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Night and the Holocaust CONTENTS: What is the Holocaust? Matisyahu – “Jerusalem” Examining Art by David Olère

Night and the Holocaust CONTENTS: What is the Holocaust? Matisyahu – “Jerusalem” Examining Art by David Olère

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Night and the Holocaust

CONTENTS:• What is the Holocaust?

• Matisyahu – “Jerusalem”

• Examining Art by David Olère

what comes to mind when you hear the

word “holocaust”?

Holocaustfrom Greek holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt"

Why do you think people use this word to describe the decimation of Jews in World War II?

What sorts of things did the Holocaust destroy?

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Why the Holocaust happened… After World War One, Germany and its

allies had to bear the burden of reconstruction across Europe as well as deconstructing their military.

In 1921, Adolf Hitler, a WW1 vet, became leader of the precursor to the Nazi party. The Nazis believed that their Aryan race was superior to others. To them, an Aryan was anyone who was European and not Jewish.

They also thought Germany was a more important country than its neighbors.

In 1934 Hitler became Germany's head of state. He introduced anti-Semitic and anti-capitalistic propaganda and laws that discriminated against Jewish people living in the areas he controlled.

He saw Jews as a problem that needed to be removed.

This is called “ethnic cleansing.”

(adapted from CBBC Newsround)(image taken from the Jewish Virtual Library)

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“The Final Solution” “The Final Solution” – the Nazi plan to exterminate

the Jewish people. The genocide of the Jews was the culmination of a

decade of Nazi policy, instigated under the rule of Adolf Hitler. What does “genocide” mean?

During World War II (after previously introducing a series of anti-Semitic laws), the Nazis established ghettos in occupied Poland. What does “anti-Semitic” mean?

The Nazis began the systematic deportation of Jews from all over Europe to concentration and extermination camps, the most infamous being Auschwitz-Birkenau.

(adapted from www.ushmm.org)[ Back to Main Menu

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Matisyahu- Blending Traditional Jewish Themes with Reggae

Music. Billboard’s Top Reggae Artist of 2006.

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Matisyahu – “Jerusalem”[Chorus]Jerusalem, if I forget you,fire not gonna come from me tongue.Jerusalem, if I forget you,let my right hand forget what it's supposed to do.

In the ancient days, we will return with no delayPicking up the bounty and the spoils on our wayWe've been traveling from state to stateAnd them don't understand what they say3,000 years with no place to beAnd they want me to give up my milk and honeyDon't you see, it's not about the land or the seaNot the country but the dwelling of his majesty

[chorus]

Rebuild the temple and the crown of gloryYears gone by, about sixtyBurn in the oven in this centuryAnd the gas tried to choke, but it couldn't choke meI will not lie down, I will not fall asleepThey come overseas, yes they're trying to be freeErase the demons out of our memoryChange your name and your identityAfraid of the truth and our dark historyWhy is everybody always chasing weCut off the roots of your family treeDon't you know that's not the way to be

[chorus]

Caught up in these ways, and the worlds gone crazeDon't you know it's just a phaseCase of the Simon saysIf I forget the truth then my words won't penetrateBabylon burning in the place, can't see through the hazeChop down all of them dirty ways,That's the price that you pay for selling lies to the youthNo way, not ok, oh no way, not ok, heyAin’t no one gonna break my strideAin’t no one gonna pull me downOh no, I got to keep on movingStay alive

[chorus]

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Matisyahu – “Jerusalem”[discussion]

[Chorus]Jerusalem, if I forget you,fire not gonna come from me tongue.Jerusalem, if I forget you,let my right hand forget what it's supposed to do.

In the ancient days, we will return with no delayPicking up the bounty and the spoils on our wayWe've been traveling from state to stateAnd them don't understand what they say3,000 years with no place to beAnd they want me to give up my milk and honeyDon't you see, it's not about the land or the seaNot the country but the dwelling of his majesty

[chorus]

Rebuild the temple and the crown of gloryYears gone by, about sixtyBurn in the oven in this centuryAnd the gas tried to choke, but it couldn't choke meI will not lie down, I will not fall asleepThey come overseas, yes they're trying to be freeErase the demons out of our memoryChange your name and your identityAfraid of the truth and our dark historyWhy is everybody always chasing weCut off the roots of your family treeDon't you know that's not the way to be

[chorus]

Caught up in these ways, and the worlds gone crazeDon't you know it's just a phaseCase of the Simon saysIf I forget the truth then my words won't penetrateBabylon burning in the place, can't see through the hazeChop down all of them dirty ways,That's the price that you pay for selling lies to the youthNo way, not ok, oh no way, not ok, heyAin’t no one gonna break my strideAin’t no one gonna pull me downOh no, I got to keep on movingStay alive

[chorus]

This song has a lot to say about the effect that Holocaust history has had on Jewish heritage. Choose two excerpts from the song and explain how you think they relate to the Holocaust and its aftermath.

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David Olère

Holocaust survivor and artist His sketches and paintings depict scenes from the

crematoriums and concentration camps that remain imprinted in his memory

He did not sketch for pleasure; he sketched as a testimony

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David Olère: Art Menu“

Arrival of a Convoy”

“Their Last Steps”

“Unable to Work”(all images and photographs for this section

taken from http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu)

To the right: “For a Crust of Bread.” David Olère depicts himself writing and decorating letters for the SS in exchange for a crust of bread. Olère's talents as an artist and translator (he spoke Polish, Russian, Yiddish, French, English, and German) made him useful to the S.S.

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“Arrival of a Convoy”What is happening in this

picture?A new convoy arrives in the background as

inmates struggle with a cart carrying away cadavers from a previous convoy.

What stands out to you in the picture?

What does it tell you about the convoys that transported Jews to concentration camps? How did you come to these conclusions?

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“Their Last Steps”

What is happening in this picture?

Three Muselmänner support each other as they falter toward the gas chamber. Muselmann was the camp term for those whose physical and mental exhaustion made them candidates for “selection.”

What stands out to you in the picture?

Why do you think Olère chose to depict these men with their arms interlocked?

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“Unable to Work”What stands out to you in this picture?

Of the one thousand Jews in the convoy that brought Olère to Auschwitz, 881 were immediately gassed. Only six of the 119 selected for work survived the War. In light of this information, what do you think the figures in this painting represent? Why?

In the background of this picture, smoke rises from the crematorium to form the SS insignia. Why do you think Olère chose to add this detail? Who were the SS?

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• What do these pictures tell you about life in the concentration camps?

• What do they not tell you? What do they make you wonder about?

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