I found a website that contains many letters from Holocaust survivors. I plan to use some of those letters as primary sources and to get quotes. An example of an exerpt from a letter is:
"My Dear Parents!
If only the sky were paper and the world ink, I wouldn’t be capable of describing to you my suffering and all that I see around me.
The camp is situated in a forest clearing. Already early in the morning they take us out to work in the forest. The soles of my feet are bleeding, because they took my shoes from me. We work all day, with hardly any food, and at night we sleep on the ground (they also took our coats from us). Every night drunken soldiers come and beat us with wooden sticks, and my body is already black from bloodstains under the skin and it looks like a piece of charred wood. Sometimes they toss us some uncooked carrots, or beets, and this is shameful and disgraceful: here fists fly in order to grab a little piece or a small leaf. The day before yesterday two boys escaped, so they lined us up in a row, and every fifth one in the line was shot to death. I was not the fifth but I know that I will not leave here alive. I part from you, dear Mother, dear Father, dear brothers, and I cry…"
If only the sky were paper and the world ink, I wouldn’t be capable of describing to you my suffering and all that I see around me.
The camp is situated in a forest clearing. Already early in the morning they take us out to work in the forest. The soles of my feet are bleeding, because they took my shoes from me. We work all day, with hardly any food, and at night we sleep on the ground (they also took our coats from us). Every night drunken soldiers come and beat us with wooden sticks, and my body is already black from bloodstains under the skin and it looks like a piece of charred wood. Sometimes they toss us some uncooked carrots, or beets, and this is shameful and disgraceful: here fists fly in order to grab a little piece or a small leaf. The day before yesterday two boys escaped, so they lined us up in a row, and every fifth one in the line was shot to death. I was not the fifth but I know that I will not leave here alive. I part from you, dear Mother, dear Father, dear brothers, and I cry…"
I feel quotes like these will help present the severity of the Holocaust and hardships victims had to suffer through. I also want to look into similar letters from all of the different groups.
I also found a website that contains many primary sources about various aspects of the Holocaust that will be extremely beneficial in researching the project further. It is http://www.ushmm.org/research/library/bibliography/?lang=en&content=primary_sources#01-nazi_germany.
The picture at the top of this post is from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website, and it is of Americans organizing many documents from Germany.
I really like your idea to use letters as quotes because I think it will give poeple and idea of what happened and how horrible it really was. When people see how horrible the Holocaust was, they don't always understand just how bad it was. I believe the excerpts will stress the severity of the situation. How do you plan on organizing this information to present it? what will you highlight in your presentation?
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ReplyDeleteI agree. It really does reflect the severity of the Holocaust. Reading these accounts during the presentation would be time consuming and so instead we should get a few quotes that really stand out. Those quotes can be distributed to the class so that they can read whenever they like. I also think we should do a Prezi for this project, because I feel like we are familiar with the program. How exactly should we go about presenting all of our information?
ReplyDeleteI think it is a great idea to include letters like those. The letter above certainly got to me, and I could actually picture the struggles of this young person. How are you planning to present this? I would suggest a poster or a journal maybe.
ReplyDeleteI think your project will really captivate the class because of your primary sources. They capture your attention and make you a part of the presentation by allowing you to sympathize with the victims. I also like the source you found in your later comment which divides the sources into various categories according to their origin etc. Good work and I can't wait to see your presentation!
ReplyDeleteI, along with the others, agree that the direct quotes are a great idea to show the severity of the Holocaust! Here's another good site about personal accounts of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/Hibakusha/index.shtml I'm not sure if you will be talking about those bombings, but I hope this site is helpful!
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