Information for teachers

Introduction

The goal of the introduction is to make pupils think about the consequences of the war, to feel a kind of “immersion” in the post-war realities observed in the photographs, to make them think about the work of post-war reconstruction, and to prepare them for the brainstorming at the start of the main part of the lesson. At the same time, pupils will be encouraged to look at photographs from various perspectives, not only as “objective” documents of reality at a certain point in time and in a certain place, but also as carriers of arguments and of particular messages, and as instruments in the development of certain ideas.

Answers to set of pictures: 1) 1942   2) 1945   3) 1948   4) 1955

Main Part

In brainstorming, pupils are asked to contribute their ideas freely. All ideas are to be taken into further consideration. There are no “right” and “wrong” answers. The teacher notes down the ideas as they come (with no comments, no selection, no judgement), preferably on the blackboard so that everybody can see them. An idea may be developed but not repeated.

An overall time limit should be set for the brainstorming session.

In the first part of the session, each pupil is asked to contribute one idea. A time limit is given for this part. No explanations are given at this stage; the ideas are simply written on the board/chart. This part ends when there are no more ideas or when the time is up.

In the next part of the session, pupils can ask for explanations of any of the ideas. A time limit is also given for this part. Ideas are explained one at a time, and the proposer of the idea is given a short, defined length of time in which to make his/her explanation.

Once all proposals that need explaining have been explained, pupils could be asked to vote on the best proposals. There are various ways this might be managed, e.g. each pupil chooses one proposal and writes its number down on a piece of paper; pupils are asked in turn what they have chosen, and the proposals are ranked. [This part is primarily to help pupils feel engaged in the process; formulating and explaining the proposals is more important.]

Check: The overall time taken by the various elements of the process must not exceed the total time agreed at the start for the whole process.

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1. Lviv was under Soviet occupation in 1939-41, then under German occupation until 1944, when it returned to Soviet control. An additional question: what might have happened to the child?
2. This announcement dates from the period when the German population was being resettled from the Wrocław area (Wrocław became part of Poland after the war, and its German population was moved out).
3. People wanted to “buy” children in order to take care of them. Others wanted to “donate” their children for fostering or adoption. It was not uncommon in those years (and earlier), if parents did not have sufficient time or money to take care of their children (or if they had too many children and could not manage them all), for children to be brought up by more distant family members (aunts, uncles), or by friends or other people. Such children would visit their parents only occasionally. Apparently, standards have changed since then.
4. People were looking for their spouses not only to reunite with them, but also to be able to start new lives, with new partners, in their changed circumstances, and to “close the past”.
5. ‘Repatriate’ was a term used for people who, after WWII, migrated from territories that had been in Poland before the war but became part of the USSR after the war, and also from other parts of the USSR. There were two principal waves of such migration: 1945-49 and 1957-59.

Advertisements in the newspaper Volkszeitung, voice of the Communist Party of Germany, State of Saxony

Georg Wörtge (22.11.1888 - 7.12.1977) was one of the most popular folk actors and singers at various Dresden operetta theatres from 1919. In January 1933, the Berlin theatre group managed by the Jewish Rotter brothers—a group which included Dresden’s Central and Residenz theatres—collapsed. Wörtge and his colleague Sukfüll took over both theatres as directors. On 1 December 1936, the “Theater des Volkes” on Albertplatz was opened; this was a National Socialist-oriented municipal theatre which enjoyed the support of the “German Labour Front” and the Reich Ministry of Propaganda. Wörtge became head of operetta. He also joined the NSDAP on 1 May 1937. On 15 May 1944, the Reich Theatre Chamber granted him a licence as a stage teacher, valid until 1947. After 8 May 1945, he continued to work as a stage teacher and played at private theatres. In spring 1946 his past caught up with him and he was subjected to questioning. But the artist, who probably considered himself apolitical, was lucky. The SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany), which was very interested in appearing democratic, needed popular artists like him in order to win over people from all social classes. Georg Wörtge was able to continue his career in 1947, first at the Volksbühne and later at the Dresden State Operetta, until 1973.

Gustav Agunte (1900 - 1976) was a musician who came to prominence in 1924 and was later conductor of the orchestra at the Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk AG Leipzig (MIRAG), which was converted by the Nazis in 1934 into the Reichssender Leipzig. His Jewish wife Erna was deported to a concentration camp, and her fate is unknown. Their daughter Anneliese was a dancer at the Dresden State Opera until 1933, when she was banned from working because she was half-Jewish. After 8 May 1945 she worked as a ballet master at various Dresden theatres. Gustav and his son Rolf-Günther Agunte founded the Great Dresden Radio Orchestra and the Dresden Radio Dance Orchestra in 1945.

Kurt Striegler (7.1.1886 Dresden - 4.8.1958 Wildthurn/Landau) was committed to Dresden’s musical life as a teacher, conductor, musician and composer. In 1912 he became director of music at the Court (State) Opera Dresden. On 7 March 1933, uniformed Nazi troublemakers prevented the start of a performance of Rigoletto at the State Opera. The performance was to have been directed by the chief musical director Fritz Busch, a cosmopolitan man with an accommodating attitude towards Jewish artists. Busch was chased out of the house. Director of Music Kurt Striegler was on hand to take 11 Consequences of World War II Lesson 45 min over the direction of the performance. After that, Striegler joined the NSDAP and became State Director of Music and Director of the Dresden Conservatory. After the end of the war in May 1945, he continue to work in Dresden, which had been badly destroyed by allied bombs in February 1945. However, because he had formerly been a member of the NSDAP, he left the GDR (East Germany, where strenuous post-war ‘de-Nazification’ efforts were made) in 1950 to live in Munich. Kurt Striegler died in 1958 in Bavaria, but found his final resting place at the Old Catholic Cemetery in his home town of Dresden.

Summary

Depends on the results of the initial brainstorming and new ideas of the pupils.

Homework

You can try to use the following scheme, developed by Chauncey Monte-Sano from the University of Michigan.

1. Determine what you consider important. This will be your thesis (or position).
2. Justify your thesis. Why are you right?
   • Give proof (what information from the source(s) confirms your thesis)
   • Explain how the evidence supports your thesis
   • Explain why your evidence is credible.
3. Summarize your considerations.

Alternative methodology and additional materials. The goal of the lesson would be to discuss whether the consequences of the war should have been commemorated or overcome (for example, should ruins such as those of the Dresden Frauenkirche be preserved as ruins, should the building be reconstructed, should it be removed to clear the area)?

1. Pupils are given a set of advertisements and are asked to choose the ones that show how people wanted to go back to their normal lives, overcoming the consequences of the war.
2. The story of Dresden Frauenkirche from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden_Frauenkirche

   It would be good to check various language versions. In particular, those written in the Cyrillic alphabet (Russian, Belarusian) should be consulted along with the English, German or Polish versions, which are much more extensive. Beware that Wikipedia articles may be edited at any time. Students should be reminded of that fact; the contents of the articles need to be checked regularly.

3. Final essay: Should we commemorate WWII and its consequences or should we work on overcoming them? Which option would you have supported: to reconstruct the Dresden Frauenkirche or to keep it as a ruin? Justify your choice