1. Echoes and Reflections Lesson 8

2.  Return to Life Lesson Part 1

3.   How do you imagine survivors felt after learning that they were liberated?  What do you imagine were some of their fears?  The phrase “Return to Life” is often used in connection with the period immediately following liberation. What do you think were the first things the survivors needed in order to “Return to Life”?  Do you think the phrase accurately captures the Jewish experience at the time? Explain. Think

4.  Testimony Viewing Dennis Urstein  Born on February 24, 1924 in Vienna, Austria.  Imprisoned in the Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen, Ohrdruf, Auschwitz I, Mechelen, and Dachau concentration camps.  Also imprisoned in the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp.  Was 15 years old when war began. Henry Mikols  Born on August 27, 1925 in Poznan, Poland.  Political prisoner in the Ellrich and Burchenwald concentration camps.  Sent on a death train to Bremen and then on to Bergen-Belsen.  Was 14 years old when war began.

5.   Born on December 8, 1928 in Dej, Romania.  Forced to live in the Dej Ghetto.  Imprisoned in the Mauthausen, Gunskirchen, Gusen, and Auschwitz concentration camps.  Was 10 years old when war began. Testimony Viewing – David Abrams

6.   How does Dennis Urstein describe conditions in Dachau prior to liberation?  What does Dennis remember about the day of liberation and the days immediately following?  Dennis mentions that the American soldiers reminded him of a character from his childhood. What is the significance of this memory?  What conflicting emotions does Dennis explain he felt after learning he was free? Discuss

7.   What does Henry Mikols remember of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen?  Henry says that he remembers feeling that maybe he was on of “the chosen ones.” Do you think this was a common feeling among survivors? How might a feeling like that carry with it a tremendous responsibility in the minds of survivors?  What other emotions do you think survivors probably experienced after liberation? Discuss

8.   Who does David Abrams say he found upon arriving home?  Why do you think David wanted to walk up to his house rather than accept the ride that was offered to him?  What do you think the walk symbolized for him? Discuss

9. Ida Fink Born in 1921 in Zbarazh, Poland. Was studying to be a pianist at the Lvov Conservatory when Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Forced to live in the Zbarazh Ghetto. Was able to flee and lived under false papers on the “Aryan side.” Immigrated to Israel in 1957.

10.   What is the general tone of this piece? How did you feel reading it?  What characterizes the image of the returning Jews? What from the text supports your answer?  What is the significance of the lack of face for Chaim the carpenter and other returnees?  Why don’t most of the returnees enter their homes, but remain instead on the threshold?  Does the narrator claim that these Jews – individually and as a community – can return to life in this place? The Tenth Man

11.   Why was it impossible for Jews to completely embrace the idea of freedom after liberation?  What obstacles did survivors still have to overcome – physically, emotionally, and psychologically?  What feelings and emotions might those who had been able to escape Nazi-occupied Europe have had to content with after learning the personal and general extent of the devastation during the Holocaust? Consider

12.  Liberators Lesson Part 2

13.  About Liberation  As the Allies took control of German occupied lands, they came across many Nazi camps.  In some cases, the Nazis had tried to destroy all evidence of the camps to conceal from the world what had happened there.  In many camps, the Allied soldiers found emaciated survivors, dying of malnourishment and disease.  Liberation began in Eastern Europe when Soviet troops reached Majdanek in July 1944.

14.  About Liberation  The Soviets liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27, 1945. This date later became International Holocaust Remembrance Day.  The British and American troops did not reach concentration camps from the west until the spring of 1945.

15.  About Liberation  The British and American soldiers encountered tens of thousands on the verge of death.  Piles upon piles of corpses.  The Allied liberators tried to help the survivors.  However, many still died in the weeks after liberation.

16.  Testimony Viewing Howard Cwick  Born on August 25, 1923 in New York, NY.  Member of the U.S. Armed Forces.  Liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp.  Was 16 years old when war began. Paul Parks  Born on May 7, 1923 in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Member of the U.S. Armed Forces.  Liberated the Dachau concentration camp.  Was 16 years old when war began.

17.   Born on April 19, 1927 in Sigher, Romania.  Forced to live in the Sighet Ghetto.  Imprisoned in Buchenwald, Gleiwitz, Auschwitz, Auschwitz I, and Auschwitz III-Monowitz concentration camps.  Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp.  Was 12 years old when war began. Testimony Viewing – Anton Mason

18.   What does Howard Cwick remember seeing during the liberation of Buchenwald?  How does Howard describe the survivors? Why does he believe the survivors were initially afraid of the soldiers?  Years after liberation, Howard continues to be moved by his experience. What do his emotions tell you about the impact this experience has had on his life? Discuss

19.   What food does Anton Mason remember the American soldier giving him? What does Anton say about the value of food in the camp?  How does Anton explain so many survivors dying after being fed by the soldiers?  What does Anton say was the “greatest thing” the soldiers did for the survivors?  How does Anton say he answered Elie Wiesel when Elie said, “We are free”? Discuss

20.   Anton said: “We were happy, we were sad, we were happy that we were free, that we were alive and the Germans had lost. As long as one of us was alive, the Germans lost because they wanted to kill us all, and they couldn’t kill us all.”  What are your feelings listening to Anton explain the feelings Jews had regarding liberation?  How does what Anton said fit into what you already know about the “Final Solution”? Discuss

21.   What do you imagine were some of the thoughts and feelings liberators had after their experiences liberating the camps? What kinds of things do you think they thought about in light of what they had witnessed?  What is the effect of hearing both survivors and liberators talk about liberation? What kind of information do you learn from each?  What kind of information does the survivor provide that would be impossible to learn any other way? Discuss

22.  A Liberator’s Thoughts  Harry Herder Jr.  U.S. soldier.  Liberated Buchenwald in April 1945.  Only 19 years old at the time.  What kinds of questions is Herder asking himself following his experience at Buchenwald?  Why does Harry reflect on his German heritage?  What choices would Herder have had if he had been a German citizen and in the German army during WW2?  What role does Herder like to believe his upbringing would have played in his choices?

23.  Displaced Persons’ Camps Lesson Part 3

24.  Testimony Viewing Malka Baran  Born on January 30, 1927 in Warsaw, Poland.  Forced to live in the Częstochowa Ghetto which was later turned into a concentration camp.  Was 12 years old when war began. Ester Fiszgop  Born on January 14, 1929 in Brzesc nad Bugiem, Poland.  Forced to live in the Drohiczyn Ghetto.  Went into hiding, living in barns, forests, and attics.  Was 10 years old when war began.

25.   Born on August 14, 1924 in Lodz, Poland.  Forced to live in the Lodz Ghetto.  Imprisoned in the Braunschweig, Watenstadt- Hallendorf, Ravensbrück, and Wöbbelin concentration camps.  Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp.  Was 15 years old when war began. Testimony Viewing – Daniel Geslewitz

26.   What does Malka Baran say she did in the DP camp?  What does Malka say brought her “back to life”?  What are some of Daniel Geslewitz’s memories of the DP camp?  How were the examples of life in the DP camp that Daniel describes an indication that the survivors were trying to reestablish themselves and trying to rebuild their lives?  How does Ester Fiszgop describe her experience in an Italian DP camp?  Ester says that “no one complained.” Why do you think that no one complained, despite the horrible conditions? Discuss

27.   After all that the survivors went through, what kind of attitudes toward humanity could they have had?  What kind of behaviors could they have developed?  Would survivors, in your opinion, have been justified had they become criminals and thieves? Explain your thinking.  From what you read and heard in the testimonies, what kind of attitude did most survivors adopt? What are the possible reasons for this attitude? Concluding Thoughts