The Sorting

The Read

erAi Linh Nguyen, Asna Ali, Emily Geiger,

Lasya Reddy, and Savannah Martini

THE GUARDSSS men were told to treat the women as equals/comrades

Female guards were mainly from lower to middle class and came from a variety of professions

German newspaper placed ads for volunteer women to display their love for the Reich and join the SS

New recruits were trained at Lichtenburg concentration camp in Germany then at the Ravensbrück camp:they attended classes that ranged from four weeks to half a year

In the height of WWII: recruits weren’t given much training before assuming their roles as guards

WOMEN’S CAMP● Nazi ideology didn’t discriminate: women and children

were treated just as badly as the men● Pregnant women and women with small children were

deemed incapable of work so they were immediately sent to killing centers at the camps

● Roma (gypsy) women, polish women, and women with disabilities were also targeted and sent to these camps and killed because they weren’t able to work.

WOMEN’S CAMP● German physicians used women as subjects for

sterilization experiments and other unethical human experiments

● Women were vulnerable to beatings and rape. ● The Germans established brothels in some

concentration and labor camps that women were exploited

The Death MarchThe most notorious Death March took place in January, 1945. The march took place from Auschwitz-Birkenau to Loslau.

Over 60,000 Jewish prisoners were forced to march.

Over 15,000 lives were lost during the march.

The march took place 9 days before the Soviets invaded Poland and liberated Auschwitz.

The march occurred because Poland was being invaded by the Soviets.

“‘Death March?’ asks the daughter in the book, and answers, ‘No, death trot, death gallop,” (120-121).

Trials

KINDS OF CHARGES THAT

PEOPLE RECEIVED

Conspiracy to commit charges

Crimes against peace - “participation in the planning and waging of a war”

War crimes - “violations of the internationally agreed upon rules for waging war”

Crimes against humanity - “namely, murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population”

SENTENCES FOR THE TRIALS

Could be Acquitted if your case was not deemed as important as others

Various lengths of time in prison depending on the judge

Life in prison was more common and was usually given to people who had a lot to do with the camps but did not go out a kill people all the time

Death was usually for the people who were extremely involved with the death camps and helped carry out the unthinkable missions.

GENEVA CONVENTIONThe Convention defined war crimes and how war crimes would be

treated. It was several treaties that dealt with the treatment of civilians, prisoners of war, and soldiers.

War crimes would be defined as any laws and/or customs purposely broken during international and armed conflict.

It was decided that the Nuremberg trials would be held and that their punishments were legal.

Essentially a series of treaties or rulings on POWs and their treatment.

Considered a universal law/humanitarian code.

Held in 1954.

THE TRIALSNUREMBERG TRIALS

Trials that were held by the Allied powers after World War II. This dealt with the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany. It focused on people who allegedly planned, carried out or otherwise participated in the Holocaust.

BELZEC TRIALS

Trial of 8 former SS members of Belzec Extermination Camp.

BELSEN TRIALS

Trials in which men and women of the SS as well as people that helped run the routine functions who had worked at various concentration camps were questioned.

THE TRIALSTREBLINKA TRIALS

Two trials concerning the people of the Treblinka extermination camp. They focused on Jerusalem Adolf Eichmann and Frankfurt Auschwitz.

SOBIBOR TRIALS

Concerning the Sobibor Extermination camp. This exposed to the general public what was really going on during World War II, especially in Poland.

MAJDANEK TRIALS

These trials were the overall longest trial of over 30 years. 170 out of the 1,037 men were put on trial. Many were set free after the trials were over.

DENAZIFICATIONDenazification (1945-1948) is the process of bringing the leaders of the

National Socialist regime in Germany to justice and purging of all elements of Nazism from public life.

Germany became the East and the West

Potsdam Conference

Abolish German armed forces and munition factories

Destruction of ship and aircraft manufacturing

Industry Plan

Heavy industry was lowered to 50% of its 1938 levels

U.S. controlled a lot of the exports (i.e. Timber)

GERMANY IN THE 1950S AND 1960SWorld War 2 has ended

Germany is left in shambles

GERMANY IN THE 1950S AND 1960SGermany had heavy losses during the war, in terms of casualties and industrial powers

7.5 million Germans were dead

20% of housing destroyed

49% decrease in food production

65% decrease in agriculture

60% decrease in industrial production

Large percentage of working class were dead

WHO’S GONNA PAY?As a form of reparation, Germany had to pay with industrial

assets instead of money.

Forced Labor

Civilians aged 14-65 in the U.S. occupation zone were registered for compulsory labor, under the threat of prison and withdrawal of ration cards.

Everyone felt this process, even if they were not involved in the actual war.

Economic Reconstruc

tion

Economic Miracle The spirit of Germany changed overnight

It’s thought that by lifting the limitations on structural change and productivity growth allowed Germany’s economy to progress

The cause of the economic miracle has come down to two main factors:1. currency reform2. elimination of price controls

Economic Miracle The reforms quickly reestablished money as a preferred

medium of exchange and monetary incentives as the prime mover of economic activity

Shops were filled with goods as people realized that the money they sold them for would be worth much more than the old money.

More people working -> collectively increased industrial production by 50%.

Economic Miracle Fastest GDP increase than anywhere else in Europe

Rose 8%

Doubled living standards in a decade

Germany’s status as the largest and potentially most influential economic and financial power was restored in the early 1960s.

STUDENT MOVEMENT OF

1968

“They were first considered a nuisance by many and, later, a danger.”(people benefiting from economy)- this was true because many people didn’t care about the plight of the students because they themselves were benefitting from the economic growth

● The growing gap between rich and poor in Germany, soaring inflation rates and decreasing health and pension benefits may likewise be contributing to a general feeling that the average citizen has been left behind despite strong economic growth.

● Students felt the weight of the bourgeois German society because they weren’t benefitting from the economic growth

Student Movement of 1968 (cont.)

●Student movement was fueled by anger towards the Nazi’s that held high positions in government

●Students were also enraged by the lack of education regarding the past generation of the Holocaust and WWII

●Examples of Nazis in office: 1. Kurt Georg Kiesinger, a former member of the Nazi Party, was chancellor. 2. President Heinrich Luebke, (1959 to 1969). He suspected to have worked with architect Albert Speer during the Nazi regime & was suspected of having designed concentration camps during World War II.

Settings of the BookPart 1 of The Reader takes place in a city in West

Germany in 1958.

Part 2 is most likely set in the state of Hesse, Germany

Other possible settings of The Reader are Heidelberg, Germany and Frankfurt, Germany

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SETTINGGermany has been split into two states: West Germany

and East Germany

In Part 1 of The Reader, World War II had ended for 13 years.

Frankfurt was a city in which a real-life trial had taken place.

Known as the Frankfurt-Auschwitz trials

HISTORICAL EVENTS YOU

SHOULD KNOW

Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials (1963-1967)

22 defendants were tried for their roles as low-level SS officers and Kapos in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.

The goal was to discover more about what happened at Auschwitz-Birkenau rather than actually persecuting the defendants

The trials were held in public, exposing more people to the nature of the camp

Historical Events (cont.)

The Weimar Republic

Federal republic that led Germany from 1919 to 1933.

Meant to replace the German Empire after World War I ended.

The Third Reich

Overthrew the Weimar Republic and controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945.

Commanded by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party

Discussion Questions1. How did the Sorting make you feel?

2. How did power play into your emotions?

3. Do you have a better understanding of how Hanna and Michael felt throughout the novel?

4. What did you learn through the simulations?

Let’s Review!

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