turn back on
This idiom " turn back on somebody" can be the beginning of this post as today we are remembering what we cannot forget about our past history: it is part of Europe''s past but it is also the history of the XX century. When we think about what happened in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s we cannot but not say that it was the worst event in the history of human beings. Two World Wars marked the century but the atrocities which happened in the concentration camps like Buchenwald and Auschwitz cannot be explained and we feel that we cannot understand why it occured.
Auschwitz is still there, open to visitors to remind them that we must not forget the ones who lost their life because of the cruelty of nazism and racism. 27th January 1945 marks the beginning of the destruction of a regime but many more atrocities have happened since then and more are happening now. We do need to open our eyes and NEVER FORGET. It happened and it can happen again. Europe saw the deaths of innocents, people who were not supporting Hitler and the millions of Jews who thought they might escape or thought that the man next door would not tell the police that you were not German.
This week we took our students to the cinema and we saw the film " Alone in Berlin" based on the book by Hans Fallada. Our school - like many in Italy - is invited to do some activities about the day on which we are reminded of Auschwitz.We decided to see this film- all our classes went to the cinema.
The film was released last year and it presented the story of two German people who decided to fight against the Nazis regime in Germany after their son had died at war.
The man and the woman started writing postcards where they invited people to be against the dictator and after successfully sending 200 postcards they were arrested.
The story narrated by Fallada was based on the true story of Otto and Elise Hampel who were put in prison and later beheaded. Their messages to the German people were simple: don't cooperate with the regime , you must not support the Nazis.
After many years we must continue this battle: those who died need to be remembered. We can say that we do need to see films that remind us that this happened in Germany, in the heart of Europe.
The trailer of the film can be used in class for presenting the issue and work with the students to discuss the Holocaust . It is important to see that Germany was under a dictator but that there were also people who became aware of the oddity of the regime.
On the Internet we can find a lot of information and materials for discussion about the importance of learning from the past. A good film or a good book can really make a difference.
A simple tool like Instagrok or documents online will help us develop our students' critical thinking skills.
Language Teachers can work with Teachers of History to get into the history of the 1930s and 1940s and they will develop tasks which are meaningful and useful for their learners.
Not only English, but also more content to remember the Past.
holocaust stories | Learn about holocaust stories on instaGrok, the research engine:http://www.instagrok.com/results.html?query=holocaust+stories&share_id=_&result_id=DkKjIgDT6kRXrkoZiLK8&action=view
