Using comics to teach about video testimony

New teaching materials to accompany online video testimonies!

http://www.wsherc.org/teaching/testimonies/

Created by three of the Holocaust Center's master teachers:
Lindsey Mutschler, Lake Washington Girls Middle School, Seattle, WA
Suzanne Bottelli, The Northwest School, Seattle, WA
Carrie McCallum, St. Helens High School, St. Helens, OR

Lessons include:

Using Survivor Testimony - to create comics: a story in drawings
Using Survivor Testimony - to teach about the Holocaust and to connect these lessons to today
Using Survivor Testimony - to understand resistance during the Holocaust

Project was made possible thanks to a grant from 4Culture and Humanities Washington.

TDHS students & parents visit the Holocaust Center

On Sunday, November 13, the 6th grade Sunday school class from Temple De Hirsch Sinai, along with their parents, visited the Holocaust Center.

While here, they had the opportunity to ask questions of survivor Peter M., view the Center's artifacts, and check out items from the Center's library.

It was a fantastic group - insightful, inquisitive, and attentive. The Holocaust Center thanks the entire group and the TDHS staff for making the visit possible!

New Online Exhibit! Video Testimonies from 3 Washington State Survivors

New Online Exhibit! Excerpts of video testimonies from 3 Washington State Holocaust survivors. Exhibit includes maps, photo galleries, and timelines.

Katie Welch, a student at Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, spent the summer as an intern for the Holocaust Center and helped to design the project. Katie's dedication, combined with her incredible research and technological skills helped to make these online video testimonies a user-friendly resource.

A corresponding teacher guide will be available in December.

This project was made possible thanks to funding from Humanities Washington and 4Culture.

Preparing her students to hear a survivor

Thousands of students will hear survivors this year through our speakers bureau. How do you prepare students for this experience? Here is one example of a teacher doing an outstanding job.

What do you do in your classroom to prepare your students? We want to know! Email us!

Anna Roberts, Olympic View Middle School, Mukilteo, WA

Will the students be reading any Holocaust-related books? Which ones?:
All students will have finished up reading Elie Wiesel's Night.

What will you be doing to prepare your students:
We prepare our students by sending a letter home, explaining to their parents the rare and special opportunity of having a Holocaust guest speaker come to visit and tell their life stories. In addition, we have them read up on our guest speaker, prior to that day, so they can anticipate what will be spoken about that day. Most importantly, we prepare our kids by going over behavior expectations during our time with the speaker and we have them prepare appropriate questions to ask our speaker, if given an opportunity for questions. All our students have learned the background of the Holocaust and have read Elie Wiesel's Night.

Group goals and goals for the speaker presentation: Our goal is to have our students make a personal connection through having the opportunity to hear from someone who witnessed first hand the atrocities of the Holocaust. having a speaker that was there and has their personal story to tell makes this part of history they have learned about much more real and in the process, deepens their understanding about this time. In addition, our goal is for kids to build empathy for those victims of the Holocaust.

Special Needs:
If possible, we would like a question and answer session that opens it up for kids to ask the guest speaker questions.

Additional Info:
We have had a guest speaker come to OV for the past 5 years when we began teaching Night commonly in our Language Arts blocks. Ann Freemon, now a teacher at Mariner HS, had seen Henry Friedman speak at another school and had encouraged us to book him as a guest speaker. Since then, we have invited a speaker every year. We value your efforts and time given to teach our kids life long lessons about the Holocaust.

7 years later...

Melissa Tatum, Sylvia O'Brian and Pat Gallagher - teachers in Kent - have worked together and taught the Holocaust for many years.

The other day, Ms. Tatum received the following email from a former student:

Mrs. Tatum,
Seven years ago, I was in 8th grade honors English with you, being co-taught by Mrs. O'Brian. We did a whole unit on the Holocaust and spent a significant period of time talking about it. Mrs. O'Brian posed the question "Was Hitler a great leader?" which nobody was able to answer at the time. I spent this past summer studying abroad in Africa, and have done extensive research and study on the current and past struggles of Africa recently. During colonization, King Leopold II of Belgium successfully manipulated his country, and the rest of the world into supporting him in the slaughtering of 10 million native peoples of the Congo. I have not thought about your class in a long time, but the question about Hitler lingered in the back of my mind as I learned about the colonization of Africa, and I think I finally have an answer. 13-year-old me was unwilling to call Hitler "great" for any reason. But, in all honesty, Hitler was a great leader. He successfully got and entire continent, if not an entire world, to believe what he believed, and manipulated people into helping him complete the genocide of millions of people. He was a terrible person, but he was a great leader. He was able to entrance a whole population into following him and his beliefs, and accomplished what he set out to do. So, seven years after the fact, I wanted to answer that question for you.
Monika

L'Shanah Tovah!

Books | A horrifying history of the Reich's violent end | Seattle Times Newspaper

New book review in the Seattle Times: Ian Kershaw's horrifying history of the Reich's violent end.

New Additions to the Holocaust Trunks - Artifacts

Creating a replica of an artifact from the Holocaust took serious consideration. However, the requests from teachers for tangible objects to help share the stories and history of the Holocaust encouraged us to pilot the use of replica artifacts in the Holocaust teaching trunks. We added one replica passport (from Heinz Schwartz) and one replica star to each of the trunks along with corresponding teaching materials that include more information about each of these objects and how to analyze artifacts.

Reserve your trunk now!

The Attic Theatre Presents "The Diary of Anne Frank"

The Attic Theatre, based in Seattle and offering "theatre with a message to our community"since 1996, is presenting Wendy Kesselman's adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank this weekend. Premiers Friday the 23rd through Sunday, October 2nd, in the Chapel Theatre at Woodinville Alliance Church - 13940 NE 166th Street - Woodinville, WA, 98072. Friday and Saturday shows begin at 7:30, Saturday matinees at 2:30, and Sunday matinees at 1:30.

From the Managing and Producing Director of the production, Mark Lewis, "We have brought together a very strong cast to present what we feel is a very strong message that is as pertinent today as it was in the 1940's. A message of a time in history that needs to always be remembered as a horrific intolerance of man's inhumanity to man. A message to be remembered so as to never be repeated." He has so kindly offered a special rate of $10 to anyone who identifies themselves as being referred from the WSHERC, or to anyone who identifies themselves as a holocaust survivor, he offers a complimentary ticket. Don't miss out!

For more information on the production or The Attic Theatre, visit their website here.

Between the Two Rivers, Second Edition

Aida Kouyoumjian is a local speaker who tells her parent's story of survival in the Armenian Genocide. She recently released the second edition of her book, "Between the Two Rivers," via Coffeetown Press.

The first edition, available at the Holocaust Center's library, won first place (Washington State) in the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) At-Large Communications Contest in the nonfiction: history category.

Aida is a member of the Holocaust Center's speakers bureau and speaks frequently to students in the Pacific Northwest region.

Find out more about Aida's story by visiting her blog.

For more information on book purchase and/or to watch a trailer about the book, click here. The new edition will be available soon in the WSHERC library, definitely worth reading!

New to the Center!

Hi all! My name is Brenna, and this is my 3rd official day interning at the WSHERC. I'm a senior at the University of Washington, born and raised in Montana, studying social sciences, and will graduate this March with an undergraduate degree in 'law, societies, and justice'. To be honest, I'm not sure where this degree will take me, but I'm interested in working with the community towards the awareness of the greater good! I continually work in staying open to what comes my way, with as broad of an outlook I can manage. ;)

Berlin's Holocaust Memorial

Berlin Memorial to the Murdered Jews
By Debbie Carlson, Teacher at Meridian Middle School, Kent

Debbie Carlson just recently returned from a Holocaust study trip to Amsterdam and Berlin, offered by Museum Without Walls and supported by the Holocaust Center. Debbie is one of the Holocaust Center's Master Teachers and a recent alumni of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous Summer Institute.

I walked around a corner or across a street and there it was, I recognized it immediately. We were a group of fifteen, but were given seven minutes to wander alone. So I dove in, literally. The memorial was made as a maze of rectangular cement blocks all the same width and length, but different heights. I think I learned later that there were 2,711 different blocks. I walked through them as you would walk through a maze. No identification. No words. No labels. Just acres of these concrete blocks. In some ways they reminded me of coffins.

I wanted to just sit lost among the blocks, but there was no time. I had to process my feelings quickly and rejoin the group. It was very difficult to consider the murder of 6,000,000 Jews being represented by acres of concrete tomb- looking blocks in such a short time. I kept noticing how the ground was uneven, there were places where it was so slanted one felt off balance, the passage ways were dark and narrow - only enough room for one person at a time, and the surfaces of the blocks created an undulating effect as I looked across the sea of concrete blocks. Suddenly I imagined what it must have felt like for the Jews to have their own lives thrown into such chaos. They had no solid ground anymore. They were constantly being squeezed into smaller, tighter, scarier spaces. They had no straight path to follow; they never knew what was around the next corner. The memorial began to make perfect sense.

As I rejoined our group I asked the guide if there was an official entrance or a sign or something to tell the public what the place was all about. No such sign and no such designated entrance. No wonder there were people climbing all over the blocks, sunning themselves, jumping from box to box enjoying a summer afternoon. I was horrified. But didn't the world do that while 6,000,000 Jews were being murdered?

Help us welcome these NEW BOOKS to our collection!

The following books can be borrowed from our library or by emailing info@wsherc.org

Storming the Tulips

Ronald Sanders

Taken from Stonebrook Publishing:

“The stories in this book make us realize how important it is to teach compassion, understanding and tolerance for people who may appear to be different than us. These life-lessons are even more important in today’s society. We must learn about history to understand our current world situations.”

Diana Schumacher, 8th grade Middle School Teacher, St. Louis, MO

Is It Night or Day? A Novel of Immigration and Survival, 1938-1942

Fern Schumer Chapman

Taken from Authors and Illustrators Book Review:

"...This book is an exceptional story of survival and devotion to homeland. The author's note and afterword contain inspiring information about the background and reasoning behind this book. Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl and this book would be great companions for showing how children's lives were affected by the Holocaust. This is a wonderful study of the Holocaust in a way that young readers will understand. Highly Recommended."

Jo Drudge, Library Media Connection, Starred Review

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin

Erik Larson

Excerpt from the Seattle Times :

“A nonfiction chronicle, based on the lives of an American family who spent a year in Berlin as Hitler rose to absolute power, Larson's book raises the question the world still struggles with: How do we know implacable evil when we see it? When is enough enough? ...As a suspense narrative, "Beast" achieves mixed results: It's hard to warm up to the well-meaning but outmanned Dodd and his feckless, flirtatious daughter. But as a work of popular history, "Beasts" is gripping, a nightmare narrative of a terrible time. It raises again the question never fully answered about the Nazi era — what evil humans are capable of, and what means are necessary to cage the beast.”

Mary Ann Gwinn, Seattle Times Book Editor

Benno and the Night of Broken Glass

Meg Wiviott

Illustrator: Josée Bisaillon

From School Library Journal:

“The straightforward text describes events without sentimentality, as if Benno were simply reporting what he sees and hears…But what truly distinguishes this book is the striking multimedia artwork composed of paper, fabric, and drawn images in hues of olive, brown, and red. Interesting angles, textures, and patterns add to the visual effect throughout. The spreads depict a normal city neighborhood from a cat's-eye view, which is eventually upended by dark shadowy figures with big black boots. Thus the message of terror and sadness that marks the beginning of the Holocaust is transmitted in a way that is both meaningful and comprehensible. An afterword provides historical context for the story, although it presupposes knowledge of the term ‘Holocaust.’”

Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library

Irena Sendler and the Children of the Warsaw Ghetto

Susan Goldman Rubin

Illustrator: Bill Farnsworth

From the JTNews:

“[An] illustrated work marked as being for 6 to 10 year olds. Because of its focus on the rescue of children in jeopardy and because of the separation and abandonment issues involved, I’d call it more suited for 8 years and up. The paintings are exceptional and the story of this tiny Polish social worker is inspiring as it shows how she quietly and ingeniously helped smuggle nearly 400 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto, while keeping careful records of their identities so they could be reunited with their families should any survive the war.”

Rita Berman Frischer, JTNews, Seattle, WA

The Druggist of Auschwitz: A Documentary Novel

Dieter Schlesak

Taken from the Seattle Times:

“There are no heroes here, no saints — and even Adam's wistful hope that ‘their suffering was not in vain, that death is merely a transition, a being-set-free for a world of light’ is but the flicker of a match in a hurricane. This is not an easy narrative to read, and the truths it reveals and embodies are not easy to face. It will fill you with despair and rage and terrible shame at the infinite ingenuity of human cruelty. By steeling himself not to flinch before the hideous reality of the Holocaust, Schlesak has created a beautiful book.”

David Laskin, Special to the Seattle Times

Before the Holocaust: Three German-Jewish Lives 1870-1939

Editor and Translator: Thomas Dunlap

From the PR Web:

“Author Thomas Dunlap guides readers of Before the Holocaust through the lives of three German Jews spanning the years from 1870 to 1939: Käte Frankenthal, Max Moses Polke, and Joseph Benjamin Levy. …These autobiographies reveal what sort of lives were possible for Jews in the years after the establishment of the Reich in 1871, when German Jews were finally granted full political and civic right. They provide insight into German society, into the turbulent history and politics of the Weimar period, and into the circumstances that led to the rise of the National Socialists. Finally, they chronicle the assault on the Jewish community in the years 1933 to 1939, before the onset of systematic genocide.”

Xlibris Publishing Company

Days of Aloes

Helena Edwards and Virginia Lown

The true story of a young Polish woman’s struggle to survive in one of Stalin’s notorious slave labour camps.

Identifying Mass Graves in Eastern Poland & Ukraine

Information on Nazi-Era Mass Graves To Be Made Available to the Public

Father Debois Has Devoted Seven Years To Documenting the S.S. Killing Fields in Eastern Europe

By Nathan Guttman
The Jewish Daily Forward
Published May 25, 2011, issue of June 03, 2011.

Washington — For seven years, the Rev. Patrick Debois has devoted his life to locating and marking the mass graves of Jews murdered by the Nazis. Now, the work of the Catholic priest is going online — thanks to a joint initiative between his Paris-based organization and Washington’s United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Yahad — In Unum, founded and directed by Debois, has documented mass graves in some 600 Eastern European villages. Information about those gravesites, as well as videotaped accounts from villagers who witnessed the Nazi roundups and killings, will be available this summer at the U.S. Holocaust museum. Yahad — In Unum has also joined forces with the American Jewish Committee to help ensure that the newly discovered gravesites are protected.
“I have the conviction we cannot build a modern Europe with thousands of mass graves of Jews killed like animals,” Debois said at a May 12 State Department gathering held in his honor. “We cannot build a new world if we keep on being silent.”
...

Hannah Rosenthal, a State Department special envoy and head of the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, suggested Jewish communities consider supporting/adopting villages to help maintain mass graves and/or create memorials. There is no formal local effort yet to do this, but we are looking to see if there is interest. If you are interested, please email Ilana Cone Kennedy, Director of Education, at ilanak@wsherc.org.

Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/138121/#ixzz1RGVCE1is