Discussion 1 – Forms of Jewish Resistance
Many people assume that the Jews went to their death in the Nazis constructed gas chambers “like sheep to the slaughter.” However, Elie Wiesel has said, “The question is not why all the Jews did not fight, but how so many of them did.”
Discuss your position on this important question using references from your text and from the web.
Discussion 2 – Rescue as a Priority
Discuss the meaning of the following statement:
It has been observed that when studying the history of the Holocaust, rescue was the exception, destruction the rule.
Discussion 3 – The Legacy of Anne Frank
What does the experience of Anne Frank and her family teach us about the Holocaust, and specifically, about the goodness and kindness of people in general?
Discussion 4 – The Righteous Overcome Indifference
Discuss why righteous individuals despite the dangers involved, sought to overcome their indifference regarding the suffering of others? What reasons did they provide for their acts of courage?
(Refer to the Hallie story in your Anthology about the village of Le Chambon, and How Goodness Happened There)
Discussion 5 – Rescue of the Jews of Denmark
Every European nation, including Nazi Germany, can show examples of how individuals and organizations worked vigorously to save Jewish people from the horrors of the Holocaust.
However, only in Denmark did almost everyone, from shopkeepers and fishermen to King Christian X, actively work to rescue the Jews? Discuss the question:
“Why did the non-Jewish population of Denmark act differently towards their Jewish citizens than people from other Nazi occupied territories throughout Europe?”
Discussion 6 – Witness to a Crime in Progress
It’s the middle of the night, and you hear screams coming from your neighbor’s house. A crime is in progress.
How would you respond? What are the risks of getting involved? What are the consequences of not getting involved?
Knowing your community as you do, what support could you expect from the other neighbors under the circumstances? What might be some of the rationales for getting involved or not getting involved?
