Night
Photo Project
EXPULSION OF JEWS FROM THEIR COMMUNITIES
GERMAN-OCCUPIED UPPER SILESIA, POLAND, WINTER 1942–43
The expulsion of Jews from the towns of Bedzin and Sosnowiec to the nearby Kamionka and Srodula ghettos. Non-Jewish neighbors watch from their balconies and front steps.
Photo analysis:
Are there people in the photograph? Yes
Number of people: entire village or town (hundreds) Estimated ages: all ages (doesn't matter what age they are because Jews in general were being expelled only)
Number of men or boys: hundreds Number of women or girls: hundreds
Can you tell when or where the photograph was taken? 1942-1943 towns of Bedzin and Sosnowiec to the nearby Kamionick and Srodula ghettos
Estimated time of day:Morning - committing preparations for moving out
Estimated time of year: 1943. estimated time year: winter
Outside or indoors: outside
Photo Research:
source:
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Silesia
GERMAN-OCCUPIED UPPER SILESIA, POLAND, WINTER 1942–43
The expulsion of Jews from the towns of Bedzin and Sosnowiec to the nearby Kamionka and Srodula ghettos. Non-Jewish neighbors watch from their balconies and front steps.
Photo analysis:
Are there people in the photograph? Yes
Number of people: entire village or town (hundreds) Estimated ages: all ages (doesn't matter what age they are because Jews in general were being expelled only)
Number of men or boys: hundreds Number of women or girls: hundreds
Can you tell when or where the photograph was taken? 1942-1943 towns of Bedzin and Sosnowiec to the nearby Kamionick and Srodula ghettos
Estimated time of day:Morning - committing preparations for moving out
Estimated time of year: 1943. estimated time year: winter
Outside or indoors: outside
Photo Research:
- How large was the town/city’s Jewish population and how long had Nazis been living there?
- What was Jewish life/culture in the town/city like prior to the Nazi invasion?
- Where is or was the town/city located?
- When and how did the town/city come under Nazi rule?
All this was brought to a halt by the rise to power of the Nazis.
- What was the fate of this particular town/city’s Jews during the Holocaust?
source:
http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Silesia
NAZI ALLIES
Members of the Hlinka Guard march in Slovakia, an Axis ally of Nazi Germany. 1939–45
Photo analysis:
Are there people in the photograph? Yes
Number of people: entire militia/Army (thousands) Estimated ages: 21 yrs or older (reached an age to be able to go to war)
Number of men or boys: hundreds to thousands Number of women or girls: few 1-50 girls or women
Can you tell when or where the photograph was taken? 1935-1945, Slovakia, Germany
Estimated time of day:Morning - committing preparations for war
Estimated time of year: estimated time of year is 1942
Outside or indoors: outside
photo Research:
source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Slovakia
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007324
Members of the Hlinka Guard march in Slovakia, an Axis ally of Nazi Germany. 1939–45
Photo analysis:
Are there people in the photograph? Yes
Number of people: entire militia/Army (thousands) Estimated ages: 21 yrs or older (reached an age to be able to go to war)
Number of men or boys: hundreds to thousands Number of women or girls: few 1-50 girls or women
Can you tell when or where the photograph was taken? 1935-1945, Slovakia, Germany
Estimated time of day:Morning - committing preparations for war
Estimated time of year: estimated time of year is 1942
Outside or indoors: outside
photo Research:
- How large was the town/city’s Jewish population and how long had Nazis been living there?
- What was Jewish life/culture in the town/city like prior to the Nazi invasion?
- Where is or was the town/city located?
- When and how did the town/city come under Nazi rule?
- What was the fate of this particular town/city’s Jews during the Holocaust?
source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Slovakia
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007324
CONSTRUCTION WORKERS AND ENGINEERS
Civilian workers inspect a construction site at the Auschwitz killing center, circa 1943. Taken in 1943 at the height of building activity, and provided a detailed record of the construction of prisoner barracks, drainage ditches, workshops, storage facilities, gas chambers, and crematoria.
Photo analysis:
Are there people in the photograph? Yes
Number of people: entire militia Estimated ages: 21 yrs or older (adults mainly)
Number of men or boys: dozen Number of women or girls: none (girls tend to do household labor)
Can you tell when or where the photograph was taken? Auschwitz killing center, circa 1943
Estimated time of day: evening - finishing the construction work they have been committed to
Estimated time of year: estimated time of year is 1943
Outside or indoors: outside
Photo research:
Civilian workers inspect a construction site at the Auschwitz killing center, circa 1943. Taken in 1943 at the height of building activity, and provided a detailed record of the construction of prisoner barracks, drainage ditches, workshops, storage facilities, gas chambers, and crematoria.
Photo analysis:
Are there people in the photograph? Yes
Number of people: entire militia Estimated ages: 21 yrs or older (adults mainly)
Number of men or boys: dozen Number of women or girls: none (girls tend to do household labor)
Can you tell when or where the photograph was taken? Auschwitz killing center, circa 1943
Estimated time of day: evening - finishing the construction work they have been committed to
Estimated time of year: estimated time of year is 1943
Outside or indoors: outside
Photo research:
- How large was the town/city’s Jewish population and how long had Nazis been living there?
- What was Jewish life/culture in the town/city like prior to the Nazi invasion?
- Where is or was the town/city located?
- When and how did the town/city come under Nazi rule?
The first extermination of prisoners took place in September 1941, and Auschwitz II–Birkenau went on to become a major site of the Nazi Final Solution to the Jewish question.
- What was the fate of this particular town/city’s Jews during the Holocaust?
Photo Parallel
- In examining your researched photos, what evidence suggest that life was normal for Jews before the Nazis
- What did you find as you looked through your own family’s photos in relation to those that you had researched? Which one did you choose to share that relates and why?
- In comparing these photos, how do they show the similarities between you, your family, or your community and those in the researched photos?
- What do these photos, yours and the researched ones, tell you about Jewish life in Europe before World War II?