Capturing Emotion from Survivors

Six Million

The traditional historical estimate of Jewish lives taken during the Holocaust is around six million. This figure does not account for the millions more killed in the Holocaust and the Second World War. It is difficult, seemingly impossible, to truly wrap one’s head around numbers such as these. Historians record statistics like death tolls and other facts, but they also do their best to give a human side to these numbers. Primary sources such as interviews, journals, images, and film can help students of the Holocaust better understand and connect to those who experienced these events.

Horrific events in history can be difficult to study in detail without engaging strong emotions. In the following project, students worked to capture the feelings of the individuals they studied, as well as their own, to better understand the Holocaust. It is through historical research and analysis of accounts like these which allow students to build empathy and make stronger connections to the lessons of history.

The Project

Students at Countryside School in Champaign, Illinois were tasked with watching three interview excerpts from Holocaust camp survivors. Students also had the opportunity to explore additional interviews and other primary sources. Students wrote down words and phrases which resonated with them from the interviews. Students then used the words and phrases they noted to write a poem about the Holocaust. Directions for style and format was open-ended. Students then went one step further to visualize their poetry with artwork. Many chose to use a combination of typographic and traditional drawing to illustrate their poetry. The result of the following students’ efforts was an incredibly powerful combination of poetry and imagery which helped capture some of the strong emotions these stories engender.

Before exploring this book, please take just a few minutes to watch these brief interview excerpts. The following poetry and artwork are based upon the artists' experiences with these stories.

Links to Interviews Used in Project:

Alice Lok Cahana, Helen Lebowitz Goldkind, and Leo Shneiderman share their experiences in concentration camps:
https://www.ushmm.org/exhibition/personal-history/theme.php?th=camps#content

Additional Oral History Excerpts from the Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia Collection:
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/gallery/auschwitz-oral-history-excerpts

Upstanders

Hitler can lead.
Nazis can follow.
Followers can kill.
Jews can hide.
Parents can try.
Children can cry.
The strong can work.
The weak can die.
The lucky can survive.
The unlucky can try.
And we can stay out of sight
or fight for what's right.

William

The Death Camps

We arrived late at night
It was a terrible sight
Families separated
Left, right, left, right

There was a truck
Little children were struck
I was taken away
My mother whispered “good luck”

In a long line I walked
Right beside us, guards stalked
I tripped over something
A body- I gawked

They prodded me along
I had done no wrong
But there I was
I must be strong

I was shown my room
It was filled with gloom
Two others were there
We were close to our doom

Emily

The sky was red,
The smell of smoke,
Pervading my senses

We heard the screams upon our arrival,
Waiting for the inevitable
What would become of us?

Waiting in the dark,
Fate undecided
Always asking: who is next?

Walking inside,
The dead not carried away
Tripping and falling
Away

Two rings, one diamond, one pearl
All for one orange
My last birthday present from my parents

You Couldn’t Escape the Cries of Mercy,
It was…. It was the Chant of the Dead

Waiting in the dark,
Fate undecided
Always asking: who is next?

The gutters and ravines
Flowing red
The march of the dead

Falling face first
Limbs frozen
In a permanent snow angel

Waiting in the dark,
Fate undecided
Always asking: who is next?

I know now
The last one
Is me

Sierra

Holocaust

They told us we weren’t normal
They said we should be dead
If we didn’t leave our homes,
Blood would be shed

They packed us into a train
Oh, how tightly we were constrained
For hours and hours we sat in pain
It was hell on earth

The moments the gates parted
Was the moment my family and I were forever departed
We heard screams and cries of agony and pain
It was hell on earth

They sent me to the showers
They told me to clean off the dirt
Little did I know
My life was far too short

Sophie

Begging for Water

There is something terrible happening,
The screams, the tears, the death, the fear, the pain.
The cruelty of this world is maddening,
Everywhere, people are going insane.

Day and night you can’t escape the crying,
Of many grieving the loss of a friend.
Many innocent people are dying.
It is hell on earth, and there is no end.

But no one else can see the agony.
And if they can, they don’t do anything.
Those who protest are killed with apathy,
For the country is ruled by tyrant king.

So people are left begging for water,
And the world extends its evil slaughter.

Benjamin