Anne and her family went into hiding in 1942. They were discovered on August 4, 1944, and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. WEDNESDAY, 13 JANUARY 1943: Terrible things are happening outside. At any Dme of night and day, poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. They're allowed to take only a rucksack and a little cash with them, and even then, they're robbed of these possessions on the way. Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed, their families gone. The Christians in Holland are also living in fear because their sons are being sent to Germany. Everyone is scared. Every night hundreds of planes pass over Holland on their way to German cities, to sow their bombs on German soil. Every hour hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of people are being killed in Russia and Africa. No one can keep out of the conflict, the entire world is at war, and even though the Allies are doing better, the end is nowhere in sight . 1. Where are people being sent? concentration camps
2. Why do you think people are allowed to take items with them when those possessions end up being taken away?
3. What other group of people are living in fear besides the Jews? Why?
4. To whom do you think the airplanes belong?
5. Is the diary entry a first-person or third-person account? Support your answer with specific details.
APPLY: Read the following poem from I Am a Star: Child of the Holocaust by Inge Auerbacher. Deception All is readied for a Red Cross inspection, Our very existence is based on deception. Could the world be lulled to believe, The camouflage only a devil can conceive? Numbered blocks are renamed with a street sign. It is paradise here; we are doing fine. ...A children’s pavilion set up to impress and show, Life is normal here; a “fact” for everyone to know. In the square there is a new café house, Only the selected are allowed to browse. ...Only special areas are shown with pride, Most of us are ordered to remain inside. As fast as commission is out of sight, We have to bear again tyrannical might. Soon there will be another selection, No change; the world believed the deception. By the end of 1943, rumors of mass murder circulated the world. The International Red Cross (IRC) requested permission to visit a camp to see if the accusations were true. On June 23, 1944, after months of preparations, member of the IRC visited Terezin. Terezin had been transformed from a concentration camp to what members of the IRC called a “model” place for Jews to live in. A film was even made to document the suitable conditions at Terezin. Inge wrote Deception in response to the IRC visit and their findings.
1. Give two ways Terezin was transformed.
2. Why would most Jews be ordered to stay inside?
3. Why does Inge write their existence is based on deception?
4. What do you think Inge means by “another selection”?
5. To what is Inge comparing to camouflage?