1: resistance christians and jews hand in hand against the occupiers 28the senior high school of...

1: Resistance

Christians and Jews hand in hand against the occupiers

28the Senior High School of Thessaloniki, Greece

Lesson Plan: Resistance

Age of students

Settings

Duration

Rationale

Early appearance of resistance movement in Greece

Numerous , active partisan groups

Large Jewish Community of ThessalonikiDeportation and extermination of JewsJews enlisted in resistance groups

Two friends , members of resistance groupAthanasios Dimopoulos (Cristian) & Vital Aelion (Jew)

Main Purpose of PL

Based on the biographies of two men who were involved in various acts of resistance during the German Occupation of Greece, students are called to meditate on the conditions which make everyday people to risk their own lives and resist against the violation of their human rights

Didactic objectives

The students should Obtain a fuller and more focused knowledge

of the historical events of the WWII in Greece and particularly in Thessaloniki

Be informed about the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki and its fate during the WWII

Think of how were the human rights violated by the restrictions imposed by Nazis.

Learn about spontaneous as well as organized acts of resistance of everyday people

Realize the importance and value of historical memory

Methods

Lecture

Reading

Analysis of source texts

Discussion

Techniques of drama in education, role playing

Historical background (1)

Defeat of Greece by the Axis forces (April, 1941)

Triple Occupation of Greece (Germany, Bulgaria and Italy)

Time of extreme distress, hardship and starvation for Greek population

Early appearance of guerilla groups in the countryside

The Triple Occupation of Greece by the Axis Forces

Historical Background (2)

Jewish Community of Thessaloniki

The largest one of Greece (55.000), madre de Israel

Gradual restrictions over Jews

The Jews of Thessaloniki into ghettos

Deportation of Jews to the concentration camps of Poland

Sources

Biography of Athanasios Dimopoulos based on his son’s testimony (document 1)

Biography of Vital Aelion based on his daughter’s testimony (document 2) and a 120’ autobiographical documentary (document 3: a selection of the 120 minute documentary)

Sources such as pictures, various documents that were given to us by their offspring

Chronicle of the prosecution of Jews of Thessaloniki by Nazis (document 4)

The International Declaration of Human Rights (document 5)The list of the military operations and sabotages conducted

by the Olympus engineering unit (document 6)

Athanasios Dimopoulos

Born in 1919 in a village of mount Olympus. Legumes trade with Jews of Thessaloniki Jews sought shelter in the steep slopes of

Olympus Dimopoulos provided a rescue way using a

boatHe joined the resistance group of EAM

(National Liberation Front)Together with Vital Aelion he participated in

various sabotages of trains and railway tracks against Germans

Vital Aelion

Born in 1919 in ThessalonikiFought in Albania front till the defeat of Greece by the

Axis forcesWorked in a German labour camp in PieriaEscaped, hid and finally joined a resistance group of

ELAS (Greek People’s Liberation Army) in mount Olympus

Later joined the Olympus engineering unit and took part in numerous sabotages to trains and railway tracks.

Edited the handwritten newspaper “The instantaneous”All the members of his family were lost.

The chronicle of Jews’ persecution by Nazis (1)

9 April 1941: German army invades Thessaloniki. 11 April 1941: The Jewish press of Thessaloniki is banned. 12 April 1941: Requisition of the Jewish hospital Hirsch. 17 April 1941: Confiscation of the documents and files of

Jewish Community 20 Αpril 1941: Antisemitic articles are published by the

newspaper Nea Evropi, organ of Nazis propaganda21 Αpril 1941: Signs reading “Jews are undesirable”

appear outside the restaurants28 Αpril 1941: Confiscation of radio sets along with pianos

of Jewish families1 Μay 1941: The Jewish stores are ordered to remain open

during Saturday, the official day off for jewish religion

The chronicle of Jews’ persecution by Nazis (2)

4 May 1941: Confiscation of the Jewish bookshops. December 1941: Execution of 3 Jews. 12 July 1942: All male Jews gathered at the Eleftherias

square are publicly humiliated. 12 November 1942: Decision to change the J ewish

names of streets of Thessaloniki. 1942: Devastation of the Jewish cemetery. 8 February 1943: All Jewish are obliged to bear the

yellow star. Their offices and stores are also marked in the same way.

End of February 1943: Jews are confined into ghettos15 March 1943: the begging of the deportation of Jews

to the death camps

Lesson procedure (1)

Read the historical background so as to have a general idea οf

the situation in Greece during the WWII

the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki


Activity Read the list of gradual restrictions that were imposedon Jewish population of Thessaloniki by German Authorities (document 4), in parallel to the International Declaration of Human Rights (document 5). Possible Question- DiscussionHow did the Nazi regime violate the very basic human rights? By keeping in mind that the Declaration wascompiled and signed in 1948, what did it aim to prevent from happening?


Do you think it is suffice to be signed documents like the International Declaration in order to protect the human rights?

Do you believe that the protection of human rights is an exclusive matter of governments and international organizations?

Do you think that active citizenship entails the protection of human rights whenever they are in danger?


Read the biography of Athanasios DimopoulosThink of how the Occupation Forces led the

population to famineSeek for the route Dimopoulos took and draw

it on the mapThink on what made him risk his own life in

order to save Jews Try to imagine the feelings of those on the

boat and in the sea gripping the rope

The boat’s itinerary


ActivityΤhe activity is based on techniques used by Drama in Education

Place your chairs in a random order in the middle of the classroom. Draw attention to leave some free space in-between the chairs. Only two of the students will play each time. Both of them have their eyes tied with a scarf during the entire play. The one will be the victim and the other the victimizer. The two players stand in the area with the chairs. The rest of the students stand around this area and push gently the two players in whenever they head out of the area. The victimizer tries to catch the victim and the victim tries to avoid him. Both of them use the noise to recognize the other’s position. After a few minutes the couple swaps the roles. The rest of the students take their turn, a couple each time. Discussion: What was your feeling during the play as a victim?


Read the biography of Vital Aelion (document 2)Watch the autobiographical film of Vital Aelion

(selection) (document 3)Study the list of sabotages conducted by Olympus

engineering unit , select 6 of them and draw a time-line

Select an entry of your time-line and use it as the main article of the handwriten newspaper The instantaneous that Vital Aelion was editing

Think of what urged Vital Aelion to participate in resistance group, taking into account the fate of his family.

References

Angeloulis, A. Olympus thunders. Athens Synagonistis, Greek Jews in the National

Resistance, 2013 Jewish Museum of Greece.Varron Vassar, Odette. 2013,The emergence of a

difficult memory, Athens: Estia publications

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

Foundation of Hellenic World http://www.fhw.gr/chronos/14/en/1940_1945/resistance/

1: resistance christians and jews hand in hand against the occupiers 28the senior high school of...

Documents