Subject: History
Grade: 9-12
Brief Description
Students will collect information about media stories or
eye-witness reports of Nazi activities.
Objectives
- Students will look at the timeline on the Spread the Light
website for dates when Nazi activity was witnessed and/or reported.
- Students will consider questions about the events.
Key words
Timeline, refugee, witness, respond
Lesson Plan
Look at the timeline on the Spread the Light website for answers to
these questions:
- What did the New York Times report in May of 1942? Where did the
article appear in the paper?
- What did the New York Times report in June of 1942? How many
months later did U.S. President Roosevelt create the War Refugee
Board to help Jews under Nazi control?
- Find another example on the timeline of a time when someone
witnessed and/or reported violence against Jews. Who were the
witnesses? What did they see? Did they report what they’d seen?
Assessment
Read your answers and example in class. Discuss the questions
below.
Discussion Questions
- Why do you think it took so long for America to respond to what
was happening to Jews in Europe?
- Do you think people completely believed what they were reading?
Why or why not?
- If you had read the articles in The New York Times, what might you
have done to demand action?
