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Teacher material
Dehumanisation and self-assertion Modules for an understanding of realities
in the Concentration Camp Buchenwald
Activity Plan
Aim, method, and sort of material
TEACHER NOTE
Background information is
provided in an extra document.
Dehumanization and self-assertion are present on both sides of the
concentration camp´s fence, so we need a multifaceted access to understand
better mechanisms used at that time - and today. The variety of resources
gives an insight to this complexity and shall offer the students opportunities to
find their own access to these histories. After individual and small group
activities students will gather again and bring in their knowledge and
questions at a final plenary session.
There´s quite a lot of background information assembled, which might be
presented to the students after they had worked with the student´s material according to their interest and the questions raised. So, beside the description
of aims and methods, teachers have quite a lot to go through; and it´s worth it.
Schedule
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Introduction, presentation of the material
Students work in small groups and prepare a short presentation of
results and questions. The groups study their material (30 minutes)
and then explain it to the others (5 minutes each). The students can
think about how the other’s sources relate to their own findings and
what that tells them about looking at evidence of the camp time.
The plenary session is meant to envision also the linkages between
the different presentations
Presentation: The students will decide, after having heard the other
groups’ presentations and after looking at more evidence (online,
black and white exhibition online, found objects, bigger picture), about
how to create an exhibition about what they have learnt – what
sources they would include and how they would explain the sources
and their context.
Material
1. Photographs
This activity will show students how different people captured the camp in
photographs – what part of the camp, what time and what area and what
activities do the photographs show? Photos present perspectives and offer
students a specific historical source - much more than an illustration "how it
was".
An extra sheet offers information about the photographer, the circumstances,
and the history of Buchenwald
2. Found Objects
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These are artefacts that were found and dug up in the camp area in the last
twenty years. They show very particular objects, which open a way to talk
about survival, identity, work and free time.
In addition to the photos of artefacts, we offer information about the items,
texts on themes connected with the items and translated excerpts from
related reports of survivors.
3. Music
This activity can give students a perhaps surprising insight into how prisoners
in the Buchenwald Concentration Camp were forced to play music and sing or
do it as clandestine acts of resistance. It can illustrate that inmates in the
camp had diverse interests and skills and in some circumstances the
possibility to shape their free time in the camp. It also brings up questions
about what music meant for prisoners and can mean to us and how music can
be used to assert - or question - power. The additional material includes
reports about the origin of the "Buchenwaldlied", the persons involved and
musicians who even would play Jazz in the camp.
4. Commander’s Orders
This activity allows students to critically assess sources and think about their
implication for the wider camp environment as well as human actions in
general. It shows that it was not “natural” to all SS men to treat all prisoners
distantly and as enemies – establishing the distance between inmates and
guards was something they had to learn and which the Commanders put a lot
of effort into. The translations into English are accompanied by copies of the
original orders in German.
Sources:
All images and texts are selected from the collection of the Buchenwald Memorial.
Student Material (Commander’s orders):
1.
Demeanour towards the inmates: Kommandanturbefehl Nr. 170/40,
1.10.1940.
2.
Relationship between the attending sentinels and the inmates:
Kommandanturbefehl Nr. 3/41, 14.01.1941.
3.
Secrecy: Kommandanturbefehl Nr. 12/41, 24.05.1941.
Background information:
1. Gedenkstätte Buchenwald (ed.), Buchenwald Concentration Camp 19371945. A Guide to the Permanent Historical Exhibition, Wallenstein Verlag,
2004, pp.31-33. [Background information photos: Gate construction.]
2. Gedenkstätte Buchenwald (ed.), Buchenwald Concentration Camp19371945. A Guide to the Permanent Historical Exhibition, Wallenstein Verlag,
2004, pp.39-40. [Background information photos: Koch family.]
3. Gedenkstätte Buchenwald (ed.), Buchenwald Concentration Camp19371945. A Guide to the Permanent Historical Exhibition, Wallenstein Verlag,
2004, pp.28-31. [Background information photos: SS theatre.]
4. Gedenkstätte Buchenwald (ed.), Buchenwald Concentration Camp19371945. A Guide to the Permanent Historical Exhibition, Wallenstein Verlag,
2004, p. 209 [Background information photos: The Goethe oak.]
5. Gedenkstätte Buchenwald (ed.), Buchenwald Concentration Camp19371945. A Guide to the Permanent Historical Exhibition, Wallenstein Verlag,
2004, pp. 149-151. [Background information photos: The little camp.]
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6. Gedenkstätte Buchenwald (ed.), Buchenwald Concentration Camp19371945. A Guide to the Permanent Historical Exhibition, Wallenstein Verlag,
2004, pp.224-226. [Background information photos : The little camp. Place
of death.]
7. Gedenkstätte Buchenwald (ed.), Buchenwald Concentration Camp 19371945. A Guide to the Permanent Historical Exhibition, Wallenstein Verlag,
2004, pp. 64-69. [Background information photos: Welcome sign. Political
prisoners.]
8. Gedenkstätte Buchenwald (ed.), Buchenwald Concentration Camp 19371945. A Guide to the Permanent Historical Exhibition, Wallenstein Verlag,
2004, pp.213-215. [Background information photos: Welcome sign.
Political prisoners.]
9. Gedenkstätte Buchenwald (ed.), Buchenwald Concentration Camp 19371945. A Guide to the Permanent Historical Exhibition, Wallenstein Verlag,
2004, pp.232-237. [Background information photos: Welcome sign.
Liberation (…).]
10. [2002] Buchenwald Found Object. Bowl. A found item from the collection
of the Buchenwald Memorial. Found on the site in 2002. Now used as part
of the “Found Items Case” (since 2012), a learning resource for visiting
school classes. Text by Hannah Röttele, translated from German by
Leonie Wieser. Photos by Peter Hansen. [Background information objects:
The bowl.]
11. Stimmen aus Buchenwald. Ein Lesebuch, Göttingen 2002, S. 30f.
[Background information objects: The bowl – Siegfried Oppenheimer].
12. Erich Altmann: Im Angesicht des Todes. 3 Jahre in deutschen
Konzentrationslagern. Auschwitz – Buchenwald – Oranienburg,
Luxemburg 1947, S. 129ff. [Background information objects: The bowl –
Erich Altmann].
13. Samuel Graumann: Deportiert. Ein Wiener Jude berichtet, Wien 1947, S.
39. [Background information objects: The bowl – Samuel Graumann].
14. Paul Le Goupil: Memories of a Norman, 1939-1945, Paris 1995, S. 180
[Background information objects: The bowl – Paul Le Goupil].
15. [1996] Buchenwald Found Object. Chess Piece. A found item from the
collection of the Buchenwald Memorial. Found on the site in 1996. Now
used as part of the “Found Items Case” (since 2012), a learning resource
for visiting school classes. Text By Hannah Röttele, translated from
German by Leonie Wieser. Photos by Peter Hansen. [Background
information objects: The chess piece.]
16. Dionisius Polanský, BwA 31/28. [Background information objects: The
chess piece - Dionisius Polanský.]
17. Jean-Baptist Feilen, BwA, 52-11-123. [Background information objects:
The chess piece - Jean-Baptist Feilen.]
18. Stanisław Taubenschlag: Als Jude im besetzten Polen. Krakau –
Auschwitz – Buchenwald, Oświęcim, 1997, S. 108. [Background
information objects: The chess piece - 16.
Stanisław Taubenschlag.]
19. [1997] Buchenwald Found Object. Tag from the Gustloff Factory. A found
item from the collection of the Buchenwald Memorial. Found on the site in
1997. Now used as part of the “Found Items Case” (2012), a learning
resource for visiting school classes. Text By Hannah Röttele, translated
from German by Leonie Wieser. Photos by Peter Hansen. . [Background
information objects: The factory tag.]
20. Robert Leibbrand, BwA 565-7, S. 1f. [Background information objects: The
factory tag – Robert Leibbrand.]
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21. Paul Le Goupil Erinnerungen eines Normannen, 1939-1945, Paris 1995,
p.192ff. [Background information objects: The factory tag – Paul Le
Goupil.]
22. Pierre Julitte, Block 26, Sabotage at Buchenwald, New York 1971,p.152.
[Background information objects: The factory tag – Pierre Julitte.]
23. [1994] Buchenwald Found Object. Leather Cross. A found item from the
collection of the Buchenwald Memorial. Found on the site in 1994. Now
used as part of the “Found Items Case” (since 2012), a learning resource
for visiting school classes. Text by Hannah Röttele, translated from
German by Leonie Wieser. Photos by Peter Hansen. [Background
information objects: The leather cross.]
24. Władysław Kożdoń: “…Ich kann dich nicht vergessen”. Erinnerungen an
Buchenwald, Göttingen 2007, p.54f. [Background information objects: The
leather cross – Władysław Kożdoń.]
25. Leonard Steinwender: Christus im Konzentrationslager, 1946, p. 39f.
[Background information objects: The leather cross – Leonard
Steinwender.]
26. [1994] Buchenwald Found Object. Pipe’s Mouthpiece. A found item from
the collection of the Buchenwald Memorial. Found on the site in 1994.
Now used as part of the “Found Items Case” (since 2012), a learning
resource for visiting school classes. Texts by Hannah Röttele, translated
from German by Leonie Wieser. Photos by Peter Hansen. [Background
information objects: The pipe.]
27. Jorge Semprún, Literature or Life, New York: Viking: 1997, pp. 39-40.
[Background information objects: The pipe – Jorge Semprún.]
28. Christian Pineau: La simple verité, 1940-1945, Paris 1960, p. 356f.
[Background information objects: The pipe – Christian Pineau.]
29. Stimmen aus Buchenwald. Ein Lesebuch. [Der jüngste Häftling],
Göttingen 2002, S.200f. [Background information objects: The pipe – Karl
Stojka.]
30. Buchenwald Report David A. Hackett, Colorado 1995, p. 159 [Background
information objects: The pipe – Josef Schlappe.]
31. Stein, Harry, Audio-Guide of the Gedenkstätte Buchenwald, Weimar 2002.
[Background information music: The Buchenwald song.]
32. Stein, Harry, Audio-Guide der Gedenkstätte Buchenwald, Weimar 2002.
[Background information music: Eine kleine Nachtmusik.]
33. Source: Harry Stein / Sabine Stein, Buchenwald; A Guide through the
Memorial, revised edition, Weimar 2003 (unpublished manuscript)
[Background information music: In the mood.]
34. Gedenkstätte Buchenwald (ed.), Buchenwald Concentration Camp19371945. A Guide to the Permanent Historical Exhibition, Wallenstein Verlag,
2004, pp. 37-39 [Background information commander’s orders: The SS
Totenkopf squadrons.]
35. Unterricht über Aufgaben unf Pflichten der Wachposten in einem
Konzentrationslager, n.p., n.d., Buchenwaldarchiv 45-2-22. [Background
information commander’s orders: Training of SS men.]
Further information:
1. Photographs from Buchenwald Concentration Camp:
http://www.buchenwald.de/fileadmin/buchenwald/fotoausstellung/index_en
.html
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2. Found Objects from Buchenwald Concentration Camp:
http://www.buchenwald.de/fileadmin/buchenwald/fundstuecksammlung/ind
ex_findbuch.html
3. Songs from Buchenwald Concentration Camp: www.youtube.com
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