Night Webquest

You are about to start reading the book Night by Elie Wiesel. In order to fully understand Wiesel's experiences, it is important that you acquire the necessary background information and context surrounding the Holocaust, WWII, and Hitler's regime. 

Although Wiesel details his horrific experiences in a Nazi Concentration Camp, he also illuminates the power of hope and perseverance. Through his book, Elie Wiesel sought to "bear witness" to the travesty of human genocide and offer illumination to future generations so that we may never repeat this dark spot in history. 

"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." ~Elie Wiesel

Working with one or two partners, use the links provided or use your research from class to find answers to the questions below.

The day after Kristallnacht

Topic 1:     What was Kristallnacht (Crystal Night or “The Night of the Broken Glass)?                                                       

1.  When did Kristallnacht happen and what was Kristallnacht?
2.  What was the supposed spark that initiated this violence?
3.  What was the role of police on this night?                
4.  What is a “pogrom?”
5.  After Kristallnacht, what happened to many Jews?
6.  Add any other interesting facts you think would be valuable to your research.

Sources for Topic 1:

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/kristallnacht (pogrom)

• https://www.britannica.com/event/Holocaust/From-Kristallnacht-to-the-final-solution

Adolf Hitler

Topic 2:   How did Hitler gain power and begin Nazi Rule? 

1.  How and when did Hitler gain power and what was the Third Reich?
2.  Who were the SS?
3.  What was “Nazi Propaganda” and how was it used?
4.  What is Euthanasia?
5.  What is “Anti-Semitism?”
6.  Add any other interesting facts you think would be valuable to your research.

Sources for Topic 2:

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-rule

• https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/background-and-overview-of-the-nazi-euthanasia-t-4-program

• https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/background-and-overview-of-the-nazi-euthanasia-t-4-program

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/third-reich-an-overview

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/antisemitism

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/perpetrators

• https://www.britannica.com/event/Holocaust#ref215485

Starved prisoners, nearly dead from hunger, pose in concentration camp in Ebensee, Austria. Ebensee was a sub-camp of the main camp 'Mauthausen' near the town of the same name. The camp was reputedly used for "scientific" experiments. It was liberated by the 80th Division of the U.S. Army.

Topic 3:   What was life like in a Concentration Camp?

1.  What are some of the things that happened to the prisoners when they first got to the camps?
2.  What was “Selection?”
3.  What was the difference between death camps and labor camps?
4.  What happened to the personal items people brought with them?
5.  What were a crematorium and a gas chamber?
6.  Add any other interesting facts you think would be valuable to your research. 

Sources for Topic 3:

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/death-marches-1

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/at-the-killing-centers

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/forced-labor

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/killing-centers-an-overview

• https://www.holocaust.com.au/the-facts/the-outbreak-of-world-war-ii-and-the-war-against-the-jews/nazi-concentration-camps/

• https://www.holocaust.com.au/the-facts/the-outbreak-of-world-war-ii-and-the-war-against-the-jews/death-camps/

• https://www.jewishgen.org/ForgottenCamps/Camps/TreblinkaEng.html

• https://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/special-focus/american-responses-to-the-holocaust/liberation-of-the-camps

Zeidman, a Jewish policeman, giving instructions at the time when Bedzin Jews were relocating to the ghetto. From a Nazi German propaganda film. Zeidman and the man standing behind him are wearing armbands

Topic 4:  What was a “ghetto?” 

1.  How was a ghetto formed?
2.  What kind of things did they have in a ghetto?
3. Who was in charge of a ghetto?  How did they run it?
4.   How did the Nazi’s keep the Jews in the Ghetto?
5.  What happened after Jews left the ghettos?
6.  Add any other interesting facts you think would be valuable to your research. 

Sources for Topic 4:

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/ghettos

• https://www.holocaust.com.au/the-facts/the-outbreak-of-world-war-ii-and-the-war-against-the-jews/ghettos/

• https://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%206286.pdf

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/life-in-the-ghettos

• https://www.ushmm.org/remember/holocaust-reflections-testimonies/behind-every-name-a-story/grossman-family/grossman-familyantisemitism-the-ghetto-and-deportation-part-2

Jewish prisoners at Belzec extermination camp

Topic 5:    What was the “Final Solution?”

1.  What was the “Final Solution?”
2.  Who were implementers of the “Final Solution?”
3.  How was the “Final Solution” supposed to be carried out?
4.  How many Jewish lives were lost as a result of “The Final Solution” and the Holocaust?
5. Add any other interesting facts you think would be valuable to your research

Sources for Topic 5:

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/final-solution-overview

• https://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%205851.pdf

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/final-solution-in-depth

• https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/estimated-number-of-jews-killed-in-the-final-solution

• https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/himmler-orders-completion-of-the-final-solution

Timeline/History

• https://remember.org/educate/mtimeline

• https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/an-introductory-history-of-the-holocaust

• http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/holocaust.htm

Vocabulary

• https://remember.org/educate/vocabulary

• https://hmh.org/education/resources/vocabulary-terms-related-holocaust/

• https://www.thebreman.org/Portals/0/VOCABULARY%20OF%20THE%20HOLOCAUST.pdf

• https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/glossary

Pictures

• https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/holocaust-photographs