Teaching Historical Contexts | Teachyaliterature

Teaching Historical Contexts in Refugee

All About the St. Louis Ship: by Katia Roberts

The MS St. Louis Ship was a German ocean liner, and it sailed on May 13, 1939. The MS St. Louis was headed from Hamburg, Germany to Havana, Cuba. The ship had 937 passengers on it, and most of them were Jews. In the book, Refugee, Josef and his family boarded the ship with hopes of being free from Hitler. Many of the survivors described the MS St. Louis was a great place to be, and it gave Jewish families hopes again. Many of the survivors spoke about how it had delicious food, a dance band, and a cinema. These were things they did not have back home. The captain of the ship, Gustav Schroder, even made his crew treat the passengers politely. Many things they could not do in Germany, they could now do on the ship.

Unfortunately, when the ship landed in Havana, Cuba, the Jews were not allowed to get off the ship. The ship then headed to Florida, but the United States along with Canada turned them around. The only choice they had left to do was go back towards Germany. The Jews did not have to return to Germany because Belgium, France, Holland, and the UK decided to take the refugees. Unfortunately, 254 St. Louis Ship’s passengers were killed during the Holocaust.

This source gives a brief description of the MS St. Louis Ship. It also tells the journey of the ship from start to finish. It also has a video of the voyage of the St. Louis Ship.
This source gives a brief description of the MS St. Louis Ship. It also has recounts of survivors stories, and their experiences on the MS St. Louis Ship. The ship was described as this wonderful place until they were turned around when they reached Havana, Cuba.

Communism & Castro: By LeAnna Lynch

Theis video explains the earlier years when communism had just been brought to Cuba.

Fidel Castro was born August 13, 1926. He overthrew the Cuban leader at the time Fulgencio Batista, resulting in Castro becoming their new communist leader who ruled over Cuba for nearly five decades. Although he made the literacy rate increase significantly, he also made the economy decrease drastically. The Cuban people were starving and has no jobs. They would have done anything to escape his rule. Castro’s Cuba did not have a good relationship with the United States, because we did not like communism being that close to our home, in fear that it might trickle into America. This disagreement caused danger among the Cuban people during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs. Castro gave his power over to his brother in 2008. He died when he was 90 years-old in November of 2016. Castro connects to Refugee, because of Isabel’s situation. She and her family are trying to escape the harsh conditions of the country in 1994. Throughout the novel, the audience witnesses her escape from the communist country.

This video provides an overview of Castro’s rule over Cuba to share with your students.
This website provides a detailed description of Castro’s rule over Cuba.

ADVICE FOR TEACHERS

Teaching about PTSD: by Kasey Cannon

It is important for students to know and understand PTSD, not only in terms of this book, but also because I believe it is commonly overlooked. People do not understand how serious of a disease it is, and bringing this awareness at a young age is a good way to get students to understand the disease. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is related to this novel specifically in Josef’s story. The beginning of his narrative tells how his father is taken away from his family and forced to spend weeks in a concentration camp. When he is reunited with his family, he is a completely different person. He is scared and broken. He constantly has flashbacks about his time at the concentration camp, and this greatly affects his family.

This video can be used by teachers to introduce the subject.

This video is important because it shows the effects of PTSD on real people. It is very intense, and it could need a warning beforehand, but overall, showing this will be effective in the classroom.

Notetaking Guide:

Here are the teacher’s and students' edition of a note-taking guide to be used when viewing and discussing the video.

Syrian Civil War: by Tyneshia Nelson

Refugee by Alan Gratz is along the lines of historical fiction. The characters within this work are products of knowledge that Gratz had about true events as well as true people. The Syrian Civil War is mentioned in this work through the story of the third main character, Mahmoud. Although Mahmoud describes the events that are occurring around him and his family, students as well as teachers may not have a full understanding of what exactly is happening and why it’s happening. This can be attributed to the fact that it began during the last 10 years as well as the fact that as American citizens we often overlook events that are not taking place on our home soil. In this section I will provide resources that will give teachers the proper background information to help students understand this part of Mahmoud’s story.

Timeline of the Syrian Civil War
Who’s Fighting Who: The IS that is referenced in this source is the Daesh mentioned in the text.

This video provides the overall background of the Syrian Civil War.

This is a short video about how one man chose to deal with his remembrance of this tragedy. Instead of trying to forget, he does something in order to remember what he went through.

Concentration Camps: by Tiana Gates

A concentration camp can be best defined as a place in which a large number of people are forced to be. Some are forced to be there because of their religion, and some are forced there because of where they come from. This place is a terrible place to live because the living conditions are not livable under any circumstances. From being forced to perform cruel labor to awaiting execution as if on death row, these people who are here are treated as if they are animals. For example, in Alan Gratz “Refugee’, one of the 3 protagonists’ (Josef’s) father was forced against his will to go to a concentration camp in Germany because of being a Jew and also because of his long-term career. Many people have died from harsh conditions whether it was not being fed or even beaten. To sum everything up, a concentration camp is BEST defined as a horrible place for people to be because of the cruelty and heartlessness of this cold world.

This source defines concentration camps, and provides the perspectives of real life people who endured this place. It talks about how it made them feel,and also what they did to survive this terrible change in their lives.
This source provides a lot of vital data about the effects of concentration camps and the specific toll it put on these poor people.