Risking Their Lives

1. Set Focus
Pose these essential questions: What does it mean to be brave? How can times of oppression inspire bravery?

2. List Vocabulary
Share some of the challenging vocabulary words in the article (see below). Encourage students to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• clandestine (p. 19)
• collaborators (p. 19)
• sabotage (p. 19)
• abetted (p. 20)
• edicts (p. 20)
• informer (p. 21)

3. Engage
As needed, explain that during World War II, Nazi Germany invaded and ruled many countries in Europe, including the Netherlands. Ask: How do you think everyday citizens reacted to their country being taken over? What are some ways they could have resisted Nazi rule? 

4. Read and Discuss
Ask students to read the Upfront article about the Dutch resistance to Nazi rule. Review why the article is a secondary source. (It was written by someone who didn’t personally experience or witness the events.) Then pose these critical-thinking questions and ask students to cite text evidence when answering them:

• What are some examples of dangerous missions that Dutch resisters took part in? Why did resistance leaders often recruit women for these types of missions? (Examples include smuggling weapons, escorting Jewish children to safety, blowing up railway lines, bombing plants that powered trains, and killing Nazi officials and Dutch collaborators. Resistance leaders often recruited women for these types of missions because German occupiers rarely suspected that women would volunteer for dangerous work.)

• What is the meaning of informer as used in the article? How were informers dangerous to resisters? Do you think most informers knew what would happen to the people they informed on? (The word informer means someone who told Nazi officials about people who were engaging in anti-Nazi activities. Informers were dangerous because the Nazis would arrest and even kill people who defied them. Students might note that Nazi violence was well-known, so informers likely knew what would happen to those they informed on.)

• What are some tactics resisters used to avoid being discovered and arrested or killed by the Nazis? (They hid things they were smuggling in loaves of bread. They did small actions in large groups—such as ringing bicycle bells—so it would be difficult to identify them. They wore disguises while on missions. They used lookouts who could warn them if Nazis were coming. They killed people they thought were informants.)

• In the article, Judy Baumel-Schwartz says, “How many people love their neighbor so much that they’re willing to risk their lives?” Some resisters helped neighbors they cared about. But others helped strangers. What do you think compelled them? Support your points with evidence from the article and your own knowledge about people and the world. (Responses will vary but should be supported.)

5. Use the Primary Sources
Project, distribute, or assign in Google Classroom the PDF ‘The Terrorizing of Jews Had Started,’ which features excerpts from Hans Moederzoon van Kuilenburg’s memoir about her experiences living under Nazi rule in the Netherlands. Discuss what makes the memoir a primary source. (It provides firsthand evidence concerning the topic.) Have students read the excerpts and answer the questions below (which appear on the PDF without answers).

• How would you describe the tone and purpose of these excerpts from van Kuilenburg’s memoir? (The tone can be described as straightforward, reflective, and somber. The purpose is to give examples of how the Nazis terrorized Jewish people in the Netherlands.)

• What examples does the author give for how the Nazis terrorized Jewish people? (The author tells how the Nazis exiled Jews from most of society by requiring stores to post signs that read “No Jews Allowed” and by making Jewish people wear the Star of David on their clothes. She also explains that the Nazis created an atmosphere in which Dutch citizens felt free to destroy Jewish-owned businesses. In addition, she explains that the terror was so great that Jewish people hid or fled.)

• The author titled her book The Silent Heroes. Based on these excerpts, how were resisters heroic? (The owner of the café who refused to post the sign banning Jews had his business destroyed. This was a highly visible punishment. Others in the community would have known that they would face similar or worse punishment for resisting. Yet people kept resisting—not for any glory but because it was right, such as how the author’s family hid a Jewish family to help them flee. They did this even though Nazi sympathizers lived nearby and likely would have reported them if they spotted anything odd.) 

• What does the author say happened to the two men and to the family the author’s family helped? What does this help you understand about the terror Jewish people faced? (The author does not know what happened to them. It’s likely they died or were killed, but even if they survived, their entire lives were uprooted, their possessions were stolen, and they would have had to start over with nothing in new places.)

• Based on the Upfront article and the excerpts from van Kuilenburg’s memoir, why do you think people across Europe joined resistance movements? What fears do you think they had? (Students’ responses will vary but should be supported with evidence from both texts.)

6. Writing Prompt
What factors led to Hitler’s rise to power? How can democracies safeguard against the rise of such dictators? Explain in a brief essay.

7. Quiz
Use the quiz to assess comprehension.

8. Classroom Debate
Will we ever reach a time of permanent peace?

9. Mini Research Project
Have students research Frederick Mayer, a German Jew who fled to the U.S. from Nazi Germany in 1938 and then returned as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the C.I.A. Invite students to share what they found most interesting about his story.