Introduction:

Introduce the definition of probaganda according to the American Historical Association:

What is propaganda?

“There is a lot of difficulty in working out a definition of propaganda. Most students of the subject agree that propaganda has to do with any ideas and beliefs that are intentionally propagated to persuade or influence public opinion or behavior. It attempts to reach a goal by making use of words and word substitutes (pictures, drawings, graphs, exhibits, parades, songs, and similar devices). Types of propaganda range from the selfish, deceitful, and subversive to the honest and aboveboard promotional effort. It can be concealed or open, emotional or containing appeals to reason, or a combination of emotional and logical appeals.”

American Historical Association, AHA ( https://www.historians.org/)

Standards Addressed In This Lesson:

Common Core/New York State Standards:

6-8.RH.1 Reading History/Social Studies Key Ideas and Details: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

6-8.RH.9 Reading History/Social Studies Integration of Knowledge and Ideas : Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

11-12.RH.6 Reading History/Social Studies Craft and Structure : Evaluate authors’ differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors’ claims, reasoning, and evidence.

11-12.RH.7 Reading History/Social Studies Integration of Knowledge and Ideas : Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.

New York State Social Studies Standards:

8.6c The nature and consequences of warfare during World War II transformed the United States and the global community. The damage from total warfare and human atrocities, including the Holocaust, led to a call for an international organization to prevent future wars and the protection of human rights.

Sequence:

1. Define "The Final Solution"

2. Examine the historical context regarding the Nazi's continual rise to power following the Great Depression. A major point to explain is that the Nazi's and Adolf Hitler rose to power as a result of a vulnerability amongst a nation created by the devestation left behind in the wake of WWI. Additionally, a lack of money, food, resources, and support by the government led to the election of totalitarian dictators throughout Europe and Asia such as Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussoloni, and Joseph Stalin.

3. Instruct students to define Propaganda and utilize the essential questions regarding propaganda to set the stage for the elimination of a group of people from Europe. *Important note- There are two analysis options. One was used for a 6th grade course, and the other an 8th grade. They will be labeled accordingly.

4. Examine Operation Barbarossa as the beginning of the systematic murder of the Jewish population. Contextually, this will be used as the starting point to determine the development of Nazi Genocide. 

5. Following the completion of the videos and propaganda analysis, prompt students to examine the essential questions regarding the Holocaust in the Pre-Reading section of this learning module.

Reasoning:

This unit examines the historical circumstance of the Holocaust. Additionally, it provides a primary source account of the events leading up to, through, and after one of the most horrific human experiences known to man. Students will gain a deep understanding of the historical circumstances that developed which led to such an inhumane event to occur in the modern era. Also, Ruth Minksy Senders novel The Cage  exemplifies the courage, strength, and perseverence that humans innately obtain to prove that in the face of hellish events and odds, "When there is life, there is hope."

Pedagogy:

Students will have a background in the Holocaust from elementary school. Some students may draw upon the experience of family members living in Eastern Europe before and during WWII. Additionally, the examination of the definition of the Holocaust will be extremely important as well as the contextual circumstances for which such an atrocity could occur. In attempt to do justice to the survivors, it is key to provide the proper circumstance, examination of oral and textual histories, and the survival stories of Holocaust survivors all around the world. 

Introduction:

The theme of this learning module is the "Pathway to Nazi Genocide". Providing context to the worst atrocity in the modern era is key to understanding the essential questions outlined in the next section. For this section in particular, you should introduce the first Essential Question of the novel The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender: How did the Holocaust Happen? This section of the module aims to help answer that question by examining the step by step systematic Anti-Semitic social, economical, and political policies that were integrated into not only German, but European society throughout the 1930's.

Sequence:

1. Introduce Essential Question 1: How did the Holocaust Happen?

2. Prompt students to watch video 1 and complete the associated graphic organizer and all prompt requirements. 

Graphic Organizer: 

The Pathway to Nazi Genocide Graphic Organizer

Video 1: The Path to Nazi Genocide. U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum . Washington D.C. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egz7YmdiGfo

3. Students should move to video 2 and complete the associated questions. This can be a part of a KWL activity. Students before viewing should write down what the know, want to know, and what they've learned following the videos. 

Video 2: Heeding the Warning Signs. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC. Retrieved from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egz7YmdiGfo

4. Students will already have a background from a previous section regarding visual analysis and propaganda. Students should examine the photo taken from the Treblinka Extermination Camp. Teachers should prompt students to make the connection between the quote and the photo. Additionally, be sure to mention that the quote directly relates to Essential Question 1, introduced in the beginning of this lesson. Students should respond to any associated prompts.

Photo 1: Treblinka, Poland. Smoke rises from the burning of corpses in the camp, 02/08/1943. Source: Yad Vashem

5. Introduce Padlet. A collaborative learning technology that allows students to post their own material as well as comment on other peers academic submissions. The assignment will be in the form of a visual analysis update aiming to answer Essential Question 1.

Reasoning:

Examining the "Pathway to Genocide" is an extremely important aspect of undertsanding the overarching theme to Senders novel, The Cage. It is imperative to set the stage for the novel by investigating the historical, political, and social circumstances which occurred prior to and during the Holocaust. As a pre-reading activity, students will have been exposed to the reasons why Jews were targeted, the social circumstances that allowed for political action against the Jews, and a visual analysis activity which helps answer or helps initiate further inquiry regarding the first essential question of: How did the Holocaust happen?

Pedagogy:

For teachers, initially sequencing the Holocaust will be key. It did not happen overnight, it took years of civilian manipulation, propaganda, and historical circumstances to provide an opportunity in 1941 to begin the cleanse of an entire people. WWII and the events of Operation Barbarossa play a key role in the ability to justify killing Russian Jews as they become the scapegoat reason for Hitler to invade the Soviet Union. Hitler paints the picture that stopping the spread of Communism into Europe is key to German success as a nation. Naturally, he establishes that Jews created the communist country and therefore, should be punished for the Soviet adoption of a communist government. The subsequent systematic murder of the Jewish population is a result of Hitler's ideas on race, the Jews, and the Soviet Union. Additionally, this is where the Nazi's begin to recognize the need for experimentation of different ways to support murdering such large amounts of people. Logistically, the Nazi's began to test gas, as a more "efficient" way to exterminate the Jews from Europe. This connects to the image of smoke from the cremation process after the extermination of Jews from Treblinka using a gas known as Zyklon B. The connection to be made to The Cage is that the killing of Jews became a system. From identifying, ghettoization, deportation, to extermination, the Nazi's perfected the killing machine. Ruth Minsky Senders novel exemplifies the experience of not only one teenage girl, but 6 million others throughout Europe.

Introduction:

The main learning outcome of this module is for students to be able to geographically contextualize the Holocaust and in particular, Riva Minsky's experience during the Holocaust. Her experience is sequenced in order and the study of maps, interactive virtual databases and visual analysis' will allow students to formulate a context prior to reading the novel The Cage. There is one comment at the end that attests to the psychological games the Nazi's would play in order to provide what they considered false hope to the prisoners of these camps. Ironically, hope is what kept Riva alive. The theme of the novel is distinguished in a single quote, "where there is life, there is hope". 

Standards:

Common Core Literacy Skills, Grades 9‐10

Reading

Key Ideas and Details

1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

3. Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.

Craft and Structure

4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social studies.

5. Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.

6. Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

7. Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.

8. Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the authors’ claims.

Chronological Reasoning and Causation

• Articulate how events are related chronologically to one another in time and explain the ways in which earlier ideas and events may influence subsequent ideas and events.

• Identify causes and effects using examples from different time periods and courses of study across several grade levels.

• Identify, analyze, and evaluate the relationship between multiple causes and effects.

• Distinguish between long‐term and immediate causes and multiple effects (time,continuity and change).

• Recognize, analyze, and evaluate dynamics of historical continuity and change over periods of time and investigate factors that caused those changes over time.

• Recognize that choice of specific periodizations favors or advantages one narrative, region, or group over another narrative, region, or group.

• Relate patterns of continuity and change to larger historical processes and themes.

• Describe, analyze, evaluate, and construct models of historical periodization that historians use to categorize events.

Sequence:​

For student review in order of the module. As a rule, this is a student centered module to provide context for the novel.

Reasoning:

​To provide a historical context to Ruth Minsky's The Cage: A memoir experience of the Holocaust. This module specifically timelines each of the significant geographical aspects of Ruth's journey through the Holocaust beginning in 1940 with the Lodz Ghetto, Auschwitz, Grafenort, and Mittelsteine by 1945. Students will examine maps, and statistics provided by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to provide a background for each of the places Ruth encountered throughout her journey of survival.

Pedagogy:

As a pre-reading exercise, set the stage for the novel by guiding students through a geographic analysis of every major camp and ghetto Ruth Minsky Sender experienced during the Holocaust. Students should utilize the supplemental resources to gain a deep understanding of the tragedy that occured in these physical structures in order to make sense of the feat of survival Ruth describes throughout the novel. 

Introduction:

The four essential questions (EQ's) will serve as the basis of the peer reviewed writing assignment after completing the novel. The Cage will serve as the main text to develop and support the students answers to the essential questions posed as context for the novel. As well as gathering evidence as the class moves through the novel to answer these essential quetsions, students will also be asked to make updates regarding specific questions and themes found in the four different sections of the novel. 

Standards:

The standards covered in this lesson are the same as the section titled Holocaust Referencing with the addition 2 standards for writing according to the New York State Common Core  standards.

Additions: 

Range of Writing

10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline‐specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

11. Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis reflection, and research.

Pedagogy:

Facilitate the pre-reading activity by refering to the context portion of this learning module. Students should be able to draw on the information they already know to begin to develop answers and evidence for those answers regarding the essential question their group is assigned. Also, it is important that students continue, throughout the reading process and learning module, to add to the supporting information section of their graphic organizer. It is here that they will continually develop a deep understanding and have supporting evidence to defend their claims pertaining to the answer of their particular EQ. 

Peer Reviewed Assessment Checklist:

This is the initial rubric for the beginning of the Peer Reviewed Assessment. This checklist should be given to each student at this point to ensure all aspects of the final task are completed at the end of the unit.

Peer Reviewed Assessment Checklist (For Student and Teacher)

"Ladder of Feedback" (For student peer reviewers)

Introduction:

Chapters 1-15 will provide students with historical connections to the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939, as well as the ghettoization of the city of Lodz, Poland. Providing context prior to the beginning of the Holocaust will help students make historical connections. These chapters' theme is survival. Mentally, and physically, Riva explains how survival was the only option for her and her family living in the Lodz Ghetto. This idea and the idea of hope, become the lasting impression of the The Cage. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will identify the sequence of events leading up to the Holocaust.

2. Students will examine the relationship between Jews and non Jews before and during the Holocaust.

3. Students will become familiar with the coordinated systematic murder of the Jewish population in Poland.

4. Students will be able to identify specific survival techniques of the Jewish population during the Holocaust.

Pedagogy

Making historical connections between the beginning of WWII and the eventual commencement of the Holocaust will be key for student understanding. Additionally, making geographic reference to the invasion of Poland where a high concentration of Jews lived, and those who also, were not Jewish, but at one time part of the German empire and therefore were considered "ethnically German" will be important for students to understand the psychological schism that occurred early in the Cage when Harry joins the Hitler Youth.

Major Discussion Points:

Quote Analysis

​ " I wonder if the free world, outside our cage, is still the same, Riva. Do people outside the ghetto live a normal life?...Do you think it is possible the great, big world has forgotten about us? Does anyone care? (Sender, p. 61)

"Always speak the truth. But if the truth will kill another human being, lie." (Sender, p. 73)

Prompt for Students: ​How do these two quotes represent the themes of hope and survival early on in The Cage? Also, quote one refers to the title of the novel. What is the writer referring to when they discuss "The Cage"? What role might this play throughout the novel?

Additional Resources:

Hitler Youth- Link: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/hitler-youth

Warsaw Ghetto Deportations- For reference and historical connection to the Lodz Ghetto

(Yad Vashem, Feb. 2010) Holocaust survivor testimonies: the mass deportation from the warsaw ghetto. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaNlJgzRYn0

Lodz Ghetto Visual Analysis/Audio Story:

https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-03-22/unearthing-photos-and-memories-life-lodz-ghetto

Comprehension Assessment:

Chapters 1-15 Comprehension Assessments

Introduction:

The following chapters are important to place in the context of WWII. As far as the Nazi's control of information through mass propaganda campaigns, one specific component of that campaign was book burning. The idea was to erase any prior history in Germany, including its professors, and instill only Nazi ideology in books and schools. There is a modern day connection to be made with terrorist organizations that attempt to do the same thing by funneling large amounts of money into the education of its predecesors. Additionally, the similarities and brutalities of deportation experience to any of the camps, but specifically, Auschwitz are essential to study for a true understanding of the multiplicity of horror experienced during the Holocaust. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will examine the historical impact of book burning on the history of a country and those who live in it. Students should be able to make a modern day connection.

2. Students will identify ways in which the Jewish community in the Ghetto attempted to resist Nazi policies. i.e., creating secret libraries.

3. Students will evaluate the logisitical process of deportations and the systematic delievery of prisoners to all camps. This is paramount when discussing EQ1- How did the Holocaust Happen?

4. Students will describe the experience of a prisoner arriving at Auschwitz. 

Pedagogy:

Teachers should help develop historical causation and context by examining the question of book burning throughout history. Connections to english literature such as Farenheit 451 can be made, if you are familiar. Additionally, examining resistence movements and strategies will help students answer EQ2- Why didn't the Jews fight back? Students could research the many ways in which Jews fought back outside the traditional realm of reciporicating with violent actions. Highlighting the dehumanization of prisoners arriving at Auschwitz will benefit students later on in the novel when there are signs of hope and humanity at other camps on behalf of Nazi's. 

Additional Resources:

A video on the arrival of prisoners at Auschwitz. This could be used as a comparison and corroboration of Riva's experience outlined in The Cage.

(Fairfax Network - Fairfax County Public Schools, Feb. 2016) Surviving the Holocaust: Segment 5 — Arrival at Auschwitz. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6gjZgG2kro.

Comprehension Assessments:

Chapters 16-25 Comprehension Assessment

Introduction:

Upon arriving at Auschwitz, prisoners were dehumanized. They were stripped naked, had their heads shaved, and were given numbers via tattooing. Auschwitz was one of the only camps that actually tattooed its prisoners i.d. numbers on them. Making that connection for students is important as part of the dehumanization process. Additionally, the first time Riva sees prisoners at Auschwitz, she is nearly overwhelmed with the status of their condition. It is very quickly realized that food and water are going to be scarce, but labor is going to be plentiful. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will be able to identify the living conditions at Nazi extermination camps.

2. Students will be able to examine the role of psychology in two regards during the Holocaust. The first, is on behalf of the Nazi's and their dehumanization of the Jews and the second, is on behalf of the survival techniques and resiliency of the prisoners. The connection to Riva's mantra "where there is life, there is hope." should be made.

3. Students will be able to place the Holocaust in the greater context of WWII.

Pedagogy:

Major Discusstion Point- "Where there is life, there is hope."- This quote is the basis of the novel and its meaning is exemplified throughout, but in particular in this section regarding Riva's first experience at an extermination camp. The examination of the psychology behind the will to live can be contextualized in students lives. Conditions in life, do not get much worse than those experienced by Holocaust survivors. Making connections to modern-day issues individuals may experience, offer, what strategies can we use to make the best of our situations? The descriptive nature of these chapters lend themselves to further visual analysis, but instead of focusing on the gruesome realities of the Holocaust, highlighting the will to live is equally important.

Additional Resources:

(BBC News, Jan. 2015) Auschwitz survivors reunite 70 years on. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uisXEJabmZw

Below, a video on selection and survival. Often times, it is impossible for survivors to put into words how they survived. Some feel, it is unexplainable luck.

(BBC News, Sept. 2015) 'I survived Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen Nazi death camps' - BBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2ZIHo7hhhg

Cheim Ferster survived eight Nazi Death Camps. You can read his story by clicking on the link: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-34405565

Comprehension Assessment:

Chapters 26-35 Comprehension Assessment

Introduction:

The end of the novel drives home the idea of humanity in the wake of unimaginable circumstances. Humanity and dignity on behalf of the prisoners but, even, in some cases, the Nazi guards. The idea that both elements that the Holocaust derives from, Jews, and Nazi's are both human is at times difficult to understand. In this section, quote analysis will be imperative to study the psychology behind the Holocaust. This is exemplified by the Commandandt of Grafenort who is reminded as she states in her own words that "she, too, has a mother." (p. 234)

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will be able to describe the end of the Holocaust and the liberation of those persecuted.

2. Students will be able to evaluate EQ1 from a new perspective by examining the relationship between Jewish prisoners and Nazi officers who carried out the orders of their nation.

3. Students will be able to evaluate the end of the Holocaust and its impact on society. 

4. Students will be able to create answers to all four Essential Questions posed at the beginning of this unit and complete a peer-reviewed writing assignment. 

Pedagogy:

​An important aspect of this section is to bring back all of the elements of the novel to connect them to the essential questions that were designed at the beginning of this learning module. Students, throughout the novel should have continued to add evidence to their "supporting information" section of their EQ Graphic Organizer as the class moved through this novel. Additionally, analyzing the quotes and actions of prisoners and guards is an essential aspect of the end of this novel because it wraps up any loose ends pertaining to the question of humanity and survival. Also, an interesting question that has a seemingly definitive answer should be posed. 

Question: How did the Holocaust end?- the seemingly easy answer is that WWII ended. This is true, however, explaining how different nations liberated different camps is important becuase it brings more questions into play. Questions such as: 

1. Is it possible that the allies did not know about the Holocaust?

2. Did they know, but choose not to do anyhting about it?

3. Were there other strategies in place to end the Holocaust or was ending the war the best option?

4. As elaborate as the logistics were, and as many camps sprawled across Europe, how did 12 million people perish in the wake of the Nazi's all while the war was going on in Europe?

5. What happened to the Nazi's involved in the Holocaust?

6. What happened to the survivors after the Holocaust?

These questions should be discussed either in groups or in a socratic seminar to bring the novel to a close, and before students begin their peer-reviewed assignment. 

Additional Resouces:

Video: Belgian Jews saved by German Officer upon the breakout of WWII. 

(Yiddish Book Center, Sept 2, 2011) How a German Officer Saved My Family. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R8_cTt2kzI

(Yiddish Book Center, 2011) How a German Officer Saved My Families Lives. Retreived from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R8_cTt2kzI

Video: The Story of Oskar Schindler- one of the worlds greatest humanitarians.

(Biographics, Sept. 2019) Oskar Schindler: War Profiteer, Traitor… and Europe’s Greatest Humanitarian. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytMNr9gLqE4

Comprehension Assessment:

Chapters 36-End Comprehension Assessment

Assessment Checklists and Rubrics:

Assessment Rubric Checklist

Ladder of Feedback (For Students)

Outline Students will Use for Final Peer Reviewed Writing Assessment

New York State Thematic Essay Numeric Rubric Checklist