Associated Press, photograph of section of eight-foot high concrete wall encircling Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland, 1940, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2003668306/.
This primary source photograph is a valuable tool as it provides visual background knowledge for students who are studying the Holocaust. It also creates a platform for students to engage in inquiry surrounding the injustices experienced by the Jewish people during World War II, to confront anti-Semitism, and to forge a better future for all races and religions in our communities.
Behind this eight-foot concrete wall, about 500,000 Jews began a new life in Warsaw's ghetto in 1940. By German decree, all Warsaw Jews were required to reside in the district, located in the central part of the conquered city. The wall surrounded more than one hundred city blocks and closed off two hundred streets, even streetcar lines. This primary source photograph is part of the New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection (Library of Congress). It is also published in the "War" chapter of the ebook Great Photographs from the Library of Congress (2013).
From 1933 to 1945, the Nazi regime in Germany and its allies mass-murdered Jewish people in Europe due to anti-Semitism, i.e., prejudice against Jews. During the Holocaust, the Jewish people were accused of causing social, political, and economic ills in society and were looked upon as synonymous with the devil. In order to avoid further “corruption” by the Jews, Nazi soldiers forced them into ghettos, enclosed areas in which Jewish families experienced substandard living conditions, disease, starvation, and deportation to killing centers and concentration camps. The plan to murder all of the Jews, called the Final Solution, was eventually met with resistance. Between July 1944 and May 1945, the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II caused the liberation and liquidation of the ghettos.
- What do you notice or wonder about the photograph?
- In what time period was this photograph taken? How do you know?
- What is a Jewish ghetto, and what do you understand about this setting?
- What does learning about the choices people made during the Holocaust teach us about the power and impact of our choices today?
Common Core State Standards
9-10.6 Craft and Structure: Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
- Evaluating varied points of view: Not only will the students evaluate the perspectives of the Jewish people, but they will also learn about other families who risked their lives to hide Jews, as depicted in the novel The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. In addition, students will be able to compare and contrast Night by Elie Wiesel with their book club novel in a Socratic seminar as a culminating activity.
9-10.1 Key Ideas and Details: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
- Gathering relevant information from multiple sources while using the origin, structure, and context to guide the selection: This primary source photograph invites students to think critically about the anti-Semitism that Jewish people faced during the Holocaust. Students will be able to compare and contrast across multiple texts and other primary resources in order to gain a deeper understanding of the inhumane conditions that Jews faced and to engage in empathy for social justice for members of all races and religions.
Consider pairing this primary source photograph with the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel. In addition to studying the memoir, invite students to select an additional novel in order to compare and contrast events in the Holocaust depicted in another literary work. The following titles are suggestions: Maus by Art Spiegelman, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, and The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. Students will analyze and synthesize readings in a student-led book club approach and meet once per week to discuss connections across texts, to create depth of knowledge (levels 3 and 4) questions for discussion and research, and to prepare for a literary Socratic seminar. After both the memoir and the book club books are completed, two book clubs will combine for a seminar as a culminating activity.
- Clearly, the Holocaust is an extremely sensitive time in history for many, and as educators, we are charged with providing accurate accounts while being sensitive to those who are affected.
Links to resources for approaching those topics
- The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum provides many resources, including guidelines for teachers to effectively teach the fundamentals of the Holocaust in an age-appropriate and sensitive manner.
- Photograph: The Warsaw Ghetto Monument
- Poster: “In memoriam to the Jewish youth who fought in the Ghetto uprisings, WUJS announces a Seminar on Jewish Resistance” (Yanker poster collection, Library of Congress)
- Political cartoon: “Who told you I am not victorious any more?!” / Arthur Szyk, N.Y. '43 (“Cartoon shows Adolf Hitler holding a machine gun with which he has shot a group of Jews against a wall labeled ‘Ghetto'”—Library of Congress)
- Photograph: “Jews rounded up in Warsaw”
- Facing History & Ourselves: “The Roots and Impact of Antisemitism," a 50-minute lesson for grades 9–12
- Facing History & Ourselves: “Holocaust and Human Behavior,” a collection of readings, documentary films, and primary sources for grades 6–12
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: “Learn about the Holocaust”