PSDs UNIT 10: THE HOLOCAUST THROUGH FILM (ca. WWII)
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah (show-ah), which means destruction or disaster,
occurred during WWII when 11 million men, women, and children, were murdered. The Shoah
pertains to the systematic murder of 6 million Jews, based on anti-Semitism, the racist hatred of
Jewish people.
There are many written primary sources on the Holocaust, including eye-witnesses, survivors,
and perpetrators of the most horrendous crimes imaginable. There are also photographs and
video recordings of the concentration camps, people being liberated from the Nazis, and
interviews with survivors, witnesses, and Nazi criminals. In some ways, written words are
extremely powerful, but pictures and videos can sometimes convey things that words simply
cannot.
The following are a few clips and a PBS documentary on some of the events and tragedies of the
Holocaust/ Shoah.
Questions to contemplate when watching:
1. 5Ws: What happened and how, when, where (many places), who was involved (many
different types of people from many different sides), and why (lots of reasons)?
2. What are the most surprising lessons you learned from these clips about what happened?
3. What are the most important things you learned from these films?
4. What would it have been like to witness the liberation of the survivors, many of whom died
after being freed from the Nazis due to illness, starvation, and other effects of the notorious
death camps?
5. Could you imagine what it might have been like to be an innocent prisoner in one of these
concentration camps, an inmate for no reason other than your family name?
10.1 Wannsee Conference, 1942
This clip is not a primary source, but it is an accurate portrayal of what occurred. This scene, from
a 2001 BBC/HBO movie called Conspiracy, portrays the 1942 Wannsee Conference, when a group
of Nazi leaders decided how to proceed with Hitler’s “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Question.” In
this meeting, the Nazis worked out the details on how they would exterminate, like vermin, the
Jewish population of Europe: efficiently by gas and ovens. They chose this method because there
were short on time, bullets, and land in which to kill and bury the millions of people they were
murdering. It is a powerful and very well made film that can help viewers understand the clear,
direct, and insanely evil intentions of these Germans.
https://youtu.be/x3up5SZBZdY
10.2A and 10.2B Liberation of Death Camps, 1945
These are two 2-3 minute videos, which include an eyewitness account and live footage from the
1945 liberation of a few concentration camps, including Bergen-Belsen and Buchenwald. The
second clip has an inaccuracy: the woman said there were 18 concentration camps, but in reality
there were over 20,000 Nazi work and death camps across Nazi-controlled Europe where over
11 million people, including 6 million Jews, were murdered. You are being warned, there are
clear images of some of the results.
10.2A https://youtu.be/3wu5PAtj5Ds
10.2B https://youtu.be/CDxX_OP0G1M
10.3 On Genocide
This is a short clip on the Holocaust from the film “Genocide in the First Half of the 20
Century.” It discusses the history of anti-Semitism in Germany (since Martin Luther, the
Protestant in the early 1500s) and the Nazi campaign as the ultimate example of genocide. The
term was coined in 1943-44 to describe the intentional mass murder of a specific group of people
(ethnic, religious, etc.). The clip includes images of Hitler and his intentions for “racial purity” by
getting rid of the Jewish people by any means necessary.
In order to access the film, you might need to sign into our library’s Films On Demand database.
Use your GCCCD sign in (first.last name and your password might be your date of birth, unless
you changed it, which I suggest you do). If you have any trouble, please contact Help Desk: (619)
660-4395 c-helpdesk@gcccd.edu
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http://ezproxy.cuyamaca.edu/login?url=http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=10514
0&xtid=29046&loid=80706
10.4 Surviving Auschwitz: Children Of The Shoah
In the waning months of World War II (1945), two young girls from a Jewish ghetto in the heart
of Poland were liberated from Adolf Hitler’s most notorious death camp, Auschwitz. At 6 and 10,
Tova Friedman and Freida Tenenbaum were among the youngest of 7,000 prisoners found alive
by a regiment of the Soviet army. Here, they revisit the places of their past and share them with
their own children. Aired: 05/18/05 This is a PBS Frontline documentary (less than 1.5 hours).
http://www.pbs.org/video/we-are-veterans-surviving-auschwitz-children-shoah/
Check the Canvas Calendar for due dates
The Holocaust is one of the hardest subjects for me to teach, probably because of the personal connection I
have to this history. I explain some of this in the video lecture for this unit. Before you respond to this prompt,
please watch the lecture video. In order to complete this discussion, you will need to watch the primary and one
secondary) source video clips on the Holocaust (and at least part of the documentary as well). These poignant
(emotive/ emotion-creating) pictures help us understand the reality of what happened during the Holocaust.
A. For this discussion, pick one video to discuss, then answer these questions about that video. List your
answers 1-5 (feel free to add additional bullets for other points).
1. Describe the video(s) and include the 5Ws:
o What happened in the video? When, where, who was involved, why, and how? Put this in sentence and
small paragraph format (not one-word bullets). These are NOT one-answer or one word questions! Think
deeply about all/ multiple sides to each of these Qs (the 5Ws, etc.).
2. What are the most surprising lessons you learned from the video?
3. What are the most important things you learned?
4. What would it have been like to witness the liberation of the survivors, many of whom died after being freed
from the Nazis due to illness, starvation, and other effects of the notorious death camps?
5. Could you imagine what it might have been like to be an innocent prisoner in one of these concentration
camps, an inmate for no reason other than your family name?
B. Also: A saying Holocaust survivors and teachers often express is, “Never again." Never again should such
horrendous, evil acts be allowed to take place against a population in this world of ours. Very unfortunately,
however, acts of genocide against a minority group, those deemed "others," are still perpetrated today. The
events happening in Syria right now are a prime example of this (the leader, Bashar al-Assad, has commanded his
military to annihilate rebels, including basically anyone who is not part of his Alawite Muslim sect). Another
saying Jews, including Jewish Holocaust survivors, often expound (express) is, "to save one life is to save the
world." List at least two ways you have, can, and/or will help the world become a safer, more kind, and more
welcoming place for people who look, think / believe, or behave differently than you.
C. Respond to two peers who picked DIFFERENT video clips. As always, cite your sources.
Check the Canvas Calendar for due dates
The Holocaust is one of the hardest subjects for me to teach, probably because of the personal connection I
have to this history. I explain some of this in the video lecture for this unit. Before you respond to this prompt,
please watch the lecture video. In order to complete this discussion, you will need to watch the primary and one
secondary) source video clips on the Holocaust (and at least part of the documentary as well). These poignant
(emotive/ emotion-creating) pictures help us understand the reality of what happened during the Holocaust.
A. For this discussion, pick one video to discuss, then answer these questions about that video. List your
answers 1-5 (feel free to add additional bullets for other points).
1. Describe the video(s) and include the 5Ws:
o What happened in the video? When, where, who was involved, why, and how? Put this in sentence and
small paragraph format (not one-word bullets). These are NOT one-answer or one word questions! Think
deeply about all/ multiple sides to each of these Qs (the 5Ws, etc.).
2. What are the most surprising lessons you learned from the video?
3. What are the most important things you learned?
4. What would it have been like to witness the liberation of the survivors, many of whom died after being freed
from the Nazis due to illness, starvation, and other effects of the notorious death camps?
5. Could you imagine what it might have been like to be an innocent prisoner in one of these concentration
camps, an inmate for no reason other than your family name?
B. Also: A saying Holocaust survivors and teachers often express is, “Never again." Never again should such
horrendous, evil acts be allowed to take place against a population in this world of ours. Very unfortunately,
however, acts of genocide against a minority group, those deemed "others," are still perpetrated today. The
events happening in Syria right now are a prime example of this (the leader, Bashar al-Assad, has commanded his
military to annihilate rebels, including basically anyone who is not part of his Alawite Muslim sect). Another
saying Jews, including Jewish Holocaust survivors, often expound (express) is, "to save one life is to save the
world." List at least two ways you have, can, and/or will help the world become a safer, more kind, and more
welcoming place for people who look, think / believe, or behave differently than you.
C. Respond to two peers who picked DIFFERENT video clips. As always, cite your sources.
Discussion Rubric Unit 10
Criteria
Ratings
Pts
8.0 pts
Original
Post
15.0 pts
15.0 pts
12.0 pts
Great job!
Decent job overall Not Yet
but can be
Discussion follows criteria (at
improved.
Discussion post shows
least 200 word post, fully,
effort was made, but needs
accurately, and clearly answers Follows criteria work. Doesn't fully answer
all the questions, provides almost completely, all the questions, needs
examples with citations, is but can make a clarity or accuracy, or needs
grammatically sound, etc.) stronger argument grammatical fixes, etc.
use better examples
provide better
analysis, etc.
10.0 pts
7.0 pts
Fantastic responses to peers! Good effort, can be
Not yet
Responds, thoughtfully and accurately
improved
Work on
with clear, sound grammar, to at least Responses need to be more clarity
two classmates in several sentences. thoughtful, accurate, or accuracy, and
Fulfills all criteria (e.g. includes specific clear. Needs specific following
examples with citations).
examples with citations, directions
and/or is not grammatically Only
sound, etc.
responds to
4.0 pts
Replies
to two
peers
10.0 pts
one?
Total Points: 25.0
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