DRAWING the HOLOCAUST

A Teenager’s Memory of Terezín, Birkenau, and Mauthausen

MICHAEL KRAUS

TEACHER’S GUIDE

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements 1

Introduction 3

About �e Center for Holocaust and Humanity

Education 6

Teaching the Memoir 7

Extension Activities 17

Drawing by Michael Kraus found on page 96.

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Acknowledgements

�e Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education (CHHE) is grateful to the Charles and M.R. Shapiro Foundation of Chicago for sharing our vision for this educational initiative and supporting the creation of this guide and additional educational components. We are also grateful for the support and partnership of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion throughout this project.

CHHE is fortunate to have the support of select educators who volunteered to share their insight and knowledge to ensure this guide is e�ective and informative. We dedicate this guide to these educators and the many other passionate educators in our community.

CHHE STAFF

Sarah L. Weiss, Executive DirectorAlexis S. Morrisroe, Director of EducationKate Morris, Development ManagerCori Silbernagel, Collections ManagerTrinity Ruggles, Education CoordinatorLisa Shusterman, O�ce and Program Coordinator

Terryl Meador and Rosie Sansalone, Project Advisors

Educational Guide for Teachers and Students Created: © July 2016

�e Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education (CHHE)8401 Montgomery Road Cincinnati, OH 45236(p) 513-487-3055(f) 513-791-4920www.holocaustandhumanity.org

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Introduction

Michael Kraus began writing his diary while still living in his childhood home in Náchod, Czechoslovakia. With the rise of Nazism, he was plunged deeper into the horrors of the Holocaust. Michael continued his writing while interned in the Terezín Ghetto. Upon arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, his belongings, including the diary, were taken from him. After his liberation at Mauthausen concentration camp, Michael continued his writing, picking up where he left o�, but now with a new perspective on his experiences.

�e memoir which accompanies the following teacher’s guide and supporting student materials includes not only his thoughts before and during the Holocaust, but also those upon his return to Náchod and the rebuilding of his life and family. �is memoir is written from the rare vantage point of someone immediately after surviving the Holocaust. �ese thoughts, expressed through word and art, are a window into the mind of a young boy trying to survive the concentration camp universe—a journey that took him through the Terezín Ghetto, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Mauthausen.

HOW TO USE THE TEACHER’S GUIDE�is guide, created by �e Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education (CHHE), is intended to be used to support a student’s reading of Michael Kraus’ memoir, Drawing the Holocaust: A Teenager’s Memory of Terezín, Birkenau, and Mauthausen. �e teacher’s guide may be used alongside the student guide (available online for download at www.holocaustandhumanity.org), which includes discussion and comprehension questions speci�c to di�erent sections of the memoir. Both guides support a reading of the whole memoir or excerpts. �e teacher’s guide is divided according to sections of the memoir and includes key concepts and topics for discussion.

HOW TO USE THE STUDENT GUIDE�e accompanying online student guide incorporates questions which aim to encourage a deep reading of the memoir as well as the opportunity for further exploration and research.

�e student guide is divided according to sections of the memoir and in the format of a workbook. �erefore, depending on the assignment, a teacher may assign the entire workbook, a section, or a speci�c question.

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I

MAKING CONNECTIONS

�e curriculum standards addressed by a study of Michael Kraus’ memoir connect with many Common Core and Ohio State Standards for grades seven and above. �ese include:

Literacy in History/Social StudiesCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.(Grades 7-12).1-10

WritingCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.(Grades 7-12).1-10

Ohio Model Curriculum: Social Studies

U.S. HistoryHistorical �inking & Skills: CS 2From Isolation to World War (1930-1945): CS 21 & CS 22

Modern World HistoryHistorical �inking & Skills: CS 2Achievements in Crises (1900-1945): CS 16

Contemporary World IssuesCivil and Human Rights: CS 10

World GeographyHistorical �inking & Skills: CS 1Globalization: CS 17

If you would like more information on how to connect this guide with other individual state standards, please contact CHHE.

INTENDED AUDIENCE

�is guide is available for teachers and students of all grade levels. It is recommended for students in grades seven and above. Please note that CHHE does not recommend the teaching of the history of the Holocaust to students below sixth grade. If you would like more information on teaching the Holocaust to younger audiences, please contact CHHE.

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I

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

We encourage you to use the additional resources found on the website www.holocaustandhumanity.org. �ese resources include a timeline, glossary, as well as suggestions of books and �lms for teachers and students to supplement these lessons.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

�e goals of this guide are as follows: —To enhance and supplement a reading of Drawing the Holocaust: A Teenager’s Memory of Terezín, Birkenau, and Mauthausen.—To explore one Holocaust survivor’s perspective and his decision to keep a diary, and later to write a memoir.—To provide the opportunity for further research and exploration around topics related to the history and lessons of the Holocaust. —To highlight how Michael Kraus and other survivors used their writing and artwork as tools for resistance during the Holocaust.—To provide tools and resources which support educators as they seek to integrate Holocaust and genocide education into their classrooms’ curricula.

CONCLUSION

Soon there will be no eyewitnesses left to tell their story. It’s imperative that we introduce our students to as many survivors’ testimonies as possible. �rough Kraus’ memoir, we can share with our students one voice, one entry point to learning the history.

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About � e Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education (CHHE)

In the years following the Holocaust, hundreds of survivors began new lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. � ey formed the Jewish New American Society, which served to help the survivors integrate into the local Jewish community and foster community with those who had been through similar experiences. Later, it was reorganized under the name Jewish Survivors of Nazism.

In 1994, the leaders of the Jewish Survivors of Nazism approached the children of local survivors to take over and re-envision the organization. � us was born a new group called � e Combined Generations of the Holocaust, which expanded to a wider mission of developing and providing education, outreach and social programs promoting Holocaust remembrance and understanding. After much consideration, the committee of � e Combined Generations of the Holocaust approached Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion about locating a Holocaust education center on its campus and in 2000, CHHE opened. CHHE expanded the annual Yom HaShoah commemoration to include a series of Holocaust awareness programs across the tri-state.

In 2007, CHHE became an independent non-pro� t organization and in 2009, relocated to the campus of Rockwern Academy. CHHE continues to educate about the Holocaust, remember its victims and act on its lessons. � rough innovative programs and partnerships, CHHE challenges injustice, inhumanity and prejudice, and fosters understanding, inclusion and engaged citizenship. Resources include traveling and permanent exhibits, teacher trainings, a speakers’ bureau, and a permanent exhibit open to the public, Mapping Our Tears. Mapping Our Tears also houses the Cincinnati Judaica Fund containing over 5,000 documents and pieces of Judaica. CHHE continues to expand and develop new partnerships and programs throughout the Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky region.

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TEACHING THE MEMOIR

Author’s Introduction

8

Author’s Preface 9

Section I: Terezín Ghetto 10

Section II: Birkenau 11

Section III: Mauthausen 14

Section IV: Post-War Hardships

16

Drawing by Michael Kraus found on page 90.

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Author’s Introduction

WRITING PROMPTS AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONSAll writing prompts and discussion questions can also be found in the student guide for this section of the memoir.

1 What is a primary source, and how do they help us to understand history?

2 Read and Respond

Re�ect in writing on the following passages from the Author’s Introduction:

“�e main reason I set down my experiences from the time of the Nazi occupation was very simple: so that they would not be forgotten. I realized at the time, and I was right, that one can easily forget details and so I thought that it was important to preserve in writing…”

“…it seems to me that my daughters went through a lot just by growing up in the shadow of a father who bore the mental scars of his devastating experiences in the concentration camps.”

“�e survivors thought that public awareness of the consequences of a pernicious racism would prevent further genocides from occurring. It turned out that we were quite wrong. Persecution of minorities and genocides have happened repeatedly, and they continue today.”

“Writing the diary helped me to overcome the painful and gradual transition to a so-called ‘normal’ life without parents.”

3 Mapping the History

• Use Google Maps to �nd the location of Náchod, and then, mark its location on a map of Czechoslovakia, 1933. Note: Visit www.ushmm.org for a map of Czechoslovakia, 1933.

• Find Terezín on the map.

• Use Google Earth to explore both Náchod and Terezín in 1933 and today.

Key concepts, ideas and topics for discussion

Náchod, CzechoslovakiaTerezín GhettoAuschwitz-BirkenauMauthausenMelkGunskirchenKanadaAmerican Jewish Joint Distribution Committee“�e Birkenau Boys”

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Author’s Preface

WRITING PROMPTS AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS1 Research and Respond

“At that time [1942], my parents and I were already getting ready to go to Terezín, so there was no shortage of new and interesting things to write about. I spent a lot of time on that diary, as well as on various articles and poems of my own composition. In Terezín such activities increased because I lived in a children’s barracks that put out a weekly magazine to which I also contributed.”

• Research Terezín in the Holocaust Encyclopedia on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s (USHMM) website: www.ushmm.org.

• What did you discover about how the teachers in Terezín used art to help the children?

2 Read and Respond

“I call these writings ‘Diary’ but anyone who reads them will realize that the title ‘Diary’ is inappropriate. But these are my experiences, written after the fact, and therefore I will leave the term ‘Diary’ even though it is not entirely correct. I do not intend to write things down in any great detail. I only want to describe the worst days under the rule of Hitler.”

• What is a diary?

• What is a memoir?

• How do they di�er from a novel?

• How would you describe Kraus’ work?

Image of diary found on page 42.

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Section I: Terezín Ghetto, 1942 – 1943

WRITING PROMPTS AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS1 How did �eresienstadt (Terezín) evolve over time?

Research “�eresienstadt” at: www.ushmm.org.

2 Read and Respond

Read the passage entitled “Transport” (pp. 5-6). What were the dehumanizing experiences Michael and his family faced on the way to Terezín?

3 Read and Respond

Read the passage: “�e Home in Hannover Barracks” (pp. 6-9), which describes Michael’s move to the children’s barracks where he and other boys published a magazine called Kamarád. He writes that “�ere was an atmosphere of good friendship among” the boys.

How do you think the work on the magazine helped form this camaraderie?

• Visit the Vedem/Kamarád website and scroll through the original magazines. Record a written re�ection on what you read.

• Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Israel, translated excerpts from the magazine, Kamarád. Visit www.yadvashem.org and select one article. Please summarize the article and your re�ections.

4 Read and Respond

Read one or both of the following passages from the sections “Departure” (pp. 11-13) and “�e Journey” (pp. 13-14). �en write a poem or create a drawing to re�ect this pivotal moment in Michael’s journey. • “On the morning of December 13th, 1943, there was a strange commotion

throughout the ghetto…the transport notices were being distributed. My premonition was right. Our home, Q-609, received �fteen summonses, and one of them bore my name.”

• “When �fty of us had gotten on board, they slammed the door shut, sealed it, and we were enveloped in darkness.”

Key concepts, ideas and topics for discussion

GhettoizationDehumanizationTerezín GhettoChildren’s barracks in Terezín GhettoKamarádSpiritual resistanceDeportation

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Section II: Birkenau, 1943 – 1945

WRITING PROMPTS AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS1 View and Respond

Read the section “Arrival” (pp. 15-19) and then connect it with the video testimony called “Arrival at Auschwitz” of Werner Coppel and Bella Ouziel found at: www.holocaustandhumanity.org. How are the testimonies similar? How are they di�erent?

2 Read and Respond

Read the section entitled “Showers” (pp. 19-23). What were the dehumanizing steps which Michael and the other prisoners had to endure as the SS “processed” them into the camp?

3 Read and Respond

Read the section entitled “Daycare” (pp. 23-24). How was Fredy Hirsch able to help the children in both Terezín and Birkenau?

4 What jobs did Michael’s father and mother have in Birkenau?

5 Read and Respond

In July 1944 Michael was selected to go to Block 13 in the men’s camp, and he never saw his parents again. He writes, “On July 11th, I could not sleep. �e night was clear and the sky was red. And out there – somewhere out there – no, I cannot talk about it. On July 11th, the Nazis killed my father – tortured him to death. I clenched my �sts, I cried, I promised cruel revenge. Many of us lost their dearest ones on that day” (p. 35). Michael strongly portrays his emotions in these few sentences. Describe his emotions in your own words.

6 Read and Respond

In the excerpts below, Michael and Ilona re�ect in their survivor memoirs about the day the Roma were murdered at Auschwitz.

“�e previous winter, all the gypsies who were interned in B.II.e were gassed.” — Michael Kraus, p. 39

Key concepts, ideas and topics for discussion

Auschwitz - BirkenauTestimonyBarracksDehumanizationForced Labor (extermination through labor)Dr. MengeleSelektionSonderkommandoRosa Robota Roma – “Gypsy Camp” in BirkenauDeath March

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“We envied the Gypsy girls. �ey had their long hair and wore their own clothes, long dresses with ru�es. To us—shaven, in rags—they were beautiful. �ere were Gypsy men, too… . �e rumor was that this was some sort of an experiment with the Gypsies, this keeping young men and women together in a sort of “normal” environment, unlike the rest of the inmates… . We heard them singing and arguing at all hours. �en suddenly one morning, it was quiet. I asked the Kapo, ‘What happened that the Gypsies are so quiet?’ She pointed to the crematorium. She said that the Gypsies were there, up in the crematorium. All 20,000 of the young men and women Gypsies were gone—all of them, in a single night.”— Ilona Weiss

Why did Jewish Holocaust survivors remember this moment? What can their decision to include this memory in their memoirs tell us?

7 Research and Respond

“Russian and American planes �ew over us every day, dropping bombs nearby. A bomb fell on the SS camp” (p. 39). �is decision by the Americans not to bomb the gas chambers and the rails to Auschwitz has been a source of debate. Research this debate and determine the source of the dilemma.

8 View and Respond

“During the night of January 18, 1945, orders came down that an already scheduled transport was to assemble immediately…the departure went slowly because other camps were being liquidated at the same time…only the sick and those who were twins remained. �e rest of us were driven into Auschwitz I, where we received food rations and, while it was still night, we started walking, walking all night…In January 1945 – the �nal year of the Second World War – I went through the so called Death March. Yes, it was a death march, because it claimed many victims and only a few of us survived” (pp. 39-40).

Michael left on the death march the same day as Holocaust survivor, Werner Coppel. Watch the video found at www.holocaustandhumanity.org called “Unlocking the Gates.” In the video, Werner describes his escape from the Death March, and Bella Ouziel describes her march which ended in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. How are these three re�ections similar? How are they di�erent?

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Resources �ere were other groups of individuals targeted by the Nazi Regime. Visit this online exhibit to learn more about the Nazi T4 program and the persecution of people with disabilities.

Worthy of a Voice: People with Disabilities during the Holocaust, curated by �e Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education and available at www.holocaustandhumanity.org.

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9 Mapping the History

• Use Google Maps to �nd the location of Oswiecim, Poland, and then, mark its location on a map of Poland, 1933. Note: Visit www.ushmm.org for a map of Poland, 1933.

• Use Google Earth to explore Oswiecim in 1933, 1943 and today.

• Next, locate a map of Oswiecim, Poland, which includes the location of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Note: Visit www.ushmm.org for a map of Auschwitz and its sub-camps, Birkenau and Monowitz.

• Use Google Earth to explore the three sub-camps in 1943 and today.

10 Mapping Michael’s Journey

• Examine the map on page 44 of the memoir (see below).

• Locate a map of Europe on www.ushmm.org and chart Michael’s journey during the Holocaust, beginning with his home in Czechoslovakia and ending with his liberation.

• What can we learn by examining a map of Kraus’ journey?

S II: B, –

Drawing by Michael Kraus found on page 44.

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Section III: Mauthausen

WRITING PROMPTS AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS1 Research and Respond

Michael describes the “notorious quarries” of the infamous death camp, Mauthausen. Research Mauthausen and include the following information:

• Where was it located?

• Why was it built?

• Which victim groups were imprisoned there?

2 Read and Respond

Read the section entitled “Melk — Potatoes” (pp. 53-54).Describe Michael’s job at Melk, a sub- camp of Mauthausen.

3 Read and Respond

“Sometimes, though rarely, alas, the SS did not �nish their meal and gave me their bowls to wash out. I would gulp down the leftovers and then return the bowls…I got to know the SS better. Most of them were beasts, but a few were better, more kindhearted” (p. 59). How does Michael’s description of the SS “humanize” the perpetrators?

4 Read and Respond

Michael recalls the parcels from the Red Cross. He writes,

“…the arrival of parcels sent from the Red Cross. �ey were meant for all children up to age �fteen” (p. 78). What was the stance of the Red Cross during the Second World War? Visit the Red Cross website for more details.

5 View and Respond

“�e SS had left in a car with a white �ag. �e date was May 6, 1945… Free! �ank God! We had made it!” (p. 79) View Werner Coppel and Bella Ouziel’s re�ections about “Unlocking the Gates” and their liberation at www.holocaustandhumanity.org. Compare their re�ections to Michael’s and write a short re�ection detailing what you noticed.

Key concepts, ideas and topics for discussion

MauthausenStone quarriesSSWermachtAllied forcesAxis powers�e Red CrossLiberation

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6 Mapping the History

• Use Google Maps to �nd the village of Mauthausen in Austria and then mark its location on a map of Austria, 1933. Note: Visit www.ushmm.org for a map of Austria, 1933.

• Use Google Earth to explore Mauthausen in 1943 and today.

• Next, locate a map of Mauthausen, which includes the location of Melk and Gunskirchen sub-camps. Note: Visit www.ushmm.org for a map of Mauthausen and its sub-camps.

• Use Google Earth to explore the sub-camps in 1943 and today.

7 Contextualizing the Story

On page 65, Michael re�ects on liberation feeling so near. Research what was happening at this point during World War II.

S III: M

Drawing by Michael Kraus found on page 67.

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Section IV: Post-War Hardships

WRITING PROMPTS AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS1 Read and Respond

Michael re�ects on how many of his fellow survivors got very sick from all the food they were given upon liberation (p. 82). Read the quote below from Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl re�ecting on the meaning of “liberation” and summarize its meaning into your own words.

“‘Freedom’—we repeated to ourselves, and yet we could not grasp it. . . . We did not yet belong to this world . . . Everything was unreal, unlikely, as in a dream. Only later—and for some it was much later or never—was liberation actually liberating.” – Viktor Frankl

2 Research and Respond

“�ousands of people returned to their homes, repatriates were everywhere. Everyone was in a hurry to get home. How you turned the world upside down, Hitler! And these were mere remnants – people who endured and who SHALL NOT FORGET!” (p. 91) Research a Holocaust museum or memorial, and answer the following questions:

• What is its mission?

• Does it have an educational philosophy and/or clear approach to how it remembers the Holocaust?

• How does it seek to serve the survivor community and the broader community?

• How does it seek to keep the promise of “Never Forget” and “Never Again”?

3 Research and Respond

“It was evening when we walked through the streets of Bratislava. People stopped, and turned around to stare at us. We looked terrible. �ey led us to a newly constructed building that was meant to be a department store. It now housed many refugees, who slept on the �oor. We settled down in a small room on the fourth �oor. In the evening we were given a piece of bread and co�ee and a gentleman in the street, gave us twenty crowns. Soon after that we retired and immediately fell asleep after the grueling journey” (p. 110). Research the current plight of refugees. How do Michael’s re�ections help us better understand the current situation?

Key concepts, ideas and topics for discussion

MauthausenStone quarriesSSLiberationRepatriation

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Extension Activities

A Michael and his friends kept a magazine to record the happenings in Terezín.

Option 1: Create a magazine, like Kamarád, in your school in which you include articles about current events in your school, community, country, and world. In addition, you can include poems, photographs, and drawings.

Option 2: Keep a diary in which you make an entry each day of your Holocaust unit. �is should include not only re�ections about the unit, but of your daily life and include prose, poetry, and drawings.

B Michael’s Holocaust journey took him through many types of camps. Read �e New York Times article, “�e Holocaust Just got More Shocking,” (March 1, 2013). How do these new �ndings contribute to our knowledge of the complexity of the Holocaust?

Option 1: Assign each student a di�erent type of concentration camp to research. Be sure to encourage students that they should not only highlight the horrors of the camp, but how life continued despite those horrors.

Option 2: Holocaust scholars refer to a “Concentration Camp Universe”- where camps had a language, a hunger, a fear and a cold, for example, all of their own. How would you interpret the meaning of this phrase? Interview local Holocaust survivors or visit the website, iWitness, to view Holocaust survivor testimonies to collect di�erent interpretations of this phrase.

C Emmanual Ringelblum coordinated one of the largest archives that was preserved during the Holocaust. Known as the Oneg Shabbat Archive and from the Warsaw Ghetto, it collected notes, diaries and re�ections from families, children, mothers, fathers, men and women. Explore and research the Oneg Shabbat Archive. How do collections like this contribute to our understanding of the Holocaust?

D Michael used artwork and writing as a tool for resistance during the Holocaust. Ask students to select one piece of artwork from the memoir. �ey should summarize the drawing within its context and share their interpretation with the class. Alternately, teachers may identify speci�c pieces of art from the memoir to serve as entry points into deeper conversations about the complexity of the Holocaust.

E Arrange for a visit to tour your local Holocaust center to explore additional primary documents and resources, and to learn more about the opportunity to hear from a local Holocaust survivor.

� e Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education (CHHE)8401 Montgomery Road Cincinnati, OH 45236

513-487-3055www.holocaustandhumanity.org