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Sunday, April 24, 2011

Jewish and Non-Jewish Resistence

Start by reading the following article:

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005213

Next, watch the following video:

http://www.ushmm.org/lcmedia/viewer/wlc/animatedmap.php?RefId=RESIST

Jew and Non-Jewish Resistance Group Activity:

In your groups complete the following tasks:

STUDENT ASSIGNMENT SHEET

You and your partners are going to conduct research on an individual or a group involved in resistance during the Holocaust and World War II. You will present your findings in a three to five-minute presentation using a visual (photographs, maps) and documents (letters, diaries, memoirs, poems, songs) to include the following information:

Identify the group: members, purpose, how well organized

Identify: who, what, when, where, why

What type of resistance was it (physical, spiritual)?

What risks did they take?

What would have happened to them and their families if they had been caught? If they were caught, what happened to them?

What emotional, mental, intellectual, financial, physical, and social resources did they use?

What resources did they have that helped them succeed?

What did they fight for?

Who did they fight against?

What did they accomplish? Were they successful? How did you decide if they were successful?

What difference could an individual make?

Expectations for Group Work:

Each group must have at least three sources for its topic. Each group needs to present the teacher with a typed list of the sources you used. In your group, divide the work equally so that each student will be responsible for giving part of the presentation. In presenting your information, deliver it in an organized fashion: do not say “In answer to number 1…” For example, begin with telling who the individuals are, their group, where they were located, and what they did. Then go on to discuss what type of resistance (physical or spiritual) and the risks they took. Describe the resources they had and used. If they were caught, what happened to them? Tell what they accomplished, and if they were successful, and how you decided if they were successful. Then tell us what difference your individual made. Following the presentation you will complete an individual and group evaluation of your work.

Possible Research Topics:

1. Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Individuals: Mordecai Anielewicz, Vladka Meed

2. Vilna Partisans. Individuals: Abba Kovner, Hirsh Glik, Yitzhak Wittenberg

3. Sobibór Uprising. Individuals: Leon “Leibl” Feldhandler, Lt. Aleksandr “Sasha” Pechersky

4. Auschwitz-Birkenau Uprising. Individuals: Rosa Robota, Ella Gartner

5. German Resistance: the Baum Gruppe (Group), the White Rose (Hans and Sophie Scholl), Dietrich Bonhoeffer

6. Spiritual Resistance. Individuals: Emanuel Ringelblum, Janusz Korczak

7. Jewish Fighters/Parachutists from Palestine. Individuals: Hannah Szenes (Senesh), Haviva Reik, Enzo Sereni

Key Web sites with which to begin your research:

http://www.ushmm.org/ Web site of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Personal Histories Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies—The Miles Lerman Center for the Study of Jewish Resistance; Holocaust Learning Center

http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/
Museum of Tolerance Online Multimedia Learning Center

http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/
holocaustInformation for teachers and students with a special section on resistance

http://english.gfh.org.il/index0.htm
Web site of the Ghetto Fighters’ House

World War I

Understanding World War I and its effects is crucial to the understanding of why we were destined to enter into World War II. The peace settlements at the end of World War I combined with severe economic problems created widespread discontent across Europe. Democratic rule in many states gave way to fascism, authoritarianism, and the totalitarianism of Stalin and Hitler. Using the internet and the following links define and/or answer the following questions on WWI.

View the following video for a brief overview of World War I

World War I Summary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXqppJ-L88U

After watching the video answer the following questions:

1. Who was fighting during World War I? List the countries and who they were aligned with.

2. What was event that sparked the outbreak of World War I?

3. When did World War I begin and end?

4. Where did the majority of World War I take place? Why did the fighting last for so long in this particular area?

Define the following terms on a piece of paper:

Fascism
Totalitarianism
Authoritarianism
Woodrow Wilson
Treaty of Versailles
Reparations

Read the following paragraph:

With the end of WWI came strict consequences for the Germany under the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty ended the fighting of WWI. Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the most important and controversial required Germany to accept sole responsibility for causing the war and, under the terms of articles 231–248 (later known as the War Guilt clauses), to disarm, make substantial territorial concessions and pay reparations to certain countries that had formed the Entente powers. The total cost of these reparations was assessed at 132 billion marks (then $31.4 billion, £6.6 billion) in 1921[1]. This was a sum that many economists deemed to be excessive because it would have taken Germany until 1988 to pay.[2] The Treaty was undermined by subsequent events starting as early as 1932 and was widely flouted by the mid-1930s.[3]
The result of these competing and sometimes conflicting goals among the victors was compromise that left none contented: Germany was not pacified or conciliated, nor permanently weakened. This would prove to be a factor leading to later conflicts, notably and directly the Second World War.[4] Many Germans forgot that they had applauded the fall of the Kaiser, had initially welcomed parliamentary democratic reform, and had rejoiced at the armistice. They recalled only that the German Left -- Socialists, Communists, and Jews, in common imagination -- had surrendered German honor to a disgraceful peace when no foreign armies had even set foot on German soil. This Dolchstosslegende (stab-in-the-back legend) was initiated and fanned by retired German wartime military leaders, who, well aware in 1918 that Germany could no longer wage war, had advised the Kaiser to sue for peace. It helped to further discredit German socialist and liberal circles who felt most committed to maintain Germany's fragile democratic experiment.

View the following video on the Treaty of Versailles:

http://www.history.com/videos/treaty-of-versailles-end-world-war-i#treaty-of-versailles-end-world-war-i

Also view:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CR0oDuW33c

Answer the following:

List two reasons why the Treaty of Versailles lead to the start of WWII.

After reading and watching the video's why might Germany have been so willing to place blame on their countries loss on Socialists, Jew's and Communitsts?

Monday, March 29, 2010

Between Wars 1919-1934

The twenties has traditionally been viewed as an era of great economic prosperity driven by the introduction of a wide array of new consumer goods. The North American economy, particularly the economy of the US, which had successfully transitioned from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy, subsequently boomed. The United States augmented its standing as the richest country in the world, its industry aligned to mass production and its society acculturated into consumerism. In Europe, the economy did not start to flourish until 1924. However, the hopefulness in the wake of World War I that had initiated the prosperous twenties gave way to the debilitating economic hardships of the Great Depression in the early 1930's.

Meanwhile, Germany was facing incredible hardships as a result of the demands placed upon them under the Treaty of Versailles. Their ability to repay their war debts to the Allied forces (Britain, France and the U.S) was next to impossible. With the crash of the U.S. market, European markets were in decline as well. Plans were made to reduce Germany's obligations uner the Young Plan. Even though many steps were taken to help Germany uphold their end of the deal they eventually refused to pay. A coalition was formed of various conservative groups under the leadership of Alfred Hugenberg, the head of the German National People's Party. One of the groups that joined this coalition was Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Party, a group which had previously been dismissed as an extremist fringe by the more mainstream conservative parties.
The coalition's goal was the enactment of the Freiheitsgesetz ("Liberty Law"). This law would renounce all reparations and make it a criminal offense for any German official to cooperate in their collection. It would also renounce the German acknowledgement of "war guilt" and the occupation of German territory which were also terms of the Versailles treaty. Although this law was overturned and the coalitions goals were unsucessful the seed of the NAZI regime were planted and plans for world domination began.

View the following video's:

The Roaring 20's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmqc_wJN4_M

The Great Depression in the U.S.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_FFwbcAaI4&feature=related

Also,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4aPi0ZgN0E&feature=related

The Great Depression in Germany:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJDylTBTi6Y

Hitler and World War I

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007431

Words to Define:
Depression:

Recession:

Collective bargaining:

Deficit Spending:

Identify the following terms by defining or explaining to the best of your ability:

Young Plan:

Weimar Republic:

Franklin D. Roosevelt:

New Deal:

Hoovervilles:

Answer the following questions in complete sentences to the best of your ability.

1. What was the significance of the Young Plan?

2. How did the Great Depression affect Germany?

3. What were the results of the Great Depression in the United States?

4. How was Hitler affected by World War I? Describe.

Hitler The Rise of Evil Cast

http://www.cbs.com/specials/rise_of_evil/cast/helene.shtml