Sperling Kronberg Mack Holocaust Resouce Center Myra Berkovits and Pat Holland

Bystanders = Spectators = Indifference

The opposite of hate is not love but indifference.

Eli Wiesel

What is a

Victim

?

A

victim

is a person or thing that suffers harm, death, etc., from another or from some adverse act, circumstance, etc.

victims of tyranny

• Victims of bullying include girls and boys of all ages, sizes, and backgrounds. •

Some students can be victimized because they appear small, weak, insecure, sensitive or “different” from their peers

What is a

Perpetrator

?

A

perpetrator

is a person who commits a serious crime or evil action, causing grievous harm or death to the victim. It is also used of those who commit atrocities.

The Bystander

is a person who is present but not involved.

• According to history, by taking no action, they were responsible for allowing the Holocaust to escalate. In today's school setting Bystanders make up approximately 85% of a school population, “the silent majority”  They are the most ignored and underused resources in the schools  They become desensitized over time (diminished empathy)

The Sounds of Silence

by Paul Simon

Dilemma of the

Bystander

the Holocaust during

Since the 4 th century, hatred for the Jews progressed in stages, states Raul Heilberg, noted Holocaust historian They may not live among us

as Jews

(i.e. ghettos) They may not live

among us

(i.e. expulsion) They may not

live

( i.e. extermination)

Jokes to Genocide

The Holocaust and Genocide

The Holocaust was a unique episode of genocide not because of

who

was killed or

how many

were killed, but

how

and

why

they were killed • The method had technological dimension • The motive of the Nazis’ was to achieve the “Final Solution.”

In other words, to wipe the Jews off the face of the earth

…

What was the Holocaust?

It was the destruction of some 6 million Jews by the Nazis’ and their followers in Europe between 1933 -1945.

Other individuals and groups were persecuted and suffered grievously during this period. It was the Jews who were marked for complete and utter annihilation.

The term

Holocaust

literally means, a completely burned sacrifice.

The word

Shoah

, originally a biblical term meaning widespread disaster, is the modern Hebrew equivalent.

Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Who were the victims of the Holocaust?

According to Steven Spielberg, founder of the

USC Shoah Foundation, “ any person who was

displaced between 1933 and 1945 was a victim of the Holocaust.” Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice But there must never be a time when we fail to protest

Elie Wiesel

People resisted the Nazis in various ways

Irena Sendler Irena Sendler

Dr. Ho Feng Shan

Hans Scholl

Anti-Nazi Leaflets published by the White Rose.

Hans Scholl, a 25-year old Christian medical student at the University of Munich, with his 22 year old sister Sophie, formed the White Rose resistance group in 1942 to publish anti-Nazi leaflets to students. They were caught and beheaded in February 1943.

“Spiritual Resistance”

was often some people’s

only

means of resistance.

They refused Nazi dehumanization when the Germans tried to make them less than they were. They kept their culture when the Nazis wanted to remove it from the Earth.

Survival became an act of defiance.

To be openly defiant was unwise due to Nazi reprisals to the entire community and immediate death.

“Faces of the The Uprising”

To smuggle a loaf of bread was to resist To teach in secret was to resist.

To gather information and distribute an underground newsletter was to resist.

To cry out warning and shatter illusions was to resist.

To rescue a Torah Scroll was to resist.

To forge documents was to resist.

To smuggle people across borders was to resist.

To chronicle events and conceal the records was to resist.

To extend a helping hand to those in need was to resist.

To dare to speak out, at the risk of one’s life was to resist.

To stand empty-handed against the killers was to resist.

To reach the besieged, smuggling weapons and c commands was to resist.

To take up arms in streets, mountains and forests was to resist.

To rebel in the death camps was to resist.

To rise up in the ghettos, amid tumbling walls, In the most desperate revolt humanity has ever known… Haim Guri and Monia Avrahami

Forms of Resistance:

Open opposition to the Nazis was rare due to instant death or reprisals to the entire community so they went underground.

• • • • • • • • • Jews smuggled food into the camps Jews set up an economy with smuggled food, a necessity for keeping people alive Jews presented plays, concerts and other musical entertainment Jews set up schools and child care facilities Jews printed a newspaper for communication Jews kept radios for outside information Jews started illegal mills and workshops Jews sabotaged forced labor factories Jews set up public and children’s kitchens, distributed clothing, furniture and found refugees housing

Market and soup kitchen.

Four partisan movements in forest and swamp areas fought against the Nazis. The partisan movement never had a large number of “soldiers” but they were effective. One of the most famous was led by the Bielski brothers.

Belorussia Western Ukraine Lithuania

The Bielski brothers led a combat group in Belorussia’s Forest.

Jews revolted at 3 camps

Sobibor Treblinka Auschwitz Only Sobibor was successful.

Jews blew up #4 gas chamber at Birkenau. The Jews were executed.

Before After

Righteous Gentiles Assisted

     People, at their own peril, in all countries hid Jews or tried to help them in some way.

The “French Army” helped French Jews escape to Spain, collected money to help hidden Jews, and hid them.

Families took children into hiding.

Danes helped Jews escape to Sweden and kept their homes up until their neighbors returned.

Individuals risked their lives to help, such as Oscar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg, and others.

What can we do?

How can we as educators ensure that students will be neither bystanders, victims or perpetrators.

Can we give them another option?

Yes we can.........

The Upstander

People who are willing to stand up and take action in defense of others. It can refer to individuals who take

large risks

during wars and political turmoil, and also identifies people who take

small but helpful steps

to shield others from bullying and other injustices.

Upstanders

can make a difference!

They can break the cycle.......

• • • • •

How can we help

and

encourage students to become

Upstanders

?

Emphasize strength in numbers Communicate the expectation to take action Teach skills and strategies to take a stand Notice and acknowledge caring behaviors Encourage empathy

“Thou shalt not be victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.” As stated by Yehuda Bauer, Historian

SOURCES:

Upstanders; A reader’s theatre piece about genocide

Theresa Docherty, Kathryn Nelson, Luke Walker and Dr. Ellen Kennedy at The University of Minnesota, Spring 2008 Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida Samantha Power, Journalist

Valuable Websites

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum http://www.ushmm.org/ Yad Vashem http://www.yadvashem.org

Museum of Tolerance http://www.museumoftolerance.com

The greatest resistance to the Nazis was that THE JEWS SURVIVED!

Sperling Kronberg Mack Holocaust Resource Center Website address: lvhresourcecenter.com

Email address: [email protected]

Phone number: 702-433-0005