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US History
Project – Spring Semester – 2009 – The Play “Shoah” – 100 Point project
Your project for the Spring Semester is to see the Winter play here at Bartlett High School,
“Shoah”, and then thoroughly answer the questions I give you here. The play will be held in the
auditorium on Feb. 5, 6 and 7th at 7:00 pm. You must attend one of these shows as a part of the
project and in order to be able to answer the questions. If you do not attend one of the shows,
there is an alternative project, but please understand the alternative project is designed to
“encourage” you to attend the play. I will be at each of the performances and you must see me
either during intermission or after the play as your proof of attendance.
What you need to do for the project:
1. Attend one of the performances per the dates above and make sure you see me either
during the intermission or after the show as your “proof”.
2. Use word processing (a computer) to answer each of the following questions. Hand
written papers will not be accepted.
3. The paper must be turned in no later than Friday, February 20, 2009. Any late papers
will only receive half credit.
4. If you do not see the play, you must do the alternative project (see Alternative Project at
the end of this document). The due date is the same for the alternative and the penalty for
a later paper is the same.
5. See the attached vocabulary list and study it before you see the play. It will help you to
better understand the play.
Questions You Must Answer For Your Paper On The Play “Shoah”:
This paper must be at least three fully typed, double spaced pages
1. Give a minimum five sentence summary of the play, “Shoah”.
2. How did seeing the play make you feel? (Happy? Sad? Angry? Frightened? Other
feelings?) Explain how it made you feel and why.
3. How would you relate the issues of racism and prejudice in this play to our society of
today? How is it the same? How is it different? Can a lesson be learned from the past?
Give at least one example.
4. Which character in the play could you most relate to? Discuss this character and why
you most closely could relate to this person.
5. List at least three questions you now have about this period in history after seeing the
play.
6. At the end of the play, Anne says,
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“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good at heart. I can feel the
sufferings of millions yet, if I look up at the heavens, I think that it will all come out right
and that peace and tranquility will return again.”
Explain how you think Anne could feel this way in spite of everything that had happened.
Do you think you could have made this statement after what she had been through? Explain
your answer.
Alternative Project:
If you do not attend the play, you MUST do this alternative project, or you will get a zero out of
100 points. This project is due not later than Friday, February 20, 2008. Any late papers will
only be worth half credit. The alternative project is:
You must write a five page, double spaced, type paper entitled, “What Did the United States
Government Know About The Holocaust During World War Two and What Did They Do About
The Holocaust?” You must use at least three references for your citations. You may not use
something like Wikepedia.com or any other web site such as this. Your references may be
books, encyclopedias or reliable web sites.
In this paper you must address the following points and show evidence on these points from the
references you are using:
1. What people and groups were giving information to the United States Government during
World War Two about what was taking place to Jews and other groups the Nazis were
putting into various camps? What kinds of information were these people and groups
giving to the US Government?
2. How did the United States Government respond to the information they were getting
from these people and groups and what justifications did they give for their response?
3. Address both sides of the question, “The United States Government should have done
more during the World War Two years to stop The Holocaust.” First take the position
that they should not have done more and justify it, then take the position they should have
done more and justify it.
4. What do you feel are the lessons we should all learn from the role the United States
Government took on The Holocaust during the World War Two years? Explain the
lessons and why you think this is what we should have learned.
5. In the last part of your paper, put yourself in the role of a High School US History
Teacher. What would you want your students to learn about this period of US History
and how would you go about teaching it to your students?
If you have any questions, be sure to ask!
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Vocabulary List for “Shoah”:
1. Allies – The four most important nations joined in the fight against the Axis nations
during World War Two: The United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union
2. Axis – The three important enemy nations of World War Two: Germany, Japan and Italy
3. “Canada” – The three large warehouses in Auschwitz that held the clothes and
belongings of the Jews who had been gassed. For reasons no one knows, it was called
“Canada” by both prisoners and guards.
4. Concentration Camp – A prison camp where Nazis sent people they thought were
dangerous; “concentrated” in this way, the prisoners could do no harm. Many hundreds
of these camps existed, big and small, throughout Germany and Nazi-Controlled Europe.
Millions of people lived, suffered and died in them. Officially the inmates were supposed
to be used as labor, but living conditions and the sadistic brutality of those who ran the
camps made survival very difficult. Jews made up the largest single group imprisoned in
them. They were not expected to survive; that was deliberate Nazi policy. Auschwitz,
the largest camp, was both a concentration and a death camp. Four million Jews died at
Auschwitz alone. All camps were under the supervision of the SS.
5. Death Camp – A camp whose basic purpose was to kill Jews. Gas chambers using
Zyklon B were built especially for that use. There were six death camps, Auschwitz
being the most deadly. Approximately one million Jewish children were killed in death
camps.
6. Fuhrer – The supreme leader of Nazi Germany, Adolph Hitler.
7. Gestapo – The Nazi State Secret Police. They arrested, jailed and tortured thousands
during the years of the Third Reich.
8. Grune Polizei – “Green Police”, or German policemen. Known as such, due to their
green uniforms.
9. Het Achterhuis – English translation – “The Annex”. Also the name used as thetitle of
Anne Frank’s diary when it was originally published in German.
10. Hitler Youth – The Hitler Youth and The League of German Girls trained boys and girls
in their obligations to serve the party and the race. They were indoctrinated, became
young soldiers and were forced to seek out resistors: even turning in their parents and
friends for making statements against the Nazi party.
11. Holocaust – the systematic state-sponsored murder of six million Jews by the Nazis and
their collaborators during World War Two, from 1933 to 1945. The murder of the Jews
was called, “The Final Solution”, intent on wiping out all Jewish history and to eliminate
al Jewish Blood.
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12. Mein Kampf – Hitler’s “guide to a better world,” written while he was in prison and
used as the basis for his Nazi party and rise to power.
13. NSB – The Dutch version of Hitler’s National Socialist Part of the Nazi Party.
14. Onderduiker – A Dutch term that means one who “dives under”, goes underground into
hiding.
15. Radio Orange – The voice of the Dutch Government in exile in London. Sent nightly
broadcasts out to Holland and other occupied countries, delivering news of the war and
promises of hope.
16. Razia – The Dutch word for “roundup”. At gunpoint, Jews and other Nazi enemies were
forced to leave their homes in raids often in the middle of the night. Most were sent to
either concentration or death camps, if not killed in the streets.
17. SS – Abbreviation for the German word meaning “protection squad.” The SS began as
Hitler’s bodyguards, became a private Nazi army separate from the regular German army,
and grew into the most powerful organization in the Third Reich. Its members were
given special training and were considered among the best in the nation. They were
called “Blackshirts” because of the color of their uniforms.
18. Swastika – An ancient symbol, dating back about six thousand years; it often meant
good luck. Turned slightly on its side and with some other changes, the swastika was the
symbol for Nazism and became part of the German flag.
19. Third Reich – The German word “Reich” means empire. According to the Nazis, the
First Reich was the period of Germany’s greatest power, the Holy Roman Empire.
Hitler’s Third Reich, which was supposed to last “a thousand years,” lasted for twelve –
1933 to 1945.
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