THE DIARY

OF MARY
BERG:
GROWING
UP IN THE
WARSAW
GHETTO
HI 109 Essay
Winter 2023
 Due: Tues. March 14
Where: Dropbox in MyLS
Include: Essay checklist (attach to DropBox submission)
Length: 7-8 pp + bibliography on a separate page; no title page;

THE remember to number the pages of the essay

Font: 12-point Times New Roman font
ESSAY Margins: Standard margins (1” margins on top & bottom, &

BASICS
1.25”-1.5” margins on left & right sides)

Value: 30%

The book is available at the WLU bookstore, through various

online retailers, and on MyLS under M13.
Purposeful summary & analysis of the diary that highlights a specific theme of your choosing.
Communicate, via essay, what you think this diary is about & why it is an important primary
source related to the Holocaust. What do you think MB wants us to know about her life? Why
do you think this? Explain how & why her book reads as it does.
There are lots of possibilities for themes; there is no single correct answer. The theme should
reflect the whole book & not just a part. What point does MB make throughout (or: what
preoccupations does she have? what does she emphasize?). Make the theme the main focus
(argument) of your essay. An argument is simply a statement of the position that you will
advance throughout the paper. Everything in your paper will work to develop this argument.

ESSAY TYPE
 THE WARTIME EXPERIENCES
OF MIRIAM WATTENBERG
(MARY BERG) 1924-2013
From Lodz to Warsaw Oct. 1939, then Lodz, then back to W-w end
1939
Sienna St. (later “small ghetto”)
Warsaw Ghetto Nov. 1940
Chlodna St. Dec. 1941
Pawiak Prison Jul. 17, 1942 to Jan. 18, 1943
Timing? Why & how?
Vittel Internment & Transit Camp, France Jan. 1943
Prisoner exchange Mar. 1944: from Vittel to Lisbon to NYC on SS
Gripsholm
State of WWII?

photo: ushmm
 Nazi ghettoization policy
Warsaw Nov. 1940 | sealed | 2.4% of Warsaw city area
Peak pop +400,000 but population turnover
Judenrat under Adam Czerniakow (d. Jul. 23, 1942)
THE Nazi food rations: starvation & disease & deaths

WARSAW Food & smuggling

GHETTO “The Great Action” July 22 to Sept. 21, 1942

Umschlagplatz  Treblinka
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Apr. 19 to May 16, 1943
Liberation Jan. 1945: 1% Jewish pop.
Warsaw Jewish pop. 375,000 pre-WWII
Vittel, c. 1943
Photo from ushmm
WAS MARY BERG’S LIFE STORY
TYPICAL OR ATYPICAL?
 Mother Lena born in USA & moved
MARY BERG’S to Poland 1918

ACCESS TO Father Shya (Shaia) & sister Anna &

Mary all with US status
AMERICAN Foreign nationals as “valuable
CITIZENSHIP hostages”
 Family wealth
Father’s job?
CLASS & Privileges in ghetto
 Housing
ECONOMIC  Jobs
STATUS  Food
 Leisure & educational
opportunities
Top: MB with Romek Kowalski,
Warsaw Ghetto, n.d.

Bottom: MB with friend in Jewish

police, Warsaw Ghetto, Aug. 1941

Source: ushmm
 Survival as exception
From “engaged” to “reclusive”
1944/45 public appearances

MARY BERG Uncooperative with Pentlin early 2000s

“Jewishness” of extended family
AS A  Ann’s son Steven Powell

HOLOCAUST Death MB 2013

Estate sale 2014: scrapbook & 100s of photos

SURVIVOR 1916-1950
Who should have this material & where
should the archive be stored?

USHMM archives: Browse here

Source:
NYT (Nov. 10, 2014), from
2014 estate sale
 Diaries rare
12 notebooks, Oct. 1939 to Mar. 1944
Polish language (code & short-hand)

MARY BERG Journalist S.L. Shneiderman in USA

AS A DIARY Serialized 1944 in Yiddish & English

Book publication English Feb. 1945
WRITER “Diary memoir” (Pentlin)
“Anne Frank before Anne Frank”
(1952)
The life of the diary 1950s
 Short sections but: Read enough in each sitting to really
READING THE get a feel for the book
Use post-it notes or highlight important sections
BOOK  Repeated emphases
 Examples of one of the main themes (the following is
an e.g. of privilege…)
 Striking wording (e.g. “We, who have been rescued
from the ghetto, are ashamed to look at each other.” and
“Had we the right to save ourselves?”)

Take notes: summarize what MB is saying so far; she

keeps repeating this point and often refers to X; she seems
preoccupied with this or that; I’m intrigued or confused by
…
Make a timeline that includes major events & major
character names
*Always include pp. with your notes & leave space to add
more (group your notes)*
THEMES & QUESTIONS TO THINK
ABOUT AS YOU READ
What is Mary Berg like How does MB How does MB respond Privileges in the
Why does MB write a
as a person? understand what is to persecution? ghetto: who gets them
diary? Is the diary very
happening & why? & why?
As a diarist & personal & emotional? How do others around
What does she want to
memoirist? Descriptive? Why? her respond? Effects?
record?

Hunger (literal &

figurative) & food:
Moral dilemmas Corruption America as a symbol Family & friends
who eats & who
doesn’t?

Everyday life & the

Jewish identity &
Loss chronicling of daily Other ideas?
religion
experiences
 THE ESSAY
ARGUMENT
= Your understanding of MB as an author and of what she is
trying to say in this diary and why
= Accurate reflection of author’s intentions & voice &
message
Stated in argument form: a position that can be defended
(not just a statement of topic)
Before you commit: Can you come up with the points
(evidence, examples) that will support your argument. How
will you fill the pages? Is your potential argument “sellable”?
Highlight the argument (bold it) as soon as you write it.
Bold the argument in your final copy too.
Avoid language of “good” or “bad” or “effective” or “easy to
read” or “boring”. This is NOT a book review and you are not
trying to “sell” the book. You are trying to show that you
understand it for what it is.
THESE ARE NOT ARGUMENTS
Mary Berg was a young woman who kept a diary in the Warsaw ghetto. This essay
will look at how Berg was able to survive in the ghetto.
What exactly allowed her to survive and how?

Mary Berg employed many strategies to survive the difficult war-time circumstances.
What were these strategies and how did they work?

Mary Berg’s diary is about daily life in the ghetto; it is filled with details that
describe the Nazi persecution of the Jews.
What details? What were Nazi policies like and how did they shape people’s lives?

This essay will ask whether Mary Berg had special privileges in the ghetto and
whether these privileges might have helped her survive.
Did she have special privileges or not? If she did, what were they and how did they help her survive?
INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH:
THE FOUNDATION OF EVERYTHING
ELSE
Introduces book & outlines • Argument conveys a position that can be defended.
argument. Bold it.

Argument can take more that

one sentence to set up. Use the
whole paragraph.
Intro paragraph also reveals
which specific topics you’ll
focus on in body of paper.
Intro includes a roadmap for
essay. What topics will you
cover and in what order?
 ONE WAY TO
BUILD AN
INTRODUCTORY
PARAGRAPH
Introduce the diary & MB. Outline the diary’s subject
matter. Tell the story briefly.
 The book is a diary & a memoir. It is NOT a novel and not a work
of fiction.

Introduce your specific “take” on the diary. State your

argument.
Tell the reader how you will go about making your
argument. What subjects will you discuss in order to
convince us of your position? The tone should be: “I
will convince you that my position is reasonable by
showing this, discussing that, focusing on these
areas…”.
BODY OF THE PAPER: ARGUE,
DESCRIBE, EXEMPLIFY, DISCUSS,
EXPLAIN, ILLUSTRATE, ENGAGE
This is the place where
you make your argument
& analyze the theme you
highlighted in intro.
Relate everything you
Just 3 paragraphs? NO!
write back to the
argument. Each new point & sub-
point gets its own para.
Defend your position.

Paragraph = Section of writing

that presents one specific &
well-defined point/theme.
Sentences & ideas in para must
be unified & must relate back
to a part of the argument.
When the sub-point is done,
move on to new para.
Analyze Berg’s
emphases, biases, words,
methods, inclusions,
omissions. Understand,
reveal, expose & explain.
 WRITING
Form of communication
Process
Read, think, plan, organize evidence,
develop argument & argument parts,
make an outline, write and re-write
Write from start to finish? Start in the
middle & write sections or chunks?
Outline: What is it & how to use it?
Rough & fast first draft + multiple
revisions
Paper and computer
To go to the Writing Services
web page click here.

Screenshot on right (no hyperlinks).

 TO MAKE AN
APPOINTMENT AT
WRITING SERVICES
CLICK HERE.

Writing Services does not offer an

editing or proofreading service.
Instead: Provide reader response &
feedback; identify strengths &
weaknesses in argument, structure
and language; discuss process & next
steps.

Screenshot on right (no hyperlinks).

 Why use additional sources? Context, details, explanations

OTHER THAN 1. Beorn chapter on Nazi ghettoization policies (available M13 & M14 in
THE DIARY MyLS)

(THE MAIN 2. Bednarski, dir. Warsaw: A City Divided (2018) – Based on10-min. film
from 1941; shows Warsaw then & now; film available under M13 & M14 or
SOURCE), via Omni (log in); for trailer click here

WHAT 3. Pentlin Intro (& very short Shneiderman preface)

ADDITIONAL 4. Holocaust lecture for context & background – If need be only. If you use
the lecture, FN w my name, lecture title, date (& incl in biblio too)

SOURCES DO 5. Sources you find online? Not required or encouraged BUT if you use
something then it must be in FN & Bibliography.
I NEED TO
USE FOR What does it mean to “use” the secondary sources?
THIS ESSAY? How much do I use these other sources? At a MINIMUM: Beorn chapter
x1, Bednarski film x1, Pentlin Diary Intro x1. But good papers will use more!
How many times should I cite the Diary itself? At least once every
paragraph, more or less. Depends on para length. Good papers will use more.
WHEN DO YOU PUT A SOURCE
IN THE FOOTNOTES? (DO NOT
USE ENDNOTES)
If you paraphrase or quote from a source, then that source must appear both in your
footnotes & in your bibliography
 Paraphrase def’n
 Direct quote def’n
 When to use a direct quote? Best for primary sources (the diary)

Accuracy of page numbers

 Importance of note-taking
 Spot checks

Importance of FN on a scale of 1 to 10?

How many FNs?
 Acknowledge the work of others. Give
credit. Intellectual property.

Traceability. Can the detail you provided

WHY CITE or the conclusion you reached be
checked? Can your detail be reproduced?
YOUR What is the original source for the
information?
WORK?
Credibility. Proof.
 HOW TO WRITE
FOOTNOTES &
BIBLIOGRAPHIE
S

Formulaic!
Citation style in History
= Chicago Manual of
Style
For access to the style
guide (shown on left)
click here.
 Go to “References” in MS Word & click “insert footnote”.
This is how you should write the FN for the MB diary.
HOW TO Follow the format exactly (note the italics & the
punctuation):
FOOTNOTE Mary Berg, The Diary of Mary Berg: Growing Up in the
THE MARY Warsaw Ghetto, ed. S.L. Shneiderman, prepared by Susan
Pentlin (1945; rpt. London: Oneworld Publications, 2018),
BERG p. 55.

DIARY If you are using the 2006 ed. rather than the 2018 edition,
replace “2018” with “2006”.
Always italicize book titles as well as journal &
newspaper titles. Put article titles in quotation marks.
For all subsequent references to the same title, you must
use a short form of the original footnote. DO NOT repeat
the full reference again.
Berg, Diary, p. 89.
HOW TO
FOOTNOTE
SHNEIDERMAN’ S.H. Shneiderman, “Preface to the 1945
Edition”, in Mary Berg, The Diary of Mary
S PREFACE TO Berg: Growing Up in the Warsaw Ghetto,
THE BERG ed. S.L. Shneiderman, prepared by Susan
Pentlin (1945; rpt. London: Oneworld
DIARY Publications, 2018), p. xi.

For all subsequent references to this preface,

you must use a short form of the original
footnote. DO NOT repeat the full reference
again.
Shneiderman, “Preface”, xii.
HOW TO
FOOTNOTE
PENTLIN’S Why & how to use the Pentlin Intro in your
INTRODUCTION essay.
TO THE BERG Susan Pentlin, “Introduction”, in Mary Berg,
DIARY The Diary of Mary Berg: Growing Up in the
Warsaw Ghetto, ed. S.L. Shneiderman,
prepared by Susan Pentlin (1945; rpt.
London: Oneworld Publications, 2018), p.
xxix.
For all subsequent references to the Pentlin
introduction, you must use a short form of
the original footnote. DO NOT repeat the
full reference again.
Pentin, “Introduction”, p. xxvi.
 HOW TO
FOOTNOTE THE
BEORN Waitman Wade Beorn, The Holocaust in
Eastern Europe: At the Epicenter of the
CHAPTER Final Solution (London: Bloomsbury, 2018),
Examples of how you might use Beorn:
p. 152.
As Beorn states, the Nazis created ghettos in EE because…
FN pp. 152-3. Note: You do not name the specific chapter
There were over 1,000 ghettos in Nazi-occupied eastern in your FN. You just give the page
Europe, and each had unique features. FN p. 157
number(s). In other words, the chapter title,
According to historian Waitman Beorn, the Judenrat was…
FN pp. 159-61
“Ghetto Life and Death in the East”, does
Mary Berg writes in her diary that Adam Czerniakow
not appear anywhere in your FNs or in your
committed suicide. Czerniakow was… and his approach to biblio.
his job was… FN Beorn pp. 161-2
The Jewish ghetto police had many privileges. These
included… FN Beorn p. 176. Mary Berg thought this about
the ghetto police… FN Berg diary.
HOW TO
FOOTNOTE THE Eric Bednarski, dir., Warsaw: A City
DOCUMENTARY Divided, (2019, Poland), DVD.
The documentary gives you some visual images
from the Warsaw ghetto; together with survivors’
descriptions of their experiences, these images can You do not need to include scenes or
help you imagine “what it was like” to live there at times.
that time. The documentary also gives you some
basic information (facts, details) about the ghetto &
Nazi policy. All of these can be incorporated into
your essay for context.
 Separate page at the end of essay with the title “Bibliography”
NOT “Works Cited”

Collapse parts of sources (do not separate out preface & intro

HOW TO
from main text, for example)

WRITE THE
Every source you have consulted & used must be listed (even if
this was not a required or recommended or approved source)!!!!

BIBLIOGR Alphabetize entries by surname

APHY Do not number the entries

Each entry should be single-spaced (go to the “spacing” settings

of MS Word to do this).

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Note the changes to FN format: last
name before first name; periods instead
of commas. No parentheses. No page
numbers (and still no chapter title for
Beorn).
Listings are alphabetized by surname.
Each entry in single spaced.
Entries are not numbered.
Bednarski, Eric. Warsaw: A City Divided.
2019, Poland, DVD.
Beorn, Waitman Wade. The Holocaust in
Eastern Europe: At the Epicenter of the
Final Solution. London: Bloomsbury, 2018.
Berg, Mary. The Diary of Mary Berg:
Growing Up in the Warsaw Ghetto. Ed. S.L.
Shneiderman. Prepared by Susan Pentlin.
1945. Rpt. London: Oneworld Publications,
2018.
 Def’n: Cutting & pasting from printed or web sources (even if some words
& the word order are changed).

ACADEMI
 Incl. student essays, student presentations/slideshows, lectures, blogs,
online versions of academic articles, newspaper articles, Google book
sections, etc.
C  Collaborating “too closely”
 Buying an essay or getting someone else to write it for you

INTEGRIT  Chat GPT or similar AI

Y& But also:

PLAGIARI Copying exactly or paraphrasing “too closely”, not using quotation marks,
& then putting a FN at the end

SM Not attributing ideas, wording & syntax to the specific correct source &
page #. Spot checks.

If you are unsure, err on the side of caution & FN it!

Turnitin
Consequences
 If you have any
questions about
Read the Watch this video on plagiarism, please
university calendar plagiarism don’t hesitate to ask!
about plagiarism ; it is hosted by the Ignorance is no
. Library. excuse for
plagiarism!

MORE ON ACADEMIC
MISCONDUCT
ESSAY CHECKLIST: WHAT TO DO BEFORE YOU HAND IN YOUR ESSAY
+ THERE WILL BE A CHECKLIST FOR YOU TO ATTACH TO YOUR
DROPBOX SUBMISSION

Write several drafts! Read the

essay out loud to yourself to Have you converted your essay
Run spell check. Grammar
catch problems in logic, from Google Docs to Word or
Re-read all the essay check? Review grammar
argumentation & writing. If it PDF so that you can submit it to
instructions. lessons.
sounds ‘off’ then it probably is. Dropbox? For instructions
Read for one issue at a time. click here.

Bold the argument. Argument:

7 pages not incl. biblio. outlines position (can be Provide footnotes (at bottom of Submit essay to Dropbox on
Number the pages! defended, challenged); is more ea. page) & separate Biblio. Pay MyLS.
No title page. than simple statement of what attention to details. Submit checklist.
topics the essay covers.
HOW WILL THE
ESSAY BE GRADED
Basic criteria: 7 pp. + accurate & complete FNs & biblio
Argument in introduction
Argument developed throughout body of the essay
Evidence to support argument (examples, analysis)
Use of secondary sources
Quality (sophistication, clarity, depth) of argument &
argument development: Do you build your case well?
Quality of academic writing: clear, concise, precise
Proper use of citations
 Monday March 6 @ 5:30-6:20 BA 209
(Christian)

Wednesday March 8 @ 2:00-2:50 BA 210

(Molly)

OPTIONAL TA-
LED ESSAY Thursday March 9 @ 4:00-4:50 BA 111 (Aaron)

SESSIONS And Plach’s office hours:

Tuesdays & Thursdays @ 1:30 DAWB 4-136
+ email for a Zoom appointment
eplach@wlu.ca
DIARY & CONTENT QUIZ

Tuesday March 7 In person not online