World History: Journey Across Time

Chapter 21: World War II and the Cold War

Web Activity Lesson Plans

Introduction
In this chapter, students have learned how worldwide inflation and the crash of the U.S. stock market led to the Great Depression in the 1930s. Countries around the world struggled for balance, and dictators seized power in countries like Italy and Germany. The Holocaust was a devastating reality that resulted in the deaths of millions. Visit remember.org to learn about the Holocaust.

Destination Title: remember.org

Lesson Description
Students will use photographs of the Auschwitz Death Camp and modern museum to reflect on life in the Nazi camps. They will view the photographs of Alan Jacobs and understand the incredible number of individuals who perished in Krematorias. After viewing the pictures, students will answer four questions and apply their knowledge by reflecting on how survivors might feel upon returning to the camps.

Instructional Objectives

1. Students will use the power of actual photographs to fill in where the words about the death camps do not do justice to the magnitude of the genocide that took place in World War II.
2. Students will look at the death camps from the perspective of survivors.

Student Web Activity Answers

1. After being executed at the Black Wall, prisoners' bodies were taken to Krematorium I for burning.
2. The largest gassing facilities of the Nazis were called Krematoriums II and III.
3. In 1944, approximately 20,000 people were killed each day at the camp.
4. Survivors of Auschwitz were suprised to see the grass in some of the photographs. They said that the grass wasn't there when they were there because they would have tried to eat it.
5. Answers should note the volume of people killed each day and take notice of the manner in which they were killed. Students might pay special attention to the number of shoes or the destroyed belongings to detail their account.