As a young girl at a Jewish Day School in New Jersey, I learned about the Holocaust in a brutal and compelling way. Every year, we watched Night and Fog, a rather graphic Holocaust documentary, we held a chilling but beautiful Holocaust remembrance ceremony, and we had Holocaust survivors come speak to us about their experiences in the concentration camps. It was a small school, and all of us fit into the little chapel at the synagogue that served as the school's home. There were members of the school and synagogue staff who had survived the camps, and they shared their stories in that chapel, showing us their numbers on their arms, talking about how many people they watched die in front of them. I felt the shock and terror every year.
So it always somehow surprises me that there are so many kids who don't know anything about the Holocaust or World War II or Anne Frank. I don't know why, but I just assumed that they were a part of everyone's school experience, and as a teacher, I am always dismayed when I discover yet again that the students are so, well, ignorant about this aspect of very recent world history.
My unit of inquiry covering Anne Frank and WWII starts, of course, with guiding questions: What can we learn about history and human behavior from reading diaries and journals? How do diaries help us learn about ourselves? Why does Anne Frank's diary "live on" even though most diaries are not widely read? The unit focuses on diaries and their value as historical resources. We talk about primary sources and their usefulness as tools for furthering research and understanding of an era. What is it about diaries that make them such rich sources, maybe the best sources of information? Well, for one thing, diarists are among the most honest writers you'll ever encounter! Very few lies exist in a diary that carries the expectation of being private forever. Also, diaries are written in a way that is characteristic of an era. One can learn about speech patterns, syntax, and changes in language from reading diaries. We look at excerpts from diaries and tease out all of the historical information available.
Anne's diary is at once exceedingly special and totally normal. Her circumstances, her writing skill, and her insight make the diary extraordinary. But, at the same time, she was just a girl, living in a certain time in history, writing about the mundane and everyday. I have taught this unit using the entire text of the diary, and I've taught it using excerpts. While excerpts are easier, students don't get the whole picture of who Anne was from reading 40 page chunks. If you're going to use the diary, try to fit in the whole thing. And the play is not a substitute, as good as it is. It's the diary format that tells the whole story. An interesting exercise is to compare a scene from the play with the part of the diary that is being portrayed. For example, compare the scene in the play when Dussel arrives at the annex to that section of the diary. Which one is a better historical resource? Why?
Anne's diary should not, or rather cannot, be taught without context. Students must understand the circumstances surrounding the Franks' decision to go into hiding. Actually, the story of how, when, and why the Franks went to live in the "Secret
Add a Comment