NON-FORMAL ACTIVITIES IN EDUCATION: APPLICATIONS ON …economic2.ro/doc/IO2eng.pdf · War II is the second Intellectual Output of the Erasmus+ KA2 Strategic Partnership “Listen

NON-FORMAL ACTIVITIES

IN EDUCATION: APPLICATIONS

ON WORLD WAR II

Partners:

Liceul Tehnologic Economic “Virgil Madgearu”, Iaşi, Romania

Gimnazija Jurja Barakovića, Zadar, Croa ia

Erich-Gutenberg-Berufskolleg, Bünde, German

Galatasaray Lisesi, Istanbul, Tur

The International School, Birmingham,

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key

United Kingdom

The European Commission support for the production of this publicationdoes not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the viewsonly of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for anyuse which may be made of the information contained therein.

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9 789730 243598

ISBN 978-973-0-24359-8

Erasmus+ programme, Key Action 2 – Strategic Partnership, 2015-2017

NON-FORMAL ACTIVITIES INEDUCATION: APPLICATIONS

ON WORLD WAR II

Erasmus+ programme, Key Action 2 –Strategic Partnership, 2015-2017

Listen Stories engaged in the Past – the Second World War

Iași, 2017

This project has been funded with the support of theErasmus+ programme of the European Union.

ISBN 978-973-0-24359-8

CONTENT

Motivation .............................................................................. 5

Romania .................................................................................. 9The Living Library – everybody has a story to tell .............. 11The 25th Hour ........................................................................... 16The Delirium ............................................................................ 36

Croatia ................................................................................... 51Using ICT in teaching WW II ........................................... 53A Head on the Ba�lefield ..................................................... 63Opsada .............................................................................. 68

Germany ................................................................................. 75

The Self-Organized-Learning (SOL) Method in combinationwith the Debating Club “Youth Debates” ......................... 77Decision in the Bunker ........................................................ 84Last Men to Die .................................................................. 91

Turkey ..................................................................................... 97The Role of Social Clubs in Conflict Resolution ............... 99First the Bread Went Stale .................................................. 103Wagon of Terror ................................................................. 110

United Kingdom .................................................................. 125The Forum Theatre ............................................................ 127Imagine ............................................................................. 130Evacuation ........................................................................ 136

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MOTIVATION

The book Non-formal Activities: Applications on WorldWar II is the second Intellectual Output of the Erasmus+KA2 Strategic Partnership “Listen Stories engaged inthe Past – the Second World War”. It aims to achieve agood practice exchange at the level of the partnershipregarding non-formal methods utilized in approachingthe Second World War topic, in order to enhance a�rac-tiveness and students’ interest in the experience and thelessons offered by this major event, as premises for edu-cation for peace, because we consider it is essential tooffer alternatives to a classical way of teaching History.

Therefore, each partner school in its turn has madea suggestion for non-formal activities, describing it inthe context of practicing them and connecting it to theSecond World War, aiming to verify the relevance andutility of the material, but also to get feedback. This as-signment of activities took into account the expertise ofthe specialists from each institution. Consequently, Ro-mania presented the Living Library method, Croatiadealt with the use of ICT, Germany introduced the in-novative method used in their institutions – as pilotschools – the Self-Organised Learning method, Turkeybrought to mind methods of raising students’ impli-cation in extracurricular activities (students’ clubs) and

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the United Kingdom set forth the Forum Theatre method,which involves both the artistic side, as well as debates.

Our book also gathers ten of the most representa-tive scripts wri�en by students in each partner schoolfor dramatizations using the Forum Theatre method.These scripts had as starting point specific readingsrecommended by teachers of History or other subjects(Literature, Religion, Social Studies), these books beingin connection with the Second World War and its impacton society. The scripts are the outcome of the creativeprocess undergone by students, who were involved di-rectly in adapting the literary text and pu�ing it intoscenes according to the drama performing rule, allowingalso the intervention of the audience to step forward andtake the place of one of the characters. Thus, the spect-actorcould change the course of the action to enable a differentoutcome, thus trying out alternatives which could beapplicable to their everyday lives.

The scripts were put into scene during the ForumTheatre mini-festival, organised in each partner schoolas part of a Multiplier Event, while five of them wereperformed during the International Forum TheatreFestival, hosted by the English partner in October 2016.By providing with these scripts, we wish to offer teachersand students starting points and alternatives to teachinga topic of high importance both historically and socio-po-litically, such as the Second World War, this way pavingthe path towards an interdisciplinary approach for abe�er understanding of the events that occurred duringand a�er the war.

Non-formal Activities in Education:Applications on WW II

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We consider our outcome unique and highly im-portant since it explores the events and consequencesof the Second World War from an artistic point of view,the dramatism of students’ performance pointing outeven more the tragic experiences of the people involved,without losing its contact with the reality. Althoughthe participation in the conflagration is different (Ger-many and UK fought from the beginning against eachother, Romania was at first an ally of the Roma-Berlin-Tokyo Axis, closing off the war with the USSR and theUnited Nations; Croatia was caught in the middle,being torn apart between the fascist and anti-fascistmovement, Turkey remained neutral for most part ofthe Second World War), there is a single red thread inthe perspective, the book bringing forth how citizensand soldiers from the five partner countries faced theharsh times of war.

In addition, this intellectual outcome may be usedas a didactical material within several subjects ofstudy, having as purpose the support given to studentsin order to know and understand the events and to raiseawareness concerning the impact of war. Furthermore,it will increase motivation for learning, stimulate teamwork, improve reading skills, develop tolerance, en-courage avoidance of conflicts and promote peace, stu-dents in particular and readers in general having thechance to understand and empathize with those wholived and survived the horrors of war.

The added value of this book lies in the fact that itencompasses good practice examples concerning non-formal activities and World War II-related readings


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from the five European states. The above ensures theEuropean dimension and a step forward in raising moti-vation for studying History, as well as building a commondirection concerning conflict resolution in an amiablemanner in order to answer the requirements of the Eu-ropean society.

Therefore, the book is a pledge to acknowledge thepast, to value peace and to respect humanity!

Daniela Livadaru, project coordinator


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Non-formal Activities in Education: Applications on World War II

ROMANIA

THE LIVING LIBRARY – EVERYBODY HAS A STORY TO TELL

The Living Library is an activity aiming to emphasizethe acceptance of diversity because, regularly, differencesbetween people are not valorised as resources. Thus,most of the times, these differences create stereotypesand preconceived ideas which, in their turn, lead todiscrimination, suspicion and exclusion. The variousopinions of the narrators (people close to the students)make the collected information become more accessible


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A World War II veteran telling his story during the firstTransnational Project Meeting in Iasi, Romania

(the 30th of November 2015)

Daniela Livadaru

and more captivating, as theyare perceived as real events,which represent, in fact, His -tory. Through the Living Li-brary method, the books stepout of the shelves becomingpeople, who communicatewith the reader, which isessential for understandingthe true story. This humanlibrary works just like a nor -mal library, where visitorscan browse the catalogue forthe available titles, choosethe book they want to read,and borrow it for a limitedperiod of time. A�er reading,they return the book to the library and, if they want,they can borrow another. The only difference is that inthis case, books are people telling their own story, andreading consists of a conversation. Essentially, the LivingLibrary is conceived as a tool used for the correct eva -luation of the human values, in order to dissociate truevalues from non-values.

The advantages of using this non-formal educativemethod are multiple: it is active, creative and interactive,developing all type of competences (knowledge, butmostly skills and a�itudes) and it has an innovative,participative and experimental nature. It also has a highdegree of applicability.


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Brigade General (r.) IlieIonescu (1926-2016)

Although the Living Library is used mainly to fightstereotypes, we put this method in another context,which is the Second World War and its impact on peopleand societies. The Second World War, besides thousandsof deaths, families, goods, lives and hopes destroyed,is a historical event in the World’s calendar and thosewho survived it have still sadness in their eyes, a grievingsoul and a true story they want to tell. Usually youngpeople, having a low awareness of what a war is, hesitateto enter this living library and open the doors of truth.

Therefore, more than 75 students in our school,“Virgil Madgearu” Technological Economic HighSchool in Iasi, Romania, received as homework for theLiterature, History, Social Sciences, Religion classes thetask of carrying out a research on the impact, conse-quences and moral implications of the Second WorldWar, having as starting point the discussions with theirgrandparents or other elderly acquaintances from theirfamily or community who participated directly in theconflagration or lived in the period that came imme-diately a�er it. The final products of the research werepresented under the form of a story, including originaldocuments (photos, audio sequences), where possible.The aim of this research was to consider intergenera-tional education and to gather and write down somesignificant gripping life-stories from the Second WorldWar and its effects (collectivization, arrests, forced Sta li -nization, the division of Germany and of Europe etc.).

Through the use of the Living Library method, thestudents, a�er the discussions with their grandparents,


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great grandparents or other elderly persons from theirfamily or among their close relatives, who have sur-vived the Second World War or who have lived in theimmediate years, functioned as human-resources (livingbooks) for their colleagues, who wanted to find out moreabout the realities of the Second World War and theimpact, the consequences and the moral effects of thiswar on people.

Five of the most representative stories were publishedin the book “Listen to the Past: True Stories reflectingthe Second World War” (the first Intellectual Outputof our strategic partnership), together with the storieslearnt by the students in the other four partner schoolsfrom several survivors. All the stories were presentedwithin the Learning Activity for students hosted byErich-Gutenberg-Berufskolleg in Bünde, Germany (the15th – the 21st of April 2016). A major point of interest,the Living Library method proved to be a very importantaid in building a positive framework so that studentscould be familiarized with the social, cultural, and his-torical context of the countries represented by the partnerschools, in order to promote cultural interaction andtolerance. Due to the “human-resource” mechanisminvolved, the Living Libraries (genuine testimonies) di-rectly facilitated the discovery of the unquestionablehypostases of the past, involving historical, political,social, moral, religious and psychological aspects.

Implementing this method within different classesand stages pursued some main objectives: increasingthe interest for our history and past among young


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people; recouping the historical, cultural and moralvalues; educating young people through reading anddocumentation; creating an alternative, nonconformist,modern space, closer to the preferences of the youngpeople, which shall have long-term spiritual benefitsand shall tighten the link between generations, even ifthe results are not immediately perceivable. Collectingstudents’ feedback a�erwards showed that bringingforth the past and the experiences endured during theSecond World War help the young to anchor more inhistory, through understanding its deeper meaningsand to become more aware of the necessity of peace,tolerance and respect as priorities of the contemporarysociety.


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THE 25TH HOUR*

The 25th Hour is a WorldWar II novel by Virgil Con-stantin Gheorghiu, wri�enfirstly in French and pub-lished in 1949, but spreadworldwide afterwards (in1967, Carlo Ponti produceda film based on Gheorghiu’sbook, starring Anthony Quinnand Virna Lisi). The novelpresents the dreary misad-ventures and grotesque mis -treatment of a helpless Ro -manian peasant during anda�er the war.

Snatched from his home and his family on theorder of a police captain who lusts for his wife, JohannMoritz is knocked about successively in labour andprison camps run by the Romanians, the Germans, theRussians and finally the Americans. In the first he istortured on the baseless assumption that he is a Jew,


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* Script adapted by Adriana Stoica and Nicoleta Mazanca (12th

Grade Students), coordinated by Daniela Livadaru.

in the second a racist expert suddenly discovers himto be a “rare specimen of a pure Germanic strain”, inthe third he is beaten severely and in the fourth he isheld for trial at Nuremberg because the Nazis usedhim for propaganda purposes. It’s a rough time thispoor fellow has.

Act I: Torn out from a happy life

Teller: In Fântâna village, Johann Moritz lives happymoments, as he had just christened his second son.The courtyard of his house is full of people whojoined their hands in traditional folk dances. Musiccan be heard everywhere, mixing in the air withhealth wishes, laughter, and clapping hands.

Ghiţă: Johann, let me explain you about this morning.Johann: What is to be explained? Ghiţă: You know how happy I am to be your son’s

godfather.Johann: You were late, you missed more than half of

the ceremony.Ghiţă: Johann, let me tell you something. Yesterday,

George Damian offered me a job on his ship, as astoker. In 27 days, I shall be in New York.

Johann: In New York, in America?Ghiţă: Yes, America. I know, it doesn’t look right for

the godfather to leave the country a day a�er thebaptism. But I won’t stay long. I’ll earn a great deal


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of money. I’ll come back to Fântâna, buy myselfsome good land.

Johann: Aham!Ghiţă: Hey, Johann, you are not angry with me, aren’t

you?Johann: Why should I be angry? My son will have a

rich godfather. Give me a glass of wine! … What isthe name of your ship?

Ghiţă: Why do you ask?Johann: Because tonight I am sure I’ll dream about it

and I want to get the name right.Ghiţă: It is called the Danube.Johann: The Danube … Let’s drink for the Danube. You

know, once I almost went to America. I took all mysavings, I paid my ticket to San Francisco, I saidgood bye to my parents, my bags were packed…

Ghiţă: And why didn’t you go?Johann: I couldn’t stop a woman from crying. So, I

married her instead. And you know what?Ghiţă: What?Johann: I am a dad. See?

(A Romanian folk dance starts) Johann joins the hora, dancingjoyfully near his beloved wife, Suzanna. From the dis-tance, the chief in command of the village Gendarmerielooks enviously at the happy and pure-loving couple, ashe secretly covets the beautiful woman. In the sametime, at the radio, a sober voice announces the invasionof Czechoslovakia by the Nazi Armies led by AdolfHitler. The Romanian country priest Alexandru Korugă


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foresees that this war brings no good to anyone: “Theworld has already passed the point of no return, and inthat sense, there will be no new day. The ‘25th hour’ isnow upon us. I wonder who will survive it.”

Teller: A week later, a Gendarme was sent to JohannMoritz’s house to deliver him an official paper. Itwas a requisition order.

Johann: “What on Earth do they request from me? Ihave neither horses nor a cart. Maybe they wantme to hand over wheat or maize.” And he picked thepaper carefully to read it. His face turned brightred, then became pale and once again dark-red.

Suzanna: (impatiently) What is it wri�en, Iani?Johann: It is a requisition order. We have received such

an order twice before, one for wheat and one forthe sacks we bought from Porfir. But this time isfor me. How could they requisition a man? A manis not like animals, houses, or sacks. There must bea mistake!

Suzanna: (her voice trembled fearfully) What should youdo now, Iani?

Johann: Tomorrow morning, at 7, I have got to reportat the Gendarmerie office.

Teller: Even though Johann pretended nothing hadhappened, worried thoughts stormed in his head.What would he do with the bricks prepared for thenew stable? Who would reap the wheat? Whowould bring from the forest the wood he had just


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bought and which had cost him a lot of money?And the money which he had lent to Anton, wouldhe or Suzanna recover them? What would becomeof his work? He could barely fall asleep for a coupleof hours.

Early in the morning he dressed and went down thevillage, to the Gendarmerie quarters, but he wasasked to wait in the courtyard. There he saw MarcuGoldenberg, the son of the only Jewish in his village:His hands were tied behind his back.

Johann: If Marcu had his hands tied, then it can’t be ajoke. (A sentiment of fear invaded him, particularly whenhe heard a soldier arming his rifle.)

The soldier pushes Johann near Marcu and orders them tostart marching: Shoulder to shoulder!

At one window, the local police chief, sergeant Dobrescu, isshaving, while his lieutenant is reading a report:

Gendarme: “We have the honour of expediting youunder escort the individuals Marcu Goldenberg,doctor in Law, aged 30, and Johann Moritz, farmer,aged 28, who fall in the category defined by thelaw for the protection of the nation as instanced inyour previous orders concerning the rounding upand dispatch to labour camps of all Jews and sus-picious and undesirable elements within this dis-trict. Signed: Nicolae Dobrescu, sergeant in chargeof Fântâna Gendarmerie.”

Gendarme: Chief, Johann Moritz is not a Jew.Sergeant: So?


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Gendarme: He is not an undesirable element either.Sergeant: Who cares? I am the law here. To me Moritz

is highly undesirable!

Act II: The chain of the Absurd

Teller: Prisoners’ steps melted in the dreary silencewith soldier’s measured tread. Moritz’s feet movedautomatically. They seemed like they weren’t his.Neither his flesh, nor his thoughts. Nothing be-longed to him anymore. Thus, the lowly field handfalsely labelled a Jew was sent to a work camp,close to the border of Romania with Hungary. Theprisoners, Jews gathered from all over Romania,were asked to dig a defensive fortification against theRussians in a dried riverbed, according to the plansof Carol II, King of Romania. Those who refusedto work were assimilated to traitors and enemies ofthe fatherland and sentenced by the Martial Court.

Johann: Marcu, what am I doing here?Marcu: What am I doing here?Johann: Well, with you it’s different.Marcu: Why? Because I am a Jew?Johann: Marcu, for you it is injustice, I agree. But for

me it’s a mistake, a stupid mistake.Marcu: The distinction escapes me. Leave me alone.Johann: Marcu, please, please tell them I am not a Jew.Marcu: Look, Johann, we are living in a world where any

human being can become a Jew at any moment.


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Teller: In vain tried Moritz to talk to the commanderchief of the camp. He kept shouting he is not a Jew,but the commander asked him to fill and sign a le-gitim complain only a�er his chancellery will beinstalled. The chancellery was ready in 10 days, buthe was once again postponed for the next week.Moritz kept his patience and continued to workhardly, whilst trying to get friendly with his fellows.

Worker 1: Are you ashamed of speaking Yiddish?Johann: I don’t know Yiddish.Worker 2: Shame on you!Worker 1: My boy, what sort of behaviour is this? Aren’t

you in the middle of your own people. There is nouse hiding your origins.

Johann: Look, I am not hiding anything. Worker 2: A Jew who denies his own people tears him-

self off from it.Johann: I am not denying anything. If I were a Jew, I

would say so.Worker 1: Why are you stubborn. You are beginning to

upset me.Johann: I am not a Jew. I am an Orthodox baptised

Christian. My mother calls me Ion.Worker 1: A li�le drop of water cannot make a Christian

out of a Jew.

Teller: Some of the Jews started laughing, while otherslooked at him with hostility. In the register of thework camp, Isaac Lengyel, appointed chief of his


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cohort, named him Jacob Moritz, as he did not agreewith the Romanian equivalent Ion (transliterationof the German Johann). Yet, everybody in the campbegan to call him Iankel.

Moritz’s troubles continue to mount, as his wife isthreatened with losing their property unless shedivorces him. It was right a�er the 7th of October1940 (the date when Germany invaded Romania).A�er four months of strenuous work, Johann fi-nally gets an audience with the commander of thecamp.

Commander: Tell me what do you want from me. Butcut it short!

Johann: I want you to free me. I am not a Jew.Commander: (ironically) Do you here what you are

saying? You are not a Jew!?The commander took the camp register and started to read

loudly:Commander: Moritz Jacob, 28 years, married, two chil-

dren, resident of the Fântâna village. Wife’s name:Suzanna.

Commander: Aren’t you this person?Johann: Yes, of course I am.Commander: Then what’s all this about not being a

Jew?Johann: It is me. But I am not a Jew.Commander: Do you realise the gravity of your accu-

sations? Any lie sentences you to prison. You areclaiming that everything wri�en here – and these


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are military documents – is false! Be careful andthink twice of what you are saying. You know whatthe punishment is. Do you persist in declaring thatyou are not a Jew?

Johann: It is true, I am not a Jew.Commander: Then what are you doing here?Johann: I really don’t know.Commander: Why haven’t you said so before? For

four months, I had signed papers where I declaredthat all the 250 people in this work camp are Jews.And now you turn up and claim you are not a Jew.(angrily) That means I have been making false state -ments because of you and therefore I should besentenced to jail.

Johann: What can I do, I am telling you the truth.Commander: Listen, your case is very complicated.

Firstly, how come you are of Romanian ethnicitybut you bear a Jewish name? Secondly, how comeyou are a Romanian but you speak Yiddish?

Johann: I learned Yiddish in the camp, as I heard itspoken all day long.

Commander: Thirdly, in all the papers it is wri�en thatyou are a Jew. Do you expect me to believe you?

Teller: Four or five months later, Moritz was summonedto the commander’s office. Hoping that finally hiscase has become clear, he entered hastily in theroom.

Commander: Moritz, your wife has just divorced you.Sign here that you took knowledge of this.


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Johann: What? Can you say that again? This is anenormous lie.

Commander: Look, you have here the official paper,in case you want to read it. She filed for divorce onracial grounds, because you are a Jew. I think sheknows be�er than anyone.

Johann remained rooted to the spot. He could barely breatheand his face turned pale. He kept whispering:

Johann: This cannot be true. I know my wife, I knowSuzanna. She couldn’t have done this…

Commander: And you kept telling me stories that youare a pure Romanian and a Christian!

Teller: The autumn and the winter passed with greatexertion. The work was harder and harder, havingto dig in stone, the food was scarce, the men wereincreasingly ill due to the precarious conditions.One day they were announced that the fortificationsare to be abandoned, as it was a mistake to dig there,and that their camp will be moved closer to theborder with Hungary. Heartbroken, Johann Moritzaccept to escape together with three Jews fellows,with the help of the commander, well-paid for this.In November 1940, they flee to Budapest, becauseJews were mildly treated here, with America asdestination. In an absurd twist of fate, Johann cannotget the dreamed passport to liberty, as he was nota Jew, but is interned instead as a citizen of anenemy country, Romania. His name is changed to


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Janos Moritz and he spends several months in differentwork camps.

Act III: The threat of machinism

Teller: The Hungarian government sends its foreignresidents as Hungarian “voluntary workers to NaziGermany”. It was the 21st of June 1941. Considereda Hungarian, Moritz is maltreated, beaten, anddragged off to forced labour, likewise a machine,in several factories producing munition for the front.He became friend with a Frenchman, who callshim Jean. Later, in December 1942, Moritz Ianos is“rescued” by a Nazi officer who determines he is aperfect Aryan specimen, and forces him into servicein the Waffen SS as a model for German propa-ganda. Benefiting from his new position as guardian,Moritz escapes together with his Frenchman friendand other four fellows to the Allied-occupied zoneof Germany, being welcomed for a short time bythe Americans, in a UNRRA (United Nations Reliefand Rehabilitation Administration) camp.A�er 14 happydays, the director of the UNRRA summoned him:

Director: You are no longer entitled to receive food orlodging from UNRRA. As from tomorrow you willnot have the right to feed here and you must free theroom you are at present occupying in this hotel.


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Frightened, Johann could only think:Johann: I must be guilty of something dreadful if they

suddenly throw me out. I must have upset verybadly the Americans, who yesterday were praisingme for my courage.

Yet, he dared to ask, with a trembling voice: Johann: Why is it so? What have I done wrong?Director: UNRRA gives shelter only to the citizens of

the Allied Nations. You are the enemy of the AlliedNations!

Johann: I did nothing against the Allied Nations. I swear,sir, one cannot find a single fault in my behaviour.

Director: Aren’t you a Romanian? The Romanians arethe enemies of the Allies. You are a Romanian, con-sequently you must be our enemy. UNRRA does notprovide with food or shelter for enemy nationals.You are forced to leave your room.

Teller: Johann le� the office with his head bowed. Hisfirst thought was to return to the SS unit, but hisuniform was torn and his rifle broken. Where shallI go now?

American officer: Are you Johann Moritz, the one whohelped 5 French prisoners to escape?

Johann: (feeling a li�le bit embarrassed): I am. I am JohannMoritz (and for the first time in the latest years he wasproud to say his name).

American officer: Follow me! Leave your coat, the chiefcommander is waiting for you. In half an hour, Iwill bring you back with my car.


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They stopped in front of an austere stone building,American officer: Wait here!

Teller: And he le� Johann in amazement. Two guardianstook him inside and he realised soon that it was aprison. A�er 8 weeks of torture, he was moved inOhrdruf concentration camp.

Teller: Imprisoned a�er the war, Johann Moritz is se-verely beaten by his Russian captors, then put ontrial by Allied forces because of his work for theNazis. Meanwhile, Traian, son of the priest Korugăwho employed Moritz in their Romanian village,becomes a famous novelist and minor diplomat,whose first internment starts when he is picked upas an enemy alien by the Yugoslavs. Moreover, hehas married a Jewish woman.

Once imprisoned, the two heroes begin an odyssey oftorture and despair. Traian Korugă is deeply unse�ledbecause he sees the machinism and inhumanity ofthe “Western technical society”, where individualsare treated as members of a category. He was stillwriting his book within a book, “The 25th Hour”,with the first chapter about Johann Moritz and theordeal awaiting mankind.

That morning Traian was more silent than any otherday. He looked fatigued, but he kept on writing.

Johann: (talking to himself) When he writes, Master Traianlooks like he is praying. When you look at him,


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you forget he is a prisoner, you don’t see his tornclothes, his bare feet or wild look because he couldn’tshave or have a haircut. When he writes, TraianKorugă dresses himself in majesty and dignity andyou can’t do more than take your hat off to him.

Traian: Johann, did you know that there are men whocan tame wild animals?

Johann: Yes, I heard about this.Traian: Men can tame any animal on earth. But there

appeared a new species of human beings, they callthemselves Citizens. They live in offices, but theyare crueller than the beasts of prey. They were bornfrom the breeding of man and machine. Unfortu-nately, they multiplied as much as to fill the Earth.

Johann: I am not sure if I ever saw a Citizen. How doeshe look like?

Traian: But I am a writer. To my thinking, a writer is atamer of men. By revealing unto men the Truth andthe Beautiful you make them gentle and so�-hearted.My aim is to write something which can touch theCitizens and determine them to pay a�ention. Totame them, I shall adopt the only form they approveof: I shall write Petitions. They only read petitions.

Johann: How many petitions have you wri�en tillnow?

Traian: This is my 65th petition. I’ve wri�en such peti-tions before – on how to save human fat, about theaesthetic ideal of the thin human body, about reducingfood ratio for the mutilated prisoners and the goodshidden in prisoners’ clothes or even inside their


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bodies… And I am not counting the petition wri�enabout your innocent life spent behind the barrels.But everything has a limit and I reached mine. Noman can suffer more ... I forgot the number of campswe were transferred from time to time… This is mylast petition. And I will deliver it personally.

Johann: How will you do this?Traian: Can I ask you something?Johann: Sure, Master Traian, I would do anything for

you.Traian: Will you please look a�er my glasses?Johann: (naively) Can you see without them now?Traian: No, I still can’t see without them. But it is more

restful not to wear them. I shall never wear themagain. If you are released before me, I would like youto take this pair of glasses to my wife.

Johann: She is imprisoned, like us. How will I findher?

Traian: You may not be able to find her straight away,but keep the pair on you all the time. You neverknow when you may come across her.

Johann: Are you sure you don’t need them anymore?Traian: Be careful not to smash them. I’ve seen so many

things in life thanks to them. Do you understandwhy they are so dear to me? Through them I firstbeheld my wife, through them I gazed at the sky, thesea and the mountains and read countless num-bers of books night by night. Through them I alsosaw my father dying, I witnessed Europe collapsing,men dying of starvation or suffering imprisonment


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and torture and slow death in concentration camps.Through these glasses, I have seen both saints andlunatics. I have watched a whole continent die withits burden of inhabitants and laws, its faith andhopes, hemmed in by technological laws of a civi li -sation which has reverted to the automatism of abarbarian age.

Johann: Master Traian, what are you saying? Are you ill?Traian. Dear Johann, hence forward I wish to see nothing

more. I am tired. The performance has gone too long.Johann: Maybe you should take some rest. You have

had nothing to eat for so many days…Traian: Please go and hide my glasses!Johann: I go right now. I will be back in a couple of

minutes.

Teller: As soon as Johann passed out of sight, Traianstood up, took the petition and set out in the di-rection of the main gate. Feeling his soul laid bare,he crossed the white line and closed the barbedwire. That moment, a guardian from the Ameri-can-Polish concentration camp shot him.

Act IV: The end of a dream

Teller: Months later, Johann Moritz is sent to the Nu -remberg concentration camp, being accused of warcrimes, due to his enrolment in the SS, but he iseventually released. A�er 13 years spent in different


31

countries and concentration camps, he reunites withhis family somewhere in Germany. While he wasimprisoned, Suzanna managed to escape to Germany,but she could not escape the fury of the Russiansoldier: abused several times, she gave birth to achild who was not Johann’s. But Johann had for-given her, decided to live only for their happiness.But it didn’t last too long. A�er 18 hours of free-dom, a policeman came to their door, announcingthey will be politically interned. The Americanswere forcing Johann to choose between either en-listing in the army, just as World War III was aboutto start, or to be interned in a camp (as well as hisfamily) as a citizen from an enemy country. Hechose to enlist as volunteer, at the request of hisolder son.

In the enrolment office, a beautiful red-haired woman is havingan argument with a lieutenant.

Lt. Lewis: These prisoners are enrolling out of theirfree will!

Nora: You are wrong. It is their only way of escape.Hence all these applications pouring into our office.

Lt. Lewis: I am sorry, but you are wrong. They can eitherchoose to go to Russia. Why would they come to us?

Nora: No! To show them the way to Russia is likeshowing them the wall of flame beyond which,even if they jump, lies nothing but the very heart ofthe blaze.


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Lt. Lewis: Let the facts speak for themselves. (opening thedoor) Look, you have here an entire family wantingto enrol. Just ask them whether they agree or notwith your ideas.

Lt. Lewis invited Johann, Suzanna and their three childreninside and went out.

Nora: What is your name?Johann: Johann Moritz. I want to enlist as a volunteer

with all my family. Please accept us all. I need aspecial age permit – I am over age, but I feel young.The boys are too young. They have not yet a�ainedthe age stated on the posters, but they are hard-working, honest lads. We are anti-Bolshevik, asprescribed on the posters. We believe in the victoryof Civilisation as prescribed on the posters. Onlynone of us is the right age. That is why we beg you togrant us a special age permit. If you do not acceptus, we are lost. We cannot bear it anymore.

Nora: (with a warm, kind look in her shining eyes) Did youknow Traian Korugă?

Johann: (surprised) We were together till the very end.He was the best man I have ever known. He was asaint, not a man. Did you know Master Traian too?

Nora: I am his wife.Johann: (leaning on his feet and turned pale, he took the

glasses out of his pocket) They are Master Traian’s.His last words were that I should give them to you.Just before it happened… His last…

On a sudden, Lt. Lewis came back into the room.


33

Lt. Lewis: Well, are you convinced at last they are whole-heartedly offering as volunteers?

Nora: (swallowing the lump in her throat, coughed and saiddecisively): I am now convinced that you are per-fectly right. These people have begged me to waivethe age-limit regulations. They all want to enlist.The whole family.

Lt. Lewis: (chuckled with satisfaction) Grant them thepermit. Get out the necessary forms. I’m going totake a photograph of the whole family and send itto the papers.

Lt. Lewis went to Suzanna and pa�ed on the head the youngestchild, only 4 years old:

Lt. Lewis: He’s anti-Russian too, isn’t he?Suzanna: (in a lower voice) Yes, he’s anti-Russian too.

Johann heard and his black eyes darkened even more.

Nora: Tell me in short, where have you been from 1938until today?

Johann: In 1938 I was in a Jewish camp in Romania. In1941 in a Romanian concentration camp in Germany.In 1941 in a camp in Germany… In 1945 in an Ame-rican camp. The day before yesterday I was releasedfrom Dachau. Thirteen years of camps. I was freefor eighteen hours. Then I was brought here.

Teller: Lt. Lewis was adjusting the camera, eager totake the picture of this genuine volunteering familyjust at the moment when Johann was filling up theform. Everything was to be genuine:


34

Lt. Lewis: Keep smiling!Teller: But Johann didn’t understand. Watching Nora,

he remembered the hundreds of miles of barbedwire which he had seen and which were now un-ravelling all along his body.

Johann: This is how I spent the time from 1938 till today.Camps, camps, camps. Thirteen years of nothingbut camps.

Lt. Lewis: Keep smiling! Smile! Smile!Johann: What is the American saying?Nora: He has ordered you to smile.Teller: Johann looked at Traian’s glasses and the image

of him collapsing and dying came before his eyes.He remembered once again the miles and miles ofbarbed wire and all the atrocities he had seen andlived. He looked at Susanna and the li�le boy andhis face clouded. Tears welled up in his eyes and hefelt like he will soon burst into sobs like a woman,of sheer despair. Now that he had been ordered tosmile he could not bear it any longer. This was theend. He could not go on. No living man could havegone on.

Lt. Lewis: (shouting hysterically) Keep smiling! Smile!Smile! Keep smiling!

Johann: (in a bi�er voice) So this is America…


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THE DELIRIUM*

Marin Preda’s novel TheDelirium (Delirul) is consi -dered the first “toe in thewaters” a�empt at the reha-bilitation of Romania wartimeleader Marshall Ion Anto -nescu against the backgroundof re-surging nationalist pridein Communist Romania. TheMarshall is painted as a tragicfigure, who joined the Ger-mans, regarding this as theonly way to re-gain Bessara-bia, surrendered by Romaniawithout fighting along with the Northern Bukovina tothe Soviet Union (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signedon the 23rd of August 1939), because it had no externalsupport.

The novel takes place during World War II and offersa historical reconstruction of the period, with some fic-tional characters at the centre but placing them in se�ings


36

* Script adapted by Adriana Stoica and Nicoleta Mazanca (12th

Grade Students), coordinated by Elena Ilisoi and Daniela Livadaru.

easily recognizable as real events and places. The authoruses literary license to improvise “might have been”conversations between characters (historic figures).Marshall Antonescu appears unequivocally as a man ofhonour, fundamentally loyal to his country and unafraidto stand up for his believes, patriotic and courageous,a great role model for young officers. It is a thoroughlyrevisionist view of the Marshall.

Act I: General Antonescu visits his mother

Video insert1 – part 1 with subtitles

Romania’s territory losses from 1940 were triggered byits international isolation, which was caused by therapid defeat of France, the withdrawal of the Britishtroops from continental Europe and the fact that amajor part of Europe was under Nazi Germany’soccupation. The fragmentation of our country’sborders led to a deep internal political crisis. Thepersonal authoritarian regime imposed by the KingCarol II destabilized and collapsed and the mo narch,who was directly held responsible for the territorial’amputations’, abdicated in favour of his son, Mi -hai I. General Ion Antonescu took power, as he hadimportant governing responsibilities and he was


37

1 All the video inserts were selected from the movie: Destinulmareşalului (The Marshall’s Destiny), 1994 – https://www.you-tube.com/ watch?v=TGAkOTqV5Is

named „Head of the State”. He was assisted in hisgovernment by an extremist movement, The IronGuard - the only legal party with a right to activate– a movement that was very appreciated by Hitler.Romania was proclaimed „The National LegionaryState” in the period September 1940 – January1941. Due to his wish to reunite the Romanian ter-ritories and thus, regain the part of the country thathad been taken away from us, General Ion An-tonescu signed the Tripartite Pact on the 23rd of No-vember 1940 with the Axis countries (Nazi Germany,Fascist Italy and Imperialist Japan). Consideringthemselves indispensable for Germany, the legio -naries felt entitled to commit the Jilava Massacre(in which more than 60 political prisoners werekilled) and to assassinate the well-known econo-mist Virgil N. Madgearu and the brilliant scholarNicolae Iorga.

Teller: It’s the 24th of December 1940. Antonescu is stillin the Council of State. He seems unwilling to gohome. He calls his wife, Maria, and tells her thathe will be late; then he decides to make anotherphone call.

(phone ringing)

Antonescu: Mom, can I come by to ask for your ad-vice? I think you are the only person who can helpme in these moments.

(He reaches his mother’s house)


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Antonescu: What shall I do, mom? I’ve come to you;you are my anchor in this time of torment.

Mother: What has happened, son? If, by any chance,you have been forced to lie to yourself, don’t do itwith me, be totally honest as you have always been.

Antonescu: Mom, it’s been a month since the Jilavamassacre and I still can’t come to terms with thefact that I’ve fallen in a trap that I set for myselfand of which I won’t be able to escape. How can I?There are assassinations commi�ed on my behalf.What is then the use of justice in a country? I keeptelling myself that those people were guilty, but invain, if justice did not establish their guilt... Whatshall I do, mom?

Mother: (sternly) Tell me, son, what were those peopleguilty of?

Antonescu’s monologue: What should I tell the oldlady? Should I have the abominations of humanardours flashed before her eyes? Especially sincethe murders could no longer be on trial? Why? Is itbecause the legionaries are in power? I can’t judgemy own allies! What should I tell her? I can under -stand that they wanted to avenge the death of theirleader, of the soul of the movement, of the engineof the Iron Guard, of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu.However, … things aren’t supposed to work likethis, we have to obey the law. What would a coun-try with no justice be like? If even one of them wasinnocent and was not allowed to defend himself,


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I, General Antonescu, feel responsible, my handsare stained with blood.

Mother: What is in your mind? Why are you so silent?Antonescu: ‘My children, mom’, said the general, ‘who

I believed to be clean, whose green shirt I put on,and who I protected and guided, are mere assassinsthirsty for blood and not spirits capable of under-standing what justice and fairness are, to be ableto lead. There were 65 prisoners in Jilava who had tobe put on trial. Maybe not all of them were guilty…Maybe not all of them had the same blame. All ofthem were cowardly shot, blindly, out of thirst forrevenge. Only 28 of them had proper judicial warrants.

Mother: What about the others?Antonescu: The rest of them were arrested without

any norms, through an outrageous abuse of thepolice which are in the hand of the legionaries andsent wherever they had a prison in their hands.How many innocent people, not one, may have beenamong the 37 prisoners without judicial warrantsissued by the special commission created by me? A�erfinishing off with those from Jilava, they massa-cred other prisoners at the police. How ferociouslythey murdered them! They used everything thatwas at hand! And a�er commi�ing their deed, theyall gathered at the Green House and celebratedtheir revenge. They sang their songs which I don’tfind to be sacred anymore, but lugubrious songsof death around the bodies that lay at their feet…


40

Mother: Oh, son… How can humans behave like that? …Iorga was murdered at the same time, wasn’t he, son?

Antonescu: Yes, mom.Mother: How did it happen?Antonescu: Iorga lived in Vălenii-de-Munte, together

with his wife and his daughter and was workingon his monumental work ‘The Universal History’.I had suggested that he should withdraw in Sinaiafor a while, stay away from Bucharest and not be sopresent in the a�ention of the legionaries. I knewthat, morally, he was guilty for the death of Co-dreanu. But the world didn’t regard him like that;he was a great historian, a great personality. I tried tokeep him away from their eyes. I couldn’t suspectthat the legionaries would go past the law and me.How much blood did my children shed that night…If I had known what was going to happen, I couldhave saved Iorga.

Mother: And why didn’t you defend him?Antonescu: Mom, I was misled by their ideals!Mother: (resigned) Now I understand be�er, you were

misled … and? What happened next?Antonescu: They went past my word… The legionaries

went to his house, arrested him to take him to Bu -charest, but he never got there…

Mother: (with indignation) Son, why did you bringthose people to power? Why did you need the le-gionaries?

Antonescu: The country was in danger. Who shouldwe ally with now? And I’ve decided: we groundon the Rome-Berlin Axis and we go one hundred


41

percent in this direction. Either we triumph withthe Axis or we fall with it. If we fall with the Axis, wewon’t disappear from the map, a nation representsa reality over which one cannot pass; only the regimefalls. Should we fight them all alone?

Mother: (in a firm voice) From the start you should havethought about what you were going to do along-side them! Sink or swim!

Act II: General Antonescu meets Führer Adolph Hitler

Video insert – part 2 with subtitles

On the 14th of January the next year, 1941, General An-tonescu suddenly gets on a plane and travels toSalzburg to meet with Hitler, a�er a very brief pre -paration of the diplomatic emergency trip. Imme-diately a�er his departure and then a�er his return,there was an intense and feverish legionary activityin the country. In universities and in the main provincecentres, the heads of the legionaries made trips al-most everywhere and held exaggerated, bombastic,and o�en incoherent speeches. However, all thesespeeches had in common a very clear idea, fre-quently emphasized: the faithfulness and a�achmentof their movement to the Great Reich and to theFührer, Adolf Hitler, to whom the legionaries hadtied their fate.


42

Teller: Let’s see how the Führer received Antonescu.Hitler used to enjoy intimidating his interlocutors.

Antonescu: (talking to himself) Although it was verycold, Hitler welcomed me at the top of the stair-case dressed in his tunica, without an overcoat. Hegave the impression of utmost calmness, serenity,and amiability. His face did not show any sign oftiredness.

Hitler: What’s the ma�er, general? What is the situationin Romania?

Antonescu: (in a firm voice) We need peace and securityin this part of Europe, both in Romania and in theGreat Reich. We only have to look at a map to un-derstand why.

Hitler: I totally understand the unstable political situationof your country. I also passed through the sametypes of problems, although my rise to power washelped by a disciplined party.

Antonescu: Herr Hitler, our countries’ destinies arethe ones that really ma�er. The legionaries have togradually give up the power which they are notready to exercise in Romania. In these times of war,the power should lie in the hands of the RomanianArmy, who fully enjoys the nation’s trust. It doesn’tma�er who leads the army. The crimes commi�edby the legionaries stand as proof, and these crimes…Are you ready, Herr Hitler, to ignore the threat ofa legionary government?

Hitler’s monologue: Such braveness from this general!Not at all as the weak Czech president Hacha. Göring


43

and Ribbentrop crushed him during their meeting.Truth be told, Romania isn’t a neighbour of theReich. However, they lost Transylvania, followingthe Vienna Dictate. Should I occupy this countrytoo? Why not? Maybe later on... But this generalseems convinced not to give up his convictions.Will he still be faithful to the great Reich and my-self? Will he not bow in the face of treason or hardfeelings? He seems to be so honest… I still believethat he is truly devoted to me, and this is provenby the Secret Police’s reports. Plus, there are twoheads of states whom I love working with in thewhole Europe: Mussolini and General Antonescu.

Hitler: Why do you want to remove the legionariesfrom power?

Antonescu: (indignant) Because of their crimes.Hitler: General, I cannot accept that legionaries be re-

moved from power, except extreme cases. Try, ifpossible, to collaborate. Avoid any turmoil. Areyou aware of the dangers that might appear?

Teller: No special protocol followed the meeting, butthe guest was invited to have breakfast with Hitler.

The General received the transcript of the meeting,which, if read carefully, gave the General free hand,but not without a warning. Yes, in extreme cases,he could drive away the legionaries. But he had tobear in mind that Hitler could bring them back anytime and remove him, the General, from power,


44

since the legionaries had no reservation in their sub -mission. So, how could he remove the legionaries?Only in extreme cases and no turmoil. How couldhe bypass their opposition? The fate worked in hisfavour though, and in the context of increased vio -lence, the legionary movement was disbanded onthe 23rd of January 1941.

Act III: Journalist Ştefan Paul


Although General Antonescu rejected Germany’s pro-posal to take part in the invasion of Yugoslavia andGreece, on the 12th of June 1941, when Hitler in-formed him about his decision to a�ack the SovietUnion (the Barbarossa Campaign), the General de-clared that “he himself is eager to fight since thevery first moment”. General Antonescu is appointedas commander of the German-Romanian troops inMoldova and, on the 22nd of June 1941, he gave thearmy the famous order to cross the Prut River andto set free Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. Thus,Romania commi�ed to the war alongside Ger-many against the Soviet Union in order to restoreits territorial integrity.

Teller: Meanwhile, in Bucharest, a young intellectualfrom the countryside, Ştefan Paul, had been trying


45

to distinguish himself in the world of newspapers.He managed to impress Patriciu, the owner of “Ziua”(“The Daily News”), who hired him right away,and therefore he could have access to what happenedbehind the scenes of the big events. In the morningof the 23rd of June 1941, Ştefan was summoned byhis manager in the editorial room. Before enteringhis manager’s office, Ştefan asked himself:

Ştefan: I wonder what he wants from me…Patriciu: Boy, see where the fate has brought us? (the

great journalist received him)Ştefan: Yes, boss!Patriciu: We’re in the game. Remember that I hired

you to write. Not to give titles to telegrams and tonumber the pages of the newspaper. Were youtrained in the army?

Ştefan: No, boss!Patriciu: You’ll be assigned as a war correspondent. I’ll

get your papers from the General Headquartersand you’ll go to the front line. You’ll be the eyes ofour newspaper among the fighting men. You’ll sendus first-hand stories from there. Of course, youwon’t unveil military secrets. You’ll describe theundergoing ba�les and the victories which will coverour army with glory. It is your right to decline thisjob if you are a coward. You’re free to make yourchoice!

Ştefan: I’ll give you my answer tomorrow.Teller: Heavy hearted, Ştefan stands up and leaves

Patriciu’s office. The idea that he won’t be able to


46

discover the secret of a victory and that he won’thave what to write about was seeding in his heart.

Act IV: Counterfeiting of the war correspondence

Video insert - part 4 (war scenes) without sound orsubtitles, with the teller’s introduction:

Teller: Ştefan went to the front line, but only a�er acouple of days he reached the ba�lefield of the ADivision, in the very heart of the war, right underfire. The earth shook and trembled because of themultitude of big gun bombardments. The generalof the division helped Ştefan to get familiar withthe surroundings. In the morning of an a�ack, Ştefaneven entered the trenches. He saw the fallen soldiers,some sca�ered upon the ground by dozens of bullets,while others throwing themselves to the ground orlooking for shelter in vain. He himself was hit by abullet in his shoulder, but this did not impede himto carry out his job as war correspondent.

Cancea: Well done, boy, you have succeeded! Here youare - conqueror of Odessa, too. Send my greetingsto those le� in Bucharest … Give me your featurereports to read them! Give them to me now! Don’tbe shy! (Cancea read the stories straightway, holding hisbreath). Look, I know you only from what I’ve heardabout you. I know you’ve saved your manager froma blind death. But I had no idea that you write sowell. If you worked with me, it would be bad for you!


47

Ştefan: (indignant) Why would it be?!Cancea: Because I can’t stand somebody who’s writing

be�er than me and I would take your stories, I wouldmake some changes and I would sign them. … Butyou haven’t said a word about the Bolsheviks orthe Holy War. … (with a strange pathetism) Are youa Bolshevik?

Ştefan: I only wrote about what I’ve seen and I didn’twant to make anybody a hero. I only wanted to pointout the facts. I’m struggling to describe the war justas it is, a kingdom of death, not something else. It isnot my intention to make my readers feel touched.

Teller: Once returned to Bucharest, Ştefan hastily readsthe newspaper si�ing on the sidewalk and findsthat all his reports about his experience in the warzone have been completely changed. Bombasticphrases, mythical expressions about the cross andthe people, about martyrs and coffins, about theancestors’ graves were used instead. It was the lan-guage of the legionnaires, used in the spirit of theNazi propaganda.

(Ştefan threw the newspapers behind the scene and sat onthe pavement.)

Ştefan: Who made a mockery of me? Who made mereink on paper out of my reports which describedthe dramas of the war as seen and lived by me onthe front line? If I wanted empty words, I wouldhave wri�en them from here, at the desk in the of-fice! (Ştefan leaves the scene in a burst of crying)


48

(On the scene, at a desk, stands General Antonescu. He picksup the newspapers thrown by Ştefan.)

Antonescu: I gave the order of what to be wri�en! Be-cause it is not the war of a man! It is the war of awhole nation! And I am whole-heartedly commi�edto do everything for the welfare of this country!


A�er the end of World War II, all the Romanian foreignaffairs decisions taken by Marshall Ion Antonescu:the alliance with Germany, the participation in thefight to free Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina andthe participation in the war against the Sovietic Union,were considered erroneous political measures. Be-sides, the Marshall was reproached the associationwith a violent political party (the Legionaries) andthe ethnical cleansing (the Jewish and Roma people).He was trialled as war criminal and executed by afiring squad on the 1st of June 1946. Beyond thejustice of his political decisions, his patriotism andthe restoration of Romania’s dignity, the Marshallremains a controversial figure of the history.

I solemnly declare myself solidary, besides the�s and crimes,and I take upon me all the deeds they eventually did withor without my knowledge.

Ion Antonescu, the 16th of May 1946


49


50


CROATIA

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USING ICT IN TEACHING WW II

Today’s society has become more and more relianton technology. It is used in almost all facets of life; it isintegrated into most school coursework and is requiredfor many types of employment. Today’s students needstrong computing skills in order to compete in the globaleconomy, which has pushed the EU countries towardsintegrating guidelines to ensure that graduates areready to compete in the 21st century.

While it can’t be argued that today’s students needstrong computing skills, integrating technology into theclassroom is more than teaching basic computing skills.Technology can provide a richer, more interactive learningexperience and environment. There are many differentways teachers can use technology in their classrooms,and each method provides several different benefits forstudents.

Si�ing in a classroom, listening to a teacher’s lectureis not the best way to meet the needs of a classroom ofstudents with diverse needs. Because no two learnersprocess information in the same way, teachers must tryto facilitate activities that meet the needs of all learners.This can be time consuming and frustrating. With thevarious dynamic web applications available today,


53

Nino Mencl

teachers can quickly and easily find activities that appealto students of all learning types.

When teaching using technology, instructors mustbe aware of the potential hindrances technology canbring to the learning process. Some negative effects oftechnology in today’s classroom are that it can takeaway valuable learning time, it can be overused, and itcan also turn educational experiences into games forstudents.

Nowadays, when we are witnesses of constant de-velopment in the field of ICT we can use several toolsto help us learn about World War II and History ingeneral. There are many examples of forum sites wherepersons debate and talk on a subject of the World War.Many games on a WWII theme have been developedduring the years. Our students mostly use tool h�p://spartacus-educational.com/2WW.htm. This is a toolabout World War II in the form of an encyclopaedia.We have excellent feedback from the students aboutusing this specific tool. It is a very powerful tool when itcomes to finding facts about WW II. We also have muche-learning content about WW II that was publishedduring the digital era. Mostly, they point to a situationin the ba�lefield and not to the impact of a ba�le. Onevery valuable resource is a web site, World War II Teachingresources. The URL of the site is h�ps://www.scholas-tic.com/teachers/collections/teaching-content/world-war-ii-teaching-resources/


54

Sample of the introductory text for one of the stories: What was it like to take part in World War II? These

personal war stories from real-life members of thearmed service take students beyond the history books,and show them what it was like to fight in World War II.• First-hand accounts bring the war to life for kids• Historical photos, glossary, bibliography, and Internetlinks make this a great book for reports. Imagine usinga toilet to escape from a prison camp. Or avoiding snakesand bomb blasts to help patients in the Philippines. Eventslike these happened to real people, and the powerfulstories of their triumphs and defeats are collected in thiscompelling book. Readers will meet a captured Britishpilot, an American army nurse, a Japanese kamikazepilot, an American paratrooper on D-Day, and others –and they’ll learn fascinating information about weapons,ba�les, daily life, and living conditions as well.

We will bring you an overview of the best WW IIteaching sites on the WEB. I tried to focus on sites thatare primarily for English spoken areas (source: h�p://besthistorysites.net/ww2/).


55

WW II Web SitesEncyclopaedia of the Second World War

The Second World War is a Spartacus Educationalwebsite and enables one to research individual peopleand events of the war in detail. The sources are ‘hy-pertexted’ so that the visitor can research the newspaper,the organization etc., that produced the source. Thereare several subsections including those on: Backgroundto the War; Nazi Germany, Chronology of the War, Po-li tical Leaders, European Diplomacy, Major Offensives,British Military Leaders, USA Military Leaders, GermanMilitary Leaders, Japanese Military Leaders, The ArmedForces, The Air War, The Resistance, Scientists & In-ventors, War at Sea, Resistance in Nazi Germany, TheHolocaust, War Artists, Weapons and New Technology.


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Hyper War: World War II

Hyper War is a ‘hypertext’ history of World War II andfeatures diplomatic and political documents. The contentis made up, primarily, of ‘public domain’ (non-copy-right) materials in English: Official government histories(United States and British Commonwealth/ Empire);Source documents (diplomatic messages, Action Reports,logs, diaries, etc.); and Primary references (manuals, glos-saries, etc.). Wherever possible, hyperlinks betweenthese histories and documents have been included.

World War II Sites

This site serves as a gateway to World War II sitesappropriate for students and teachers. Links revolvearound the following topics: The Rise of Fascism in Ger-many, Italy and Japan, the Holocaust, Pearl Harbour andAmerica’s Response, D-Day and the War in the Pacific, TheHome Front, Plans for Peace and the Atomic Bomb, Per-sonalities, Literature, Propaganda, Women in the War andMiscellaneous. Updated regularly, the site leads you tomovie clips, virtual tours, stories of the war, biographies,films, photographs, links and even a test.

BBC Online: World War II

It covers various topics of the war such as campaignsand ba�les, politics, home front, and the holocaust.Multimedia zone offers interactive maps, photographsand audio and video clips. WW II People’s War is a


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new website from BBC History, aspiring to create a newnational archive of personal and family stories fromWorld War II.

Open Directory Project: World War II

This comprehensive directory contains roughly900 websites on the Second World War in the followingcategories: Air Forces, Arts and Literature, Atomic, Di-rectories, Documents, Manuscripts and other PrimarySources, Education and Academic, Land Forces, NavalForces, People, Regional, Theatres of Operations, WarCrimes and Weapons and Equipment.

Armies of the Second World War

Armies of the Second World War is an online data-base of day-by-day orders of ba�le and informationabout hundreds of divisions, brigades, and regiment-sized units in World War II. Information currentlyavailable in the database covers Commonwealth, Do-minion, Colonial, Exile, and “Minor” Allied armies inEurope, Africa, and Western Asia from the 1st of Sep-tember 1939 until the 7th of May 1945.

Recollections of World War II

Recollections of WW II is a directory of oral historycollections and projects in the UK which contain re -corded memories of individuals who lived through WWII. The collections include interviews with servicemen


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and women from many nations, evacuees and refugees,people who experienced the home front, and Holocaustsurvivors. Some collections offer the opportunity todownload transcripts, listen to MP3s, or watch videosinterviews. The site is independent and non-profit andhas been created to provide a resource for historians,students and researchers who wish to learn about thewar from those who experienced it.

The World at War

The World at War, History of WW 1939-1945 is probablyone of the best military history web sites of WW II. Itsgoal is to be as complete as possible about the historyof WW 1939-1945 and serves as a well-organized gate-way to numerous sources. Information and links areorganized around a timeline of events. The authorsalso provide a discussion forum, message board, anda mailing list and the site can be searched by keyword.

The Price of Freedom: Americans at War

This Smithsonian website skilfully integrates Flashvideo and text to examine armed conflicts involvingthe U.S. from the Revolutionary War to the war in Iraq.Each conflict contains a brief video clip, statistical in-formation, and a set of artefacts. There is also a CivilWar mystery, an exhibition self-guide, and a teacher’sguide. The World War II section contains an introduc-tory movie and short essay on the conflict as well ashistoric images and artefacts.


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Avalon Project: World War II Documents

The Avalon Project at Yale Law School: Documentsin Law, History and Diplomacy offers a varied arrayof primary source documents on World War II as partof its major collections.

World War II Resources

Dedicated to comba�ing ‘history by sound bites’the “Pearl Harbour Working Group” has producedthis varied collection of original documents regardingall aspects of the war.

BBC News On This Day | World War II

On This Day features significant stories broadcastby BBC News since 1950 and includes a World War IIsection, a choice of reports drawn that covers 1939-45.Nearly all the stories contain video or audio and arewri�en as if the event had just occurred, drawing onarchive media, old newspapers and historical referencebooks.

Saluting America’s Veterans

Showcases, first-person stories, memories, andtributes from veterans. Launched in conjunction withthe highly-acclaimed Ken Burns’ documentary serieson World War II, the website has a�racted dozens ofpersonal accounts on America’s 20th-century conflicts.In addition to posting, viewing, and commenting on


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personal accounts, visitors can read AmericanProfile.comfeature articles about American veterans on both theba�lefront and the home front.

Hitler’s Third Reich & World War II News

This website provides a daily hand-picked and editedreview of World War II news. Each entry is placed inone or more categories, such as Waffen SS, Ba�le tanks,Nazi Memorabilia & Militaria, WWII & Nazi Uniforms,WWII Jeeps, Historical Tours or SS & Nazi Daggers. Forolder news and monthly ‘most read’ lists go to ArchiveIndex. Tens of thousands of WWII news – categorizedand hand-collected.

The World War II Sound and Image File

Part of The Historical Sound & Image Archive, thisWWII “Sounds and Pictures Page” features interest-ing graphics and radio excerpts. Topics include: Air-cra�, Propaganda Posters, Warships, Sound Effects, andmore. It has not been updated since 2001, though.

U.S. Army in World War II Series

The United States Army in World War II series des -cribes the organization, plans, and operations of theWar Department and the Army, in all of the Army’sfive theatres of operations from 1939 to 1945. Seventy-eight volumes have been or are being published andthis website provides access to an extensive reader’sguide to the series.


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We can see from these examples that there aremany tools available on the net to teach about ICT andWWII in general. ICT education helps to reduce the so-cial disparities between pupils, since they work inteams in order to achieve a given task. Students alsoassume responsibilities when they use ICT to organ-ize their work through digital portfolios or projects. Inaddition, the study showed that ICT has significantimpact on teachers and teaching processes.


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A HEAD ON THE BATTLEFIELD*

Jure Kaštelan was born in1919 in Zakučac near Omiš.A�er high school, he gradu-ated from the Faculty of Phi -losophy in Zagreb. He studieda combination of subjectswhich included the history ofSouth Slavic literature, com-parative literature, Croatianlanguage with Old Slavic, FolkHistory, Russian and French.During his study years, hebegan to emerge as an anti-reactive activist, which is why he was arrested severaltimes. He also participated in the work of oppositionstudent societies and, simultaneously, he published cri -tical papers in some magazines. In 1940, he publishedhis first lyrical Red Horse collection in his own edition,edited by Edo Murtić. Due to revolutionary views andcounter-political advocacy, the collection was forbiddenand the entire record destroyed. During World War II hereturned to his homeland, where he joined the Partisans.


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* Script inspired by The collection of poems by Jure Kaštelan andadapted by Dušica Zorica, a 17-year old student.

In the collection The Rooster on the Roof (1950), heevoked the experience of the war, and being among thefirst in the desert, he put abstract ontology into poetry.In the poem Tifusari, a fabulous compositional skeleton ofthe dying tifuser walks in the snowy colony and the com-ponents of his somnambulistic monologue are essentialexistential principles: the horror of existence, death,freedom and spiritual life. A�er the war, Kaštelan andother poets were affected by the era of socialism enga -gement in literature and poets wrote in that direction.But he did not follow that influence of the socialism en-gagement and in 1955 he founded the EXAT artist group,which represented the view that art was created withoutimitation, without any rules. Therefore, Kaštelan’s nextcollection, To Be or Not, which was printed in 1951, is in-clined to pursue the other modern and free-flowing artconcepts. Jure Kaštelan died in 1990.

• The characters/roles: two soldiers, a small child, agrandmother, a mother.

• Time: WW II• Se�ing: England / Germany• Topic: German soldiers a�ack a poor family during

the war.• Props: 2 chairs, 1 sheet, 1 blanket, 1 gravestone, a small

toy, a flower (rose), paper with poem, photos, 2 caps,2 guns, uniforms for the soldiers and costumes forthe family members.

• Other: 3 different melodies in the background (war-planes and bombing, 2 light songs and a sad melody)


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The stage is set. Lights, 2 chairs, and the stage is empty. Wist-ful melody playing quietly. On stage enter the mother,holding an old woman’s arm and a child. Mother andgrandmother come closer to a chair on the stage, next towhich there stands a child. The women sit down, thechild sits on the floor, taking a toy in his hands; mothertakes a clean blanket.

(Pause and melody.)Grandma: „A head on the ba�lefield, blood on the

black shoulder.”(Pause and tunes playing so�ly.)Grandma: It is too cold. Too cold ....Grandma trembles, and mother covers her with a blanket

and then sits back in the chair.Mother (gently): We will survive mother. I promise

you!

Mother takes the picture of a soldier from her jacket and shelooks at it, weeping.

(Pause)Grandma: He is not back yet?Mother is crying and shaking her head. Grandmother takes

her arm.Mother: No, not yet...(Pause)Grandma: We all have to believe in him!

Pause. Mother nods and together with grandmother theylook at a picture. Suddenly, mother drops the picture andshe slowly bends down to pick it up. The child ceases toplay and comes near his mother.


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Child: Mum, is it daddy?Mother (crying and trying to hold her tears): Yes ... Yes,

sweetheart, it is.Child: Will he be back?Mother: Yes ... soon ... Very soon ...Child: Mum, I am hungry! What are we going to eat?Mother (sadly): Oh ... Water and bread ... That is the

only food we have.Child: Will daddy bring something?Mother (she looks at the child and hugs him): He will.

Suddenly, sounds of airplanes and bombing can be heard andmother throws the picture on/under the chair and takesthe child next to her. The sound is amplified and motherhugs the child even tighter. The family look aroundfrightened, mother holding the child with one hand andgrandmother with the other. On stage soldiers with riflesand sights appear. Mother screams, strongly embracingthe child, and grandmother falls down from the chair.

Soldiers see grandmother.(Pause.)Soldier 1: Hmmm ... What do we have here!?

Soldiers walking around family, contemptuously watching.

Soldier 1: She is old! She is useless! Let’s kill her!!!

Soldiers kill Grandma. Mother and child scream, trying toget to grandmother and soldier 2 points a rifle at them.The mother of the child obscured the scene.

(A tense pause)


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Soldier 1: And you two... Soldier 2: We will use them!!!

The soldiers grab the mother and the child, mother defendsherself and shouts to let them go, trying to reach the child.

Soldier 1: No! They have to be separated!

The soldiers drag them away, behind the curtain. One soldierremains on the scene and takes the sheet that covers thegrandmother. She is kicked, mocked and they leave thescene.

A�er a short silence, a sad song is played - someone bringsa gravestone to Grandma. Mother appears with a roseand a sheet of paper. The woman walks slowly towardsthe gravestone. (pause) A�er a while, she drops to the floor,puts a rose on the memorial and begins crying, then shereads the le�er.

Mother: “A head on the ba�lefield, blood on the blackshoulder ... A man out of nowhere, without a friend ...Tears are water that washed me in the end, and aplace where you granted a hay ... Melancholy mealsvery late, and you said words for strange gallows ...Mornings came and the day found you and thebranch growing. On the ba�lefield, you were waterand a dream of a poplar...”

Lights out.


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OPSADA*

Among the authors of Croatianfeature films of the 1940s and 1950s

many are unfairly neglected (e.g.Šime Šimatović). A special writeramong them is Branko Marja -novic, one of the founders of insti -tutionalized cinematography inCroatia, an influential filmmakinglecturer and a close associate ofOctavian Miletić, Nikola Tanho -fera and Radojke Ivančević. TodayMarjanovic is known as a promi-nent documentary filmmaker. Theauthor of the study analyzes hiscontribution to the Croatian feature film - from his co-o peration with Miletić Lisinski, to his independentsolo films - Zastava from 1949, Ciguli Miguli from 1952,and Opsada from 1956, in which one can obviously seeMarjanovic’s directorial potential.

The film went unnoticed to witnesses, which hasprevented further displays of the life and the parableof the Partisan film. In historical contemplation, it has


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* Script adapted from the movie Opsada by Branko Marĳa -nović, wri�en by 4th class student Jakov Stulić.

certainly created undesirable connotations, becausethere are few cases in which movies inspired from thePartisans’ lives are well-marked in the choices of ex-traordinary Croatian film achievements, unless the filmis more focused analytically on the moral backgroundof the Partisan struggle (such as early films by AntunVrdoljak or Mimić: Prometheus from the Island Abyss)rather than on the usual positive approach. The filmOpsada is about a group of partisans who are undersiege, being surrounded by strong German forces. Afew of them remember the events which preceeded thea�ack. The plot actually has three intertwined stories.

Zagreb Apartment – 1941

Marko’s family in panic: coming and going out of rooms,packing clothes and belongings into open suitcases anda trunk in a comfortable, tastefully furnished bourgeoisapartment, the living room lined with books, paintingsand boasting a boudoir grand, silver pla�ers and cand -lesticks. The family consist of mother, in a state of greatanxiety, father, Ivana, twenty-six, Đurđa, twenty-two,and Đuro, twenty-four, the only one not in movement.He sits by the radio set, ear to the speaker, trying to tune toa station. No bombs now, just the distant sound of ar-tillery fire. Father, holding a silver-framed photograph,crosses to mother.

Father: What do you think, should I take Uncle Petar’ sphotograph?


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Mother: Take it, don’t take it, take what you like. Can’tyou see I’m worried sick?

Father: He’ll come home, he’ll be all right.

He goes into his room. She can barely control her tears andhurries into the kitchen just as the front door opens andMarko enters, looks round bemused by the activity.

Ivana: Mama, Ivan’s home.

Mother dashes out of the kitchen.

Mother: Thank God - Ivan! You’re wounded.Marko: It’s a li�le cut, it’s nothing.Mother: I’ve been worried sick.Đuro: I told her not to worry. You had your papers on

you. If you’d been hit by a bomb, they’d haveknown where to take you.

The girls suppress smiles.

Mother: Đuro, don’t say things like that, God forbid,God forbid!

Đurđa: (calling through a door) Papa, Ivan’s home.

Father appears in the doorway, beaming, clutching a violin case.

Father: What did I tell you?Marko: (looking around the room, bemused) What are you

doing?Ivana: What’s it looks like we’re doing?


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The toing and froing continues non-stop.Marko: (to Đuro) They bombed us, we’re off the air.Đuro: Zagreb’s not the only radio station.Mother: Pack, darling, get your things, pack.Marko: Where are we going? Mother: Out of Zagreb.Marko: Out of Zagreb. Where?Ivana: Haven’t you heard?Marko: Heard what?Ivana: Haven’t you seen the paper? Where’s the paper?

She starts to look. The others continue to bustle and pack.

Đurđa: I used it for packing.Ivana: (exasperated) She used it for packing!!!Father: Many citizens are moving to the Partisans.Đurđa: All able-bodied men who want to join the Par-

tisans will leave the city, go across the river and setup a new line of defence, that’s what it said.

Father: There’s hardly anybody le� in this building,only women, the men have gone.

Marko: And what do you think you’ll do while you’rese�ing up a new line of defence? Wander roundlugging your suitcases?

Mother: Pack, Ivan, there’s no time.Marko: I’m not going anywhere.Đurđa: Good! I’m not going anywhere either!Mother: Don’t be ridiculous, we’ve got to keep together.Marko: No, no, no, I’m staying put. If I’m going to die,

I prefer to die at home.


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Mother: God forbid!Đuro: Sssh!

Crackles, whistles and static from the radio.

Đuro: Ssh! I’ve got something, listen...

They gather round.

Radio announcer: ... An important announcement.News has just been received through the BBC thatGreat Britain, having had no reply... (static) ... andtherefore has declared war on Nazi Germany... (acollec tive gasp) ... next few hours... awaiting latestnews...

Đuro hits the set.

Radio announcer: ... but France is expected to make asimilar announcement... (static).

The Yugoslavia national anthem plays. All of them are still.

Interior of Zagreb apartment - night

Father pours liqueur into glasses. The family are seated aroundthe dining table, having just finished a meal. The tablegroans with the remains of the dinner. Marko has a plasterover his cut.

Đuro: (lighting up a cigare�e) Mama, that was a greatdinner!

Marko: It certainly was.


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Mother: When there’s something to celebrate, you’vegot to make some effort.

The glasses are handed round.

Father: Here’s to Great Britain and France.

They all clink glasses and drink.

Father: I told you. Didn’t I tell you? Everything will bewell.

Unexpectedly, bombs start to fall on Zagreb’s street.

Exterior – ruined Zagreb street few days a�er

A column of German Soldiers, led by an officer on horseback,march into view.

On the sidewalk of the street, with its buildings in ruins,smoke still rising, stand onlookers, including Marko andĐuro, and a li�le behind them, Father, craning to see.They watch, expressionless, as the Germans march past.


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GERMANY

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THE SELF-ORGANIZED-LEARNING (SOL)METHOD IN COMBINATION WITH THE

DEBATING CLUB “YOUTH DEBATES”

Introduction to the Erasmus+ Project “Listen to thePast” in Bünde

Within the Erasmus+ project Listen Stories engagedin the Past – the Second World War, our students of theclasses HY 601 and HY 602 of the Business-College-branch of the Erich-Gutenberg-Berufskolleg acquiredthe necessary knowledge with the help of the Self-Or-ganized-Learning Method (SOL). Within the frame-work of the weekly Study Days in their class schedule,they learned about “Peace and Disturbances of Peace”for their subject “Religious Studies”, while the topic ofthe subject “Social Studies/History” was called “BellumIustum – Is there anything like the just war?” The know -ledge acquired in these sequences was used as the in-tellectual background to take active part in debatingclasses. The format of these discussions had been trainedin German language-lessons. The results of theselearning activities were presented to the guests of theschool, the other teachers and students in a poster exhi -bition and presentations during a special EU-project-day.


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Törsten Klingenberg

The debates were held in front of the guests and otherstudents.

The Format: Debating according to the Rules of„Youth Debates”

The debate is the format for the exchange of infor-mation about our topic. For several years, the cultureof debating is being cultivated at the Erich-Gutenberg-Berufskolleg according to the rules of the debatingcompetition Jugend deba�iert (Youth Debates). The com-petition is under the patronage of the Federal Presidentof Germany.

Good debates are required for a vivid democracyand a harmonic coexistence in our diverse society. De-bating means: taking a position, stating reasons, criti-cising – against and with each other. Debaters have tobe able to express themselves precisely and to listen toeach other. Debates answer questions that can comeup anywhere: in families, at work, in politics.

Every debate begins with a question that can onlybe answered with a simple Yes or No. The debater whoanswers Yes argues in favour of the ma�er of the question(pro). The debater who answers No argues against thema�er of the question (contra). A good debate lives onopposing views that are advanced objectively. Just asim portant as the position are the reasons presented.The aim of debating is finding out which arguments arethe most convincing. Expertise is essential for this aim.

In order to develop a concentrated, factual discussion,


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there are rules for debating. By following these rules ofdebating, it is possible to listen to the other debatersand to learn how to represent a personal point of viewin a fair and factual manner. The rules of Youth debates arereduced in a way that they can serve as a useful guide-line in everyday life.

Debating is a model for forming the political willin our democratic society. Whenever we come togetheras citizens to make mandatory decisions on practicalma�ers, we debate. And wherever we have a discourseabout the aspects of an important decision, the chancesfor a good decision rise!

There are always four persons participating in adebate: Two participants answer with a Yes and representthe pro-side, the other two represent the opposite side.

The special thing about debates is that there areequally ranking speakers on both sides. Pro begins,contra contradicts. To make sure that there are no mis-understandings, both sides get the chance to reply.

A point of view is required for anyone who wantsto debate. Allowing debates shows an acceptance forthe existence of different opinions. While it is the aimof every debater to convince the others of his/her pointof view, it is also possible for everyone to stick to theoriginal opinion.

The three parts of a debate:• In the opening round, every participant of the

debate gets two minutes to explain her/his answer tothe question.

• The free discussion takes twelve minutes. Now,other arguments are being brought up and reconciled.


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• In the final round, every participant gets anotherminute to answer the question a second time: this timeconsidering all the arguments she/he has heard.

Specially trained judges rate the debate consideringthese four aspects:

• Expertise: How well is the speaker informed aboutthe topic?

• Ability to express oneself: How well does he articulatehis ideas?

• Ability to participate in a conversation: How res -ponsive is he towards the others?

• Persuasive power: How well founded are his ar-guments?

A speech is convincing if the speaker brings for-ward good arguments, structures his points in a clearorder and represents his point of view in a reasonablemanner. This is being valued by the criterion of per-suasive power, but it also depends on expertise, theability to express oneself and the ability to participatein a conversation.

The Learning Method: Self-Organised Learning (SOL)

With the help of the Self-Organised Learning the stu-dents acquire the expertise needed to be able to debatethe topic in a differentiated and well-informed manner.This completely redefining way of learning is the centrallearning method at the Erich-Gutenberg-Berufskolleg. Self-Organised Learning is an integrated concept oflearning, which makes cooperative learning possible,


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but at the same time offers space for individualisedlearning processes. The students gradually take overpersonal responsibility for the success of their learning


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process. The aim is not only the mediation of know -ledge, but also the students’ ability to acquire contentsautonomously. In this frame, the teachers have the roleof counsels for learning: They show opportunities howto structure the learning process towards a given aimwith varying learning methods at a partly individual pace.

Especially the systematic change of individual andcooperative phases of learning makes it possible to satisfythe different needs of the students and to support themindividually. This helps creating an encouraging at-mosphere in which the students experience recognition,appreciation and can develop sound self-confidencethrough the community.

While working on our project, the students are in-troduced to the topic by the teacher. A�er that, theclass is split up into so-called home groups of four to fivestudents, in which they plan their further steps and dividethe work into different parts. These parts are assignedto individual students who become experts in their field,before the students get together with the other expertson the same aspect of this topic. A�er these expertgroups have compared and complemented their re-sults, the members of the home groups meet again topresent the ma�ers they now are experts in to the othermembers. This way, every student contributes to andtakes responsibility for the learning success of thewhole group.

Finally, the results are presented and discussed ina plenum discussion.


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The Organisational Framework: The Study Day ofthe Business College

The Study Day implemented in our Business Col-lege classes forms the organisational framework of ourproject. Since 2015 the students have been working ona given topic in a self-organised way and on their ownresponsibility for one day per week. This happensmore and more with a project-orientated and interdis-ciplinary approach. In the current year, the subjectsBusiness Administration and Accounting, German, So-cial Studies/History and Religious Studies contributeto the Study Day with a certain amount of their regularlessons.

During the Study Day, the students work on thegiven tasks autonomously, e.g. they organise the se-quence of the tasks, they choose their learning partnersand decide on their breaks. The teacher is always present,but takes the role of a learning counsel, and so he/shecan help and promote students individually and can givefeedback to the students on their individual progressand how they can improve on their results.


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DECISION IN THE BUNKER*

Wolfgang Borchert, Draußen vor der Tür, 1949, drama

The Man Outside(German: Draußenvor der Tür, literallyOutside, at the door)is a well-regardedplay by WolfgangBorchert. It waswritten in a fewdays only, in theautumn of 1946.

The Man Outside is about the hopelessness of apost-war soldier, named Beckmann. When he returnsfrom Russia he finds with great sorrow that he has losthis wife and his home, his illusions and beliefs. All thedoors he comes to are closed. Feeling really desperate,he thinks of taking his life, but even the Elbe River re-jects his suicide, being brought to the shore by thewaves. The ending of the play is uncertain, in what canbe presumed to be Beckmann’s death.


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* Script adapted by students from HY501 and HY502 classes,coordinated by Martin Schindéle.

It was released during the immediate post-war pe-riod and it was subtitled “A play that no theatre wants toperform and no audience wants to see.” Despite this title,the first radio broadcast (February 1947) was highlysuccessful. The day a�er Borchert’s death, on the 21st ofNovember 1947, was the first theatrical production ofThe Man Outside (at the Hamburger Kammerspiele).

The play has five scenes in one act and it uses ex-pressionist forms and the Brechtian techniques – forexample, the Verfremdungseffekt (estrangement effect) to con-fuse and engage its audience. (adapted from Wikipedia)

Bernhard Wicki, Die Brücke, 1959, film

Die Brücke (The Bridge) isa West German film, made in1959 and directed by Austrianfilmmaker Bernhard Wicki.The source of inspiration for itis the 1958 novel of the samename, wri�en by Gregor Dorf-meister (it was publishedunder the pseudonym Man-fred Gregor). The story wasbased on a real event, upon thepersonal report of a veteran,who had experienced a simi-lar situation in World War II when he was young.

Plot: At the end of World War II, American forcesadvance in the direction of a small town in Germany.


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In the town’s school, seven boys (each of them about 16years old) are totally unaware of the seriousness anddangers of the war. They actually feel excited abouthow close the fighting is ge�ing to them.

The boys are recruited in one of the local armyunits and only a�er a day, they receive news that theAmericans are very close. The boys are chosen to ‘de-fend’ the local bridge (which is not important strategi-cally speaking and is to be blown up anyway, to cutthe town off from the direct effects of the war). Theyouths are le� alone on the bridge and they have nocontact with their unit. They courageously guard thebridge even a�er they face a convoy of trucks whichwas carrying wounded soldiers. The boys do not re-ceive any orders to retreat, so they hold their position,driven by the code: “A soldier who defends just onesquare meter of ground defends Germany”. In the end,only one of the boys survives, but he goes insane, a�errealising that his friends died for nothing. (adaptedfrom Wikipedia)

Location:an air-raid bunker in a suburb of Berlin in March, 1945

Characters:Holger - 17 years old, father died in ba�le against war;

cautious, reservedGerd - 18 years, 2 older brothers, both in the German

army; proud of his brothers, wants to be like themRüdiger - 16 years old, grew up in a district of Berlin;

fascinated by the war, considers it an adventure


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Elise - 17 years, well-educated; came to Berlin as arefugee from East Germany

Situation:An army officer chose the 4 of them inside an air-raid

bunker, so they could help defending a street. Hetook them close to the ba�le line. Upon arrival,they are supposed to wait until he returns withguns and ammunition.

Gerd: I’m going upstairs for a moment. Let`s find outwhen the officer returns.

Gerd leaves the stage.

Rüdiger: (in a good temper) I wonder if we’ll get (real)uniforms besides weapons. I don’t even have myHJ-uniform on.

Holger: (quiet, anxious) We have to get out of here. Ican’t do that.

Rüdiger: And if we succeed, we’ll maybe get an IronCross.

Holger: (slightly louder) We have to get out of here.Rüdiger: A cousin of mine has the Iron Cross – 1st class.Holger: (loud) Rüdiger! Let us leave!Rüdiger: Don’t be a coward! Now every man is

needed. The Führer puts his trust upon the Germanyouth. We have to stand by him loyally. We are thefuture of Germany!

Elise: (angry) Rüdiger, what are you talking about?Did you see the street up there? Everything’s


87

destroyed. The war is lost. We’d be�er get out ofhere, otherwise we’ll have no future at all.

Rüdiger: This is treason. Only traitors talk like this. Ifyou guys in the east hadn’t surrendered so quickly,the enemy wouldn’t be closing in on Berlin.

Elise: (wants to answer, but doesn’t get to it)

Gerd enters the stage.

Gerd: (calm) I didn’t see anyone. The street is filledwith smoke and you can hear gunshots from theright side. The enemy seems to have arrived in ourdistrict already.

Rüdiger: Good, you’ve returned. They want to runaway!

Gerd: (decisive) Nobody is running away, as long as I amin command, do you understand? The Officer saidI am in charge of this group until he is back, ok?

Elise: Who knows if he’s coming back at all?Gerd: (quick-temperedly) What are you implying there?

Are you claiming he ran away? What? Never! AGerman officer doesn’t flee (from the ba�lefield)! Youunderstand?!

Elise: Yes, yes – fine. But maybe he has been shot, hurtor maybe … he’s dead.

Gerd: Don’t worry. He will return anytime now.

Break. Everyone looks up to the ceiling and listens.

Elise: The impact was pre�y close. Things are ge�ingdangerous.


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Rüdiger: (mockingly) Well, are the li�le girls ge�ingscared? I didn’t understand from the start why theofficer took you as well. A girl!

Elise: That I can tell you: Because nobody else is le�!Holger: Exactly. And we should also try to get away

from here.Gerd: Nobody goes anywhere here. We must defend

our district, there are still old people and childrenliving here. What will happen to them, when every-body who is capable of fighting just runs away?

Rüdiger: (in a speech pose, the others look at him thought-fully) We stand by the Führer! We stand by the fa-therland. We’ll defend the German soil until thelast drop of blood. Never will Germany’s enemiessucceed! The Endsieg is ours.

Stage wait.

Elise: Then let’s vote in a democratic manner. We (all)vote if we stay or leave.

Gerd: Vote democratically? Democracy is an inventionof the weak. Only a strong leader brings victory.

Holger: We have to decide together, if we want to succeed. Elise: Exactly. That’s the only way for everyone to

stand up for this together.Gerd: I am in charge of this group and I decide that

we fight here.Elise: Who decided for you to be the leader?Gerd: The officer. He made me the leader. It’s his

order!Holger: And where is he now, your officer?


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Gerd: (insecure) What do I know?Holger: (intensely) Gone! He is gone!Rüdiger: (agitated) Gerd, why are they talking like

that? They can’t do that! This is treason. Do some-thing!

Elise: Let’s vote!

Stage wait.

Elise: We have two options, I’ll poll one a�er the other:Option 1: We flee.Option 2: We stay.(short stage wait)Who’s for option 1? (Holger and Elise raise their hands)Who’s for option 2? (Rüdiger raises his hand promptly.

Gerd is still thinking)Rüdiger: Gerd? Gerd?! What are you doing? Raise

your hand! Gerd!!


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LAST MEN TO DIE*

Heinrich Böll, Der Engel schwieg, 1949/50, publishedpostmortem, in 1992, roman

In 1972, Heinrich Böll wonthe Nobel Prize for literature,being the first German to winthis prize a�er Thomas Mann in1929. Böll was raised in a libe -ral Catholic family. During thewar, he served on the Russianand French fronts, he was se-verely injured four times and hewas taken prisoner in an Ame-rican prison camp. He beganwriting about his experiencesas a soldier a�er the war. The Train Was on Time was hisfirst novel, published in 1949, and he gradually be-came one of the most prolific writer in post-war Ger-many. Böll was a leading figure in defending theintellectual freedom of writers throughout the world. Hedied in June 1985.


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* Script adapted by students from HY501 and HY502 classes,coordinated by Martin Schindéle.

Plot: The Silent Angel (wri�en in the years 1949-1950),is his first novel set in post-war Germany. The book be-gins on the 8th of May 1945, which was the day of Ger-many’s capitulation. The novel takes the readers intothe debris of a German city, which probably lead to themanuscript not being published then, as people hatedto be reminded of the recent hardships. Böll points outthe existence of man a�er the end of everything. A sol-dier returns to his bombed city with falsified docu-ments, looking for a home, bread and for people. Hefinally finds a bit of humanity, but also the cruelness ofself-interest, which is masked by Christian hypocrisy.The love story remains “clear and bri�le, appropriatefor the returning generation which knows that there is nosuch thing as home on this earth.” (Böll) (Kiepenheuerund Witsch)

Wolfgang Staudte, Rosen für den Staatsanwalt, 1959,film

Roses for the Prosecutor (German: Rosen für den Staatsan-walt) is a 1959 German film directed by Wolfgang Staudte

Plot: Rudi, a soldier, is sentenced to death by thecourt-martial judge Dr. Schramm because he stole twobars of chocolate, in April 1945. Rudi escapes from thefiring squad at the last minute, and since the end of thewar has been poor, living as a street peddler. Years later,the judge Dr. Schramm is a respected public prosecu-tor and by chance, he runs into Rudi one day, as he waswalking on the street. Dr. Schramm wants to scare him out


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of town, as he is afraid that Rudiwill snitch on him. He arrangesRudi to be arrested and evenbullied by the police. Desperateenough, Rudi steals two choco-late bars from a shop, hopingthathis old case would be openedagain and Dr. Schramm’s unfairdecision brought to light. Mean-while, however, Dr. Schrammhas Rudi’s death sentence re-moved from his file. During thetrial, everything goes just as Dr. Schramm has plannedfor a while. But then, he loses his temper and, withoutfully realizing what he is u�ering, he orders that Rudibe sentenced to death. The trial is ultimately stopped,Dr. Schramm resigns and Rudi leaves town to restart anew life. (Adapted from Internet Movie database)

Situation:Just a�er the German unconditional surrender was put

into effect on the 8th of May 1945 at 23:01, the lastcasualties of the Second World War in Europe meteach other in the herea�er – without being awareof their present situation in the beginning.

Stage design:The stage is covered with several white bed sheets

hanging next to and behind each other, so that the ac-tors can move between the sheets. The scenery isilluminated from the back with the effect that the


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actors who are between the sheets can only be seenas silhoue�es.

A: How silent it suddenly is.B: I can hear anything…C: Well, it’s night-time, and even the enemy wants to

sleep.A: No, it’s different, somehow.B: Yes, it feels nearly carefree …

Stage wait

C: How did you appear so suddenly? You weren’t herea minute ago!

B: Of course, we weren’t here. My sentry has just fin-ished. I have just returned to the dugout. You haveprobably been here, where it’s warm and cosy allthe time! (laughs)

A: Well, it doesn’t look like a dugout, though. Every-thing is so bright. Can somebody switch off thelights? Otherwise, Ivan will put a shell in here.

C: (laughs) Come on, Ivan’s shells don’t fly that far.A: Just go up and see the Russian tanks on the oppo-

site riverbank. Then you can see how far they canfire.

C: What river?? Tell me, are you drunk?

Silence

B: Where is my rifle? Where did you put my rifle?A: I haven’t seen it recently!C: I haven’t at all!


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Stage wait

A: Have you been here for long?C: I don’t know.B: You don’t know?C: No, I don’t.B: What kind of stuff is that here? Where’s the com-

manding officer?

Everybody runs around quickly between the sheets, talkingto oneself incomprehensibly.

Voice: (loud) Hey, be quiet! Wait until you are called.A, B, C: (shouting) Yes, Sir!Silence, everybody sits down.In the background, you can see the silhoue�es of people passing

by without a sound.

B: They look so dreadful. So haggard.A: Living skeletons.B: They look like …

Silence

C: Where are we here? What kind of place is this?B: Something’s wrong here.A: Stop brooding. So what? It is dry, it is warm, and

I’m no longer hungry! And that will mean a lot!B: Right! No hunger any more. That’s weird.C: Be�er this way. Obviously we won’t get anything

here.


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B: I’m ge�ing the impression that somehow, they don’tgive anything to anybody here. Weird.

Stage wait

A: Somebody has wri�en on my hand. There! 8 May1945, 22:59.

B: On my hand as well! On the le� hand. Exactly thesame: 8 May 1945, 22:59. What is it all about? Ithink he has done it while I was asleep.

A: It cannot be wiped off! Who does something likethat?

C: Strange. On my hand it says 8 May 1945 as well, but23 o’clock sharp. – But I thought I was here beforeyou came?!

A: Don’t know, maybe you didn’t see us at once.B: I’m scared. Have we done something wrong? Is this

a punishment, or a reward, or…?


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TURKEY

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THE ROLE OF SOCIAL CLUBS IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION

In the 20th century, millions of people died in WorldWar II. This psychological destruction summarizes thehistory of the 20th century. Preventive approaches havebeen established in many countries to reduce traumaeffects a�er these wars. The very first place to receiveunconditional acceptance and respect for differences isthe school. For this reason, raising healthy individuals hasbecome the target of all countries. In particular, studiesfocusing on improving students’ conflict resolution andcommunication skills have begun to be implemented.


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Feyza Itýr Karac

In order to reduce and eliminate the destructive,aggressive and violence-oriented effects of frequentstudent disagreements in high schools, a training pro-gram has been developed in our school. The “ConflictResolution, Negotiation and Peer Mediation” StudentClub aims students to solve and manage their disa gree -ments in a peaceful way by acknowledging the abilityto understand the nature of disagreements betweenpeople, demonstrating the ways of resolving disputesby providing them with competence in communicationskills, anger management skills, negotiation skills andpeer mediation skills. The reason why these skills aregiven to high school students is that our understandingof discipline and problem-solving approaches show anadult, authority and power-oriented feature and content.Student disputes and therefore student violence aremanaged through teachers, school administrators, parentsand school disciplinary boards.

Instead of an understanding of adult authority andpower-based discipline, schools should create an en-vironment in which students can solve their problemsthrough mediators of their chosen peers. This way, anyconflicts experienced by students will increase theproblem-solving ability of the students. They will learnto solve more serious conflicts in the future while re-solving the disputes that they cause.

Galatasaray High School is a school which respectsunconditional acceptance and equality through its his-torical culture and tradition. Students develop conflictresolution skills in Mediation Club and in other social


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clubs. Creating solutions for problems in the studentclubs are possible if the students express themselves,agree on them and contribute to finding solutions forthe problems. The functions of social clubs are similarto the functions of social institutions in our society, sointeractions in student clubs make them ready for so-cial life.

The communication which is based on mutual loveand respect is at the heart of the relationship betweendifferent age groups in our school. Students from uppergrades are being mentors for lower grade students. Ifthere is a conflict between the students in the school,they will communicate with their peers for mediationof this conflict. If they cannot be solved by mediationof their peers, the students in the upper grades whoare called “sisters” and “brothers”, which is a sign ofrespect in our culture, will mediate the conflict. For


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this reason, the sister-brother culture has enabled theimplementation of the mediation project in the schoolsystem efficiently.

Especially in social clubs, there are environmentswhere students can experience conflict resolutionskills. Students have many opportunities to developcreative solutions to different crisis situations withtheir peers. Conflict is the greatest event that develops anindividual, a family, a society, a state. The inconve nienceof disagreement contributes to our determination toset new goals. It helps motivate us to progress and itincreases our ability to solve future problems easily. Ifschools are the most important places to support deve -lopment of individuals, social clubs are one of the biggestparts of this system.


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FIRST THE BREAD WENT STALE*

First the Bread Went Stale isthe name of Oktay Akbal’sfirst collection of short storieswhich was published in 1946,shortly a�er the end of theSecond World War. The au-thor wished the book to beconsidered as a documentaryaccount of the 1940s. In thisbook, he presents Istanbul, acity faced with the imminentpossibility of entering theSe cond World War, as seen through the eyes of ayoung man who has devoted himself to writing andcreating. Oktay Akbal was a prolific Turkish journalistand writer who wrote short stories, novels and arti-cles. He passed away in 2015.


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* Script adapted by Buğra Aydın, Yaman Saygılı, Alp Akçasa-yar, Şimal Naz Köse and Efe Ersoy (11th Grade Students), coordi-nated by Murat Güneşdoğdu and Serdar Solkun.

Scene 1

Lights fade inActors seen writing on their notebooks, all seated next to

one another. They li� their heads as they start readingtheir lines. Spotlight on each speaker during his/hermonologue.

Alp: First the bread went stale, then all else… War hadcast a gloom over our world. People killed withoutquestioning why…

Efe: The word ‘war’ was all we ever heard of. Nations’marches and leaders’ speeches filled the radios andthe ears of the bewildered people. The newspaperswere read with fear.

Yaman: Trams and ships were full of distressed people,all in a hurry, nervous and perplexed, travellingfrom one part of the city to another. Constantly ina trance.

Efe: People changed, both in the means of their per-sonalities, as well as a mass.

Buğra: Prior to the war, the first thing a man did whenhe set foot on the street to go to work was to take alook at the sky and feel an unprovoked happinessseeing its bright shade of blue. Nowadays, peoplecouldn’t care less even if the sky was pitch black…

Şimal: All had lost their hopes and dreams. All wereworried and lonely, thinking of nothing but them-selves. Dreaming was a thing of the past. A�er all,it was our dreams that the war sha�ered first…


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Lights fade out

Scene 2

Lights fade in. Şimal seen frozen next to Yaman, on the right-hand side of the audience. Rest of the cast seated at theirdesks on the far-le� hand side, in what appears to be aclassroom, also frozen.

Yaman: I was a high school student before the war. Ihad to get up early every day, but I always failedto do so. I would have my breakfast quickly andleave the house immediately. I would arrive atschool right before the bell.

Yaman picks up his backpack and moves forward, in front ofŞimal.

Yaman: (pointing at Şimal) My mom.

Yaman snaps his fingers up in Şimal’s face to set her in motion.

Şimal: But you didn’t even have breakfast yet!Yaman: I’ll be fine, I’m already running late!Şimal: At least put on your coat for God’s sa-Sick of her constant badgering, Yaman snaps his fingers to

freeze Şimal right in the middle of her sentence. He pro-ceeds to the classroom.

Yaman: (pointing at his classmates) My class.

He puts his bag down and takes a seat next to Alp. Yaman setsthe scene in motion as he starts a game of Rock Paper


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Scissors with Alp. Meanwhile, Șimal walks in the class-room as the teacher. Efe and Buğra warn Yaman and Alpto stop playing when they see Șimal.

Şimal: Good morning, children!Students: Good morning!Şimal: How are you all doing today?Students: We’re fine! Thank you!Şimal: Great! Take your seats and open up your home-

work please! (Walks up to Yaman’s desk) Where is yourhomework, Yaman?

Yaman: (stu�ering) My… my dog… my dog ate it!

Everyone else starts laughing out loud. Yaman pokes Alp ina silent cry for help. Alp stands up and snaps his fingers,freezing everyone.

Alp: I hadn’t done my homework as well. In fact, noneof us had. Yaman didn’t even own a dog. Never-theless, we got on well with our teachers. We some -how managed to enjoy school no ma�er what,probably because everyone was happy at the time.

Sits down, snaps his fingers. The recess bell rings. The teachercan’t figure out how fast the time has passed. All stu-dents leave the classroom. Buğra picks up a rose and hisbackpack, then he strolls to the middle of the stage.Checks his watch, taps his foot, etc., as if he is waitingfor someone. Enter Alp and Yaman as random folks,walking in front of Buğra as they speak.

Alp: Have you read the papers today?Yaman: Yes. It says Europe is going to war once again.


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Exit Yaman and Alp. Enter Şimal and Efe with a newspa-per in their hands, walking across stage.

Efe: It says it all in the newspaper. Here, read this.Şimal: War has broken out in Europe, this time harsher

than ever.

Buğra overhears the couple cha�ing. Snaps his fingers tofreeze them and snatches the newspaper from theirhands. Reads the headline and is devastated. Li�s hishead up and speaks, looking at the audience.

Buğra: The war has begun…

Snaps his fingers to set Efe and Şimal in motion. They leavethe scene. Buğra reluctantly walks back home. Şimal (hismom) is se�ing the table. Buðra tries to let her in on thesituation but he’s constantly being interrupted by her.

Buğra: Mom, I-Şimal: Hi son! Quick, wash your hands!Buğra: Yes, but I have to te-Şimal: Dinner’s almost ready and your dad should arrive

any moment now.Buğra: Mom, I’ve read the new-

This time he is interrupted by the knock on the door.

Şimal: That must be your dad. Go get the door!

Buğra rushes to the door and greets his father who also looksdown.


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Buğra: Hello, dad!Efe: Hi, son!Buğra: I figure you’ve already read the papers.Efe: Yes, I have … unfortunately.Şimal: What are you two talking about? Is something

wrong?Efe: Europe is going to war once again. Tough days are

ahead of us.Şimal: (stu�ers) What? Wh-what do you mean? What

are we going to do?Efe: I don’t know…Buğra: You think we’ll have to fight in the trench as

well?Efe: I have no idea…

Enter Yaman and Alp. They walk to the front of the stage.

Alp: It all began that fall. Suddenly we were informedthat the war had begun.

Yaman: All our teachers and friends were indeed thesame people. Yet, everyone could sense that some-thing was odd. Even the people who had neverread a newspaper in their lives were buying oneeach and every day.

Alp: In our homes, schools, the streets… War was every -where. Life had no taste from then on. Even ourbread… everything changed for the worse.

Lights fade out. Lights fade in. The se�ing is the same as Scene 1. Actors li�

their heads and start speaking one by one.


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Efe: It’s been decades since we’ve graduated. Some ofus even feel old. The war snatched our brightestyears away, destroyed all that was sacred in us.

Yaman: We commute to work every day. Some of usstudied in universities and even they were cut offof their youth. We were smothered in hopelessthoughts and ugly feelings.

Şimal: The people of peaceful days no longer exist.Most of my former friends are now mere strangers tome. The benign turned evil; the generous, greedy…The warmest hearts, cold…

Yaman: Yet the world will change once again. It mightnot be the same…It doesn’t have to be…

Buğra: We, the people of peace and war haven’t losthope. We believe in a be�er world. We believe thatone day, people will once again be happy, watchingthe bright blue sky and the sea.

Alp: It all began with the bread, it will all end with thebread…

Lights fade out.


109

WAGON OF TERROR*

Wagon of Terror was adap -ted from Ayşe Kulin’s novelLast Train to Istanbul (NefesNefese). Ayşe Kulin is a con-temporary Turkish novelistand columnist. The novel,which was published in 2002,is about the Turkish diplomatswho saved the lives of Jewishpeople during the Holocaustin the Second World War.When Selva, the daughter ofone of the few remaining Ot-toman Pashas, falls in love with Rafael, a young Jewishman, their families are against their marriage and disownthem. Together they go to live in France, but happinesseludes them there too. With the advent of the SecondWorld War, they get caught up in Hitler's web of terror.While the Nazi grip tightens around them they live withthe fear of being rounded up and sent to a concentration


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* Script adapted by Bilge Arslan, Deniz Aktaş and Raul DenizAltın (11th Grade Students), coordinated by Murat Güneşdoğduand Serdar Solkun.

camp. At the same time, Turkey is desperately trying toavoid being drawn in to the war, walking the tightropebetween the Axis and the Allies very carefully. In thisnovel Ayşe Kulin successfully follows through boththe developments in her country during the war and thelives of Selva and Rafael in Europe. The story movesback and forth between Istanbul and Marseilles, Ankaraand Cairo and Paris, to Berlin and back to Istanbul. Inso doing it also highlights the courageous work of theTurkish diplomats who risked their lives to save hun-dreds of Jews stranded in Europe from being massacredby the Nazis.

Opening

There is a crowd in front of the consulate. The shi� is over.Kavas Halim is speaking to the crowd.

Kavas Halim: They have put them on the train to betaken away.

Crowd rushes over Nazım Kender.

Nazım: Stop! Let me go! Stand up! What happened,what are you doing?

Kavas Halim: (to the crowd) Open up! You’re wastingthe consul’s precious time.

An old man: (in tears) They have taken away all ofthem! We told them that they were Turks but theydidn’t listen to us!


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Nazım: To where?An old man: To Saint Charles Station.Nazım: Let me go fetch the documents. (Runs into the

building, comes back with the documents) Doesany one of you have a car?

A young man: My car is here.Nazım: Bring it quickly.A young man: It’s over there by the gate. Here you go!

(Runs to the car. Opens up the door for Nazım, the consul,and sits in the driver’s seat. Crowd surrounds the car.)

Kavas Halim: Let me come with you!Nazım: Come in! Off we go to Saint Charles Station.

On the wagon, it is wri�en: THIS WAGON TAKES TWENTYANIMALS AND FIVE HUNDRED KILOGRAMSOF GRASS. Screams and cries are heard from inside thewagon. There are SS officers around.

Someone from the crowd: Most of us have Turkishpassports but the Gestapo don’t listen to us.

Nazım: (To an officer) I request to see your commandingofficer! Now!

German officer: Are you in a hurry?Nazım: It’s urgent! There has been a mistake. They

have loaded the Turks onto the train, and it’s aboutto leave. You have to take them off immediately!

German officer: There has been no mistake!Nazım: Look, in the list in my hands are wri�en the

names of our citizens. Let us read them one by one.German officer: Don’t waste your time.


112

Nazım: Le�ing this train go with the Turks insidewould cost you.

The German officer takes the document from his hands witha sudden movement and takes a look at the names.

German officer: Are these the Turks you’re talkingabout? Alhadef Jak, Alhadef İzi, Alfandari Rafael,Ano Mores, Franko Lili, Kalvo Luna, Menaşe İsak…They’re certainly Jews! (He shakes the document infront of Nazım’s face. This time, Nazım takes the docu-ment from his hands with the same expression of angerand frustration.)

Nazım: Yes, they are Turks! Maybe most of them areJews, but there are Muslims and Christians amongthem as well. According to my nation’s laws, what-ever their religion might be, these people are Turks…They are Turkish citizens!

Just as the officer prepares himself to speak, they hear thesound of the train taking off. The officer shrugs and goesto the other room.

Nazım hopelessly looks behind the officer, but the train isspeeding up at the same time. He starts running to-wards the wagon, pushes over the armed soldier whotries to block his way and jumps into the wagon. Halimcomes in a�er him. The train speeds up as two Germansoldiers watch them leave.

***


113

Nazım and Halim look at each other. They don’t know whatthey have done, and why they have done it? Nazım hasjumped into the wagon without thinking, filled withanger and rebellious feelings. Now, as they move awayfrom Saint Charles Station, he realizes the burden ofwhat he has done, and he is a bit afraid. But what’s doneis done, and there is only one thing le� to do: to finishwhat he has started. To resist unto the last, like everyhonourable person who thought what he did was rightwould do. He is the Consul to Marseille of the GreatTurkish Republic. The poor people in the wagon expecthim to save their lives. He has to hide his fear. He cannotretreat. He is to stay with them, until the end.

Halim: Do you know where they are taking us to?Nazım: Didn’t you want to see Paris all along? Here

you are on the Paris train, with free tickets.

Halim wanted to smile but he couldn’t. The people in thewagon had become silent all of a sudden.

A crying woman: Where are they taking us?Nazım: I believe we’re off to Paris. (Stands up) I am a

Turkish consul. Those of you who are Turks, pleaseraise your hands.

(About 50 hands are raised in the wagon.)Nazım: When we reach Paris, I will try to send back

those who are Turkish citizens. Unfortunately,there is nothing I can do for the others. I’m terriblysorry.


114

A man: Tell them we are also Turks, consul! If we happento survive, we will become Turkish citizens imme-diately. We’ll serve you forever.

Nazım: There are no servants in Turkey! There areonly citizens! If you can survive, feel free to applyfor citizenship. Unfortunately, I’m not qualified todeclare that you are citizens of the Turkish Republicright away.

Man in the crowd 1: Don’t send us away to die!Man in the crowd 2: Save us!Nazım: I’m not claiming that I’ll surely save the Turkish

citizens. But I’ll do my best. That’s why I’m in thiswagon, with you. How many of you carry the nece -ssary papers with them?

(Halim counts the hands. Most don’t have the documents.)Nazım: Things are easier for you, but I’m afraid for the

others…A woman in the crowd: He’s dying! My husband’s

dying!Man in the crowd: Is anyone a doctor?(A young pharmacist arrives)Are you a doctor?Young man: I’m a pharmacist, let me pass. (Checks his

pulse) Can you move away a bit? He needs air,please move away!

Man in the crowd: Let’s carry him to the side of thewagon.

Another man: He might be having a cardiac arrest.Another man: Good for him! He’ll be dead before the

Germans put their hands on him.


115

People start to move away

Pharmacist: (Trying to relax the dying man, in a soothingvoice) This is merely a panic a�ack, not a cardiacarrest. If you try to calm down and take deep breaths,you’ll get be�er.

Another man in the crowd: (Offers him a pill) I alwayscarry this with me, as I’m cardiac myself.

Nazım: What if you need it?The same man: We’re off to die anyway. I’m French.

Since it got dark outside, it was also dark inside the wagon.There were sounds of people praying. Kavas Halim andNazım were talking about the end of this journey.Nazım lent all the coins he had in his pocket to Halim.

Nazım: If we are to stop by a station, while I strugglewith the station chief, you go find a phone, call theconsulate in Paris with those coins. Tell the situation.Make sure that they take keep up with our caseand make them inform Berlin and Vichy.

Halim: What if we never stop till Paris? Nazım: Then we’ll do the same in Paris.Halim: The consulate won’t be responding before nine

in the morning.Nazım: Do you know the phone number of Hikmet

Özdoğan?Halim: I don’t know his home number. Of course, I

know the consulate, but as I said before they arenot going to respond at this time of the day.


116

Nazım: I know his home number. What was it? I almostremember. Anyways I’ll tell when I remember it.Memorize the number, he’ll do something for sure.My struggle with the chief will last for almost halfan hour.

Halim: You remember the number and I’ll call him.Nazım: Is there anyone in Marseille who knows that

we are in this train?Halim: I don’t think so. The consulate was empty.Nazım: I was drinking tea with the Italian consul. He

noticed that there was something wrong going on.He might have started investigating.

Halim: Sir, you know there’s this Turkish lady, she alsocame with her child once to look for you. Younglady who is tall, she was also the first one who cametoday. She won’t let it go.

Nazım: Was it you who told her where I was?Halim: Sir, … I…

Suddenly the train shook really hard. The ones standing felldown and people collapsed on each other. The trainstopped and everybody moved to the wooden bars of thewindows to see what was happening. ‘Get out of myway!’ shouted a military officer speaking French with aGerman accent. He jumped inside the wagon and stoodright in front of the Turkish consul.

Officer: Are you the Turkish consul?Consul: Yes, it’s me.(There were other German officers stepping on people to

enter the wagon.)


117

Officer: Sir, the station chief of Marseille made a terriblemistake. He let the train leave before you had thechance to step off. We’ll punish severely those whoare guilty. A car is waiting for you outside to takeyou back to Marseille.

Consul: Thank you for your consideration but there’sa misunderstanding. Don’t punish that stationchief in vain because I got on the train of my ownaccord.

Officer: The train shouldn’t have moved before you le�it anyway. Here, sir.

Consul: This wagon is full of Turkish citizens. Whereare you taking those fellow citizens to by pu�ingthem into a wagon in which you carry animals?

Officer: They’re Jews and they are being taken to Paris.Consul: Even if they’re Jews, they’re Turkish citizens

too.Officer: I kindly ask you to step off the train.Consul: You mean the train for animals. Look, I am a

representative of the government and an individualbelonging to a nationality. I can assure that I andmy officer won’t leave the train unless those peoplealso come with us.

Officer: Sir, you are making my job harder. You stepoff and they’ll deal with the Turks in Paris.

Consul: Then, it is my fate to go to Paris in this wagon.Officer: What do you mean?Consul: I say that I will never leave this train without

Turkish citizens coming with me.


118

Officer: I repeat that you should step off and go backto Marseilles with the car that is waiting for yououtside.

(Pushing through some people, a couple other German officersboard the train.)

One of the officers: Mr. Consul!! The station head inMarseilles made a terrible mistake allowing thetrain to move before you were leaving the train.We will punish the ones who made this mistake.I’ve arranged a car which will get you straight backto Marseilles.

Consul: I appreciate your concern but there’s some-thing wrong. Don’t punish the station head for noreason. I got on the train of my own accord.

Officer: The train wasn’t supposed to move withoutyou leaving it. Please step forward.

(The German officer respectfully tells the consul to disembark)Consul: This train is full of Turkish citizens. Why are my

citizens packed in an animal train against their will?Officer: They are Jews bound for Paris.Consul: Even if they are Jews, they are Turkish citizens

with proper documents.Officer: I’m asking you to leave the train.Consul: Animal train, you mean! Dear sir, I’m a repre-

sentative of a country that doesn’t believe in reli-gious discrimination. I’m a government official andI will not leave the train. We either disembark alltogether or go to Paris.


119

Officer: Mr. Consul, you’re not easing the situation.This is a freight train. The ones who are Turkishmight find a solution in Paris.

Consul: I guess my destiny is to go to Paris with thisfreighter.

Officer: What do you mean by that?Consul: I’m telling that I’m not leaving this train without

my citizens.Officer: Please leave the train and go to Marseilles with

the car provided.Consul: I’m repeating again. Either we leave or go to

Paris together.Officer: If you choose to travel with Jews in these con-

ditions, it is your decision.Consul: They are my citizens. Either we leave or go to

Paris.(The officer tries to catch the Consul. The consul escapes by

moving his arms upward.)Consul: Don’t make a mistake. I’m a representative of

an independent nation with immunity. A scandalwould occur if you try to touch me.

Officer: You already created one.Consul: It’s in your interest to stop this scandal. In one

of the wagons, an elderly man had a heart a�ack dueto the terrible conditions. He might not make it toParis. Do you take responsibility if he dies en route?

The German officer jumped off the train, grumbling. Otherofficers followed him. As they didn’t know a single Frenchword, they weren’t aware of the situation.


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Everyone was silent in the train. They were trying to un-derstand the situation.

‘Where are we?’ asked someone reluctantly.

Kavas Halim: Probably somewhere near Nimes.

No one had the courage to peak out the train. Nazım Kenderducked under the woods. The platform was empty withonly 15 German soldiers. The sign was blocked by the clockin the platform. By looking at the clock, Kavas Halimconcluded that they were either in Nimes or Arles.

The train was not moving. The station was empty. People werewaiting without having any idea about what would happennext. They all had gratefulness and respect in their eyesto the Turkish consul.

In some part of the train, the voice of a woman pushing somekids was heard. ‘Come on! Come on!’ she was saying. Thechildren were unwilling to comply the woman’s orders.‘Mr. Consul’ said the woman.

Nazım Kender looked at the woman.

The woman: These children have something to say toyou.

(Two children aged between 13 and 15 stood in front of theconsul.)

Consul: What’s the ma�er kids?


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Kid: I’m Turk. I’m hungry. It’s cold. How about you?(Then the poor kid started crying. It was clear that the poor

kid used all his knowledge in Turkish.)Consul: Are you Turkish, li�le kid?(The li�le kid nodded.)Consul: What’s your name?Kid: Peri.Consul: (Turning to the other kid) What about you? The other kid: Sami. I’m Sami.(The photos of the kids in the garden flashed through the

head of Nazım Kender.)Consul: Mr. Halim! We have Peri and Sami here!

Some footstep was heard in the platform. Halim peeked out-side through the woods. The officer who just talked to theconsul was coming back rapidly. Nazım Kender waitedprofoundly. The officer slowly embarked the train.

Officer: So, you’re telling me that you won’t leave thetrain, Mr. Consul.

Consul: Exactly!

A silent moment followed the speech.

Officer: Go ahead, get out.Consul: Sorry?Officer: If you’re not leaving the train alone, leave it all

together.Consul: A-ha!Officer: That’s the order. Consul: Let the others disembark first.


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Officer: Are they all Turk?Consul: Some don’t have their IDs. However, once in

Paris…Officer: I SAID GET OUT!(He was furious because of the order he got.)Consul: Me and my colleague will leave the last.

The ones in the train started to leave by jumping off. Somepeople were helped while leaving the train. Those twokids stood next to the consul. The woman who pushedthe kids was in the joy of the situation but she didn’thave the courage to look at them in the eyes.

Consul: Are these kids yours, Madam?The woman: No, I’m their aunt. We were in the bazaar

when they collected us.Consul: Go ahead Peri and Sami! It’s your turn.(They both le� the train. The consul le� the train last as if

he was the captain of a ship.)Officer: (To the consul) Our car is waiting for you in the

station.Consul: Thank you for the offer. If you allow, I would

like to return by myself. There was a man who hada heart a�ack, let him use the car please.

A woman answered without waiting for the answerof the consul: No, no. We can go by ourselves.Thank you for the offer.

The German officer le� the place puzzled by the people’s at-titude. Other officers followed him.


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People started buzzing when the German officers le�. Allthe people were praising Nazım Kender, trying to hug orkiss him.

Consul: Don’t try to li� me up, please!

It was impossible to resist to the love of these people. Thegratefulness of the people was inexplicable by the words.

Consul: The ones who are not Turk, please go to a safeplace. Return now.

(Then he asked) ‘Where are we?’Kavas: In Arles.Someone in the crowd: There should be a train bound

for Marseilles in an hour if not cancelled due to thewar.

The Consul and Kavas le� the station. The Mercedes-Benzprovided by Nazis was waiting outside the station.

Consul: Is it possible to find a taxi here?(Kavas stood steadily thinking about the situation. He came

back with the voice of Halim.)Halim: There’s a car which operates on wood. Should

we rent it?Consul: Rent it now. He stood up, passed by the Mercedes-Benz and walked to the

taxi stop across the street.


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UNITED KINGDOM

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THE FORUM THEATRE

The Forum Theatre provided the partners with anon-formal opportunity to allow students to researchand dramatize literature from the WW II period intheir own country and then present it to the other part-ners at an international festival in the UK. This workbuilt on the other activities already conducted by thepartners, including study visits, film viewings, and in-vestigations.

Guided by their teachers, students read contempo-rary texts then worked in groups to dramatize sectionsof these that reflected the events and consequences ofWW II. The resulting sketches were then performed atmini festivals in their schools in order to select one


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Neil Mackintosh

sketch to represent the school and be performed at theinternational festival in the UK.

The original intention had been to follow the per-formances of each school at the international festivalwith a discussion and Q &A between students. Instead,the opportunity of having five international perform-ances together was taken and made into a celebrationevening/multiplier event for Erasmus+ and this projectin particular. Parents and members of the communitywere invited and the evening was opened with a speechby the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, who had earlierwelcomed the whole party to Birmingham at the Coun-cil House. The local Member of Parliament, the RightHonourable Liam Byrne, was also present. In all over200 children and adults were in the audience.

There was plenty of opportunity for students todiscuss the various sketches during the rest of the visit,particularly when all five partners travelled to Londonfor a two-day residential visit.


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The Forum Theatre international festival proved tobe a great success which show cased a wide variety oftheatrical skills and technology. It allowed each nationalrepresentative school to show case its own literaturein the historical context of the Second World War. Inaddition to this the personal development opportunitythis provided for the pupils should not be underesti-mated. To perform in front of such a large audience inan unfamiliar country in a language which was nottheir own is quite an achievement. The young peoplefelt a huge sense of achievement at the end of the nightand certainly learnt the value of rehearsing every elementof the performance including change overs of acts andrese�ing the stage. The UK coordinating team werecertainly holding their breath but ‘it was all right onthe night’!


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IMAGINE

Our drama for the Forum Theatre was performedby the Year 11 students studying for a General Certifi-cate in Secondary Education (GCSE) in Drama. Thepupils wrote the script, together with their dramateacher, having studied the book and the film of TheBoy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne.

This was fused a script inspired by a poem wri�enby the famous British war poet, Robert Graves.

“To you who’d read my songs of WarAnd only hear of blood and fame,I’ll say (you’ve heard it said before)


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‘War’s Hell!’ and if you doubt the same,Today I found in Mametz WoodA certain cure for lust of blood:Where, propped against a sha�ered trunk,In a great mess of things unclean,Sat a dead Boche; he scowled and stunkWith clothes and face a sodden greenBig-bellied, spectacled, crop-haired,Dribbling black blood from nose and beard.”

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2006 novel, wri�enby Irish novelist John Boyne. The novel is about the Holo-caust and its entire first dra� was wri�en in two and ahalf days. Starting with 2010, the novel was sold allaround the world (more than 5 million copies), beingadapted in 2008 into a film with the same name.

The main character is Bruno, a nine-year-old boy fromBerlin, who lives with his parents and his 12-year-oldsister, Gretel. A�er his father’s promotion to Com-mandant by Adolf Hitler (The Fury – Bruno’s childishinterpretation of the word Führer), the family moves to‘Out-With’ (never clearly identified, but cf. Auschwitz).From the new house in Out-With, Bruno can see a camp,which is surrounded by a strange wire fence. As he ex-plores the area along the fence, he meets a Jewish boy(who shares his birthday) named Shmuel, who “lives”separately from his mother, but his father, grandfather,and brother are with him on his side of the fence.Bruno and Shmuel become great friends and Brunoeven sneaks Shmuel food. Despite this fact, Shmuel


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gets skinnier and skinnier, but Bruno’s naïveté pre-vents him from realising that he was living beside adeath camp.

Bruno’s hair is shaved off, when lice eggs are dis-covered in his hair and he comments that he looks alot like Shmuel. Meanwhile, Bruno’s mother persuadeshis father to take them back to Berlin and to live atOut-With alone.

Bruno comes up with a plan with Shmuel to disguiseand sneak into the camp to look for Shmuel’s father.Bruno dresses in a set of prison clothes brought byShmuel (which Bruno says look like striped pyjamas)and, as they search the camp, both children are roundedup on a ‘march’ with a group of prisoners. When theyget to the gas chamber, Bruno apologizes to Shmuelfor not locating his father and tells Shmuel that he isBruno’s best friend. At that moment the door is closed,everything becomes dark, and all is chaos in the gaschamber.

Bruno’s mother and sister return home in Berlin,but Bruno is not si�ing on the doorstep, as they wereexpecting. His father searches for him at Out-With,where he finally works out what had happened. Hewants to leave as soon as possible, when soldiers cometo take him away from Out-With.

Opening

Images of World War 2 are shown; whilst these are showing,‘Imagine’ the Eva Cassidy version is playing.


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Scene 1

(Stage right Bruno meets Shmuel for the first time.)George: Hello, how are you? What’s your name?Amy: I’m Shmuel.George: That’s a funny name I have never heard of

that before, how old are you?Amy: I’m 8.George: So am I! Do you live here? What is that number

on your chest?Amy: Yeah, we all do, I’m not sure we all have one

over here, our own special numberGeorge: That’s strange; I wish I had a special number.

I need to go soon as my mother will be calling.Amy: Are you gonna come back again soon?George: Yeah, I might, see you.Amy: Bye, Bruno!

Scene 2

(Centre stage)

Omar: (Looking around) what am I doing here? Whatare we even fighting for? Am I the only one le�?

(Students disperse from the space)

Scene 3

Lauren: Going to war scares the life out of me but Iknow I need to do it for my country and family.

Rahela: I must remember why I am doing this.


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Salman: I’m so scared I won’t make it out alive.

(Army barracks where the officer addresses her soldiers.)

Elle: Right then soldiers, stand up straight ready forinstruction.

Soldiers: Yes, sir!Elle: Today is the day that we are going to fight in the

war; I want you to know that I am extremely proudof you. You will now hear from Colonel Asia whowill give you more information about the detail.

Asia: Right then soldiers, the detail will start here(points at the board). Section A you will stand hereand section B you will stand here. Please have yourweapons cleaned and checked, look at this docu-ment for further detail of the mission. Good lucksoldiers!

All: Yes, sir!

Scene 4

(Gunshot sounds, soldiers low in the trenches fighting theenemy)

Omar: Our brains ache, in the merciless iced eastwinds that knive us...Wearied we keep awake because the night is silent…Low, drooping flares confuse our memory of

the silence...Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous,But nothing happens.


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Siem: Watching, we hear the mad gusts tugging on thewire,Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles.Northward, incessantly, the flickering gunnery

rumbles,Far off, like a dull rumour of some other war.What are we doing here?

Soldier: Get down, get down, grenade,

Soldier 2: Fire, fire, man down!

The soldiers begin to fight, gun shots and grenades are heard,they get louder and louder. The cast comes on from stagele� and right as soldiers in the war fighting the enemy.One by one each start to fall but only one remains, helooks around at the bodies which have fallen around him.

Omar: What are we doing here? What are we evenfighting for? Am I the only one le�?

Blackout.


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EVACUATION*

The evacuation of children from the large, indus-trial cities and ports of the UK is a key cultural memoryin Britain. Large numbers of children were sent fromtheir homes into the unknown to stay with completestrangers in the anticipation of massive bombing a�acksby the Nazis. This cultural memory is reflected in manyworks of literature including Goodnight Mr. Tom, a bookby Michelle Magorian, that tells the story of youngWilliam Beech, who is evacuated to the idyllic Englishcountryside and forges a remarkable and heartwarmingfriendship with the elderly recluse, Tom Oakley. All is


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* Based on books about children’s lives during the ‘phoney war,Blitz, and evacuation from the cities, including Goodnight Mr Tom.

perfect until William is suddenly summoned by hismother back to London. It won the Guardian Children’sFiction Prize and has been turned into a film and stageplay.

Another famous, although more extraordinary, useof the evacuation heritage is in the Lion the Witch and theWardrobe by C. S. Lewis. The book follows four siblings –Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Prevensie – as theyare evacuated from London during World War II toescape the Blitz but then find their way into the magicalland of Narnia!

Our students used their knowledge of these storiesto construct a short play around the experience ofevacuee children. For our migrant pupils, it is a goodway of instilling in them a huge part of British culturalhistory.

Hilda: Good morning everyone and welcome to ourassembly. My name is Hilda, and this is my friendVincent. We have had such a tough time lately withthe War going on. Some of us have had to cope withevacuation, spending the night in our air raid shel-ters … and don’t even get me started on the rationing!I mean how anyone can survive on this amount ofchocolate per week! (Hold up the chocolate)

Vincent: Tell me about it! My friend John lives in Lon-don and has had the most terrible time with theBlitz. His mother and father didn’t want him to beevacuated to the countryside, so he’s spent many a


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night in the tube station to get away from the bombs!We’ve both been very lucky living in East Horsley.At least it’s been relatively safe. Thank goodness,it’s all over now. (Show photograph)

Constance: I’ll say… the damage to our cities was ter-rible. It’s going to take a while to get things sorted.Just look at these photographs from the LondonBlitz that my uncle sent me. (Show photographs andtell what they are) He was a photographer for a Lon-don newspaper because couldn’t go and fight dueto an old First World War injury. I think he workedas an air raid warden as well, ensuring people gotto the shelters safely.

Grace: Talking about London and the Blitz, does anyoneknow what that word means?

Harriet: Oh yes, hang on a minute... I do. It’s from theGerman word Blitzkrieg. Blitz means lightening.

Queenie: That’s right; Hitler’s invasion of Europe at thebeginning of the war was also described as a Blitz-krieg a�ack because it happened so fast. It seemedthat he had those poor soldiers cornered in Dunkirkin no time.

Alice: Yes, but don’t forget we all thought it was a phoneywar at first.

Harriet: A phoney war? What are you talking aboutMary?

Alice: REMEMBER!! A�er Hitler invaded Poland inSeptember 1939, there was a 6-month gap beforehe swept into the rest of Europe. People weren’tsure what was happening!


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Queenie: Oh, now I remember … gosh, that seems a longtime ago. I’ll never forget the day that Mr Cham-berlain declared war on Germany though. Septem-ber 3rd,, 1939. My whole family was gathered aroundthe wireless. It was quite an emotional moment.

Mabel: Yes, I remember that. It was quite something.Both my older brothers and dad got called up tofight. My poor mum was very upset. Luckily, theyall came home safely, unlike a lot of folk. I still havea couple of telegrams my dad sent me. (Hold up thetelegrams)

Robert: It was a tough few years, but the British spiritwas fantastic. People just got on with things andrefused to be defeated. Even with the blackoutsand the rationing and upheaval of everyday life. Oh,and those dreaded gas masks. Do you rememberwhen we were all issued with those?

Gregory: (Sounding exasperated) How could we forget?We had to carry those things EVERYWHERE. (Ges-ture to gas mask box). Even to the lav. It seemedridiculous at the time, but I guess it was be�er to besafe than sorry.

Queenie: Luckily, I only had to wear mine when wepracticed pu�ing them on at school. We used tohave to see how quickly we could put them on. Infact, don’t you still have the instruction leaflet wewere issued with Annie?

Isabel: Oh, yeah, I think I do … give me a second (lookaround and then spot on floor in front of you!) Here itis! (Show everyone). Why don’t you show everyone


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how to put it on Dorothy? You’ll need a brave vo-lunteer though!

(Queenie put Gas Mask on volunteer)

Felicity: You certainly will need someone brave! Themasks were made of black rubber, which was veryhot and smelly. It was difficult to breathe whenwearing them and it was not very pleasant.

Elizabeth: Well, at least you didn’t have to spend thenight in an air raid shelter with one! I moved toLondon just before Blitz because my mum had tolook a�er my gran. It was pre�y scary I can tellyou! Here are our next-door neighbours buildingtheir Anderson Shelter…

Isabel: How come you weren’t evacuated then, Elizabeth?Elizabeth: I’m not sure really. I guess my mother did-

n’t want to be alone with my Gran. Sometimes Iwish I had been evacuated, or been allowed tomove back to Wetherby. I was really scared in Lon-don, but at least I was with my loved ones.

Grace: Here are some memories from children thatwere evacuated: “It was the first time I had beenaway from home. I was only nine years old. Whenfinally arriving, I remember si�ing in a large hallwaiting to be taken to foster parents. I sat therewatching the other children being taken away. I feltunwanted and alone as I was the last child there”.

Alice: We were lined up and the various people whosaid they would take evacuees came and picked usout if they liked the look of us. It was like they


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were picking out puppy dogs from a shop window.Me and my elder sister Doris were picked out by anice-looking couple who took us away in their car,whilst my brother was picked out by a local cler-gyman. As we drove away I remember lookingback and seeing my sister Rose and another childle� behind. I was feeling very worried for them asthere appeared to be nobody who wanted to takethem home”.

Henry: I’m really glad that I live in Wetherby and didn’tneed to be evacuated during the war. Althoughlots of children were happy in their new country-side homes, many were extremely unhappy. Luckilythe children who stayed down the road from me werewell looked a�er. They came from Hull and Sheffieldin 1939 for a while. They were a nice lot … twobrothers about my age and their younger sister.

Vincent: Well I think that’s enough talk about evacuationand the war for now. It’s about time we sang a coupleof songs to liven things up a bit. Has anyone gotany suggestions?

Hilda: How about ‘Pack up your Troubles’ and ‘It’s along way to Tiperary’? They’re nice and jolly. Pleasejoin in if you know the words! We used to singthese songs to keep us cheery during the war. OnV.E day there were big street parties with peoplesinging them and dancing – it was a great moment.

Gregory: I remember that day – my whole street wasout joining in. There were Union Jack flags everyoneand the atmosphere was amazing. A day I won’t


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forget, that’s for sure. So come on you lot (gestureto the rest of the children) … On your feet, flags at theready!

(Sing songs)

Constance: That’s be�er! What great songs! I think weshould probably round things up now for thesenice people. They’ve been listening very patientlyto us for quite a while. So, to finish, I would justlike to say what a pleasure it’s been sharing our wartime tales with you all. We’ve all been very luckyover the last few years and most of our familieshave been reunited thank goodness. I think MrChurchill helped to spur as all through with his en-couraging speeches you know, not to mention allthose posters!

Felicity: I know!! There were SO many of them! Ibrought some along today actually. Just look at allthese messages… (Children to show posters). This‘Dig for Victory’ one I’ll never forget!! I remembermy Grandad digging up his front garden to growpotatoes and carrots! I’m not sure I’ll ever want tolook at a potato again!

Constance: Oh, Felicity, don’t be silly, I’m sure you’llsurvive! Anyway, most of the rationing has stoppednow so you can eat more of the yummy things likechocolate and sweets!

Mabel: Stop talking about food you two … it’s makingme hungry!! Let’s sing some more songs instead!Everybody on their feet again!


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(Sing songs)

Isabel: Well, that’s about us for this morning. We hopeyou’ve enjoyed our assembly and have learntsomething about World War II. Thank you verymuch for coming and listening so quietly. Cheeriofor now!


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Coordinator:Daniela Livadaru

Technical Writer & Design:Rema Zugravu

Cover Design:Rema Zugravu

Logo design:George Ţurcănaşu

Collaborators:Romania: Elena Ilisoi, Daniela Livadaru, Anca Patrichi, Nicoleta

Mazanca, Adriana StoicaCroatia: Nino Mencl, Dušica Zorica, Jakov StulićGermany: Törsten Klingenberg, Martin Schindéle, students from

HY501 and HY502 classesTurkey: Feyza Itýr Karac, Murat Güneşdoğdu, Serdar Solkun, Buğra

Aydın, Yaman Saygılı, Alp Akçasayar, Şimal Naz Köse, Efe Ersoy,Bilge Arslan, Deniz Aktaş, Raul Deniz Altın

United Kingdom: Neil Mackintosh, Year 11 Students (GSCE in Drama)

The European Commission support for the production of this publicationdoes not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects theviews only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsiblefor any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

NON-FORMAL ACTIVITIES

IN EDUCATION: APPLICATIONS

ON WORLD WAR II

Partners:

Liceul Tehnologic Economic “Virgil Madgearu”, Iaşi, Romania

Gimnazija Jurja Barakovića, Zadar, Croa ia

Erich-Gutenberg-Berufskolleg, Bünde, German

Galatasaray Lisesi, Istanbul, Tur

The International School, Birmingham,

t

y

key

United Kingdom

The European Commission support for the production of this publicationdoes not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the viewsonly of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for anyuse which may be made of the information contained therein.

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ISBN 978-973-0-24359-8

Erasmus+ programme, Key Action 2 – Strategic Partnership, 2015-2017