Night Websearch

Overview:
This Web Quest was designed to be used as a pre-reading activity for the book Night.

Introduction:
We have and will be reading the book Night by Elie Wiesel. In preparation for this reading, it is extremely important
that you gain the necessary background information in order to understand what Mr. Wiesel is referring to.

This book is very disturbing as Mr. Wiesel shares his experiences in a Nazi Concentration Camp during World War
II. Throughout the book, you will read about his horrific journey through the evil and terrible process a young Jew in
Hitler’s way often suffered.

Task:
Your community is contemplating building its own museum dedicated to remembering victims of execution all over
the world. You have been put in charge of accumulating information regarding the history of the Holocaust and how
it has affected our world today.

You will be conducting research and should be able to

answer the questions following on the each topic.
Process:

Research the questions using the links provided. You will need to explore and make sure that you answer each
question ON A SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER.

Topic 1:

What was Kristallnacht (Crystal Night or “The Night of

Broken Glass)?

Questions:
1. When did Kristallnacht happen and what was Kristallnacht?
2. What was the supposed spark that initiated this violence?
3. What was the role of police on this night?
4. What is a “pogrom?”
5. After Kristallnacht, what happened to many Jews?

Sites to search:

http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/kristallnacht/issues/k-night2.htm
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/kristallnacht/issues/k-night1.htm
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/kristallnacht/frame.htm
http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/kristall.htm
 Topic 2:

How did Hitler gain power and begin Nazi Rule?

1. How and when did Hitler gain power and what was the Third Reich?
2. Who were the SS?
3. What was “Nazi Propaganda” and how was it used?
4. What is Euthanasia?
5. What is “Anti-Semitism?”
6. Add any other interesting facts you think would be valuable to your research.

Sites to Search:
http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/nrule.htm
http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/pages/t055/t05584.html
http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/pages/t024/t02404.html
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/

Topic 3:

What was life like in a Concentration Camp?

Questions:
1. What are some of the things that happened to the prisoners when they first got to the camps?
2. What was “Selection?”
3. What was the difference between death camps and labor camps?
4. What happened to the personal items people brought with them?
5. What were a crematorium and a gas chamber?
6. Add any other interesting facts you think would be valuable to your research.

Sites to Search:
http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/pages/t035/t03559.html
http://www1.yadvashem.org.il/Odot/prog/index_before_change_table.asp?gate=1-5
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/
 Topic 4:

Did anyone try to save the Jews?

Picture compliments of http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/pages/rr.html

Questions:
1. How did some people try to rescue Jews?
2. What was the “Resistance” movement?
3. How were some children hidden?
4. What happened during uprisings in camps?
5. What happened during uprisings in the ghettos?
6. Add any other interesting facts you think would be valuable to your research.

http://www.humboldt.edu/~rescuers/index.html
http://www.rongreene.com/Sug.html
http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/pages/rr.html
http://www1.yadvashem.org.il/Odot/prog/index_before_change_table.asp?gate=1-7
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/

Topic 5:

What was a “ghetto?”

Questions:
1. How was a ghetto formed?
2. What kind of things did they have in a ghetto?
3. What were some of the rules of the ghetto?
4. How did the Nazi’s keep the Jews in the Ghetto?
5. What happened after Jews left the ghettos?
6. Add any other interesting facts you think would be valuable to your research.

Sites to Use:
http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/pages/t036/t03616.html
http://www1.yadvashem.org.il/Odot/prog/index_before_change_table.asp?gate=1-4
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/
 Topic 6:

What was the “Final Solution?”

Questions:
1. What was the “Final Solution?”
2. Who were implementers of the “Final Solution?”
3. How was the “Final Solution” supposed to be carried out?
4. How many Jewish lives were lost as a result of “The Final Solution” and the Holocaust?
5. Add any other interesting facts you think would be
valuable to your research.

Sites to use:
http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/pages/fs.html
http://www1.yadvashem.org.il/Odot/prog/index_before_change_table.asp?gate=1-6
http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/pages/t023/t02323.html
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/

Other Links that may be helpful in all topics:

Timeline
http://remember.org/educate/mtimeline.html

Vocabulary
http://remember.org/educate/vocabulary.html

Pictures
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/phototoc.html

Other information:
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/
General information covering many topics of the Holocaust

http://www.candles-museum.com/
Focuses mostly on German Experiments on Children by the infamous Dr. Mengele.