Resisting Oppression: Music, Art, and Creativity in Terezín

MUSIC AND ART

In this module, students will consider the story of conductor Rafael Schächter and his chorus in the context of other musical, artistic, theatrical and intellectual efforts in the Terezín ghetto. Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the material, students will learn about a variety of artists working in different media and consider the significance and meaning of their work in that unique context.

DEFIANTREQUIEM.ORG/EDUCATION

The Story of Defiant Requiem: The Holocaust and Creative Resistance

Propaganda and Deception: Terezín as a “Model Ghetto” and the Red Cross Visit

The Rhetoric of Verdi’s Requiem: Reading the Libretto in Three Contexts

Resisting Oppression: Music, Art, and Creativity in Terezín

SOCIAL STUDIES I SOCIAL STUDIES II ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS MUSIC AND ART

LESSON OVERVIEW LESSON MATERIALS ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND PART I PART II

Lesson overviewEssential Questions

• Why are we driven to create art? What purpose does it serve?• Does its purpose change under conditions of war or oppression?• Does creative resistance matter if it has no effect on the outcome or a person’s fate?• Is creative resistance a worthwhile endeavor if it endangers people or threatens survival?• Is creating art a meaningful form of resistance?

ObjectiveStudents will develop an understanding of creative resistance by examining artistic work made under oppressive conditions and analyzing its significance in order to determine if they believe art is a meaningful form of resistance.

Standards Alignment: National Core Arts Standards• Anchor Standard #7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.• Anchor Standard #8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.• Anchor Standard #11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical

context to deepen understanding.

Teacher Notes• Preview all instructional materials prior to beginning this lesson.• The following resources can be used to build your own and/or your students’ general

knowledge of the Holocaust and forms of resistance. Please note that the names Terezín and Theresienstadt refer to the same ghetto and can be used interchangeably.

• Introduction to the Holocaust from the USHMM• Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust module produced by Yad Vashem, the

Holocaust museum and education center in Jerusalem, Israel.

The following can be used for general background information about Terezín and creative resistance there.

• Theresienstadt, Holocaust Encyclopedia, USHMM• Spiritual and Cultural Resistance in Terezin (United States Holocaust Memorial

Museum)• Theresienstadt: Cultural Life (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)• Cultural and Spiritual Resistance: Excerpts of Voices from the Ghetto (Echoes and

Reflections, Anti-Defamation League, 2016)

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Lesson materials• Defiant Requiem on Vimeo (use password: survivingevil)

• YouTube clip: Pink on Ellen

• Quotes by Artists (and One Scientist) Handout (attached)

• Purpose of Art Note Catcher (attached)

• Gallery Walk Note Catcher (attached)

For Gallery Walk• Memories of Prague by Petr Ginz

• Yard in Sudeten Barracks by Bedrich Fritta

• List of lectures delivered in Terezín

• Still Life with Violin and Sheet Music by Bedrich Fritta

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The Story of Defiant Requiem: The Holocaust and Creative Resistance

Propaganda and Deception: Terezín as a “Model Ghetto” and the Red Cross Visit

The Rhetoric of Verdi’s Requiem: Reading the Libretto in Three Contexts

Resisting Oppression: Music, Art, and Creativity in Terezín

SOCIAL STUDIES I SOCIAL STUDIES II ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS MUSIC AND ART

LESSON OVERVIEW LESSON MATERIALS ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND PART I PART II

QuotesaboutArtbyArtists(andOneScientist)• Allartisakindofconfession,moreorlessoblique.Allartists,iftheyare

tosurvive,areforced,atlast,totellthewholestory;tovomittheanguishup.--JamesBaldwin

• IfyouaskmewhatIcametodointhisworld,I,anartist,willansweryou:Iamheretoliveoutloud.--EmileZola

• Artisnotamirrortoholduptosociety,butahammerwithwhichtoshapeit.--LeonTrotsky

• Themostbeautifulthingwecanexperienceisthemysterious.Itisthesourceofalltrueartandscience.--AlbertEinstein

“PURPOSEOFART”NOTECATCHER

Doesartservedifferentpurposesdependingonthesituationsinwhichitiscreated?Whyorwhynot?

AsyouviewthefilmDefiantRequiem,recorddetailsabouttheartisticeffortsofprisonersinTerezínandwhatitmeanttothem.

ExamplesofartisticeffortsundertakenbyprisonersinTerezín

Whattheseeffortsmeanttoprisonersinthecamp

Usingtheknowledgeandunderstandingyou’vegatheredfromDefiantRequiem,composeawrittenresponsetothequestion:Doyouthinkartsserveauniquepurpose(bothforthosewhomakeitandthosewhoview,listento,orwatchit)whenitismadeundercircumstancesofoppressionorwar?

Writeyourresponseonthereverseofthispage.

GALLERYWALKNOTECATCHER

1. WhichitemintheGalleryWalkdidyouchoose?(Title,typeofsource,nameofauthor/artist,date)

2. Whatdoestheitemdepictordescribe?Createadetailedandcompletedescriptionoftheobject.

3. Whydidyouchoosethisone?

4. WhatinsightsdoesitofferaboutlifeinTerezín?

5. DoyouthinkthisobjectorthecontentitcontainsreflectsaspiritofresistanceagainstNazioppression?Ifso,inwhatway?Ifnot,whynot?

6. Doestheobject(orthecontentitcontains)reflectsomethingfundamentalaboutbeinghuman?Explain.

Additional background for teachers• Established in November 1941, Terezín was, like all Nazi-run ghettos, a concentration point

where Nazis gathered Jews, isolated them, exploited them for labor, and ultimately shipped them to killing centers in the East.

• It was the primary collection point for Jews of the Czech lands but also, after January 1942, housed elderly Jews from Germany and Austria. Shortly thereafter, the Nazis began sending so-called “prominent” Jews (well-known artists, scholars, politicians, and veterans of WWI) to Terezín.

• Living conditions in the ghetto were terrible: there was rampant overcrowding, filth, hunger, and epidemic disease. More than 33,000 Jews died as a result of the inhuman conditions there.

• The Nazis deported Jews from Terezín to the killing centers at Auschwitz-Birkenau and Treblinka among other destinations. More than 88,000 Jews were deported from the camp, the vast majority of whom perished. This included many thousands of children.

• Against this backdrop, Jewish artists, musicians, and intellectuals created an extraordinarily vibrant cultural life in the ghetto where they produced art, music, plays, operas, literature, and scholarship on a dizzying array of topics.

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LESSON OVERVIEW LESSON MATERIALS ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND PART I PART II

The Story of Defiant Requiem: The Holocaust and Creative Resistance

Propaganda and Deception: Terezín as a “Model Ghetto” and the Red Cross Visit

The Rhetoric of Verdi’s Requiem: Reading the Libretto in Three Contexts

Resisting Oppression: Music, Art, and Creativity in Terezín

SOCIAL STUDIES I SOCIAL STUDIES II ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS MUSIC AND ART

Lesson sequence: Part I1. Begin by engaging students on the question of what motivates people to create art. They

can choose from three options.

• If they consider themselves artists of any kind, they can write or speak about why they create art.

• Play the film clip: Pink on Ellen in which she describes how personal or emotional pain can be a motivator for art. (This is a YouTube video; the content needed for this step of the lesson is in the first two minutes, so the video can be stopped at the two-minute mark.)

• Share the quotes on the Quotes by Artists (and One Scientist). Ask them to respond to the one that most speaks to them.

2. Ask students to share.

3. Explain to students that they will be viewing a documentary film called Defiant Requiem which tells the story of a group of prisoners in a ghetto called Terezín during the Holocaust. The film shows how some of these prisoners used music – learning to sing Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem – to respond to their oppressive circumstances. Using the Purpose of Art Note Catcher, ask students to respond in writing to the following question: How does art serve different purposes depending on the situations in which it is created?

4. View Defiant Requiem and instruct students to use the Purpose of Art Note Catcher to record what the Terezín survivors and others said about singing Verdi’s Requiem and what it meant to them. After viewing the film, allow students to share the information they recorded.

5. To close Part I of this lesson, have students answer the following question using the knowledge and understanding they’ve gathered from Defiant Requiem. Have them provide specific details and examples from the film: How does art serve a unique purpose (both for those who make it and those who view it, listen to, or watch it) when it is made under circumstances of oppression or war? Have them consider whether their thoughts about the purpose of art have been confirmed, challenged, or changed. They will write their response on the back side of the Purpose of Art Note Catcher.

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LESSON OVERVIEW LESSON MATERIALS ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND PART I PART II

The Story of Defiant Requiem: The Holocaust and Creative Resistance

Propaganda and Deception: Terezín as a “Model Ghetto” and the Red Cross Visit

The Rhetoric of Verdi’s Requiem: Reading the Libretto in Three Contexts

Resisting Oppression: Music, Art, and Creativity in Terezín

SOCIAL STUDIES I SOCIAL STUDIES II ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS MUSIC AND ART

Lesson sequence: Part IIPrior to beginning this part of the lesson, determine whether students will participate in a gallery walk to explore creative life in Terezín in print form or if you will project the images digitally.

1. Have students explore the following works of art/scholarship made in Terezín:

• Memories of Prague by Petr Ginz

• Yard in Sudeten Barracks by Bedrich Fritta

• List of lectures delivered in Terezín

• Still Life with Violin and Sheet Music by Bedrich Fritta

Ask students to choose one artifact to examine closely. Have them complete the Gallery Walk Note Catcher for the artifact they chose.

2. Allow students to share the information recorded on their Gallery Walk Note Catcher. Once they have had the opportunity to share their responses to the final question, engage students in discussion on one or more of the following questions:

• Do you see a link between creating art and maintaining one’s humanity? Do such acts count as a form of resistance?

• What might art as a form of resistance mean for the people creating it? What does it mean for audiences taking it in?

• Does creative resistance matter if it has no effect on the outcome or a person’s fate?

• Is creative resistance a worthwhile endeavor if it endangers people or threatens survival?

Students should provide examples and details from Defiant Requiem and refer to the items from the Gallery Walk as they thoughtfully respond to these questions in small or whole group discussions. You may also encourage them to make connections to other forms of art and creative resistance that they know of from history or present day.

AssessmentUsing what they’ve learned from the Defiant Requiem film and about life in Terezín, have students respond to the question, Is art a meaningful form of resistance? They should consider all points discussed and explored throughout the lesson in developing their response. As an optional extension, students can identify a piece of contemporary art to support their position.

LESSON OVERVIEW LESSON MATERIALS ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND PART I PART II

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The Story of Defiant Requiem: The Holocaust and Creative Resistance

Propaganda and Deception: Terezín as a “Model Ghetto” and the Red Cross Visit

The Rhetoric of Verdi’s Requiem: Reading the Libretto in Three Contexts

Resisting Oppression: Music, Art, and Creativity in Terezín

SOCIAL STUDIES I SOCIAL STUDIES II ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS MUSIC AND ART