Emily Robinson

Scavenger Hunt for Holocaust Studies:The Problems and Responsibilities of Representation- Questions of Authenticity and

Education of the Holocaust

Abstract:This project explores Holocaust representation, responsibility and trauma through

the lenses of fact, fiction and stylization. What started as an assignment to lead class during a course entitled “Rethinking the Holocaust” in the Fall of 2014 turned into a model for a classroom activity presented during the Cohen Center Summer Institute in 2015. My experience with this project has culminated into a lesson plan for distribution. Three subject areas within Holocaust studies are examined and portrayed in three different ways: factual, fictionalized, and stylized. The goal for each item given is to identify the fact, the fiction, or how it is stylized and how it either helps or hinders understanding and learning concerning the Holocaust. The themes can be changed to cater to what a class studying the Holocaust may be discussing. It is aimed to be a way to engage students by being a fun “scavenger hunt,” but also approach the subject in a way that will enable them to discuss with peers and not be alone in confronting this traumatic event. Following the completion of the activity, the class comes together for a larger group discussion to unpack findings and talk about how representing the Holocaust can be complicated; not as black and white as it may seem at face value. Building a narrative of the Holocaust is a complicated endeavor and helping students to understand that what they see in the movies is not the whole truth is difficult. As educators, and students, we hold a responsibility to appropriately engage with the construction of the narrative of the Holocaust.

INTRODUCTION: This lesson is a tool to use during your unit on the Holocaust as a way to get

students talking about how the Holocaust is represented both in pop culture and your classroom. Depending on the resources you already use for your unit, this lesson can be molded to fit your need, but it is highly suggested that you and your class read Maus I or Maus II by Art Spiegelman as his graphic novels are the groundwork for this lesson dealing with representating the Holocaust through fact, fiction, and stylization.

Your students will be split up in to pairs or groups, depending on the class size, and asked to complete a “scavenger hunt” based on topics within Holocaust studies. Each section will ask them to identify the item found as being factual, fictional, or stylized and how that adds, detracts, or does nothing for their visualization of this complex, irrational, and unimaginable event. At the end of the activity, the groups will come together with you as the moderator to discuss what they have seen and talked about in the context of how we represent and think about a topic that some have deemed not representable.

Materials Needed:

Students will require computers. It is up to the teacher to decide if each individual student may have a computer or each group.

Copies of Maus I or Maus II by Art Spiegelman

Additional Materials for Teacher:

Art Spiegelman’s books Maus I, Maus II, and/or Metamaus are great supplements for discussing the use of fact, fiction and stylization and their assets in Holocaust studies. Maus I and II are also great for classroom reading materials for students.

Michael Rothberg provides a thorough and extended analysis of Spiegelman’s drawing of the three mice in his book, Traumatic Realism: The Demands of Holocaust Representation (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000) passim, esp. 103f. Rothberg’s analysis unpacks the three dimensions of realistic, stylistic, and fictional representation with clarity and insight.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION(S):

What is representation and why should we be concerned about representing the Holocaust responsibly?

How do fact, fiction, and stylization intersect in representing the Holocaust? How do we talk about a topic that can be painful, emotional, and complicated in a

constructive way?

OBJECTIVES:

Discuss fact, fiction and stylization critically evaluate where they can blend together

Discuss Holocaust related subjects with peers

To be able to think critically about Holocaust themes in pop culture and how they can be used responsibly

Explain verisimilitude and its impact on Holocaust studies Demonstrate basic online searching skills Reflect on their experience in class through their writing

TIME: 1, 1 hour session, or three one hour sessions depending on how much time allows in your Holocaust unit.

PROCEDURES:

Introduction: Project the image (can be found below in the sample scavenger hunts) from Art

Spiegelman’s 2011 book Metamaus. Have students identify what they see in the picture (a factual mouse, a fictional mouse, and Spiegelman’s personal stylized mouse). Did you notice that the stylized mouse has human hands and is holding the factual mouse? Reading Michael Rothberg’s examination of this image (attached in materials section) will help you understand how to use this image as a tool for opening up the discussion of how fact, fiction, and stylization work together and are all subjective. The author can stylize even the cold hard truth (the truth is in his hands) or, as the fictional Mickey Mouse might suggest, the monetary ulterior motives that may go in to a certain piece.

Split the class up into groups of two or three depending on the class size. Each group OR student may have a laptop or computer in order to complete the “Scavenger Hunt.”

There are a few different ways you can distribute the instructions to your students: you can print them out, email them out, or open up a Google Doc (or similar program) that then allows students to interact online if that is of interest to you.

Depending on how much time the course allows, students should have either 40 minutes to explore the “scavenger hunt,” or 40 minutes to explore one section.

Remind groups that while there is a time constraint, the goal is not to rush through the assignment; they are exploring, not finishing. Tell them to take the time to talk about what each item is (fact, fiction, or stylized) and then discuss based on what they believe it is, and whether or not it could be a helpful learning tool or how it has been helpful for them learning about the Holocaust.

Debrief:

The most difficult part (or the easiest) of this lesson for you will be the discussion at the end. For me when I have done this project, I have had some key

overarching points to talk about but the conversation was mostly driven by what the students want to talk about.

For starters, I would suggest arranging the room in a way that everyone can see each other. This is not about you driving the main points home but giving your students the opportunity to open up to each other and share what they are thinking.

Start the conversation by asking which items on the list stood out to them and go from there.

Ask them how thinking critically and analytically can be important when watching movies meant to entertain them.

Ask them if any of the activity made them rethink what they had come into class knowing and why they think that is. Make sure the conversation is open for everyone, not just students who enjoy talking.

ASSESSMENT: Reflective paper should demonstrate that the students were engaged with the topic

by their discussion of what fact, fiction, and representation are and how they add or detract from their learning about the Holocaust.

Active participation in small and large group discussion demonstrated by being on task and contributing to the discussion.

Online Scavenger Hunt!The Problems and Responsibilities of

Representation – Questions ofAuthenticity and Credibility

In your pairs, I am asking you explore our focus question for this week by asking three questions as you explore each of these items: where is fact, where is fiction,

and where is the stylization? Also be thinking about how each helps or hinders the representation of the Holocaust. You will have 40 minutes to complete this activity.

1. Grab a copy of Maus (1 or 2) from the library- Locate some examples where there are different levels of authenticity and truth. Can you find traces of where fact, fiction and stylization are present in between the lines of these novels? Use this as a helpful guide for conversation with your partner during this scavenger hunt.

2. http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/remembrance/multimedia.aspFrom this page, look under “The World of the Camps” and watch a few minutes of testimony. Do you find this testimony to represent the camps in an authentic way? How does testimony contribute to fact, fiction and/or stylization?

3.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y9aKqawdUQIn this scene from Life is Beautiful, where do fact, fiction, and stylization come together? Does this authentically and appropriately represent the world of the camps?

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWLvq0jC-c0Reflect on the movie Conspiracy. How can it add to the truth of the Wannsee Conference through fact, fiction, and/or stylization?

5. http://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1942-1945/wannsee-conference How can this brief overview of what transpired at the Wannsee Conference help or hinder in representing the implications that this short meeting had on the course of the “Final Solution?”

6. Search for the actual documented minutes we have left from the Wannsee Conference. Does this document give us an adequate representation of what happened during that meeting? How can thinking about fact, fiction, and stylization add to our image of the perpetrators that took part in this meeting?

7.https://ksclib.keene.edu/search/?searchtype=X&searcharg=the+drowned+and+the+saved&searchscope=5Re-familiarize yourself with chapter two. How does Levi represent the reality of camp world as a world that does not reflect the ideas of right and wrong that we have in our

own? Should we view this chapter as fact, fiction, or stylization? What are the benefits to each view?

8. Go to USHMM’s site and look up Adam Czerniakow.What does he have to do with the last question? How does he help you think about or further complicate your understanding of the last question? Does it add to the representation of the grey zone? If so, in what ways?

9.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kKcJUPnz8kThe Grey Zone trailer. What kind of authenticity does Nelson appear to be seeking in this film? How do the distinctions between factual authenticity (verisimilitude), stylistic representation, and fiction help or inform your analysis?

Scavenger Hunt for Summer SeminarThe Problems and Responsibilities of Representation-

Questions of Authenticity and Credibility

In pairs, you will be exploring Holocaust representation and responsibility through identifying three key representational methods: fact, fiction and stylization. We will be looking at three example categories: The World of the Camps, Resistance in the Warsaw ghetto, and rescue. In dialogue with your partner(s), with each item on the list identify which method is being used and how it may help or hinder understanding and learning on the subject with which we are concerned. You will have about 45 minutes to complete this activity at which time we shall reconvene and discuss our findings as a group.

Take a look at the above image from Art Spiegelman’s 2011 book Metamaus. You will find that it is a drawn picture of the same subject: a mouse. However, they are represented three different ways through a factual mouse, a fictional mouse, and Spiegelman’s signature stylized mouse. Consider this image, or other examples of

this technique that you may have seen in Spiegelman’s other works, as a key to the rest of this activity.1

Section 1: The World of the Camps

1. Grab a copy of Maus (1 or 2) from the library (you can search for it here http://www.keene.edu/academics/library/ or we also have copies available). Familiarize or re-familiarize yourself with the style of the book. Does this help build a picture of “the world of the camps?” Is cartoon an appropriate method of representation for the Holocaust? Why or why not? What does this book bring to the table in terms of fact, fiction, and stylization?

2. http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/remembrance/multimedia.aspFrom this page, look under “The World of the Camps” and watch one of the video testimonies. Do you find this testimony to represent the camps in an authentic way? How does testimony contribute to fact, fiction and/or stylization? How does this medium contribute to your understanding of the “World of the Camps?”

3.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y9aKqawdUQIn this scene from Life is Beautiful, what method of representation is used? Does this authentically and or appropriately represent the world of the camps? How could it be helpful in exploring this particular subject of the Holocaust if at all? Resistance: The Warsaw ghetto

4. Watch the below video about the Warsaw Ghetto from ushmm.org. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_nm.php?MediaId=3375What kind of a representation is this of the Warsaw Ghetto? How is this form of representation helpful or limiting?

5. This scene is from Uprising (2001) (you can stop the clip at 2:16).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Iyxc5EHtrUFrom this clip, how would you say the Warsaw ghetto uprising is portrayed? What kind of representation does this clip, and this movie, utilize? How is looking at resistance in this manner influential and/or useful for studies about the Warsaw ghetto? How might it hinder understanding about resistance and or the Warsaw ghetto?

6. The Oneg Shabbat Archives (you do not need to watch this entire clip, just until you feel like you get the gist of what this group was about)http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/ringelbum/ringelblum_archive.aspEmmanuel Ringelblum and many others kept an archive documenting what everyday life was like in the Warsaw ghetto as well as about Jewish life in Poland before the war. What

1 Michael Rothberg provides a thorough and extended analysis of Spiegelman’s drawing of the three mice in his book, Traumatic Realism: The Demands of Holocaust Representation (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000) passim, esp. 103f. Rothberg’s analysis unpacks the three dimensions of realistic, stylistic, and fictional representation with clarity and insight.

kind of representation is this collection? Can Ringelblum and the others involved with this archive be considered resisters? Think back to the scene you watched from Uprising. Do you think they represent resistance? Why or why not?

Rescue

7. The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous.https://jfr.org/rescuer-stories/wanda-anishkewicz/ (you may need to copy and paste this link if it does not open)Read one of the stories of rescue. Does reading testimonies of rescue contribute to your picture of what rescue looks like? How is it important? How might it be limiting to an extent?

8. Yad Vashem’s criteria to become a righteous among the nations.http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/faq.asp Yad Vashem’s criterion to become a righteous among the nations is just one of many different ways that rescue during the Holocaust has been defined. How does this definition help or hinder understanding rescue? Do you think a significant amount of the population is left out in this definition? Or do you agree that rescue should only be defined by altruism? How do you picture and define a rescuer? Does this represent rescue?

9. Clip of Schindler’s List (2001): “He who saves one life saves the world entire.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIp_8RNNX4k Schindler’s List is arguably the most popular Holocaust rescue film (if not arguably the most popular Holocaust related film). As possibly the most well known rescuer during the Holocaust, mostly attributed to Steven Spielberg’s film, how can looking at Oskar Schindler help students understand rescue? How could Schindler’s list hinder understanding about rescue?