Resources for the Classroom
Education Program Flexible length 11+
HEARING HISTORY: A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR MEMOIR READ ALOUD
Available in French
MATERIALS NEEDED • Teacher’s guide • Sample discussion questions • Author background reading
FEATURED MEMOIRS
• Language notes and content warnings • Copy of selected memoir • Supplementary visuals
Marguerite Élias Quddus In Hiding • Born in France in 1936
11+
DURING THIS PROGRAM, STUDENTS WILL
• Arrived in Canada in 1967; lives in Longueuil, QC As Marguerite and her sister struggle to accept their separation from their mother, they are taken from convents to farms and must learn how to lie about their identities to survive. This story is beautifully illustrated by the author.
• Listen to a memoir written by a Holocaust survivor • Analyze and compare similar literary forms (memoir, biography, autobiography and historical fiction)
• Engage in reflective and meaningful discussion
After completing the Education Program, students will gain an understanding of the Holocaust through the lens of survivor testimony. As the book is read aloud to students, they will learn about the value of memoirs as both a literary form and a tool for studying history.
Morris Schnitzer Escape from the Edge • Born in Germany in 1922 • Arrived in Canada in 1947; lived in Montreal, QC, and Ottawa, ON Morris escapes Nazi Germany for the Netherlands, only to find himself on the run once again when the Nazis invade the country. Through Belgium and France, through arrests and interrogations, Morris’s false identities and quick thinking help him to sur- vive when he is denied refuge in Switzerland. 11+
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Understand the historical context of the Holocaust • Build aural comprehension skills
• Learn to identify features of memoir as a literary form • Develop historical thinking concepts
Sample Discussion Questions Choose as many questions as you want to use during your class discussion. Adjust questions as needed.
Language Notes and Content Warnings for In Hiding by Marguerite Élias Quddus
Hearing History
Non-English Terms
Page Term/Phrase 25 “Oy vey iz mir”
Language
Definition/Translation
Yiddish German French
“Oh, woe is me”
A Holocaust Survivor Memoir Read Aloud
42 Mädchen 57 Boches
Girl
See glossary in book
121 “mayneh beybeleh”
Yiddish/English “My baby”
“Come, mayneh beybeleh, you too, come and kiss dayneh mameleh” “Gott in Himmel! Voss hostu undz gemakht?”
CONTEXT QUESTIONS
134
Yiddish/English “Come, my baby, you too, come and kiss your mother”
Teacher’s Guide
1. Where was the survivor author born? What did you learn about their family life before the Holocaust? 2. When did the survivor author first encounter the Nazis and their collaborators and how did living under Nazi rule change their life? 3. How did the survivor author survive the Holocaust (e.g., with the help of a rescuer, going into hiding, living under a false identity, moments of luck)? 4. What happened to the survivor author immediately after the Holocaust (e.g., reunited with family, returned home, started to work)? 5. When did the survivor author arrive in Canada? Where in Canada did they settle? 6. Why did the survivor author come to Canada?
155
Yiddish
“God in Heaven! What have you done to us?”
162 Quarré-Les-Tombes
French Yiddish
Tombes means graves, which scared Marguerite
168 “Mir kumen on!”
“We’re coming!”
Content Warning Some of the book’s content may be inappropriate for your students. At your discretion, the following content can be shortened or skipped to better suit the needs of your classroom. P – Profanity AS – Act of antisemitism V – Violence
Page Nature of Content Excerpt 9 P
My father didn’t let them say bad words in front of us, especially not “you bastard.”
HIGHER-ORDER THINKING QUESTIONS
23 AS, P
“Dirty Jew’s dog! Pisses all over the place!”
34 P 36 AS
“Come unplug the crapper!”
1. What themes are prominent in the memoir (e.g., family, education, Jewish life, discrimination/ persecution, violence, politics/war, ghettos/camps, resistance, hiding, escape, rescuers, liberation)? 2. Discuss the title of the memoir — why do you think that title was chosen? How does it represent the story of the survivor author? 3. What was unique or interesting about the way the survivor story was written (e.g., language, literary devices, pacing, sections/chapter lengths, use of dialogue)? Why do you think the author chose to write their memoir this way? 4. Aside from the survivor author and their family, think about another person who was mentioned or played an important role in the story. How did that person respond to the persecution of Jews? 5. What is antisemitism? What role did antisemitism play in the unfolding of the Holocaust? What examples of antisemitism might we see in modern day? 6. How was reading a memoir different from reading another genre of literature? 7. Why is it important to learn about the Holocaust today?
Someone has scribbled “Dirty Jews” on both our metal shutter and the Bieders’.
45-46 V
“Then she hits Yvette’s hands with her metal ruler. “You’re nothing but a dirty little Yid! Riff-raff!”
46 AS 57 P
“Shut up, you little idiot, you don’t know what you’re saying.”
61 AS, P
“Get the hell out of here, dirty Yid!”
67 P
“You can’t take a shit here.”
“They beat me, the swine! They beat me, Moishinkeh! They beat me for slipping a little note into the pocket of an eleven-year-old child…. They beat me and I’ll never forget it!” The butcher sticks the shining blade of his knife into the neck of the howling animal and slits her throat. It’s horrible! The blood spurts out into a basin.
67 V
112 V (animal)
120 P
“I have to clean your shit!”
I see the hammer in the old man’s hand. He takes the rabbit and hits it. I run away, far away, before the cook finishes it off with her knife. It’s not true, my father has not been murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp. “ The My Cousin Goldalé section ” , which gives details on how people were murdered in the Auschwitz camp complex.
163 V (animal)
165 V
182-184 AS, V
Education Program
11+
Hearing History: A Holocaust Survivor Memoir Read Aloud
Hearing History: A Holocaust Survivor Memoir Read Aloud
memoirs.azrielifoundation.org
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