Create your own Diary
At the end of The Book Thief Liesel begins to write her life story in her new journal/diary. Like Leisel, you will create your own diary with at least ten entries that are at least half a page long. You should imagine yourself as a German during WWII and base your journal entries on what is happening in Germany during the war. How are you affected by the war? How does it make you feel? Describe what you do on a daily basis - Do you go to school? The Hitler Youth? Do you play games? Also, be sure to include the institutions that hold power in your area (church, school, the government).
Be sure to make your diary entries sound as realistic as possible and try to put yourself in the shoes of a German child/teen during WWII.
As a basis for what life was like in Germany during this time, you can draw experiences from the book and the newspaper links below. You can also use information you gather from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website (https://www.ushmm.org/).
Be sure to make your diary entries sound as realistic as possible and try to put yourself in the shoes of a German child/teen during WWII.
As a basis for what life was like in Germany during this time, you can draw experiences from the book and the newspaper links below. You can also use information you gather from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website (https://www.ushmm.org/).
london_times_newspaper_1940.pdf | |
File Size: | 805 kb |
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london_times_newspaper_2.pdf | |
File Size: | 714 kb |
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This activity relates to the NCSS Thematic Strand 5 (Individuals, Groups, and Institutions) which focuses on the roles that institutions play in human life. According to the thematic strand, institutions embody the core values of society, but also affect society and the way people live their lives. During the Nazi regime, schools, churches, government agencies, and courts were all institutions that played a major role in impacting society and enforcing the beliefs of the Nazi regime. By writing a diary, students will be encouraged to think of ways that these institutions would affect their daily lives, and it will give them a better perspective on the restrictions that Germans during WWII lived under. It meets the standards...
7-4.6 Analyze the Holocaust and its impact on European society and Jewish culture, including Nazi policies to eliminate the Jews and other minorities, the Nuremberg trials, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the rise of nationalism in Southwest Asia (Middle East), the creation of the state of Israel, and the resultant conflicts in the region.
MWH-7.1 Analyze the relative importance of economic and political rivalries, ethnic and ideological conflicts, social class, militarism, and imperialism as underlying causes of World War I and World War II, including the role of nationalism and propaganda in mobilizing civilian populations around the world to support the two world wars.
USHC-7.4 Summarize the economic, humanitarian, and diplomatic effects of World War II, including the end of the Great Depression, the Holocaust, the war crimes trials, and the creation of Israel.
Source:
National Curriculum Standard for Social Studies: Chapter 2 - The Themes of Social Studies. National Council for Social Studies. Retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands.
(1940, Sept. 12). The Times (London, England). Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=colu68650&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=&docId=CS34551596&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0.
7-4.6 Analyze the Holocaust and its impact on European society and Jewish culture, including Nazi policies to eliminate the Jews and other minorities, the Nuremberg trials, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the rise of nationalism in Southwest Asia (Middle East), the creation of the state of Israel, and the resultant conflicts in the region.
MWH-7.1 Analyze the relative importance of economic and political rivalries, ethnic and ideological conflicts, social class, militarism, and imperialism as underlying causes of World War I and World War II, including the role of nationalism and propaganda in mobilizing civilian populations around the world to support the two world wars.
USHC-7.4 Summarize the economic, humanitarian, and diplomatic effects of World War II, including the end of the Great Depression, the Holocaust, the war crimes trials, and the creation of Israel.
Source:
National Curriculum Standard for Social Studies: Chapter 2 - The Themes of Social Studies. National Council for Social Studies. Retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands.
(1940, Sept. 12). The Times (London, England). Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=colu68650&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=&docId=CS34551596&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0.