This is a day to start really comparing The Book Thief to our world around us. We'll be starting first with an article from the New York Times, called "Auschwitz Shifts From Memorializing to Teaching." As you read, fill in the the accompanying worksheet to help organize your thoughts.
Once you're finished, you will need to read the excerpt from The Book Thief. Again, fill in the double entry close reading sheet to organize and keep track of your thoughts.
What lines in the passage from “The Book Thief” stand out most to you? Why? How do you interpret them? How would you describe Death, the narrator of this passage? Why?
Markus Zusak uses poetic words to describe brutal events. After reading the excerpt, do you feel this style does justice to what he is describing? Why or why not?
How else in your life, whether in textbooks, news accounts, novels, films or oral histories, have you encountered the information about the deaths in Auschwitz and other concentration camps that inspired this passage? Which depictions most affected you? Why?
According to the Times article, why might Auschwitz “no longer speak for itself” the way it did for an earlier audience? Why do those who are in charge of its legacy think “Auschwitz needs an update”? What was the goal when the site was first opened to visitors, and how has that goal changed?
What do you think Piotr Cywinski, the director of the museum, means when he says, “But there is another level of education, a level of awareness about the meaning of those facts. It’s not enough to cry. Empathy is noble, but it’s not enough.”
“The Book Thief” tells the story of the Holocaust in a very different way than the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, but both seek to engage and educate young people. How do you think the story of the Holocaust should be told to people your age? How should it not be told? Why?
Assignment
Fill in all worksheets and turn them in.
Answer the discussion questions and turn your responses in as well.