Topic: The Enduring Soldiers

Author: Anna Rabiega

Addressee:

8th grade primary school student

Core curriculum:

VIII. National/ethnic community and homeland

The student:

3) analyzes the symbols of the Republic of Poland; explains, what patriotic attitude of a young and adult person should consist in.

The general aim of education:

The student build his national identity.

Learning outcomes:

The student:

• presents the history of the Enduring Soldiers.

• explains why they are called “Enduring” and “Doomed”, and what the difference between these two expressions is.

• presents the stories of some of the Enduring Soldiers.

• explains why the Enduring Soldiers deserve to be remembered, and why the communist regime wanted them to be forgotten.

Key competences:

• communicating in a foreign language,

• digital competence,

• learning to learn,

• social and civic competences.

Teaching methods:

• mind map,

• interactive lecture,

• teaching conversation using interactive boards and exercises,

• WebQuest.

Forms of work:

• self‑learning,

• group work,

• whole‑class activity.

Material & equipment needed:

• computers with loudspeakers/headphones and internet access,

• multimedia resources from the e‑textbook,

• interactive whiteboard/blackboard, felt‑tip pen/a piece of chalk.

Lesson plan overview (Process):

Introduction:

1. The teacher presents the goal of the lesson: You will learn and understand the history of the Enduring Soldiers.

2. The teacher asks the students, if they have ever heard about the Enduring Soldiers or the Doomed Soldiers and what they know about them. He informs the students, that they will present their ideas on the board in a form of a mind map. He appoints a facilitator, who writes the suggestions of his colleagues on the board.

Implementation:

1. The teacher organizes and supplements the information the students have provided in an interactive lecture. He explains that the historians disagree on which of the two names should be used to describe the people who fought in the independence and anti‑communist underground: the Enduring or the Doomed. The teacher asks some willing students to fill in their mind map with the new information.

2. The teacher asks the students to present arguments for each of the names. To this end the students use the interactive board “Enduring or Doomed” from the abstract “The Enduring Soldiers”. They may use the examples already in the board or give their own suggestions. Each time the students need to justify their argument. At the end of the work the teacher asks a willing/selected student to sum up the activity.

3. The teacher asks the students to split into groups of four, and then look at the photo gallery of the Enduring Soldiers in the abstract and choose one character, who seems most interesting. The teacher informs the students that the task of each group will be to present the profile of the character they have chosen. The students will be working using the WebQuest method. The teacher explains the method if necessary:

• the students search form information and pictures online,

• they organize their findings,

• they prepare a short presentation, e.g. in a form of a mind map created in one of the online applications (e.g. bubbl.us, Blumind) or on the pieces of paper the teach has handed out to them (of o size appropriate for the size of the class - the smaller the size of the class, the smaller the piece of paper may be).

Before the work begins, the teacher sets up the time to complete the task. Ideally, each group chooses a different hero, but it is not necessary. It is important, that the students feel somehow connected to the person.

4. After the time is up, representatives of each group present the results of their work and share with the rest of the class the reasons why they decided to choose the character.

5. The teacher asks one of the students to read a Zbigniew Herbert poem “Wolves” from the abstract out loud. Then he briefly discusses it with the students to find out how they understand the message of the poem.

Summary:

1. At the end of the lesson the students individually, in pairs or groups create an interactive crossword, with a main password of ENDURING/NIEZŁOMNI. The other passwords should also be connected with the subject of the postwar independence underground, but if it proves to difficult for the students, it’s not absolutely necessary.

2. The teacher asks a willing student to summarize the lesson from his point of view. He asks other students if they would like to add anything to their colleague's statements.

3. Homework proposal:

a. Write a short note “Enduring or Doomed?” giving arguments for the use of each of the names.

b. Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise at the end of the chapter.

Notes for the teacher:

If the students have trouble understanding the translation of the poem, the teacher may present them with an original version:

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

The Enduring Soldiers

In recent years, the memory of soldiers of the anti‑communist underground – the Enduring or the Doomed – has been restored. The national holiday celebrations become a tradition. You can take a look at how tribute is being paid to the heroes and heroines.

The Enduring Soldiers, and among them many women, spent years in Polish prisons during communism, tortured and humiliated. They paid the highest price for their dedication to their Homeland and her independence. They were anti‑communist underground soldiers recruited from the Home Army and the National Armed Forces, who from 1944, keeping their oath, kept fighting against the Soviet terror and oppression in Poland.

According to the Institute of National Remembrance over five thousand underground soldiers were sentenced to death by military courts, and over twenty‑one thousand were murdered in prisons. It is impossible to say, how many people were killed during roundups and pacifications or murdered without trial in Security Office buildings. Over 250 thousand were sentenced to prison for political reasons, several hundred thousand were treated like second‑class citizens.

The murdered heroes were doomed to be forgotten by the communist regime. Their graves are hidden in woods, they are buried next to official cemeteries, or the burial site is unknown. Most of the people who were responsible for those atrocities avoided the consequences and were not held responsible for their actions. They were never put on trial. It is a tragic paradox in the Polish history and a great injustice. After all these years the memory of the Enduring Soldiers is being restored. Poems are being written, movies are being filmed, songs recorded, websites created (e.g. Wilcze tropy).

Poet Zbigniew Herbert paid a remarkable homage to the heroes with his poem „Wilki” / “Wolves” (transl. Alissa Valles; the original text of the poem can be found in the e‑textbook):

On 1, March 2011 – on the day of the 60th anniversary of the murder of the leaders of Freedom and Sovereignty (Wolność i Niezawisłość, WiN) – the Sejm established the Day of Remembrance of the Doomed Soldiers. It is now a patriotic responsibility to restore the memory of the heroes and to look for their burial sites.