Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Judaism has a rich, extensive history in Europe. Before World War II (WWII), many people identifying as Jewish lived in countries such as Germany, Poland, and Hungary. What do you know about the Jewish faith and traditions? Were Jewish people traditionally accepted by their non-Jewish counterparts? Why or why not?

Teaching Suggestion: This question asks students to think critically about what they might already know concerning the history of Jewish communities. This question may work best as an in-class discussion, where students can both consider the prompt and learn from each other by sharing information. The links below are resources to help start the dialogue, as well as potentially introduce the term anti-Semitism.

• This article from the Anti-Defamation League is a brief history of antisemitism.
• This overview from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website outlines the population of Jewish communities in Europe prior to WWII.

2. From 1933 to 1945, the National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party was the ruling government regime of Germany.