Resilience Curriculum - Resilience by Cheryl Reibel

The Beginning (Page 2)

Beautiful Patch of a Star

The first steps of the Holocaust was segregation - the Nazi regime separated Jews from the rest of the population. From there it was all-too-easy to inflame stereotypes, villainizing them by having to wear a Jewish star on their sleeve of their clothing. By the time the mass killings became more frequent, even former friends and neighbors turned against the Jews believing the propaganda. Jewish stores were covered with horrible slogans, boarded up and homes were ransacked of their worldly goods and taken over by the Nazis.

Jews panicked when they saw this happening, they began to flee to save their families and most of all their children for the fear of what is to come. They tried to get out as they were accosted and beaten up on the streets and many taken away immediately to prison and some to never see their families again.

The Nazi’s separation just brought up more hate and isolation. This learning began in schools as well as friends and neighbors.

The Ghetto (Page 7)

Soon the Birds Will Come

A part of a city, walled off is a Ghetto. It is dependent on their enemy for rules and food, shelter and of course put to work in the Ghetto. There were Ghettos like this all over Eastern Europe that the Nazi Regime used to prepare for the next phase of extinction. More Jews tried to flee or gave away their children to hide for the hope of benevolence of strangers, anything they could do to try to save them again by risking their own lives and also dividing up families so they were not all taken away for these acts.

Ghettos provided some psychological protection in numbers and fostered a sense of solidarity...trying to figure out ways to live without notice while making plans of escape as their only way out. These Ghettos of the Jews allowed the Nazis to contain, control, and attack populations that they did not like.

Escaping the Ghetto (Page 13)

Shh, Shh

The incredible thing about people is that they don’t give up.  Even when they were trapped in the ghettos and the camps, beaten or killed for the slightest act of rebellion, the Nazis could not stamp that fire out. People found ingenious ways to communicate and later join with people outside for help and organize escapes - risking literally everything, from being beaten to death as an example, risking their lives, their entire families or others who remained, thought they had a chance to remain alive.

Bribes, tunnels, sabotage - even thievery - were all done in the name of freedom, some people finding themselves in harsh situations, found the strength to keep going and with some hidden plans, a little teamwork, and a lot of luck, they make it out okay.

Questions for Consideration

Going Into Hiding  (Page 17)

Church on Sundays

During the Holocaust, people fleeing the Nazis would often go into hiding. Sometimes, this meant living in bunkers in the cold woods of the forest, it meant living in an attic or a basement out of sight hidden in Churches or smuggled over boarders if they were lucky enough to meet up with Nazi disbelievers who risked their own lives for their believes.

Partisans (freedom fighters) built underground and hidden communities for hundreds with some having to bribe and fight off the enemy from discovering them and allies were appearing: many people provided food, shelter, or even a lie here and there - protecting innocent people from oppression, captivity, and certain death. Others appeared helpful, but then betrayed that trust and sold out whole families into death.

Questions for Consideration

In the Camps  (Page 26)

We will be sisters again

The Jews were pushed into cattle cars to be taken to death camps unaware of where they were going. Concentration camps were a combination of prison, torture devices, and were mass-murder machines. Millions of Jews of all ages were separated from their families, their arms branded with a number. They had to strip down and put on clothing of black and white vertical stripes, heads shaven, diseases were easily passed and later most were tortured and forced to bury their own in piles.

While millions were killed in gas chambers prepared by the Nazis to bring an extinction to all. Family members were trying to get a glimpse of each other or hope seemed to run dry, in such horrific places. The prisoners managed to keep their spirits strong, even as their bodies were broken by inadequate food, filthy living conditions, and the constant threat of punishment and death. That’s how they survived. It wasn’t easy though, it was extremely difficult because of that kind of separation and trauma which leaves scars that run deep. Just praying for hope.

A New Beginning  (Page 35)

The Orphan Train

After Hitler’s Nazi regime ended, there were survivors who didn’t have anywhere to go. Many didn’t know where their families were, or if they had even survived or if they will survive themselves because of how sickly they were. Some families reunited in the displacement camp. Others assisted by Jewish organization, some found each other even decades later by chance, still seeking news from family members and just having faith any family could be found. Even when they were reunited, there was no home to return to.

Life was difficult, even painful - but there was hope for more. Allies came out of the woodwork to adopt child survivors, from even as from as far as New Zealand created an orphan train from Siberia and then transported the children, who saved 722 orphans who grew up in the same community. Still seeking news from family members and just having faith any family there would receive papers to go to a free country or to Israel to have a Jewish State to really build up and have complete religious freedom.

Families were separated by papers and new families formed in the camp eventually reunited with disbelief of ever seeing each other again by receiving papers from different countries. Some families had no papers and had to rebuilt their lives in the countries of their camps. People truly have a great capacity to recover from adversity, when possessing Resilience when given the chance.

Hope for the Future  (Page 42)

Home at Last

Those who went back to find their homes, others were living there, they just wanted to see and remember their lives, maybe find another member there looking for their family as well. They searched for hidden pictures, candlesticks anything that was dear to the heart buried in their home or nearby. Others found nothing of their family, home, community or Jewish life that preexisted but still in disbelief that they were alive and gone through such a tragedy.

Survivors became a community of their own wherever they were around the world, just a look into each other's eyes were enough to know the great injustice they shared.