Carol S. Heidecker
Background Information:
Students will be given a brief synopsis of how the United States became involved in World War II as a result of the bombings at Pearl Harbor. Also, they will be informed of the of atomic weaponry made here in the US
Time Duration:
This should take one class period. @$:
Objectives:
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-to set a purpose for reading by making predictions
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-to select relevant information from the reading that either verifies or nullifies the previous conjectures
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-to use a graphic aid as a strategy to construct meaning
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-to monitor reading through the organization of ideas
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-to view issues of World War II from another perspective
Pre-reading activity:
1. Before reading the book, students will be asked to conjecture what they think the book may be about based upon the illustration on the cover and the title. Students will be asked to write down their answers. When they are done, they will be asked to share their conjectures with the class.
2. Students will then be asked to read the synopsis on the inside jacket of the book and the prologue. When they are done, they will be asked to share how their conjecture matched or didn't match the information gathered from what they read.
Lesson:
1. Students will be given a Conjecture Chart. (See Appendix B, Sample C) They will be asked to look at the title of the first chapter. Then they will fill in their prediction as to what they think the chapter will be about. Students will be encouraged to begin their predictions with I conjecture..., I surmise... or I hypothesize...
2. Within each team, one person will be designated to read aloud the chapter while the others follow along. While the person at each team is reading, he/she will be able to raise his/her hand when no one can figure out how to pronounce a word. I will be visiting from team to team to answer any questions and help aid in the pronunciation of the various Japanese names and words found throughout the chapter.
3. When the person who is designated to read finishes, the entire team will then fill in the box next to the prediction box telling what actually happened in the chapter. This is not to be a team effort. Each team member is to write his own version of what occurs in the chapter.
4. The person previously designated to read aloud to the group will be in charge of notifying me when all of his/her team members have finished filling in the second box.
Those teams who have completed the information for the first chapter will be given instructions to make the next prediction relative to chapter two's title, following through as with chapter one. When most students have finished responding to chapter two, the class will be asked to share aloud one prediction and compare it to what actually happened.
Future Activities:
1. So that the students have a concrete idea of the destructive power of the two atomic bombs and their history, they will be shown the video "Enola Gay." This video can be found at your local library or ordered through the History Channel's History Store at the website http://www.historychannel.com/historychannel/search or by calling 1-800-408-4842 for $24.95.
2. Students will also read newspaper articles and personal testimonies of survivors and observers of the atomic bombings from the Florida International University, College of Education, Department of Subject Specializations, Social Studies Education Program booklet entitled
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Should We Have Dropped the Bombs?--
a global awareness program that allows reproduction for classroom use.
3. As a culminating activity for this book, the classes will make a total of 1,000 origami cranes to be displayed in the media center. This will be our memorial to Sadako. The cranes will be fashioned after the origami bird on page 35 of
Origami
by Irmgard Kneissler.
Synopsis of
The Hiding Place
The Hiding Place
is a moving, true story of a Christian family compelled to assist the Jewish people in escaping from Nazi occupied Holland. The co-author, Corrie Ten Boom, her father and her sister Betsy used their home as the main center for the "underground operation" that saved hundreds of lives. They inevitably were caught, along with other members of their family and friends who were part of their elaborate system. Everyone, at their home the day of the raid was sent to a concentration camp for non-Jews; however, Corrie was the sole survivor of those arrested in her family.
At the beginning of the book, the Ten Boom family is celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the family's watch business. Life is as normal as can possibly be. They are receiving flowers from neighbors, customers, friends and family. However, in the not too distant future, everything drastically changes as Nazi policies toward the Jews become increasingly stringent, ultimately leading to the removal of all Jewish people and Hitler's "Final Solution."
One day, the Ten Booms are called upon to help a Jewish baby. On that very same day, the pastor from their church is paying them a social visit. When Corrie and Betsy ask the pastor to take the baby to his home in the countryside, where it is safer, he explains how this child would jeopardize his family's safety. Shortly after his explanation, their father enters the room and looks at the baby, stating that he would consider it an honor to die for the child. In spite of the pastor's objections, he gives his blessing to his daughters to take care of the baby for as long as necessary. Later on, arrangements are made to smuggle the baby out of the country. In essence, this sparks the beginning of the "underground operations."
Shortly after, they begin to coordinate with others who are trying to save the lives of Jews who are in hiding. They have an architect, alias Mr. Smit, come to their home to plan a wall that will create a small room where people can hide. Bricks are smuggled in grandfather clocks and paint is brought in using milk bottles. A telephone is smuggled into the house for emergency use only. A buzzer system is installed in the watch shop (the front portion of the house) as a warning that Nazi soldiers are in, giving the people within the house ample time to get to "the hiding place."
The Ten Booms and their guests periodically practice an escape routine during the times the soldiers are known to check houses. Dinner is a peak period; therefore, many practice drills are scheduled at that time. Sometimes 10-12 people would be hiding in their home, and they would have to make the dinner table appear as though there were only three people eating. If the smallest detail was left to indicate that someone else was there, they could be arrested on suspicion alone.
Finally, the fateful day arrives. Corrie is called upon to help a man who says that his wife was taken and that his only means of getting her back is to bribe a soldier with a good sum of money. He explains that he has heard she has certain contacts who would be able to help. Corrie, heavy with fever, hesitatingly agrees to help him, sensing that something is not quite right.
Later that day, the man comes for the money, but he is not alone. He rings the door bell. Betsy opens the small, viewing window trying to see if anyone else is with him. Her vision is obscured by the narrow perspective the window allows. She is unable to see the Nazi soldiers flanked on either side of the man who has come to get the money promised him. Instinctively, Betsy sounds the buzzer and closes the window, reassuring the man that it will take just one minute to get the money. The soldiers break the door locks, capturing her red-handed with the money. They begin to search the house, hitting the walls with the butts of their guns, trying to find the secret room. One soldier enters Corrie's room demanding that she show them where the Jews are. She begins to reply that she knows nothing. Her words are stopped by a blow. Repeatedly, she is asked questions and repeatedly she is struck.
Everyone who was at the house at the time of the raid is taken to a jail. As they are separating the women from the men, Corrie's father cries out for God to be with them. They respond the same to him. That is the last time Corrie and Betsy see their father. Later, he dies in a hospital hall because there were no available beds. Unaware of his death, no one claims his body; he is buried with numerous unidentified bodies in a general grave.
At one point, Corrie is called in for interrogation. After the interrogation, she is informed of the circumstances surrounding her father's death. Also, she receives a letter with a code written underneath the stamp saying that all the "watches" are safe. Every Jew that was in hiding during the raid was successfully delivered to a safe place.
Corrie and Betsy are later transferred to Ravensbruck concentration camp and find that living there is unbearable. Nevertheless, they are able to find comfort in a bible they miraculously smuggle in. Amazingly, they find their true faith in what they describe as the deepest, darkest pit. They bring their faith and hope to the other women of the camp, even to the outcasts within the camp, the prostitutes.
Betsy, who had poor health to begin with, becomes critically ill and is finally allowed to enter the hospital. Since Corrie is restricted from entering the hospital, she visits Betsy everyday by looking through the window across from her bed. They gesture to one another as a means of communication.
Finally, Corrie goes to visit her sister and finds her bed is empty. She sneaks into the hospital and is able to locate her sister's body. She is overwhelmed by how beautiful Betsy looks.
Some time later, Corrie's number is called and she is told to report to the office. There she is asked to sign documents stating that she was treated well during her stay at Ravensbruck. She is given her personal belongings that were taken from her and clean clothing. The gates are opened and she is allowed to walk away a free woman.
Later she finds out that she was released on a clerical error and that the women her age (52) and older were murdered the day after she was set free. Corrie then traveled to sixty plus countries giving speeches about the greatness of God's love in a place where it seemed impossible to find. Her message was that no pit is too deep that He is not deeper still.
The Power of This Book
One of the great beauties of this book is the honoring manner with which the Ten Booms treated their Jewish guests. They honored the religious beliefs they brought with them, accepting them as human beings who brought wonderful traditions of Judaism into their home. By the same token, those who sought refuge in their home honored their Christianity as well. This is a great example to all.
Also, this book lends itself to teaching about the atrocities suffered by the Jewish people during the Holocaust. This is something that must never be forgotten so that it will not be repeated (The student population I work with has no contact with the Jewish race and is greatly uniformed about the Holocaust).
Furthermore, what greater example of humanity is there than one laying down his life so that another can live. There are many exemplary themes that run throughout the entire book because of the inherent subject matter. I have mentioned only the obvious.
I would hope that my students leave this book with an understanding of how powerful hatred can be and that it should not be taken lightly. Also, that people with a culture different from themselves should not arouse feelings fear and suspicion, but an acceptance of something that can enrich their lives.
