Week 4 Assignment: Essay – The Holocaust
Instructions
For this assignment, select one of the following options.
Option 1: Poetry
Select any 2 poems about the Holocaust. You can select from the following list of poets/poems on Holocaust poetry.
- Bronislawa Wajs: Tears of Blood
- Primo Levi: Buna
- Chaim Nachman Bialik: After My Death; On the Slaughter
- Martin Niemöller: First They Came for the Jews
- Mary Elizabeth Frye: Do not stand at my grave and weep
- Carl Sandburg: Grass
- Miklós Radnóti: Postcard 1; Postcard 2; Postcard 3; Postcard 4
- Bertolt Brecht: The Burning of the Books; Parting; The Mask of Evil
- Ber Horvitz: Der Himmel [The Heavens]
- Yala Korwin: Passover Night 1942; The Little Boy with His Hands Up
- Michael R. Burch: Something
- Paul Celan: Death Fugue; O, Little Root of a Dream
Write an analysis of each poem, including the following information:
- Explain the background of the author, especially in relation to the Holocaust.
- Explain the content of the poem – what story or message is it trying to tell?
- How does the poem relate to the bigger picture of the Holocaust?
- How effective is the poem in relating the Holocaust to readers?
Option 2: Art
Select any 2 works of art about the Holocaust. You can select from the following list of Holocaust art.
Link: List of Artists/Artworks
- Morris Kestelman: Lama Sabachthani [Why Have You Forsaken Me?]
- George Mayer-Marton: Women with Boudlers
- Bill Spira: Prisoners Carrying Cement
- Jan Hartman: Death March (Czechowice-Bielsko, January 1945)
- Edgar Ainsworth: Belsen
- Leslie Cole: One of the Death Pits, Belsen. SS Guards Collecting Bodies
- Doris Zinkeisen: Human Laundry, Belsen: April 1945
- Eric Taylor: A Young Boy from Belsen Concentration Camp
- Mary Kessell: Notes from Belsen Camp
- Edith Birkin: The Death Cart – Lodz Ghetto
- Shmuel Dresner: Benjamin
- Roman Halter: Mother with Babies
- Leo Breuer: Path Between the Barracks, Gurs Camp
- Leo (Lev) Haas: Transport Arrival, Theresienstadt Ghetto
- Jacob Lipschitz: Beaten (My Brother Gedalyahu)
- Norbert Troller: Terezin
- Anselm Kiefer: Sternenfall
Write an analysis of each artwork, including the following information:
- Identify the title, artist, date completed, and medium used.
- Explain the content of the artwork – what do the images show?
- How does the artwork relate to the bigger picture of the Holocaust?
- How effective is the artwork in relating the Holocaust to viewers?
Writing Requirements (APA format)
- Length: 2 pages (not including title page or references page)
- 1-inch margins
- Double spaced
- 12-point Times New Roman font
- Title page
- Minimum 2 sources
- References page