Night and Holocaust Extra Credit Opportunities

Assignment 1: The Holocaust in the Movies.

As one of the greatest atrocities in recent history, the Holocaust is a common subject of Hollywood movies. Several movies about the Holocaust have won numerous awards and gained significant notoriety. Select a film from the list provided. Watch the film, and answer the questions that follow.

Schindler’s List (1993)

The Pianist (2002)

The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas (2008)

Life is Beautiful (1997)

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Nuremberg (2000)

Escape from Sobibor (1987)

In Darkness (2011)

Europa Europa (1990)

Jakob the Liar (1999)

The Diary of Anne Frank (1959, 1980)

The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank (1988)

Defiance (2008)

Fugitive Pieces (2007)

  1. In a minimum of TEN sentences, summarize the plot of the film (Do not copy and paste a summary from an online source such as IMBD).
  2. Which of the four stages of the Nazi’s plan to eradicate the Jews does this film portray (Loss of rights, Isolation, Deportation to camps, The Final Solution – It may be more than one)?
  3. In THREE sentences each, what are THREE connections you can draw between the struggles of the main character of the film you chose and Elie Wiesel from Night (NINE total sentences)?
  4. Hollywood has a way of transforming movies to fit to a prescribed format (love interests, hero saves the girl and/or the world, evil villain is punished in the end, happy endings in general, etc.). Provide TWO example in TWO sentences each of how the movie you selected conforms to this model.
  5. The purpose of Holocaust memorials and teaching units on the Holocaust in school is to increase awareness of the horrific events of WWII in the hopes that it will help to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future. In a minimum of THREE sentences, explain how the movie you selected helps to achieve this.

Assignment 2: The Holocaust in Documentaries

In addition to Hollywood films, there have been many documentaries that have been created to educated people about various aspects of WWII and the Holocaust. View one of the following documentaries (all available on You Tube) and answer the questions that follow.

Oprah and Wiesel visit Auschwitz (44:12)

The Auschwitz Album – National Geographic (46:59)

The Last Train to Auschwitz (1:54:30)

Treblinka Survivor Stories BBC (58:53)

The Holocaust in the Ukraine National Geographic (1:29:40)

Science and Swastika - History Channel (48:43)

I’m Still Here – Survivor Diaries MTV (48:25)

Nuremburg Trials – History Channel

  1. In a minimum of TEN sentences, summarize the plot of the documentary (Do not copy and paste a summary from an online source such as IMBD).
  2. Which of the four stages of the Nazi’s plan to eradicate the Jews does this documentary portray (Loss of rights, Isolation, Deportation to camps, The Final Solution – It may be more than one)?
  3. In THREE sentences each, what are THREE connections you can draw between the struggles of the subjects of the documentary you chose and Elie Wiesel from Night (NINE total sentences)?
  4. One of the major advantages that film has over text is that film uses visual images to tell a story while text relies on the reader’s imagination when describing events of a story. In TWO sentences each, provide TWO examples of visually shocking images from the documentary. What were the images and why did they shock you?
  5. The purpose of Holocaust memorials and teaching units on the Holocaust in school is to increase awareness of the horrific events of WWII in the hopes that it will help to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future. In a minimum of THREE sentences, explain how the documentary you selected helps to achieve this.