Night
"For the dead and the living
we must bear witness
. . . so that it will
never be repeated"
Elie Wiesel
There are 350, 000 survivors of the Holocaust alive today . .
. There are 350,000 experts who just want to be useful with the remainder
of their lives. Please listen to the words and the echoes and the
ghosts.
Steven Spielberg, Academy Award acceptance speech for Schindler's List
Over 6 million men, women, and children perished at the hands of the Nazis
during World War II. Elie Wiesel is one who survived, and in his
book Night he shares the terrifying story of his experiences
in the Nazi death camps. Other survivors also have stories to tell.
As you read their stories, you are able to connect with a person who is
real, a person just like you or me, whose life was forever changed because
of intolerance, hatred, prejudice, and discrimination. Their experiences
help us to understand the results of such attitudes, but, more importantly,
they bear witness to and show the invincibility of the human spirit. In
the following activities, you are going to have the opportunity to see
what it was like to live during the Holocaust and to meet other Holocaust
survivors. Through these experiences, ". . . we can capture
enough of that reality so that it will never be repeated" (preface to Night,
Robert McAfee Brown).
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Task
I Images of the Holocaust
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Elie Wiesel wrote of those things he will never forget (Night, p.
32). View the following web sites to take a tour of the Holocaust.
The Holocaust Memorial Museum
Images of
Reflection
Holocaust Album
Photographs
of the Holocaust
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After viewing these sites, write a journal about your experiences. What
images, ideas, and feelings do you think you will never forget?
Task
II A Survivor's Story
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Each survivor of the Holocaust has a story to tell. Suppose you had
the opportunity to talk to one of these survivors. What would
you want to ask him or her? The following web sites will give
you an opportunity to discover the stories of some other Holocaust
survivors.
Inner
Exile: Life in Hiding
Exile:
Flight in and through Europe
Death
Factories and Forced Labor
Rescue
and Risk
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Visit the web sites, read about the survivors' experiences, and choose
ONE
survivor
whose story you will tell.
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Copy your information to Word. Highlight important information and
jot down your own ideas as you re-read your chosen survivor's story.
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Now write a narrative about your survivor. Identify your survivor
and describe his or her experiences.
Today, survivors who can remember stories of this sad and horrible period
in history are getting older, and in time they will no longer be here to
share their stories with us. Elie Wiesel told his story "... out
of infinite pain, partly to honor the dead, but also to warn the living
-- to warn the living that it could happen again and that it must never
happen again. Better that one heart be broken a thousand times in
the retelling, he has decided, if it means that a thousand the hearts need
not be broken at all." (preface to Night, Robert McAfee Brown)
Now you, too, have discovered other stories.
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Rubric
for Task I Images of the Holocaust
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This journal is worth 10 points. In order to get obtain ALL
10
points . . .
the student focuses on his or her experiences with images, ideas, and feelings
about the Holocaust.
the student writes in first person ("I," "me," "my").
the student uses specific ideas that are clearly described and explained
with specific details.
the student uses a variety of sentence structure.
the student uses correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.
the student writes neatly and legibly.
the student writes or types at least one page , approximately 200
words or more.
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Rubric
for Task II A Survivor's Story
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This narrative is worth 30 points.
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The student makes the narrative "flow" with a beginning, middle, and end.
_______ / 10
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The student uses interesting and vivid details in the narrative that are
true to the survivor's story. ____/10
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The student elicits an appropriate response from the reader. _____/5
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The student uses correct grammar, usage, and mechanics. _____/5
Created by Leslie Michaels, Allegany County, Maryland
