Survivors of the Holocaust BY ZANE WHITTINGHAM AND RYAN JONES PRESENTS THE STORIES OF SIX HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS. EACH STORY IS NARRATED IN THE SURVIVOR S OWN WORDS AND IS ILLUSTRATED IN GRAPHIC-NOVEL STYLE, BASED ON BBC LEARNING S AWARD-WINNING ANIMATIONS, CHILDREN OF THE HOLOCAUST. THE HOLOCAUST The Holocaust is the word we use to describe the actions of the Nazis to attempt to wipe out all of Europe s Jews. When the Nazi Party won power in Germany in 1933 they started to persecute Jewish people, passing laws against them that took away their rights. During the Second World War (1939 1945), the German armed forces invaded and occupied other European countries. Between 1941 and 1945, Jewish people, along with other groups across Nazi-occupied Europe including the Roma, people with disabilities, political prisoners and homosexuals, were systematically murdered by the Nazis. By the end of the war, around six million people had been killed in ghettos, massshootings and death camps, most of them Jews. Worksheets Support material WHAT WAS LIFE LIKE FOR JEWISH PEOPLE IN NAZI EUROPE? (PAGES 2 3) Use these activity sheets to investigate the ways that Jewish people were targeted by the Nazis. Students are asked to complete a table to find evidence for this in the experiences of the Holocaust survivors life stories. FLEEING DANGER (PAGES 4 5) Use these activity sheets to prompt discussion about the difficult decisions that Jewish families had to make about whether to emigrate or not, and the barriers that prevented them from doing so. By plotting the journeys of the Holocaust survivors in this book, it will reinforce the distance they had to travel to reach safety. THE KINDERTRANSPORT (PAGE 6) Find out more about the Kindertransport, which brought about 10,000 refugee children to Britain. Examine the challenges of being a refugee through the experiences of the Holocaust survivors in this book. Points for further discussion 1. Why do you think it is so important to Holocaust survivors that their life stories are remembered? 2. Do you think people learn from history? 3. War creates refugees. How are countries caring for refugees who have fled recent conflicts around the world? 1
What was life like for Jewish people in Nazi Europe? JEWISH PEOPLE HAD BEEN LIVING IN GERMANY AND OTHER COUNTRIES IN EUROPE FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS BEFORE THE RISE OF THE NAZIS (THE NATIONAL SOCIALIST GERMAN WORKERS PARTY) DURING THE 1920s AND 1930s. ALTHOUGH ANTI-JEWISH (ALSO CALLED ANTI-SEMITIC) FEELINGS HAD EXISTED FOR A LONG WHILE, MANY JEWISH PEOPLE WERE FULL MEMBERS OF THEIR COMMUNITIES. ONE OF THE KEY NAZI BELIEFS WAS THAT ARYANS (FAIR-SKINNED, FAIR-HAIRED GERMANS) WERE THE MASTER RACE, AND THAT THEY WERE DESTINED TO RULE THE WORLD. ONCE THE NAZIS, WITH ADOLF HITLER AS THEIR LEADER, HAD TAKEN POWER IN 1933, THEY USED PROPAGANDA AND PASSED NEW LAWS AGAINST JEWS, DISABLED PEOPLE, COMMUNISTS AND OTHER GROUPS OF PEOPLE, WHO WERE ALL SEEN TO THREATEN THE IDEA OF A PURE ARYAN RACE. SOME OF THE NAZIS ANTI-SEMITIC POLICIES INCLUDED: Jews lost their jobs and their businesses. Marriage between Aryans and Jews was forbidden and Jews had their citizenship and other legal rights removed. Synagogues were destroyed. Jewish children were banned from attending state schools or universities. Jewish children were bullied or attacked by Hitler Youth groups and others. Families were forced to leave their homes and move to overcrowded ghettos or CONCENTRATION CAMPS were imprisoned in camps (see right). The Nazis set up several sorts of camp. Concentration camps started as places where the Nazis sent political opponents and groups of people, such as homosexuals, and kept them without trial in harsh conditions. From March 1938 thousands of Jews were sent to these camps, some of which were work camps, where people were often worked to death. The Nazis also set up extermination camps killing centres, where millions of people were murdered in gas chambers. 2
Use the life stories in Survivors of the Holocaust to collect evidence about how rising anti-semitism in Nazi-occupied Europe affected their everyday lives. Record the evidence about each child and their family in the grid provided. Family life Education Religion Social life Personal safety Employment Heinz Heinz was forced to leave school. Heinz was no longer allowed to go to cinemas, theatres or become a member of a club. Trude Ruth Martin Suzanne Arek 3
Fleeing danger FIVE OF THE PEOPLE WHO TELL THEIR STORIES IN Survivors of the Holocaust SURVIVED BECAUSE THEY ESCAPED FROM THE NAZIS. AREK, THE LAST STORYTELLER IN THE BOOK, DID NOT ESCAPE BUT WAS IMPRISONED IN VARIOUS CONCENTRATION CAMPS. HE WAS BROUGHT TO ENGLAND AFTER THE WAR. IT IS A HUGE DECISION TO LEAVE YOUR HOME, YOUR JOB, YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS AND IT OFTEN COSTS A LOT OF MONEY. MANY JEWISH FAMILIES DELAYED, HOPING THAT THEIR SITUATION WOULD IMPROVE ALTHOUGH OVER HALF OF THE 550,000 JEWS LIVING IN GERMANY IN THE 1930s HAD LEFT BY 1939. IN COUNTRIES THAT WERE INVADED BY GERMAN FORCES DURING THE WAR, JEWISH FAMILIES HAD LITTLE TIME TO REACT BEFORE THE NAZIS ACTED AGAINST THEM. IN ADDITION, IT WASN T EASY TO GAIN PERMISSION TO LIVE IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY AS GOVERNMENTS KEPT TIGHT CONTROL OF HOW MANY IMMIGRANTS THEY WOULD ALLOW TO ENTER THEIR COUNTRIES. 1. Use Survivors of the Holocaust to write down the route that each child took to reach the UK. Also record the methods of transport they used if that information is given. HEINZ... TRUDE... RUTH... MARTIN... SUZANNE... 4
2. Use different coloured pens to plot the journey of each of the survivors on this map. ICELAND FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN ESTONIA LATVIA DENMARK LITHUANIA USSR IRELAND UK NETHERLANDS BELGIUM GERMANY CZECHOSLOVAKIA POLAND FRANCE SWITZERLAND AUSTRIA HUNGARY ROMANIA ITALY YUGOSLAVIA BULGARIA PORTUGAL SPAIN ALBANIA GREECE TURKEY 3. The peace treaty at the end of the Second World War led to Germany being much reduced in size while the USSR expanded, gaining control of many countries close to its border. After the USSR collapsed in 1991, the map of Europe changed again. Find a modern map of Europe and compare it with the map on this sheet. What is the same? What is different? 5
The Kindertransport KINDERTRANSPORT IS THE NAME GIVEN TO THE RESCUE MISSION THAT BROUGHT ABOUT 10,000 JEWISH CHILDREN TO GREAT BRITAIN BETWEEN 1938 AND 1939 TO SAVE THEM FROM NAZI PERSECUTION IN GERMANY AND NAZI-OCCUPIED COUNTRIES. AFTER KRISTALLNACHT IN NOVEMBER 1938, WHEN JEWISH HOMES, PROPERTY AND SYNAGOGUES WERE ATTACKED OR DESTROYED, JEWISH REFUGEE ORGANISATIONS AND OTHERS MANAGED TO PERSUADE THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO ALLOW JEWISH CHILDREN BETWEEN THE AGES OF TWO AND 17 TO COME TO BRITAIN TEMPORARILY. THE CHILDREN HAD TO LEAVE THEIR PARENTS BEHIND AND EACH CHILD NEEDED A GUARANTOR, AN INDIVIDUAL OR A REFUGEE ORGANISATION, WHO PAID A BOND OF 50 (EQUIVALENT TO ABOUT 2,000 TODAY) TO THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO COVER THE COST OF THEIR EVENTUAL RETURN TRIP. THE FIRST KINDERTRANSPORT TRAIN LEFT GERMANY ON 2 DECEMBER 1938 AND THE LAST ON 1 SEPTEMBER 1939, TWO DAYS BEFORE WAR BROKE OUT, WITH ONE FINAL TRAIN LEAVING THE NETHERLANDS ON 14 MAY 1940. Life in Britain was not always easy for Jewish children who arrived as refugees. Some lived with relatives, others with foster families or in hostels. While Martin was the only one of the people in this book who was rescued by the Kindertransport, all of the storytellers except for Arek experienced life as a refugee. Find evidence in the life stories for good and bad experiences of their new lives. Good experiences Bad experiences Heinz Trude Ruth Martin Suzanne 6