Teaching History Matters

The beta version of the Discussion Guide for A Train Near Magdeburg will be ready soon.

A Teacher Guide will follow.

But for now, some “starter questions” from Book One:

BOOK ONE

Irene Bleier, age 17, notes at the beginning of Book One (The Holocaust) the humiliation of trudging into Bergen-Belsen with civilians watching them, not helping, from inside their houses. Why do you think the author chose this quotation to begin the Holocaust narratives? Do you agree that ‘they were partners in the annihilation of millions of innocent souls’? Why or why not?

CHAPTER ONE—A PLACE CALLED BERGEN-BELSEN [‘HELL ON EARTH’]

How did Bergen Belsen differ from other concentration camps of the Nazi regime? What role did it evolve into by the beginning of 1945, as Nazi Germany began to collapse?

Discuss some of the shocks that greeted the British Army upon liberating the camp on April 15, 1945.

What is some of the imagery that survivor Sara Atzmon evokes of her eleven-year-old self in Bergen -Belsen? Uri Orlev? Do you think their imaginations helped them to cope with what they were witnessing as children?

What were survivor Kurt Bronner’s last memories of his mother and father, as a 17-year-old in Bergen-Belsen?

Why did the German authorities make the decision to evacuate the exchange camp at Bergen-Belsen during the first week of April?

At the conclusion of Chapter 1, survivors recall leaving the Bergen Belsen concentration camp on foot to walk several kilometers to the train transport that was to carry them away. What were some things remembered in common by the children/teens, years later? What different memories stood out for individual survivors, years later?

CHAPTER TWO— THE LAST TRANSPORT

How many victims of the Nazi regime passed through Bergen-Belsen? Do you think it is important for the Bergen-Belsen Memorial to designate an official ‘Custodian of the Book of Names’? Why or why not?

What strikes many visitors about the site of the Bergen-Belsen Memorial today as ‘so unlike’ the camp upon liberation? Why is this so?

The first train transport took nearly a week to travel a distance southeast on the same route that took the author less than an hour. What were some of the survivors’ recollections as to why that was so? What were conditions like?

To their horror, after the train had stopped, what did some of the survivors remember the men and boys being ordered to do?

CHAPTER THREE— DARKNESS DESCENDS

How do you think the Great Depression, which was worldwide, contributed to the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany?

Did Adolf Hitler seize power by force? If not, how did he come to power?

Do you think it is ironic that he came to power at almost the exact same time in history as President Franklin D. Roosevelt? Why or why not?

Thanks for stopping by. In the meantime, check out the new Young Adult Edition here.  Click on the tab “PRINT BOOK”.

And the new Audiobook is here.