"Thinking About the Holocaust": Magneto Testament

Thinking About the Holocaust

What was it like to live in Nazi Germany?

Mrs. Bontempo7th Grade Language Arts

Adolf Hitler

Hitler’s Rise to Power

Like many countries, after WWI and the Great Depression, Germany was very poor and in bad shape.

People were hungry, and unhappy, and scared about the future. The entire country was suffering. They were looking for a solution to their problems.

That’s where Adolf Hitler came in – he became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and started the Third Reich, a dictatorship that promoted the anti-Semitic ideals of the Nazi Party.

Hitler reassured Germans that there was a simple cause for their problems, and that he had a solution.

Hitler convinced people that the Jewish population of Germany was to blame for their money problems, and that Germany would be better off without them. In fact, there were lots of people that

Hitler thought were holding Germany back. These groups included Gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally impaired or physically handicapped, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other “outsiders.”

Boycotting Jewish Businesses

Hitler promised that if these threats to Germany could be eliminated, the country’s problems would be fixed and Germany would be restored to glory. Because people were scared and didn’t know what else to do, Hitler was able to do this. As the Nazi army rounded up “undesirable” people and sent

them to concentration camps to be exterminated, Germany began invading surrounding countries to get more territory, and WWII began. As they entered new countries, they sent the Jewish people they found to the camps.

1939 Pre-WWII Europe

Germany

The Hitler Youth

•Once Hitler had control of Germany, he wanted to secure

the future of the Nazi party.•He thought the best way to do this was to make sure all young

people and children were educated in the ideas of the Nazi

organization•The Boy Scouts were outlawed in Germany, and was replaced with Hitler Youth groups for boys and

girls•Hitler Youth were expected to

learn the beliefs of the Nazi party •Boys had to learn how to fight and be prepared to join the army•Girls were expected to support the Nazi government and be good German wives.

“Youth Serves the Fuhrer”

Book Burnings and Nazi Rallies

Why would the Nazi’s want to burn books? Control information Create fear Get rid of Jewish or ‘anti-German’ (anti-Nazi) writing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIF6hOy5LNg&skipcontrinter=1 Holocaust Museum - Nazi Book Burnings

Book BurningNazi Book Burnings Video

Operation Valkyrie

Not all Germans wanted to follow Hitler’s government, but resisting could be dangerous.

A German soldier who disagreed with the Nazi government worked with others to plant a bomb in Hitler’s secret lair, hoping to kill him and other important leaders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHtCaVtryiE

Film Perspectives

The Book Thief

The Monuments Men

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Look at a the following words. For each, make a list of everything that comes to mind when you think about it. Write about each one without stopping for at least one full minute. What words, ideas, places, memories, feelings, people, etc. do you associate with the word?

RED BLUE YELLOW GREEN

GOLD SILVER PURPLE

PINK WHITE GREY BLACK

Warm Up

An association that a word calls to mind in ADDITION to the dictionary meaning of the word.

Example: Grandma

JOURNAL: Write for one minute without stopping about all the things that come to mind when you hear this word.

Literary Lesson: Connotation

Paint brand lists dozens of shades of blue paint. None of them are called simply ‘blue.’ Below you will find a list of names for shades of blue paint:

Waterside Tiffany Blue Electric Blue Sassy Blue

Heavenly Blue Aquarius Patriot Blue Beluga

What shade of blue do you think each name describes?

What are the connotations of these words?

How do the names serve as a type of advertising?

Based on the names alone, which shade would you choose for your bedroom?

With your group, you will be assigned a color of paint Come up with 10 names for 10 shades that will sell your paint.

Activity: Blue Paint

Because there are so few words, artists associate certain people, places or feelings with colors in graphic novels in order to reveal things about them. They rely on the reader’s knowledge of connotations as they read.

As you continue reading Magneto: Testament, you will complete a “Color Imagery Journal” worksheet, analyzing color imagery and association.

Copy the following chart into your journal:

Mood, Color IMAGERY and ASSOCIATION

PAGE #

Passage from the Text (highlight the color imagery)

Related Character(s)

Connotations/associations

What does this reveal about the character?

“A Tattoo to Remember”

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/01/world/middleeast/01tattoo-slideshowwithaudio.html?ref=jodirudoren&_r=0

X-Men: Magneto in Auschwitz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI7SEIKaKwE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkVPTLh_HY4