Surviving Hitler by Andrea Warren

1. Surviving Hitler by Andrea Warren Jack’s Timeline

2. August 1939: **Mother, Jack, Jakob, and Jadzia go to live with Grandfather Mandelbaum **September 1, 1939: Hitler invades Poland • November 1939: **Jews are ordered to wear the Star of David **Jews can no longer attend school **December 1939: Jack, his mother, and Jakob go to live with mama’s brother after the father is taken

3. **January 1940: **Jews are given a curfew **Jews are forbidden to go to library or public events **Nazis used forced labor crews – Jack is paid by wealthier Jews who do not want to work • April 1940: Jack turns 13 • April 1941: Jack turns 14 **Begins working for a Catholic electrician • December 1941: **Jack’s family is living in a restricted area called a ghetto **Pearl Harbor is attacked on Dec. 7, 1941

4. June 14, 1942 – Feb. 1943: **Jack is sent to Blechhammer concentration camp in Germany – his hair is shaved, chemical disinfectant put over his body to prevent lice but he still gets them, is given the #16013; now 15 years old **meets Aaron, who gives Jack extra food when he can and teaches him to “play the game” **he learns to live by the rules and play the “game” to survive **Jack works, doing hard physical labor **is given only thin soup and sawdust bread February 1943: **Jack is moved to a new camp **Jack survives typhus

5. Early 1943: **Jack is moved two more times **Gross-Rosen is worst camp Jack was in **Jack works a variety of jobs in camp Mid 1943: **Jack survives dysentery and narrowly escapes getting a shot that would have killed him Fall 1943: **Jack is transferred again **Jack meets Moniek

6. May 1944: **Hitler orders all Hungarian Jews to camps **Jack is now 17 Early 1945: **worst winter of war **less food **Jack is afraid he will starve to death **Jack and Moniek become cooks in camp – able to get extra food **prisoners are issued monthly meal tickets **prisoners kill a starving horse for themselves and guards

7. **prisoners are evacuated from Jack’s camp and led on death march to Doernhau Camp **Moniekis beaten up and separated from Jack *They are allowed only one cup of soup per day **5 or 6 weeks after arriving, Jack and others are freed when Nazis abandon the camp as Russian armies approach **Jack finds Moniek

8. May 1945-June 1946: **May 7, 1945 – liberation day for Jack **Jack and Moniek help free other prisoners **stay in abandoned house in town – able to have real food, bathe, and get clean clothes **hitch a ride to Frankfurt and go to displaced persons camp **Jack weighs only 80 pounds and has to have 7 teeth pulled

9. **Moniek reunites with 2 brothers and leaves Frankfurt **Jack moves into a private home **Finds Arek Mandelbaum, a 2nd cousin, Uncle Sigmund, and Aunt Hinda **Uncle Sigmund had been in Auschwitz and transferred to Stutthoff, where he learned Jack’s father was dead **Jack returns to Poland and Germany’s American sector to get food **finds his home in Gydniais occupied by strangers **Jack’s grandfather and his wife, his aunt and uncle, Jadzia, Mama, and Jakobare all dead

10. **Jack doesn’t want to stay in Europe, where he knows anti-Semitism lurks still **Jack moves to America, starts a business, and marries. **Jack doesn’t tell his family about his terrible experiences for 30 years. **Now Jack travels and tells civic and school groups about what happened. He says many don’t talk about it because it’s too painful. While it’s painful for him, he does it because he feels that he must speak for those millions who died and for those who are still trapped in the past horrors and can’t speak about it.

11. Build to your thesis with background information, just as the rubric asked you to do. The thesis statement should be the last sentence of the first paragraph, so you may start general and lead to specific thesis. Please don’t tell me what you’re going to tell me. Just do it. I can read. In the body of your paragraph, you need to have specificreferences to events in the text.

12. Don’t veer into a lot of personal opinion; this is mainly expository. Get your thoughts on paper first, saving the last few minutes for going back and correcting your spelling. This is much easier if you have done a pre-write—a graphic organizer or an outline or something of your choice. Underline the book title each time you refer to it.

13. Your first paragraph starts with background information. Start by introducing Jack. State his name, age, stuff about where and when and how he lives, his family, etc. Next, use the writing prompt to come up with a thesis statement. This answers the question the prompt gives and previews the three body paragraphs.

14. Some thesis statements are easier than others. The prompt asks a three-part question, so you know that body paragraph one addresses the first one, and so on. You simply state your opinion and preview your three main ideas and get started. For example, in the practice EQT essay, prompt # 1 asked (next slide). . .

15. Prompt 1: How did his experiences change Jack? Defend your answer using examples from the story. The example I will show you got one of the very rare A’s earned on this assignment.

16. Many lives were affected during WWII. When Germany invaded Poland, anxiety, terror, and confusion swept over the Jewish population there. Jack Mandelbaum was twleve years old when the inspirational story of his survival under Hitler’s reign began. Jack lived with his older sister, younger brother, and parents in a spacious apartment in Gydnia, Poland, and even had a housekeeper to help around the home. . .

17. Coming from a rich family, Jack always had an easy-going life and carefree personality. He had everything going for him. His experiences in the concentration camps could change him for better or for worse. Through his experiences, he changed from a happy-go-lucky boy to a more independent and wiser young man.

18. Another from Prompt 1: How did his experiences change Jack? Defend your answer using examples from the story. This example got one of the few 10/10 grades for a thesis statement: Jack was excited about the German advance. He changed his mind when he had to learn to work to feed his family when the Germans put the Jews into ghettos, then later had to learn to survive on his own when the Germans separated him from his family, and when they had Jack in the concentration camps, he had to learn to be a man and fend for himself.

19. Another from Prompt 1: How did his experiences change Jack? Defend your answer using examples from the story. Jack and his family had their way of life changed brutally during WWII. These experiences changed Jack from when he was a carefree city boy, to a boy who worked to support his family, and finally, to a prisoner in the death camps.

20. Prompt 4: Talk about three characters or events that demonstrate compassion, and explain what effect they had on Jack and his chances for survival. Jack faced terrible prejudice, but he also had acts of compassion that helped him survive: first, from a fellow prisoner named Aaron; another from a kapo when Jack was very sick; and lastly, from a boy named Moniek. First body para.: about Aaron and the “rules” of the game, him giving Jack food, etc. Second: about the kapo helping Jack to the infirmary, letting Jack sneak back into his barracks and lie there all day instead of working, and then assigning him light duties. Third: Moniek cheered Jack up, helped him steal food, etc. Moniek also helped him after they were free, helping him get to the German town, get food, and find his family.

21. This person says she can’t write. Read on and see if you agree: Living in Poland, Jack stayed with his father, mother, older sister, and younger brother. The family lived comfortably in an apartment, and their house was filled with love and kisses. Jack was 12 years old and ran the streets a lot. He and his family lived a happy life until rumors got out that the Germans were coming to make life miserable for them. The summer of 1939, many Jews tried to leave because of the war. . .

22. School closed down and Jack, along with his friends, was thrilled about the idea of war coming. He had no way of knowing that it ended his formal education, both religious and academic. As the Nazis took over Poland, beatings were given, shootings occurred, and people were shipped off to concentration camps. At the concentration camp, you (No, the reader isn’t there; replace with “prisoners”) either tried to avoid working to save energy and stay alive, or they tried to work hard to please, in order to avoid punishment. I think working hard was the tactic that was more effective.

23. Other things to think about in preparation for the real EQT essay: --think about the game and the rules and how it helped him --think about prejudice --think about why the author chose to tell Jack’s story. What can we learn? --think about Jack and Moniek, both young Polish guys

24. Other things to think about in preparation for the EQT essay: Prepare to do your pre-writing tomorrow! Finish reading, if you have not already done so.