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 during
the Holocaust
Since the 4th 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.
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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.
After
Before
Righteous Gentiles Assisted
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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?
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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:
sperlinghl@aol.com
Phone number:
702-433-0005