The Concentration Camps

"An SS man must adhere to one principle: He must be honorable, decent, faithful, and comradely to members of his own race, and to no one else. Whether other nations live well or die of starvation interests me only in so far as we need slaves for our culture--other than that, it holds for me no interest."
Hinrich Himmler

"They came for the communists, and I did not speak up because I wasn't a communist; They came for the socialists, and I did not speak up because I was not a socialist; They came for the union leaders, and I did not speak up because I wasn't a union leader; They came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up for me."
Paster Martin Niemoller.

The Task
Your small groups will have one day to research in the Media Center. You will search to find information about an assigned concentration camp. (U.S./Japanese Internment, Buchenwald, Auschwitz, Dachau, Chelmno, Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen, Buna) You will have one day to work with your group in our classroom to finish organizing your presentation. Any additional time needed will have to be worked out by YOU as group members. All students will be:
1) working cooperatively in a small group.
2) researching information about WW II concentration camps.
3) answering "reporter-type" questions regarding the assigned camp. (Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?)
4) plannning a short presentation (5 to 10 minutes) of information found to be shared with our class. Each person within your small group must have a part in the presentation.
5) writing in ink, a one page personal response about your group experience. Reflect on these issues: tolerance within your group, work habits of individuals, leaders, dividing up the work load, decision-making, etc. Was your group work a positive or negative experience and why?
Resources
Information on camps may be found in a variety to resources (Library Media books, SIRS Researcher (magazine and newspaper database), InfoTrac (magazine database), and MAS (Internet magazine database). A list of library media books on this topic follows.

General Camp Internet Resouces
  • Cybrary of the Holocaust--An on-line resource library of the Holocaust.
  • Japanese-American Internment Camps--A k-12 teaching unit full of resources.
  • The Holocaust Page--Very informative site on many aspects of the Holocaust.
  • L'Chaim--This web site stands to remind us all, that the death of just one human being at the hands of another is one too many. (Includes Dachau Virtual Tour)
  • United States Holocaust Museum--America's national institution for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history, and serves as this country's memorial to the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust.

    Specific Camp Internet Resouces
  • An Auschwitz Alphabet--A detailed collection of resouces of Auschwitz (very personal).
  • Holocaust Glossary--Provides definitions to commonly used Holocaust terms, places and personalities. (From the Simon Weisenthal Center)
  • Holocaust Picture Exhibit--A series of actual photos of various Holocaust events and places.
  • Humanity's Darkest Hour--A "Think Quest" project for the Holocaust with a section on the camps.
  • 36 Questions--Presents information about commonly asked questions about the Holocaust (From the Simon Weisenthal Center).
    Search Sites
    Use these search tools for keyword searching.
    Reading List
    CALL NUMBER
    		 AUTHOR
    		 TITLE
    324.2 Hey
    		 Heyes, Eileen
    		 Children of the Swastika
    741.9437 I
    		I Never Saw Another Butterfly
    920 W
    		We Are Witnesses
    921 App
    		 Appleman-Jurman, Alicia
    		 Alicia
    921 Fra
    		 Lindwer, Willy
    		 Last 7 Months of Anne Franck, The
    921 Fra (CB)
    		 Franck, Anne
    		 Diary of a Young Girl, The
    921 Hey
    		 Calic, Edouard
    		 Reinhard Heydrich
    921 Hil
    		 Hilesum, Etty
    		 Interrupted Life, An
    921 Men
    		 Posner, Gerald
    		 Mengele
    921 Wie
    		 Wiesel, Elie
    		 Night
    940.51 Koe (PB)
    		 Koehn, Ilse
    		 Mischling Second Degree
    940.53 (CB)
    		 Meltzer, Milton
    		 Never to Forget
    940.53 Rog
    		 Rogasky, Barbara
    		 Smoke and Ashes
    940.53 Sen
    		 Sender, Ruth M.
    		 Cage, The
    940.54
    		 Klee, Ernst
    		 Good Old Days, The
    940.54 Ste
    		 Steiner, Jean F.
    		 Treblinka
    940.54 Wie (PB)
    		 Wiesenthal, Simon
    		 Murderers Among Us, The
    Fic Ken (CB)
    		 Keneally, Thomas
    		 Shindler's List
    Fic Mat (YA)
    		 Matas, Carol
    		 Daniel's Story
    Fic Obr (YA)
    		 O'Brien, Robert C.
    		 Z is for Zachariah
    Fic Ram
    		 Ramati, Alexander
    		 And the Violins Stopped Playing

    Learning Advice
    Tips: One of the major goals of this assignment is for you to have the experience of working in a group situation. Your presentation can be in a number of formats including panel presenation, news program, skit, PowerPoint, video, etc. I am open to suggestion, so bring any ideas you have to me. You will probably want to have some sort of visual aid - a poster, video clip, book, etc. You may use music, poetry, etc. to enhance your presentation. Have fun with this project! Work together and be creative!!
    Conclusion and Assessment
    Each student will be graded on presentations (15 points), group work (10 points), and your written personal response (10 points). This project is worth 35 points. Good luck!!
    Documentation
    For instructions on documenting Internet sources, refer to Citing Internet resources.
    Created by Ms. Martin and Mr. McCright
    Return to the WebQuest page.