HOLOCAUST WEBQUEST
1. Timeline of Early WWII.
A. What year did Adolph Hitler become the leader of the National Socialist Nazi Party? (Early in the timeline)
B. Go to 1925. Click on Mein Kampf. What does Mein Kampf mean? (Third paragraph)
C. What is an Aryan, according to Hitler? (Fourth paragraph)
D. Hitler writes, "The mightiest counterpart to the Aryan is represented by the Jew." In what ways does he say Jewish people are preventing the Aryans from ruling the world?
2. Anti-Semitism. site provides a brief history of the buildup of anti-Semitic feelings across Europe and discrimination or even violence against them.
A. Why were the Jewish people seen as so different from other Europeans?
B. What 16th century religious leader is quoted near the beginning of the article, saying that synagogues should be burned and Jews put to work or expelled from the country?
C. What is “social Darwinism” and how did it contribute to racial prejudice?
Go to:
D. In #1, what does Hitler say in response to the argument that Jews are being persecuted based on religion?
E. Choose ONE from arguments 6,7 & 8 and summarize the anti-Semitic sentiment expressed. How does this perpetuate the idea that Jewish people are inherently inferior?
3. Kristallnacht.
A. On what date did Kristallnacht occur?
B. What event sparked the backlash against the Jewish people?
Click on “Read orders to the Gestapo regarding Kristallnacht”
C. What were two orders given to the Gestapo & the SS?
Scroll down to the a) b) c) section.
D. Describe two ways in which Heydrich tried to preserve life & property in his orders (given at 1:20 a.m.)
4. Ghettos.
A. Given what you’ve read about anti-Semitic feelings throughout Europe at the time, why would countries like Germany want to put Jews into ghettos?
B. What was the “Final Solution” and why did it result in the destruction of all ghettos?
Scroll down to the section entitled “Resistance Efforts”
C. Where and when did the largest organized uprising take place?
Click on “view photographs” (top of the page on the right) and open the first photo.
D. Given what you just read about the resistance effort, why would a ghetto need barbed wire & signs like this one?
5. Concentration camps. This site has a map of all the concentration and extermination camps. *Click on the map to make it larger!*
A. What was the camp to the furthest point north?
B. How many countries in Europe had concentration camps within their borders?
Go to: There is a chart of information about each of the major concentration and/or extermination camps.
C. Which three camps had the highest rate of deaths? Give each camp’s location.
D. Which country liberated 2 of these 3 camps?
E. Which camp (of all of them) was the first to open? In what year was it started?
Go to:
F. What other groups of people (besides the Jewish) were put into concentration camps?
Extra Credit! Find artifacts to add to a Holocaust commemorative display in the classroom. Photographs of places or objects/artifacts, letters, diary entries, book or movie summaries, facts & figures, interviews or stories from survivors would all make great additions. Pieces should be nicely formatted and include a brief summary. Please turn all artifacts in by next Friday (4/10) to receive extra credit points.