Re: Was WWII more than the Holocaust?
Isobel Jenkins (I.Jenkins@EDUCATION.LEEDS.AC.UK)
Mon, 27 Apr 1998 08:42:13 -0400
Dear Pat,
This is avery interesting question and it's remarkable that these american
children see WW2 as a predominantly European phenomenon.Perhaps this is
because of Schindler's List etc.
I would suggest you concentrate at first on why America entered the war .
This will give the pupils an Asian perspective. Japanese expansion. The
sufferings of China. If you are Chinese you are aware of the fact that WW2
srated for you in the early 1930's long before anyone else.
Another approach would be to suggest your pupils take the role of
children/teenagers etc from various countries throughout the world . They
research
1 When did WW2 start for me?
2 Why did my country get involved?
3 What happened to my people during the war?
4 when , why and how did the war finish?
5 What was the effect of the war on my country/ people?
There should be many different experiences and perspectives
A world map could be used.
The Vietnam war is itself an ouitcome of WW2 for vietnam / France the USA
and the world!!!
Good Luck
Isobel Jenkins
At 15:47 26/04/98 -0400, you wrote:
>My name is Pat Senneville and I teach a suburban Detroit
>Catholic High School. I teach American History and my focus on WWII has
>always been from the American perspective: Why did we get involved in
>this war? What role did we play before we became combatants and after?
>What role did we play in the ending of the war? What impact did this
>war have on American history? (All of my student took World History as
>Freshmen and they studied about WWII from a "citizen of the world"
>perspective.)
>
> This year I have encountered something that I never encountered
>before. As I began the unit on WWII, one of the students in the class
>made the remark that all this war was about was us freeing the Jews that
>Hitler was killing in the concentration camps. This student firmly
>believes this to be true.
>
> Without diminishing in any way the plight and suffering of the
>Jews in the concentration camps, the horror of this experience, or the
>importance of their liberation, how can I get through to this student
>that the war was more than a war to liberate the Jews from the
>concentration camps. I know that maybe he will catch on as we go over
>the reasons for U.S. involvement which had little to do with the plight
>of the Jews in Europe, and the fact that the war continued for several
>months after the Jews were liberated. But does anyone have any other
>suggestion that will make the totality of the purpose of this war ring
>true to this student and his fellow classmates, without diminishing in
>any way the horror of the Holocaust and the importance of remembering
>it?
>
> Pat Senneville
> Our Lady of Mt. Carmel H.S.
> Wyandotte, MI
>
>
-----------------------------------------
Isobel Jenkins
School of Education
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT
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Messages 0113 233 4545
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