Jews Crossing the Bridge in the Lodz Ghetto

Name______

Lesson 4

The Ghettos

1. In their testimonies, Ellis Lewin and Joseph Morton share some of their early feelings and experiences in the ghetto. What kinds of things does Ellis talk about? What kinds of things does Joseph share?

2. Based on their testimonies you just heard, how were ghettos during the Holocaust different from your understanding of what a ghetto is today?

“Jews Crossing the Bridge in the Lodz Ghetto”

How do you think the Jews crossing the bridge were feeling as they looked down upon the scene below?

3. What were the Nazis’ intentions in closing Jews in the ghettos?

4. Why do you think the Germans wanted to establish ghettos near railway transports?

5. What do you think Heydrich meant by “the final goal”?

6. Why did the Germans establish a Jewish Council, or Judenrate, in each ghetto?

7. Why do you think that the Germans themselves didn’t govern the ghettos?

8. Identify some of the dilemmas that Jews faced on a daily basis in the ghettos.

9. What were some ways that Jews attempted to kept heir dignity and sanity in the ghettos?

10. Leo Berkenwald lived within the confines of what would eventually become the Lodz ghetto. Even though he was still living in the same city, how did his life change once the ghetto was created?

11. What does Milton Belfer’s testimony add to your picture of life in the ghetto? What does Leo’s add?

12. What role did food play in George Shainfarber’s experience in the ghetto?

13. What are some specific things that you learned about what life was like for children in the ghettos from Eva Safferman, Ellis Lewin, and George Shainfarber?

14. How was their behavior uncharacteristic for most children?

Name ______

Lesson #6

Jewish Resistance

Testimonies

1.  What are some specific types of resistance that Roman Kent shares in his testimony?

2.  In his testimony, Roman says “sometimes the easiest resistance is with a gun and a bullet.” What do you think he means by this statement? Do you agree with him? Explain your thinking.

3.  Roman wants people to understand about the term “resistance” in the context of the Holocaust. What were Jews resisting during the Holocaust?

4.  How does Helen Fagin say she resisted the Nazis during the Holocaust?

5.  What purpose does the Gone with the Wind story serve for the students in Helen’s “clandestine school?”

6.  What reason does Ruth Brand give for fasting on Yom Kippur, despite the danger of doing so?

7.  How were Ruth and the other girls punished for this act of resistance?

8.  What do you learn about the partisans from Mira Shelub’s testimony?

9.  What does Mira say was the goal of the partisans?

10.  What do you learn about active resistance in the Warsaw ghetto from Sol’s testimony?