Teach Primary Issue 18.4

Between December 1938 and September 1939, 9,354 mainly Jewish children made the long journey to Britain to escape Nazi persecution in Germany, Austria and the former Czechoslovakia. They were refugees. So one especially meaningful way to mark Refugee Week is to revisit these children’s stories and consider our collective response to refugees in the 1930s and today. People remember important events in different ways. We might wear a poppy or plant a tree, for example. How can we commemorate these child refugees, and why does it matter? 1 | IDENTITY Ask the children to consider what makes up their own identity. Then ask, what do your students know about Jews? Explain that being British, for example, is a nationality, and that Judaism is both a religion and an ethnicity. Not all Jewish people past or present are religious. Jews are also an ethnic group, and in the 1930s they were less than one per cent of Germany’s population. Next, explain life for the Jews of Germany before 1933. Although anti-Jewish racism existed throughout Europe before the rise of the Nazis, many German Jewish families were happy and patriotic, evidenced by the number of Jews who fought for Germany inWW1. However, things began to worsen when the Nazis came to power in 1933 and convinced millions of Germans that all their problems could be blamed on the Jews. Show your class examples of the anti-Jewish signs, posters, books, and newspaper headlines. What impact may these have had on both the Jewish and non-Jewish Germans of the time? The Nazis introduced over 2,000 anti-Jewish laws. Show your class some examples and discuss which ones may have had the biggest impact. There were hardly any routes to escape, as most countries at the time, including the UK, were not welcoming to Jewish refugees. The Kindertransport was set up by charities and individuals, with strict rules, to help a small number of unaccompanied children leave. Under the scheme, the British START HERE MAIN LESSON WHAT THEY’LL LEARN l Why children were leaving Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938–39 l What children brought with them as refugees and how their experiences were different and difficult l Why it is important to remember not only the Kindertransport, but also the many families that were left behind and suffered History, RE, English, PSHE/ Citizenship Begin by asking children what they think causes people to become refugees today, and whether the journeys that refugees go on are similar or different from ones we all make in our daily lives. Focus on the differences, and provide a short explanation of why parents wanted to help their children flee persecution from countries like Germany in 1938. Make a point of explaining that although we have laws aimed at preventing discrimination against our citizens, not all countries past or present are the same. In 1938, the Nazi German government had already been persecuting Jewish families for five years. Refugee Week: displaced people in history Learn about the experiences of the Kindertransport children in this thought-provoking lesson from Charlie Stansfield UKS2 LESSON PLAN @HolocaustCentUK journey.holocaust.org.uk 72 | www.teachwire.net