Global Studies
The Holocaust
2. Ghettos
Objective
Students will write a journal entry describing life in the Jewish ghettos.
Activities
Warm-Up: Have student volunteers list on the front board specific examples of how Jews were persecuted from 1933-1939 by the Nazi regime. Ask the class to describe how propaganda fueled Jewish persecution in Germany.
Persecution of the Jews: Use the Holocaust PowerPoint slideshow to review the persecution of Jews in Germany between 1933 and 1939. Explain anti-Semitic propaganda, the Jewish boycott, Nuremberg laws, and Kristallnacht. Emphasize that the persecution of the Jews began long before they were deported to ghettos or concentration camps.
Isolating the Jews: Read aloud as a class the “Isolating the Jews” section of the Modern World History textbook (page 452). Then have students describe life in the ghetto.
Lodz Ghetto: Have students use the following websites to gather more background information about life in the Lodz ghetto in Poland:
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Jewish Virtual Library
Then play a segment of the 1974 Czechoslovakian film “Jakob der Lügner” showing life in the Lodz ghetto. Explain that the Lodz ghetto remained opened until nearly the end of World War II, in part because the Jews maintained very productive factories and sweatshops. However, after it was liquidated, only 10,000 of the 260,000 that had lived in the Lodz ghetto survived the holocaust. Use the Lodz Ghetto animated map to help the class better understand the location, significance, and ultimate fate of this and many similar ghettos.
Holocaust Journal: Explain that the next journal entry will describe life in the Jewish ghetto. Emphasize that these journal entries will not be due until Friday, December 16th. If students chose a person that did not live in a Jewish ghetto, have them describe what their person might have heard about ghetto life from their parents, relatives, neighbors, or friends.
Assignment
Write a journal entry describing in detail life in the Jewish ghettos.