Students will hear the story of one survivor, Raye David, and discuss topics surrounding the concept of home, how survivors rebuilt their lives after the war, the kinds of things that they deemed most important in rebuilding their lives, and why they chose not to return to the countries where they were born.
Often, Jewish survivors made the decision to settle in countries besides their native ones after the war because their families, communities, and lives back home had been destroyed and they faced continued violence and antisemitism there.
Explain to the students that after WWII ended and liberation from the camps a very difficult period of recovery began for around 6 million refugees and displaced persons. Jewish refugees in particular faced much discrimination from authorities, and had a difficult time re-building their lives. Discuss how complex the process was for emigrating, but even though it took years, many Jewish survivors were determined to do it.
Watch the source video with the class (suggested start time at 23:30). Tell students that the woman is named Raye David, a Holocaust survivor that ended up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin after the war.
As a class, lead a discussion based around the following questions:
This lessons meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
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