Night and the Holocaust

Night and the Holocaust

Internet Information Search

The Holocaust: An Overview

“The Holocaust is the state-sponsored systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. Jews were the primary victims -- six million were murdered; Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), people with mental and physical disabilities, and Poles were also targeted for destruction or decimation for racial, ethnic, or national reasons. Millions more, including homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Soviet prisoners of war, and political dissidents, also suffered grievous oppression and death under Nazi Germany.” (http://www.ushmm.org/research/library/faq/details.php?lang=en&topic=01#03)

WHY would any person, let alone and entire country, do this? HOW could Hitler and Nazi Germany carry out the murder of millions of people? WHY weren’t they stopped sooner?

Directions: Visit the websites below and answer the accompanying questions about the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. Please do a thoughtful job, and take this learning experience seriously. As Elie Wiesel, the author of Night, has said, “Whoever reads or listens to a (Holocaust) witness becomes a witness."

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1. Fill in this timeline* as you work your way through the questions on your search. Include 10 (or more, if you like) dates/events that you think are most important to remember.

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*TONIGHT: Include at least one of your grandparents’ birth year and birthplace on this timeline.

Go to the website http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007671

2. Read “Hitler Comes To Power” (three paragraphs)

a. In your own words explain the reasons the Germans welcomed Hitler’s leadership.
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Find the list of topics in the far left column, and click on “The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students; on the middle of the new page, find and click on “The Nazi Terror Begins”

3. What freedoms did Hitler limit when he first came to power?

a. ______c. ______

b. ______d. ______

How would taking these freedoms help him gain more control over Germany?

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What was the job of the SA, and why did tens of thousands of young men sign up for this brutal job?

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What affect did these Storm Troopers have on Germans who opposed Hitler?

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Open another tab ( t) and go to http://thinkexist.com/quotes/adolf_hitler/ .

Read the first page of quotes.

4. Write the quote you find most interesting, and explain why you chose it. What does it tell you about Hitler, his methods, and/or his beliefs?

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Return to your first tab http://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/the-holocaust-a-learning-site-for-students . Follow the link for “Nazi Propaganda and Censorship”

5. Who was Dr. Joseph Goebbels, and what were some of the ways he spread Nazi ideals to the Germans?

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6. How might these methods be effective for winning the “loyalty and cooperation” in any nation?

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7. Briefly describe what happened on May 10, 1933.
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Open another tab ( t) and visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGHzOJlC6eo

8. Watch the video clip. How might this experience have felt to the 40,000 people who attended the night?

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Return to your previous tab, and from the left column choose “The Final Solution”

9. What was the “Final Solution”? Describe Hitler’s stages for implementing it.

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Visit http://www.ushmm.org/exhibition/personal-history/

10. Spend some time (five to 10 minutes) exploring the personal histories you find here. Move your cursor around, and click on any quotes you find interesting so you can read more. When you have finished, jot down what you found most compelling (gripping) and why.

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Open another tab ( t) and visit http://www.pbs.org/eliewiesel/photo/index.html

11. After reading the brief introduction, scroll through the pictures taken of the town and residents of Sighet, Transylvania, where Elie Wiesel, the author of Night, lived before the Holocaust. Write some of your observations down; be respectful and thoughtful in your viewing and responses, keeping in mind that most of these people were likely murdered later during the Holocaust.

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Go to http://thinkexist.com/quotes/elie_wiesel/ and read the first page of quotes.

12. Write the quote you find most interesting, and explain why you chose it. What does it tell you about Wiesel? About his beliefs?

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If you finish early, you may QUIETLY:

*Explore other areas of the ushmmm.org website, looking at pictures, exploring online exhibits, etc.

* Explore Sighet, Romania, or other pertinent Holocaust locations on Google Earth.

HOMEWORK: OFFLINE OBSERVATIONS

Today we spent an extended amount of time exploring a horrifying period of history, during which time ordinary people did extraordinarily terrible things to other ordinary people. Please spend 10 quiet, uninterrupted minutes reflecting on what you “witnessed” and journaling your response. Continue your response on another piece of paper when you run out of room.

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Look back at your responses to questions 1-11 and consider what lessons we can apply to our lives today. What are they, and how do they apply to the way you live your life? (Continue your answer on another sheet of paper if you run out of room.)

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*Don’t forget to add the personal information to your timeline tonight (see question #1).

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.” -- Martin Niemoller (Protestant pastor who opposed Hitler and who spent seven years in concentration camps.)