The Holocaust and North Africa: Resistance in the Camps

About This Lesson

In previous lessons, students explored the diversity of Jewish life in North Africa, and they learned about the ways in which antisemitic legislation, occupation, and the onset of war impacted Jewish communities across the region. This lesson further expands the study of the Holocaust and wartime North Africa.

The readings in this lesson lift up the voices of North Africans who experienced the camps, with a particular focus on ways in which they resisted oppression. From Libyan and Tunisian Jews celebrating holidays in labor camps in the Sahara, to Algerian Muslims steadfastly committed to prayer in spite of the violent threats of a camp overseer, and finally to the child of Moroccan immigrants to France who was sent to Auschwitz with her mother, these stories convey aspects of the human spirit and decision-making in times of crisis. 

As students process this challenging material, they will explore connections to the concept of human dignity and what it means to preserve or affirm dignity in the face of dehumanization.

Essential Question

In what ways do the experiences of Jews in pre-war and wartime North Africa provide a more complete story of World War II and the Holocaust?

Guiding Questions

• Why is it important to engage with the history of the Holocaust and wartime North Africa?
• How did the Nazis and their collaborators seek to deprive their victims of basic human dignity?
• How did those targeted attempt to preserve or reclaim their dignity, and what can this teach us about power and agency?

Learning Objectives

• Students will analyze, discuss, and explain the range of choices available to individuals, groups, and nations during the Holocaust. 
• Students will explore the possible motivations and reasons for decision-making in this time of crisis.

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Scholar Video Viewing Guide & Survivor Testimony

Remind students that in the previous lessons they looked at life before the war among communities in North Africa. Explain to students that today they are going to watch a video that focuses on how North African Jews and other marginalized groups experienced the Holocaust. At the start of the lesson, distribute the Viewing Guide for “The Intersecting Histories of the Holocaust and Wartime North Africa” and preview the questions together as a class. 

Show the video, The Intersecting Histories of the Holocaust and Wartime North Africa  (~10 minutes), and have students fill in the organizer as they watch. Then, review their answers. 

Next, engage in a class discussion of the following quote from the video:

“We cannot tell a complete story of the Holocaust without understanding the pivotal role of North Africa and the way in which the entire machine of Naziism and Italian fascism percolated through North Africa in very complex ways.”

Ask students: How do you understand the significance of this quote? What does it mean to tell a “complete story”? 

Conclude this activity by having students watch the first 2 minutes of this survivor testimony of Haim Arbiv (you can find more information and context about Haim Arbiv in this article from Yad VaShem) with the following question in mind: “How does this testimony add to your understanding of camps in North Africa?” After watching the video, students can share ideas with a partner, and, if time permits, the debrief could be a continuation of the class discussion of the scholar video.

It is important to convey to students that Haim Arbiv is from Libya, which was an Italian colony, bringing focus to another aspect of the intersecting histories of wartime North Africa and the Holocaust. The speaker shares about Jadu (also spelled Giado), a concentration camp built in January 1942. By the time the camp was liberated by British forces in January 1943, over 500 Libyan Jews had died.

Activity 2: Create Found Poems with Written Descriptions of Camp Life

Explain to students that they will now create a Found Poem. A found poem is a poem that is created using only words, phrases, or quotations that have been selected and rearranged from another text. To create found poems, students must choose language that is particularly meaningful or interesting to them, then organize the language around a theme or message. Writing found poems is a structured way to have students review material and synthesize their learning. If students are unfamiliar with the format of a Found Poem, show them your example of a Found Poem using one of the assigned readings. 

Divide the students into two groups. 

• Group 1 will read: “Marking the Days of Awe in Sidi Aziz (1942)” 
• Group 2 will read: “Celebrating Purim in the Bizerte Camp (1942–1943)”  

Instruct students to work with a partner or as a group that has the same reading to complete the Found Poem Graphic Organizer for their assigned reading. 

After completing the table, students should begin to write their Found Poems. Post the following directions on a slide or on a big piece of paper to guide students in the writing process:

• Share reflections captured in the table with each other. 
• Identify a theme and a message. A theme is a broad concept such as “obedience” or “loyalty.” A message is a specific idea they would like to express about this theme. For example, “decision-making” is a theme. A message about decision-making expressed by humanitarian Carl Wilkens is, “Every situation is an opportunity and every opportunity demands a decision.” In this context, students can choose from the following themes:
  • Telling a complex story
  • Choices to stand up in the face of injustice and oppression
  • Dignity in the wake of injustice and oppression
• Select additional language. Found poems only use words that have been collected from other sources. So, once students have selected a theme and a message, they may need to review their materials again to collect additional language.
• Compose a poem. Students are now ready to arrange the language they selected to create their found poems. One approach to this task is to have students write all of the words and phrases on slips of paper, so that they can move the slips around until they are satisfied with their poem. Let students know that they cannot add their own words when creating a found poem (not even articles or prepositions), but they can repeat words or phrases as often as they like. Also, when composing found poems, students do not need to use all of the words or phrases they previously selected.

Once the students have created their found poems, break the students up into groups so that a group with a poem from each reading is paired. Ask them to share and discuss their poems using the following questions:

• What do the poems have in common? 
• How are they different?
• What are the messages, and why are they important?

Then, whole class can come back together to discuss the messages and reflect on the following question:

Both readings feature imprisoned Jews celebrating holidays in the midst of inhumane living and laboring conditions. What might they have gained from such celebrations?

Consider posting the completed Found Poems around the room for students to read.