Survivors Discussion Questions
- Describe the conditions of the concentration camps including how people were processed into the camp system. Use text from survivor memoirs.
- What widely differing reactions to freedom did liberators encounter among the survivors in the crucial days that followed liberation?
- What harsh realities and strictly limited options ultimately confronted the survivors of the Holocaust?
- From personal stories of liberators and survivors, what can be learned about the importance of (a) human action, (b) human rights, and (c) the human spirit?
- What event would have to occur in your life that would convince you to leave everything and go to a foreign country?
- Examine the records left by children who survived the Holocaust and those who did not, as well as the records of those who came into contact with these children.
- After the liberation of camps throughout Europe many displaced persons came to the United States. Research the plan of action for the immigrants taken by the U.S. government and the effects of the plan on the displaced persons.
- Many Jewish children were sent to England during World War II to be kept safe. Research the Kindertransport and use evidence to explain if the program was, in your opinion, a good solution to the problem.
- Compare and contrast a writing of Primo Levi to Elie Wiesel and examine how the two men view life and their experiences during the Holocaust.
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