Topic: Poland under two occupants

Author of the script: Marcin Dyś

Target group

8th grade student of elementary school.

Core curriculum

XXXIII. Second World War and its stages. Student:

2. (...) presents the extermination of Jews and Roma as well as extermination of other nations; knows the examples of heroism of Poles saving Jews from Holocaust;

XXXIV. Poland under German and Soviet occupation. Student:

1. compares assumptions and methods of the German and Soviet policy in the occupied Poland;

2. lists the examples of German and Soviet crimes (Palmiry, Katyn, massacre of Lviv professors, Zamojszczyzna);

3. explains the reasons and size of the Polish‑Ukrainian conflict (Massacre of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia) on the Eastern Borderlands;

4. characterizes the political and military activity of the Polish Underground State, including the forms of resistance towards the occupants;

5. explains the reasons and describes the results of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising and evaluates the attitude of allies and the Soviet Union towards the uprising.

The general aim of education

Students learn the reasons and the course of the German and Soviet occupation of Polish lands during the Second World War.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• specifies the method in which the Third Reich and USSR were striving to destroy the Polish nation;

• describes the forms of resistance of the society to the occupants;

• explains the terms, such as: Ghetto, concentration camp, occupation, conspiracy, minor sabotage, underground education;

• shows on the map and lists the largest extermination camps and Ghetto;

• explains what the Polish Underground State was.

Methods of work

• exposing methods: explanations and comments from the teacher;

• programmed methods: using e‑textbook; using multimedia;

• problematic methods: activating methods: discussion;

• practical methods: exercises concerned, working with text;

Forms of work

• collective activity;

• activity in pairs or in groups;

• individual activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/ felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• multimedia material.

Before classes

The teacher asks the students to find out what the minor sabotage is and learn about its activities during the Second World War. Students should also read the fragment of the novel “Kamienie na szaniec” by Aleksander Kamiński from Introduction to the topic Poland under two occupants from e‑textbook. Additionaly they should familiarize themselves with the comic strip „Poszukiwanie” („The Search”) from the same e‑texbook lesson.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher explains the students the lesson objective and the criteria for success.

2. The teacher asks the students to recall the events that took place in September 1939. Asking the questions, the teacher remembers to formulate them as key questions. Students should mention the Polish defensive war, attack of the Third Reich and USSR, occupation of Polish land and forms of repression used by the occupants. Students do Exercise 1, by filling the calendar in.

Realization

1. Students familiarize themselves with the map – Poland under two occupants, in the meantime, the teacher tells them the history of that time. The teacher should pay particular attention to division of lands of the former Poland as well as similarities and differences in the nature of the occupation such as the persecution of Jews in the areas occupied by the Third Reich or the destruction of the intelligentsia – both occupants. Students do Exercise 2.The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

2. Continuing, the teacher tells about the fate of Jews in the territories occupied by the Third Reich. The teacher explains that they found themselves in the worst situation and were deprived of all rights, they were not even considered human. The teacher introduces the term of Holocaust. The teacher asks the students to read, in the form of an individual avtivity, the comic strip entitled “Poszukiwanie” and list the forms of persecution the Jews suffered therein. Then the students do Exercise 3 – they match the definitions with terms.The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

3. The teacher starts the discussion about the Nazi crimes during the Second World War, explaining to the students why the Jews were especially persecuted.

4. The teacher explains to the students that despite the tough occupation and persecution of Poles, the spirit in the nation did not perish and people were organizing the resistance against the occupants from the very first days. These activities were managed by the secret Polish Underground State, which not only dealt with anti‑Hitler propaganda, but also with many aspects of everyday life, e.g. the judiciary, education, etc.

5. Working in pairs, students should list, based on the homework, the forms of minor sabotage. The teacher asks the students to come up with the forms of resistance, which they could use every day, and then the results of their work and ideas are presented and discussed by the teacher. Students look at the photograph gallery in Instruction 1. The teacher illustrates them with selected examples of sabotage and struggle against the occupant. Students read the call of the Directorate of Civil Resistance and perform Exercise 4.The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

6. When doing exercises and instructions, the teacher uses tents or a set of cards in three colors: green, yellow and red. Students use the cards to indicate to the teacher whether they are having difficulty in fulfilling the instructions (green – I’m doing great, yellow – I have some doubts, red – I need help).

Summary

1. The teacher together with the students summarizes the lesson. Assesses the students’ work during the lesson taking into account their contribution and involvement. The teacher gives the students feedback on their work.

2. The teacher gives a homework, which is to do Exercise 5 (summary of forms of resistance) and Exercise 6 (marking correct answers) in the abstract.

Summary of the most important contents of the lesson

1. Learning about forms of resistance and struggle against the occupant as well as the activities of minor sabotage.

2. Reflection on why the Jews were the most persecuted group during the Second World War.

3. Learning the methods used by the occupants in order to destroy the Polish nation.

4. Learning the consequences of Holocaust and the Second World War for Poles, Jews and other nations.

5. Reflection on what the Polish Underground State and its uniqueness were.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Poland under two occupants

At the end of September 1939, Poland was divided between the Third Reich and the USSR. The Republic of Poland once again disappeared from the map. Both occupants began a mass terror against the Polish population, sending them to camps, deporting them deep into the country for forced labour, or simply murdering them. Both the Nazis and the communists exterminated the Polish leadership and intelligentsia. The symbols of Polish martyrdom were Palmiry and Katyń, where the occupants carried out mass executions. The fate of Polish Jews, considered by the German authorities to be enemies, was also tragic. Some of the Polish leaders made their way to the West. Polish government‑in‑exile was formed, led by General Władysław Sikorski, and then, after his death in an air crash, Stanisław Mikołajczyk. Some of the soldiers also evacuated. Poles fought on all fronts of the Second World War. The country created the Underground State, the structures of which were subordinate to the government in London. The armed force was the Union of Armed Struggle (later the Home Army).