Interdisciplinary Lesson on the Holocaust

English and Social Studies Concentration on victims with

Disabilities 8th Grade

Linnea Bassin and Kristin Hehrer

ED 301 Sec 02

By

Unit: Disabilities

Grade: 8

Lesson: The Holocaust- Victims with Disabilities.

Objective: To educate students on the disabled victims of the Holocaust. The students will be able to do the following after the lesson:

1. Students will understand the variety of victims from the Holocaust.

2. Students will have a respect for diversity.

3. Students will recognize the major symbol’s the Nazi’s used to identify victims.

Materials needed:● Computer with internet access.● Notebook paper● Pencil or pen● Printer● Folder for journal● Paper Plates● Glue● Markers● Armbands with different colors

Introduction Activity

This lesson is the first unit in a lesson that focuses on the Holocaust and the variety of victims. This unit focuses on those victims with disabilities.

As an introduction activity, the students will find a personal story of a survivor or victim of the Holocaust. This will be used for many activities throughout the unit.

Find a victim’s story with a picture using the

following websites:

http://trackstar.scrtec.org/main/display.php3?trackid=00265

click on format you wish and a list will come up with personal stories.

http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/phistories/

Personal stories of those affected by the Holocaust

http://www.remember.org/witness/ List of those affected by the Holocaust.

1. Create a Journal entry from the point of view of the person you choose from the previous activity. Tell us about their life was life before the war.

2. Tell us about your person’s life during the war.

3. Tell us what the person’s life is like after the war. If they perished during the war, tell us how and when. Let us know if they had any family that survived.

I. Nazi’s targeted

- Jews, Gypsies; homosexuals, Polish, Jehovah’s witnesses, the disabled and political opponents.

II. The Nazi’s target the following disabilities:- Mental illness (schizophrenia and

manic depression)- Retardation (“congenital and feeble-

mindedness”)- Physical deformity- Epilepsy- Blindness- Severe alcoholism

III. The Nazi’s started by sterilizing those with disabilities. They later moved on to gassing and shooting them.

IV. The programs used to target those with disabilities were called T-4 and 14f13.

V. The Nazi’s used mental hospitals to start their killing.

The Nazi’s used these symbols to identify the groups in area’s they controlled.

The map above shows the “Euthanasia” centers used to murder people with disabilities.

Armband Game

Put on the armband you received when you came in.

Talk to only the students with the same armbands.

How did you feel?

Were there any of your friends that you could not talk to you?

Were there people that you were forced to talk to that you did not really know before?

Write the answer to these questions in your journal. Add any comments about the activity that you would like to tell us.

View the following cartoon.

Use the worksheets given to answer questions about the pictures. http://www.teachersfirst.com/autoframe.htm?http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/ This is the source of the worksheet.

We will discuss these after everyone has a chance to reflect on them.

Cartoon Truth or Tale?

Anti-Semitic cartoon by Seppla (Josef Plank)--An octopus with a Star of David over its head has its tentacles encompassing a globe. Credit line: Library of Congress, courtesy of USHMM Photo Archives.Date: Circa 1938

Source: http://www.teachersfirst.com/autoframe.htm?http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/

Questions from Worksheet1. What are the main colors used in the poster?2. What symbols (if any) are used in the poster?3. If a symbol is used, is it

a. Clear (easy to interpret)?b. memorable?c. dramatic?

4. Are the messages in the poster primarily visual, verbal or both?

5. Who do you think is the intended audience for the poster?

6. What does the Nazi Government hope the audience will do?

7. Compare this cartoon with the song- “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” Is there a correlation?

8. The most effective posters use symbols that are unusual, simple, and direct. Is this an effective poster?

Commemorative Plates

1. Get a paper plate and a marker.2. Create a Plate to honor the person you

have been following through the Holocaust.

3. Make sure you have the following on the plate.- Birth and death date- place of birth- family information- picture of the victim.

4. If you would like to use construction paper or the computer to create a commemorative plate, you may.

One of the victims was Helene Melanie Label. She was born September 15, 1911 in Vienna, Austria.1933- 39: At age 19, Helen first showed the signs of mental illness. 1935 she had to give up her law studies and her job as a legal secretary because she suffered a major breakdown. She was place in a Psychiatric Hospital. After German Annexed Austria in 1938, she became confined to the hospital. 1940: She was gassed, even though she was showing signs of improvement.

Who did the Nazi’s try and eliminate?

What were some of the disabilities that the Nazi’s targeted?

Give us a story of someone who had a disability and parished at the hands of the Nazi’s?

What symbols were used to identify those who the Nazi’s targeted?

Review Questions

Preview of rest of the Lesson

● We will learn more information about the other groups persecuted by the Nazi’s.

● We will read “Number the Stars” and write reflective journals about the readings.

● We will see the affects of the Holocaust after watching video taped interview with victims.

Websites for further information

http://www.teachersfirst.com/autoframe.htm?http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/ Website that contains a lot of information for teacher’s on the Holocaust.

http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/ Website of Holocaust survivors.

http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/index.html Simon Wiesenthal Center Multimedia Library Center.

http://www.ushmm.org/ United States Holocaust Memorial Mueseum

http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/people/VictHand.htm Victims of the Holocaust with Disabilities.