Implementation of ‘Anne Frank Diary’ (SOI-RO-255)

Felicia Elena Boșcodeală

The “The Diary of Anne Frank” screenplay was chosen because it is a way to strengthen students’ social and civic skills and also a way to supplement the information students have about the Holocaust, the immense tragedy of World War II. The Holocaust was a crucial event in the history of mankind that affected the whole of society and exceeded the spatial and temporal limits of World War II.

The history of the Jewish people is full of suffering, but the worst of them was the genocide during World War II, when six million Jews, children, young people, the elderly were exterminated by the order of the Nazis and anti-Semites of Hitler. Nearly half of the Jewish people were killed. Anne Frank left the most striking human testimony during World War II. He gave names to the millions of innocent victims of Nazi barbarism; she became a symbol with her book.

The scenario chosen as a model helped us to consolidate a series of skills, such as:

-use of vocabulary and information in oral or written communication

-developement of civic behavior by practicing social skills

-use of resources that suport lifelong learning

• Class profile and type of teaching/learning

The theme “The Diary of Anne Frank” was discussed in the optional course “History of the Jews. The Holocaust”, in the field of content “The policy of extermination of Jews in Europe”, in the 10th grade of high school, for students aged 16-17, for a few weeks, 50 minutes a week. The activity took place in a blended-learning system, because some of the students were doing their homework, due to the infection with omicron.

• Context of Implementation

The purpose of choosing the topic is also related to the principle “Learning history through research”, a teaching strategy used in various learning contexts, which supports students to use a variety of resources, use images, photos from Europeana collections, first-hand sources about personalities of the two world conflagrations and Holocaust. The training of skills related to the analysis of these types of sources is an important step in the activity of history teachers, because the value of sources is high and their interpretation may be different. An important concept underlying the development of curricula, but also teaching strategies, and at the same time, a reason why this scenario was chosen was that of multiperspectivity, seen as a way to select and analyze and then use historical sources to understand the complexity of a situation.

• Implementing the Learning Scenario

World War II is an important topic for students who are now in the 10th grade. During this year students are informed about the events of the 20th century, a century of contrasts in which the values ​​of democracy were affirmed and strengthened on the one hand, but there were also the two world wars, the Holocaust, which caused immense suffering. Anne Frank’s story complements students’ information about the Holocaust and World War II, which they studied during the school year.

 For students it is a new opportunity to discover, together with their peers, by studying historical sources, the main events that changed the course of European history for the entire twentieth century. images provided by the Europeana site.

Step 1– The students were divided into groups of 5 students and analyzed for 2 weeks several chapters from the “Anne Frank Diary”.

Step 2: The students gathered in the group and presented their part of the Journal

Step 3: Students watch the Anne Frank documentary – Documentary “Anne Frank – Parallel stories”

Step 4: Students compare the information they read with what they watched in the documentary – Documentary “Anne Frank – Parallel stories”

Step 5: the students choose, within the group, an excerpt that they are going to read in the plenary of the class

Step 6: Students read an excerpt from the diary

Step 7: Students write a letter to Anne Frank

Step 8: Students read the letters and share their final impressions

Conclusions

At the end of the activity, students will be able to understand some essential things about the Holocaust, the Second World War, and to share values ​​such as tolerance, solidarity, freedom, equality.

The students express their compassion for the tragedy of the Jews and the life that Anne had to live just because she was a member of the Jewish community.

The students understood that it is necessary to know the tragedy of the Holocaust in order not to risk being repeated, so that the memory of the Holocaust does not disappear.

Feedback

Students had to answer the folowing questions: „What was the hardest thing for you to understand when you read about Anne’s life?”

Most of the students answered that it is very difficult for them to imagine Anne’s life, the tragedy she went through and that she was very impressed by the strength she showed when she managed to relate her feelings and emotions lucidly every day. All the students agreed that her memory should be kept forever and that the life they are living now, when there has been no conflict for more than eight decades, should be much more appreciated.

Dear Anne,

Reading your journal I went through a blend of feelings and emotions. I empathize with every experience of yours. Maybe you’d be more relieved now if you’d find out that a lot has changed since you have got a journal “with white and red cover” for your birthday, which has become your best friend after the saddest day of your life.

You know, darling? Today, being Jewish is not a burden, an embarrassment, a thing to hide or to be sacrificed for anymore. Walking down the street late at night for looking at the starry sky, or for feeling the moonlight dancing gracefully through your hair and finding your way in the darkness isn’t wrong by no means. Now you can laugh out loud at the theatre, you can shed a tear watching a romantic movie at the cinema, you can move around freely practicing any sport you like!

Jewish culture is embraced and accepted anywhere. For sure, it could be better, and other’s mindsets should be improved, but this is all I want to tell you: if you were here now you’d see, no one could do the harm you have lived. Your sacrifice and your family’s sacrifice has became a symbol of solidarity, leaving behind a valuable life lesson for all mankind. For that, but not only for that, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

I promise, on behalf of all, that no one will have to suffer like you, your parents, your sister, your friends, your own kind did.

At this time, we promise to let the sun light up every room. And so, our journals don’t hide pages of misery. Perhaps mine keeps out of the world’s eyes my dried tears, from when I’ve wrote about yours.

      22.02.2022                                                                                        With love,

Daria, 10th Grade, National College, “Spiru Haret”, Buzau, Romania

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario?

Anne Frank Diary  by Augusto Fernando Silva Oliveira

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• Implementation of ‘Letters and Postcards from War Times’, by judit Benedek 
• Implementation of ‘The great war through children’s eyes’, by Emanuela Leto 
• Implementation of ‘Letters and Postcards from War Times’, by Carmen Morenoliso

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CC BY 4.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the National Library of Israel.