Ms. Beckwith’s6th grade class

Virtual Field Trip of Nazi Germany

New York State Standards/Themes and Objectives

• Social Studies Standard 2• Themes include: History of Eastern Hemisphere nations,

Power, Authority, and Governance, and Time, Continuity, and Change with the concepts of empathy and values.

• Objectives:1. Students will be able to define the term genocide in their

own words.2. Students will be able to identify which groups of people

were targeted during the Holocaust.3. Students will be able to discuss what happened in the

concentration camps.

Background Information

• During WWII, under the orders of Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany took over Europe.

• They imprisoned, enslaved, and murdered millions of people.

• This injustice did not end until the Allies defeated the Axis powers.

The Year is 1941…

You and your family have been forced out of your home by the Army. They have taken you to a concentration camp. The soldiers have taken all of your clothes, made you shower, and given you a striped uniform to wear. Then they gave you a number and tattooed it on your arm. They have separated you from your family. You are frightened, lonely, and weak.

The Arrival•

How would you be feeling upon arriving at the concentration camp?

Men’s and Women’s Barracks

• The sleeping conditions were poor. The bunks were uncomfortable and packed with people. They had no room to move.

Men's BarracksWomen’s Barracks

The Gas Chamber • Gas chambers were used to commit genocide against Jews and other groups.• Genocide means the intentional act of killing or harming a group of people.• They were used to kill people that were not considered part of the Aryan

race.• Gas chambers were also used to kill people that were unable to work such

as, children, the injured, and the mentally ill.

See what a crematorium looks like Imagine how scared the prisoners were

Work Duties At The Camp

• Prisoners at the camps were forced to work for the Germans.

• They worked long hours every day.• They did physically demanding jobs, under tough

working conditions. • Many worked behind barbed wire. -Marching Out to Work

-What do you think it would be like to work in these conditions? -View another example of slave labor.

Victims Page• It is important to know that Jewish people were not the only victims.• Some examples of victims include: Poles, Serbs, Russians and Asians.

• Millions of people died during the holocaust.• Some causes of death were: starvation, lack of medical care, and

people being murdered.

-Click on Mosaic of Victims to learn more about the victims.-Click here to see photos of victims, then click on The Aftermath (see more photos) .

Children’s Stories

What do you think it would have been like to grow up in Nazi Germany?

Click here to read about children's survival stories.

• More than one million Jewish children were murdered under Nazi rule. • Typically the Nazis didn’t find children useful for labor , thus most were sent to

concentration camps and murdered.• Many times they were the first victims to be killed.• They were even used for medical experiments.

The End

• The nightmare finally ended in late 1944 to early1945.

• The armies of the allies moved in and the camps were liberated.

• However, the suffering didn’t stop there. Many people were emotionally, physically, and mentally drained.

Follow-up Activity

-Keeping in mind what you have learned from the virtual field trip, I would like you to put yourself in their shoes…

• Pretend that you are in Nazi Germany and you have been captured. You are now a prisoner in a concentration camp.

• Write a Dear Diary entry explaining what you did today and your emotional state. Some examples of what you could discuss are: your work duties, your schedule, what you ate, and how your feeling.

Resources

• Holocaust Cybrary remembering the Survivors, Remember.org

• Main Events of the Holocaust• Poles, Victims of the Nazi Era• The Holocaust - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia• The Sleeping Quarters• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum• Virtual Tour of the Auschwitz-Birkenau

Concentration Camp

Questions?

What do you think this drawing represents?

Does anyone have any questions?