Social Studies: The Gruesome Camps

 Hi there,

Today in Social Studies, we had to create a Bar Graph showing the number of deaths that occurred in the death camps during the Holocaust. In my previous post, I made a map of where the death camps were located. 

Social Studies: Re-creating The Past

Today in Social Studies we had to watch a clip from Band of Brothers. Our task was to describe in our own words what the soldier discovered and what impact it had on them. 

Here is my description of the clip:

In the Band of Brothers clip, we see soldiers discovering a concentration camp. These soldiers see the terror of the Nazi’s concentration camps observing frail Jews and spoiled bodies of dead Jews. They were in shock and disbelief as they saw pale, sickening, very skinny Jews walking around weakly. This would have an immense impact on the soldiers as it was a very pitiful scene to experience. Later on, we see all these lifeless bodies get buried leaving a long-lasting effect on the soldiers. This would give the soldiers so much guilt about seeing these poor lives suffer and go to waste.

Social Studies: The Einsatzgruppen

The Einsatzgruppen

Furthermore, on studying "Holocaust" we began working on some mapping about The Einsatzgruppen. Einsatzgruppen basically means "The cleanup squads" in German. We were given paper copy maps for us to locate and label where the countries that were involved in WW2, as well as the locations of the death camps. 

What I found curious about this is why are the Death Camps only in Poland but not Germany?

Here is the map I created:

Social Studies: Night of the broken glass

Hi there,

Continuing on with "Holocaust" we began working on a new topic, The night of the broken glass. We watched a video talking about what happened at the time of the event and then answered some questions relating to the video.    

1. What is meant by the term “Kristallnacht”?

Night of broken glass.

2. When did this event occur?

9th and 10th of November, 1938.

3. How many synagogues did the programme claim were burned?

267 were damaged or burned.

4. How many Jews were claimed to have died as a result of this event?

91 Jews were claimed as dead.

5. How many were said to have been sent to concentration camps?

30,000 were sent to concentration camps.

6. What was the reaction of the German people to this event?

Germans forced the Jews to pay for the cost of the event. They would disown/deport them and even ban them from attending school. They were basically blaming the Jews.

Show how Kristallnacht was planned in advance:

As we already know that the event of Kristallnacht was planned ahead of time due to a document being sent out on the 8th of November 1938, before the event happened. The documents included what the Germans can and cannot do. For instance, particular care is to be paid in business sections and surrounding streets, non-Jewish businesses are to be protected from damage under all circumstances, officials are to arrest as many jews especially wealthy ones and for the time being, only healthy male Jews or not too advanced age are to be arrested. In conclusion, the Night of the broken glass was set up by the Germans.

The document signed by Reinhard Heydrich, SS Gruppenfurer.

Social Studies: The Nuremberg Laws

Hi there,

Today with the subject mentioned in the title, we looked at the Nuremberg Laws and answered 5 questions relating to them. Nuremberg Laws are basically the official rules that the Nazis passed to protect the German blood and honour pure in 1935. My answers are the ones highlighted this time.

1. Provide two examples of ways in which the Nuremberg laws affected the rights of German Jews.
German court judges could not refer to legal commentaries or opinions written by Jewish authors and Jewish university students were not allowed to sit for doctoral exams.

2. What other actions were taken that discriminated against Jews in Germany? (Remembering) 

Like what was said in my other blog post about Hitler, the quotes are other actions that were discriminated against the Jews, for example, “The Jews hate the white race and wants to lower its cultural level so the Jews might dominate”. Another example was in December 1935, the Reich Propaganda Ministry issued a decree forbidding Jewish soldiers to be named among the dead in World War I memorials.

3. Why do you think that the Nazis passed these laws? (Understanding)

The Nazis passed these laws because they believed that the presence of Jews in Germany threatened the German people. They believed they had to separate Jews from other Germans to protect and strengthen Germany as well as lowering their ‘pure’ German blood. Therefore, they forbid them from marrying or having any sexual relationships of their kind to Jews. Aside from that, they are prejudiced towards Jewish in general. They think they need to be superior to them, especially in their own country.

4. If a New Zealand government passed a law that provided for different treatment of a named racial group in New Zealand, what do you think the reaction of most New Zealand people would be? Why do you think this might be the case? (Applying)
I think the reaction of most New Zealand people if the New Zealand government passed laws that provided a different cure of a named racial group in NZ, would be conflicted. It is because many believe in equality and justice in this country. I think it would be unfair in some cases. It would just make netizens more angry and partial.

5. Do you think these Nuremberg laws were racist? Explain your point of view. (Evaluating)
I certainly think that the Nuremberg laws are racist. Why I think that is because they all violate most human rights. It is prejudiced, biased and discriminatory rules. These laws are unfair and shouldn’t have existed, to begin with.

Social Studies: What did Hitler actually say about Jews?

 Hi there,

Today in Social Studies we began a new topic, Nazi Anti-Semitism. We read about Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi party in Germany, and looked at statements that he wrote from his book called the Mein Kampf (My Struggle). His book was written during his time in prison in 1923, as he attempted to seize power by force in what became called the "Munich Putsch". Our task was to provide two quotes, one from each statement, which shows Hitlers anti-semitism and explaining how these statements represent anti-semitism.   

What did Hitler actually say about Jews?

Quotes: 

"The Jews were responsible for bringing negroes into the Rhineland with the ultimate idea of bastardising (lowering the quality of) the white race which they hate"

"The Jews hate the white race and wants to lower its cultural level so the Jews might dominate".

These quotes describe Hitlers anti-semitism. He is against Jewish people but did not invent the hatred of Jews. Hitler has many reasons why he hates the Jews; blamed them for the defeat of the Great Depression, he thinks Jews hates the white race and wanted to dominate them, he lowered their cultural/political level in their own country and spied on an innocent German girl, he planned to seduce, contaminate her blood and remove her from the bosom of her people. Back when the wars even started, it is clear that Hitler already has a quarrel of prejudice towards the Jews.   

   

Social Studies: The Great Depression

Hi there,

Today in Social Studies, we launched into looking at the topic of The Great Depression. We were set a research task about it and answering the 3 questions in our blog using the Lawyer paragraph structure. 

Why was Germany hit the hardest during the depression?

This tragedy occurred in 1929, as the Wall Street Crash led to a worldwide depression. Germany suffered more than any other nation as a comeback of the loans they were taking from America since 1924 stopped. This has caused Germany's economy to collapse. A major factor was the Treaty of Versailles, which was supposed to settle outstanding debates following the closure of hostilities in World War 1. This provision effectively prevented many German industries from selling their goods in foreign markets. There were also many phases and challenges they faced which were an industrial crisis, factories were shut down, exports were reduced, farmers were badly affected and speculators took back their money from the market. The most obvious consequence of this collapse was a huge rise in unemployment. Over the winter of 1929-30, the number of unemployed rose from 1.4 million to over 2 million. As a result, the country was cruelly affected by the great depression.

Explain what Germany had to agree to by signing the Treaty of Versailles?

First of all, the Germans initial priority was to keep the peace by signing the Treaty. The Treaty of Versailles is a civil peace agreement sig ned by the victorious Allied powers (Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, United States) and Germany. Germany had to agree to the terms and reservations noted in the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles held Germany responsible for starting the war and urged harsh penalties in terms of loss of territory. Moreover, the massive reparations cost 32 billion gold marks (33 billion US dollars) which took 92 years to pay off (1919-2010) because of the Great Depression. Although the Germans found the treaty unfair, they weren’t allowed to participate in the conference and didn't have a say in the creation of the treaty.

How was NZ affected by the depression?

When the great depression occurred, the effect on New Zealand was not immediately apparent. However, by the end of 1930, businesses and manufacturers were feeling the flow-on effects. Requests for their goods and services fell, as well as the prices they charged. Unemployment increased to 12% of the registered workforce in 1933, and those who still have their jobs often found their wages slashed by as much as 20%. There was also an eruption of protest among urban businessmen and professionals in New Zealand. In the first six months of 1932, Auckland and Wellington were rocked by a series of unemployed riots. The number of protest organisations that formed during the Depression was ranging from the National Unemployed workers movement. In the end, George Willam Forbes as Prime Minister (1930-1935), has led NZ out of the harsh economy of the 1930s Great Depression.       

Prezi: Sustainable Fishing

 Hi there,

Today I will be blogging about what we have been working on in Social Studies. The topic we are focusing on is Sustainable Fishing. We have been looking at a new way of presenting our work and have decided to create them on Prezi. This presentation includes 4 main sections as well as The Lawyer Paragraph; Commerical Fishing, By-Catch, Dolphin safe labels and Sustainable ways of fishing. I hope you enjoy reading my Prezi and learn something from this. 

Link to my Prezi Presentation

Social Studies Slavery - Music Through Time

Hi there, 

Today I will be writing about what I have been doing in Social Studies. We started creating maps, studying the Slave Trade Triangle that happened in the late 16th and 19th century. What is the slave trade triangle? Back then, slavery was a big problem in America, they would take people from the Western Africa to treat them as their workers and use them without payment, or in exchange for goods.

What are Spirituals and what do they use them for? Spirituals are songs originating in the United States and created by African Americans. They were originally an tradition that imparted christian values while also describing the hardships of slavery. They used the music in a way for them uplift slaves, give them hope, church/funerals and if allowed weddings, and to be able to communicate with each other to relay secret messages to help them escape. Like wade in the water.

Who is Harriet Tubman? Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist and political activist. She is known for escaping and freeing enslaved people. She conducted Underground Railroads from South America to Northern States or to Canada, it was for the slaves to escape to territories where they could be free.

How are these events significant today? The slavery problem from back then connects to today by how we had the black lives matter protesting in America. 

Wade in the water was used to tell the slaves to get off the trail and into the water to make sure that the dogs employed by slavers lost their trail. 

Wade in the water  

Wade in the water
Children wade, in the water
God's gonna trouble the water
Who's that young girl dressed in red
Wade in the water
Must be the children that Moses led
God's gonna trouble the water

Wade in the water, wade in the water children
Wade in the water,
God's gonna trouble the water

Who's that young girl dressed in white
Wade in the water
Must be the children of the Israelite
Oh, God's gonna trouble the water

Wade in the water is another way of saying walk on the water to point out to get off the ship and into the water because as stated earlier, going through the water makes the dogs not be able to track them.         

The following link is the presentation that I created:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1rRZ-KZxsqaQMswqrDbNXjRTkv622M_4X&usp=sharing