations Madison proposed inserting specific rights limiting the power of Congress. The Bill of Rights is the name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These amendments guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government’s power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public. Originally the amendments applied only to the federal government, however, most were later applied to the government of each state by way of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Bill of Rights lists freedoms not mentioned in the main body of the Constitution. In addition, the Bill of Rights reserves for the people any rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution and reserves all powers not specifically granted to the federal government to the people or the States.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948. The UDHR arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and is the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. The UDHR was commissioned in 1946 and was drafted over two years by the Commission on Human Rights. The Commission consisted of 18 members from various nationalities and political backgrounds and was chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, who was known for her human rights advocacy.
Articles 1 and 2 are the foundation blocks, with their principles of dignity, liberty, equality, and brotherhood. Articles 3 through 11 constitute rights of the individual such as the right to life and the prohibition of slavery. Articles 6 through 11 refer to the fundamental legality of human rights with specific remedies cited for their defense when violated. Articles 12 through 17 address the rights of the individual in civil and political society. The following four articles, articles 18 through 21, are concerned with spiritual, public, and political freedoms such as freedom of association, thought, conscience, and religion. Articles 22 through 27 set out social, economic, and cultural rights. Finally, Articles 28 through 30 address enforcement of the UDHR. The Bill of Rights
I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government.
II: A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
III: No soldier shall, in time of peace or war be able to live in a person’s home, without the consent of the owner.
IV: The right of the people to be secure…against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall be issued without just cause.
V: The government cannot put a person on trial for a crime until a grand jury has written an indictment. A person cannot be put on trial twice for the same crime. The government must follow due process of law before punishing a person or taking their property. A person on trial for a crime does not have to testify against themselves in court.
VI: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed; the right to be confronted with the witnesses against him or her; the right to obtain witnesses, and to have the assistance of counsel for his or her defense.
VII: In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved.
VIII: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. In other words, people can have other rights even if the Constitution does not specifically talk about them.
X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. In other words, if the Constitution does not specifically say that the federal government has the power to do something, then the power to do it goes to the state government.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
*Abridged Version
Article 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4. Slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.
Article 8. Everyone has the right to a legal and effective remedy if their fundamental rights are violated.
Article 9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal.
Article 11. Everyone charged with a penal offense has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty; and if proven guilty, the punishment should fit the crime.
Article 12. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against attacks on one’s privacy, honor and reputation.
Article 13. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 14. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
Article 15. (1) Everyone has the right to belong to a country. (2) No one shall be deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16. (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to make a family, and are entitled to equal rights in their marriage.
Article 17. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as with others. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights cont’d
Article 18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his or her religion or belief.
Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
Article 20. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and no one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21. Everyone has the right to take part in their government through equal access to representatives.
Article 22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and additional support from their State.
Article 23. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to unionize, to receive just and favorable conditions of work and equal pay for equal work, and protection against unemployment.
Article 24. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
Article 27. Everyone has the right to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Article 28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. Exercising one’s rights and freedoms must be in respect for the rights and freedoms of others.
Article 30. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein. Name
Date
Directions: Use the organizer below to track the rights addressed by the UDHR and the Bill of Rights.
Communal Rights Document Individual Rights Granted Granted
UDHR
Bill of Rights Please answer the following questions:
What items appear on both lists?
What items appear on only one list?
Why do you think some of the rights appear on one document, but not on the other?
Is there a right missing from either document? Why should it be included?
Biographies of Survivors and Liberators Buddie V. Branch Buddie V. Branch was born in 1925 in Dayton, Ohio. Buddie was a graduate of Roosevelt High School and Cincinnati College of Embalming. Drafted with several childhood friends during WWII, Buddie was inducted into the U.S. Army on August 9, 1943, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Buddie served as a corporal in the 761st Tank Battalion. Assigned to Patton’s 3rd Army, the 761st saw heavy combat as they moved across France and Germany. Corporal Branch earned the Bronze Star. The 761st Tank Battalion was one of a small number of African American tank units. The 761st was the first group of African American tankers to reach France. After the war, Buddie returned to Ohio to build a family. He was a member of Zion Baptist Church, where he served as Financial Secretary and in other capacities for more than thirty years. He passed away on January 31, 2011.
Ellen Brandt Ellen Brandt was born on May 10, 1922, in Mannheim, Germany. Watching Hitler’s rise to power, Ellen’s father thought it would be dangerous to continue to own a business as a Jew. Because of this, in early 1933, the family moved to Berlin where Ellen’s father ran a factory owned by non-Jews. In Berlin, Ellen became aware of increasingly limited basic rights for the Jewish community. The enforcement of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935 were a life-altering event. She witnessed Jews being beaten to death on the streets and saw others rounded up and taken away. In 1936, she began to be shunned at school when her schoolteachers were no longer allowed to speak to Jewish children, and Jewish students were forbidden from interacting with non-Jewish schoolmates. Before the outbreak of the war, a relative living in the United States gave Ellen’s family affidavits to flee Germany. On April 6, 1938, the family arrived in New York City. Ellen’s family eventually moved to Toledo, Ohio, where she attended college. Ellen later returned to New York City and worked in radio. There she met her husband, George Brandt, a Broadway producer, and they traveled the country, producing stage shows. George died of a brain tumor at a young age, but Ellen continued producing and ultimately moved to Los Angeles in 1975. Ellen has a daughter, Jody; a son, Geoffrey; and two grandchildren.
Werner Coppel Werner Coppel was born in Mörs, Germany, on February 22, 1925. Werner’s family was a middle-class German Jewish family. At the age of 15, Werner became highly involved in a Zionist youth group called Hachshara, one of many such groups that were set up throughout Europe. While Werner was with Hachshara, he received a message that his mother, father, and little brother were being deported. He returned home and asked for permission to be deported with his family, but his request was denied. He never saw his family again. The Gestapo arrested Werner and the rest of his Hachshara group in 1943, deporting them to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Upon their arrival, Werner was selekted for factory work in Auschwitz-Monowitz (Buna). Werner and his Hachshara mates stuck together, and many survived together. In January 1945, Werner was forced on a death march, but managed to escape. At the end of the war, he traveled to Gleiwitz, Germany, where he met a young nurse, Trudy. Together they traveled to Berlin. He and Trudy hold the distinction of having the first Jewish wedding in Berlin after the war. Along with their baby, Ron, they came to America in 1948, where they had another son, Steven. Each year as a member of The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education Speakers’ Bureau Werner shares his story with thousands of students and organizations throughout the region. He currently lives in Cincinnati, Ohio and is proud of the now four generations of Coppels.
Max Edelman Max Edelman was born in Krasnik, Poland, on September 26, 1922. He was the youngest of five children in a religious family. As a young person, he joined the Zionist youth movement and was very active in this group. On September 8, 1939, the Nazis came to Krasnik; Max was 17 years old. Placed in a ghetto, Max was able to leave only to perform slave labor. In April 1940, Max was sent to Ruda concentration camp. Over the course of the war, he spent time in several concentration camps, mostly Budzyn, a satellite of the death camp Majdanek in Poland,
Biographies of Surviors and Liberators 79 and in Flossenburg, located in Germany. On April 8, 1944, he was severely beaten by camp guards, which left him completely blind. After being liberated from the Nazis in 1945, Max entered a rehabilitation school in Germany, where he learned to read Braille, how to eat food with a knife and fork, and other skills. He also learned the vocational skill of physical therapy, so he could earn a living. Through hard work and determination, he learned how to live independently as a blind man. In Germany, Max met his wife, Barbara, and they emigrated to the United States in December 1951. They made their way to Cleveland, Ohio where they raised a family. He later began working with a guide dog to maintain his independence. He lived an extraordinary life speaking to students throughout the state of Ohio and serving as an advocate for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Max passed away at the age of 91 on November 5, 2013.
Estelle Laughlin Estelle Laughlin was born in Warsaw, Poland, on July 9, 1929, to Michla and Samek Wakszlak. Estelle also had an older sister, Freda, who was born in January 1928. Michla was a homemaker and Samek ran a jewelry shop. Estelle and Freda attended the local school with many other Jewish children. When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, life began to change for them. On September 29, shortly after Poland’s surrender, German forces entered Warsaw. Estelle and Freda were no longer able to attend the local public school and were taunted by the non-Jewish children in the neighborhood. In October 1940 the Wakszlak family along with more than 400,000 Jews from the city and surrounding areas, were forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto. Estelle and her family hid in a secret room to escape the regular deportations to concentration camps. In April 1943 German forces made one last push to liquidate the remaining Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto which spurred the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Samek, who helped to organize the resistance movement, built a bunker in which he and his family could hide during the uprising. After the fighting, the entire Wakszlak family was discovered and transported to the concentration camp, Majdanek. Once at Majdanek, Estelle, Michla, and Freda were chosen for forced labor but Samek was sent to his death. Michla, Estelle, and Freda were then sent to the Skarzysko concentration camp to work in a munitions factory. Later, they were sent to the Czestochowa concentration camp to work. Soviet forces liberated Czestochowa in January 1945. After the war, Estelle, her sister, her mother and some cousins went to the Russian sector of Germany. They came to the U.S. in 1947, settling in New York City, where Estelle worked in the garment industry and met her husband. They later moved to Cleveland where their three children were born. Estelle later worked as a reading specialist and 6th grade teacher.
Martin Lowenberg Martin Lowenberg was born in Schenklengsfeld, Germany January 21, 1928. He grew up with his parents, Klara and Sally. Hitler came to power in 1933, when Martin was five. When he was eight years old, his parents decided to send him to a Jewish boarding school due to the beatings he received at school for being Jewish. The school was in Bad Nauheim about 150 miles from his home. He and his family were forced to move to a ghetto in Riga, Latvia, in 1941 - deported by cattle car for four days and four nights with only one small backpack for food and their belongings. After one year living in the ghetto, Martin was separated from his family and taken to the Kaiserwald concentration camp. He was now 15 years old. He was later liberated on May 2, 1945. He went to Sweden and was reunited with his sister Eva, who survived. His luck continued and he reunited with his sisters, Margot and Berti, and his brother, Hans, in the United States later after the war. He lived first in New York, but quickly moved to Ohio, settling in Akron.
Philip Markowicz Philip Markowicz was born in March 1924 in Przerab, a small village near Lodz in Poland. Philip was at the Yeshiva (Jewish school) on Sept 1, 1939, when the Germans invaded. When it became unsafe, his family escaped from the village, hidden in a hay wagon, and went to Lodz. Shortly after, they were forced into the Lodz Ghetto. In the Ghetto, his father died of starvation and his mother, sister and nephew were deported and murdered. He and his
Biographies of Surviors 80 and Liberators brother were sent together to concentration camps, and both survived Auschwitz, Flossenberg, Metzbach Tail, Regensberg, and a two-week death march before American forces liberated them in May 1945. Philip weighed just 87 pounds and was sick with typhus and tuberculosis when the war ended. After months in a hospital, he was sent to a Displaced Persons camp where he was elected to the governing council, met and married his wife, Ruth, another Holocaust survivor, and had a son. They were the first marriage and the first birth in the DP camp. After waiting five long years, the family was finally permitted to immigrate to the U.S. Upon arriving in 1950, he and his wife settled in Toledo, Ohio. They had two daughters to join their son.
Helen Marks Helen Marks was born January 11, 1941, in Antwerp, Belgium. When the Nazis came to power, life changed dramatically for her parents. They tried to immigrate to the United States, but when the war broke out in 1939, they could no longer escape and had to remain in Belgium. In August 1941, the Jews in her neighborhood were rounded up in the middle of the night and forced to leave their home. Only eight months old, she and her mother were separated from her father and taken to Maliens, a processing camp. Her mother, having convinced a Nazi that she was not meant to be imprisoned, managed to escape the camp and return to Antwerp. After hiding at the home of a neighbor, they were asked to leave because the neighbor feared the Nazis. Helen and her mother then hid in an unheated warehouse without water, toilets or regular food. Now two years old, Helen fell sick and her mother began to look for a place to hide her. Through a cousin, they connected with devout Catholics, the Delfosse family. After leaving Helen, her mother obtained false papers and worked as the housekeeper for a German photographer. Hidden in the middle of where Nazi tanks passed, she and the neighbors, who knew she was Jewish, often hid in the root cellar. Passing as the daughter of a cousin, Helen learned how to pray as a Catholic and went to church regularly. At the end of the war, at almost five years old, she met her father for the first time. She and her parents moved into an apartment with five other families. On October 7, 1947, Helen with her parents, came to Ellis Island in New York and later moved to California. They moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1951. After getting married, she had four children.
Helen Potash Helen Potash was born Haya Jachimowicz on June 26, 1929, in Lodz, Poland. She was the youngest of five girls and also had a younger brother. Helen was just ten years old when World War II started and Nazi tanks rolled into Poland. In early 1940, the family was forced to move into the Lodz Ghetto. The three older sisters decided to flee east towards Russia. Although they kept up correspondence for a time, they were never heard from again. Helen, her parents, and two of her siblings remained in the Lodz Ghetto for five long years. Her father succumbed to starvation and disease. When the Lodz Ghetto was liquidated in August 1944, the family was deported to Auschwitz. Helen and her sister were immediately separated from their mother and younger brother. They never saw their mother and brother again. After a few days at Auschwitz, Helen and her sister were taken to a work camp in Hamburg, Germany, where they stayed for approximately eight months. As the war was coming to an end, the girls were taken to Bergen-Belsen. Fortunately, shortly after they arrived, the war ended. After a brief stay in a Displaced Persons (DP) camp, Helen was able to get on one of the first Children’s Transports to America. She was sent to live in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1947 with a foster family. Helen graduated from Heights High School and went on to marry a fellow survivor and have five children. She spoke to thousands of students about her experiences over the years. At the age of 80, Helen passed away on December 25, 2009.
Barbara Turkeltaub Barbara Turkeltaub was born in Vilna, Lithuania on March 12, 1934 to a seamstress and an accountant. The third of four sisters with a younger brother, Turkeltaub was part of a middle-class Jewish family. At age six, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, Russia attacked Lithuania, changing her life. Not long after the Nazis invaded Lithuania in 1941, Barbara and her family were herded into the Vilna Ghetto. Barbara’s mother gave birth to a son in the
Biographies of Surviors and Liberators 81 ghetto, who she later managed to hide with a Christian couple. When the ghetto was liquidated in 1943, the family was split. Barbara’s father managed to send her and her younger sister Leah to live with a Polish farmer. He warned them not to speak Yiddish or identify themselves as Jews. Her father and two older sisters joined the underground Partisans and were eventually killed. Leah and Barbara ran away from the farmer when Barbara overheard his plans to turn them over to the Nazi police (Gestapo). They hid in a brickyard where they were found by a Catholic priest, who took them to a convent. The sisters lived at a second convent a full two years after the war ended until their mother eventually found them. Barbara hardly recognized her and didn’t want to leave the life she knew. After the family found their brother, they moved to the new state of Israel. While in Israel, Barbara met her husband. They married and she moved with him to Canton, Ohio.
George “Buncie” Walker George H. Walker was born August 12, 1920, in Dover, Ohio. Walker was drafted and sent to Fort Hayes in Columbus, Ohio. After getting shuffled around to a few different places, he headed to Chicago to be trained for the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC). He served as a 1st Lieutenant in the United States Army, Counter Intelligence Corps, Second Infantry Division, and 38th Infantry Regiment during World War II from March 1941 until November 1945. In 1944, he was on a Liberty ship in the English Channel and disembarked at Omaha Beach in Normandy just after D-Day. At one point, Walker met a young German man wandering the streets and offered to take him home. “Home” turned out to be the Hadamar Euthanasia Center in Hadamar, Germany. Although, Walker did not know what was happening there at the time, Walker and another CIC agent reported that they found this asylum or hospital. Two war correspondents stayed back to investigate and learned that people with disabilities inside were being starved, overdosed, and eventually killed as ordered by the German Government. Walker continued on with his regiment from France and Belgium into Germany and Czechoslovakia encountering fighting along the way. Walker served his country valiantly and ultimately received five bronze battle stars. George passed away in 2008.
Henri De Kryger Henri De Kryger was born October 30, 1919 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. He grew up Roman Catholic, but not very religious. He realized that he was given certain rights that Jews did not receive, such as receiving ration cards. Since many of the Jews were in hiding or did not receive cards, he was able to steal some of the cards for them. He was not part of an organized resistance movement, but worked as an individual aid rescuer. He also hid a gentleman, Max Heymans, in his home for a few days after Max was called up to be deported. Henri was arrested not only because of his efforts to help Jews, but also because he was homosexual.
Leon Bass Leon Bass was born on January 23, 1925, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was an African American veteran and liberator of Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany as part of the 183rd Engineer Combat Battalion, a segregated unit. Following WWII, Dr. Bass dedicated most of his life to education as a school administrator, speaker and principal. He graduated from West Chester University of Pennsylvania and later received a doctorate from Temple University. He was a participant in the International Liberators Conference, the keynote speaker at the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust, and was awarded the Pearlman Award for Humanitarian Advancement from Jewish Women International. Dr. Bass also appeared in the Academy Award-nominated documentary, “Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II.” Dr. Bass died at the age of 90 on March 28, 2015. He spoke throughout the state of Ohio many times.
Paul Parks Paul Parks was born May 7, 1923, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was an African American WWII veteran and civil rights activist. During WWII, Parks was part of the 365th Engineer Regiment, a then-segregated unit, which
Biographies of Surviors 82 and Liberators liberated Dachau concentration camp. After the war, he finished his engineering degree at Purdue University; however, upon graduation, he had a difficult time finding employment because he was African American. He moved to Boston in 1951 where he became the leader of the Boston chapter of the NAACP and fought for school desegregation. Years later, he would become the first African American Secretary of Education in Massachusetts. In 2000, he was presented the Raoul Wallenberg Award by the Berlin B’nai B’rith chapter. Mr. Parks passed away in 2009.
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