Writing Assistance Theme: Human Rights Violations The Holocaust

Using the Spartan Writing Protocol (SWP)

Step 1: Read the task/question carefully.

Step 2: Circle key words and underline key concepts.

Step 1&2: Use active reading strategies to understand the task.

Theme: Human Rights Violations The human rights of many groups have been violated at different times in various nations and regions. Efforts by governments, groups, and individuals to resolve these human rights violations have met with mixed results.

Task: Select two groups who have experienced human rights violations in a specific nation or region and for each • Describe one historical circumstance that led to a human rights violation in the nation or region • Describe one example of a human rights violation in that nation or region • Discuss the extent to which a government, a group, or an individual made an attempt to resolve this human rights violation

Describe means “to illustrate something in words or tell about it”

Discuss means “to make observations about something using facts, reasoning, and argument; to present in some detail”

Step 3: Read the passage carefully

Step 4: Take notes that respond to the task/question

Step 5: Complete the Evidence and Analysis boxes on your Spartan Writing Template (SWT)

Steps 3, 4 & 5: Collect information and record in on a graphic organizer.

Human Rights Violation— The Holocaust

Historical Circumstances (1/6)

Hitler and the Nazis built on a long history of anti-Semitism by blaming German Jews for “stabbing Germany in the back,” causing them to lose World War II.

Eager to blame someone for Germany’s struggles between the wars, many Germans listened.

Historical Circumstances (2/6)

When the Nazis took over control of the German government in 1933, they attempted a state-sponsored boycott of Jewish businesses (through it was largely unpopular).

Nazi propaganda —films, radio, posters, speeches, etc.

—sought to increase German anti-Semitism.

Historical Circumstances (3/6)

In 1935, the Nazi government (now a dictatorship under Hitler) passed the first set of Nuremberg Laws. These laws stripped Jews of German citizenship and severely restricted their lives, including what they could do for a living and who they were allowed to be married to.

Historical Circumstances (4/6)

In 1938, the Nazi government encouraged a night of rioting directed specifically against Jews. It was called Kristallnacht.

Also that year, another set of Nuremberg Laws was passed, requiring the Jews to carry passbooks at all times and to wear a patch of the Star of David to identify themselves.

Historical Circumstances (5/6)

When World War II started in 1939 with the German invasion of Poland, Germany increased its Jewish population by 500%.

The Nazis began consolidating the Jewish population by forcing them to leave their homes and move into ghettos.

Historical Circumstances (6/6)

In 1942 Nazi policy shifted to the “Final Solution” in which they decided to force the Jews to work in slave labor camps. Once they were too sick to work, they were then sent to “extermination” centers to be executed.

Six million people were systematically mass murdered in the process.

STOP HERE: Complete the first part of your response on the historical circumstances. View the next couple slides to develop your claim.

Step 6: Write your claim.

Turning points are major events in history that have led to lasting change.

One example of a group who faced human rights violation was Jews in Nazi Germany during World War II.

Step 7: Determine the relevancy of your evidence in supporting your claim.

Write your response now.

Attempts to address (1/1)

Use your class notes to outline one, specific attempt to deal with the human rights abuses that took place during the Holocaust

Attempts to address (1/6)

After the discovery of the slave labor camps and the death camps, the Allies (United States, Soviet Union, Britain and France) attempted to address war crimes committed during World War II with the Nuremberg Trials, including the genocide of the Jews.

A set of trials were held in the German city with a judge from each of the four Allied countries presiding together. The defendants had to be proven guilty of war crimes.

Attempts to address (2/6)

For the crimes of the Holocaust, the Allies used the term “crimes against humanity” to describe the mass murder of the Jews and other groups during the war.

The defense used by several of the remaining— since most of the top Nazi leaders was that they were “just following orders.” Most on trial were found guilt and executed (hanged) for their part in the genocide.

Attempts to address (2/6)

The Nuremberg Trials set an important precedent that leaders would be held accountable for crimes committed during a war. Similar trials have been held and leaders punished for their war crimes.

Unfortunately, other examples of mass killings—now referred to as “ethnic cleansing”– similar to the Holocaust have occurred since 1945 in places such as Rwanda and southeaster Europe in the 1990’s.

Write your response now.

Step 8: Complete a concluding sentence box on your Spartan Writing Template (SWT).

Step 9: Write your response (using the Spartan Writing Template [SWT])

Step 10: Self-Assess your paragraph using the Spartan Writing Rubric