The Yellow Badge
My grandmother had a box filled with buttons, threads, and pieces of fabric.
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US Holocaust Memorial Museum educators and historians created these lesson plans for use in secondary classrooms. Click on a lesson plan to see its recommended grade level, subjects covered, and time required to complete. To explore lessons organized by theme, visit Teaching Materials by Topic.
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D-Day and Movies
Steven Spielberg’s movie Saving Private Ryan paid tribute to a famous, if not the most famous, battle in history: D-Day in France on June 6, 1944. The movie depicts the landing of the Allied forces at the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. The movie shows the landing, soldiers jumping into the water, the battle, and soldiers dying from German machine-gun fire. This is the most impressive and even shocking scene. I fully understand the scene, because one summer I stood on those hills where the German machine-gun bunkers were located. I looked down to the sea and saw the steep rock walls. I concluded that to climb up to the hills from the sea was a mission impossible, even without the machine-gun fire.
Times Change
The sign at the entrance to the park at Mayo Beach on the Chesapeake Bay revealed that the area was closed for the day. Of course, I was disappointed. It was the fall of 2022 and I had been invited by my friend Donato for lunch to enjoy German food and music for Oktoberfest in a country restaurant near the small town of Edgewater, Maryland, near the Bay. I had not been a great fan of attending German cultural events. However, over time, my attitude had changed.
Have I Changed Over Time?
My best remembered early days were unfortunately my years in Nazi Germany.
A Blissful Event
The year was 1963, and I was serving in the Israeli air force. I worked as a programmer on that famous huge Philco computer that filled a whole floor.
Becoming Who I Am
My mother’s oft-repeated axiom to me was, “Remember the good, forget the bad.” Undoubtedly, that is how she willed herself to move on with life after the Nazis robbed her of a husband and two daughters.
The Choices We Make, Part I
There have been many moments in my adult life when I have had to make a decision. Sometimes, I had to choose one option from a list of many. Sometimes, I had only two bad options. And, rarely, I had two good ones.
Have We Ever Learned from History?
My answer is no, and I have reasons, because wars come around like the seasons. Where there is a man with absolute power, his rule can be a disaster.
A Mother’s Lesson for Life
Six months ago, in mid-2023, I suddenly lost much of my hearing. Thanks to the care of my physicians and audiologists, the condition has improved. Still, it has been a life-changing event, which at times has left me anxious and sometimes almost despondent.
They Took My Father Away
They took my father away. They came one evening and took him away on a stretcher. Two policemen in blue uniforms bent over the black, blanketed heap And heaved up the poles And opened the door and left.
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