Responses to the 1930s Refugee Crisis

About This Lesson

To dig deeper into the ethical and political dilemmas underscoring the Sharps’ story, students begin with an anticipation guide that explores complex questions of how individuals and nations respond to the needs of others. Then they learn the powerful concept of the “universe of obligation.” As they watch an excerpt from the documentary Defying the Nazis and read related primary sources, students use the notion of the universe of obligation to think critically about individual and collective American responses to the refugee crisis of the 1930s.

Essential Questions

• How do individuals, groups, and nations define and demonstrate their “universe of obligation”?
• What shapes a nation’s response to those outside its borders?

Learning Objectives

• Students will reflect on the ways that individuals and nations define their responsibility toward people in need
• Student will understand and apply the concept of the “universe obligation”
• Student will be able to describe and analyze American responses to the refugee crisis of the 1930s

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Activate Thinking about Individual and National Responsibility

Use of the Anticipation Guides teaching strategy can help students to think through opinions about provocative issues before studying them in greater depth. Select one or more of the prompts below and invite students to decide if they strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree, and why. Students can record their responses on a worksheet or in a journal. Ask for volunteers to share their responses to the statements—and the reasoning behind those responses—in a brief class discussion.

• The more you have in common with someone, the more likely you are to help them.
• A country’s first duty is to its own citizens.
• Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Activity 2: Introduce the “Universe of Obligation” Concept

The statements in the anticipation guide all revolve around the question of how we understand our responsibility to others. Sociologist Helen Fein coined the term “universe of obligation” to describe how nations define their responsibility to their citizens. The universe of obligation is the circle of individuals and groups “toward whom obligations are owed, to whom rules apply, and whose injuries call for amends.” Nations, societies, communities, and individuals each have their own implicit universe of obligation. Those within the universe of obligation are seen as deserving of respect and protection; those outside may not be treated with the same care.

The image of concentric circles on the universe of obligation graphic organizer offers a simple way to represent this complex concept. If we were to use this image to represent our own universe obligation, we’d place in circle 1 those people to whom we feel the greatest obligation, for whom we’d be willing to risk a great deal. Moving outward, individuals or groups for whom we feel progressively less responsible appear in circles 2 and 3. Outside the circles are those to whom we feel very little or no obligation at all.

Students sometimes use this image to reflect on their own universe of obligation. Here, we’ll use it to capture ideas about a moment in history as we watch an excerpt from Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War.

Activity 3: View Primary and Secondary sources, and Analyze the United States’ Universe of Obligation

Before watching the video clip A Willingness to Act, give students a copy of the Universe of Obligation handout and ask them to be attentive to what the film reveals about how the United States defined its universe of obligation in1939. As they watch the video clip, students can take notes on the graphic organizer: Who or what did the United States place at the center of its universe of obligation, in circle 1? Which individuals or groups were included in circles 2 or 3? Who was outside the circles, excluded from America’s universe of obligation? Students can also consider how Germany, other nations, and individuals like the Sharps defined their own sense of responsibility.

After watching the clip, give students the Evian Conference Cartoon, 1938 and the American Public Opinion Data. Ask them to consider how this information deepens their understanding of how the world responded to the Jewish refugee crisis and how the United States defined its universe of obligation.

Watch the video here.

Activity 4: Stimulate Classroom Discussion

Lead a class discussion, drawing on what students learned from the film and the documents. Possible questions include:

• How does the film reflect the way Germany defined its universe of obligation in this period? How did the country see its responsibility toward Jewish inhabitants?
• What details in the film and documents help you understand how the United States defined its universe of obligation during the refugee crisis at the beginning of World War II? What factors shaped American attitudes toward refugees?
• What are the consequences of being on the outside of a nation’s universe of obligation?
• How did Martha and Waitstill Sharp define their own universe of obligation? Why was it so different from that of the country as a whole? Why do you think they chose to be upstanders when many others were indifferent or unwilling to act?
• What is the role of ethical values in the way individuals and groups respond to those in need? What is the role of practical concerns? How do you see ethical values and practical concerns shaping American responses to humanitarian crises in the world today? What other factors play a role in how we respond to the needs of others?
• Look back at your responses to the statements in the anticipation guide. Has our discussion in this lesson confirmed, complicated, or challenged your thinking?