Echoes From Auschwitz

The material used in this lesson plan is excerpted from the book Echoes From Auschwitz: Dr. Mengele’s Twins – The Story of Eva and Miriam Mozes.

You might also like to see the notes I took at a lecture given at Olivet Nazarene University by Mrs. Kor. Click here.

OBJECTIVE: Students will be able to discuss the fate of children who were the subjects of experiments in Auschwitz under the guidance of Dr. Josef Mengele. They will also understand that there are corporations functioning today that had a role in those experiments.

MOTIVATIONAL ACTIVITY: Provide students with copies of the following documents, double-side photocopied. Read with them the following two versions of the Hippocratic Oath –

Hippocratic Oath -- Classical Version

I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant:

To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art - if they desire to learn it - without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.

I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.

I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.

I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work.

Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves.

What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about.

If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot.

Translation from the Greek by Ludwig Edelstein. From The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation, by Ludwig Edelstein. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1943. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_classical.html (Accessed August 4 2005).

Here is the modern version, which became commonplace after 1964:

Hippocratic Oath -- Modern Version

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

Written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, and used in many medical schools today. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_modern.html (Accessed August 4 2005).

In partners or groups, have students write down the similarities and differences between the ancient and modern versions. Ask students if they can think of reasons for the discrepancies, and why the modern version exists in the form that we see today. After students have had a fair amount of time for this investigation and summarization, come together as a large group and allow the students to bring forth their ideas.

ENGAGING ACTIVITY: Distribute copies of Chapters 17 and 18 (pages 103-116) from the book Echoes From Auschwitz: Dr. Mengele’s Twins – The Story of Eva and Miriam Mozes (attached). Students should read overnight for discussion the following day.

Having now covered a portion of Eva Mozes’ time as a “Mengele twin”, lead students in a discussion of the behavior of the Nazi doctors, orderlies, and nurses as compared with the Hippocratic Oath read the previous day.

Note: Use of a computer lab with Internet access is necessary for the remainder of this lesson plan.

Once students have logged in to your school’s network, have them go to the following website:

http://www.candles-museum.com/frmain01_04.htm

Once everyone has located the site, have them select “Table of Contents”, then “Learn About the Holocaust”, then “Headaches For Bayer”. Allow students a few minutes to read the story. After they have finished that, have them choose “Bayer AG Acknowledgement” from the “Learn About the Holocaust” link. Lead students in a discussion by asking the following questions:

1. Does Bayer or any other company bear responsibility for events that occurred over half a century ago?

a. If so, should they pay reparations?

b. If not, how should those who claim to have been affected feel?

2. How can a concerned citizen make a difference against a corporate giant?

a. Would you donate to a cause such as this?

b. What would influence you to donate or not donate?

c. Would it matter to you whether or not you felt the case could be “won”?

3. Eva Mozes Kor has certainly seen her share of turmoil during her life. What would you say to her or ask her if you could speak to her right now?

After this discussion, give the students several minutes to surf around the rest of the C.A.N.D.L.E.S. website. Entertain any questions that arise, and if a prolonged discussion arises, encourage all students to get to the part of the site at hand.

ASSESSMENT: Students will be assigned a project grade based on one of the following two options. The second choice will require participation of the entire class. Both of these projects can be found on the C.A.N.D.L.E.S. website at http://www.candles-museum.com/projects_04.htm

Require teams of students to pack a bag (one for each team) for "relocation". They can take only items that might have been available (or similar to…) in 1944 and the weight of the bag can be no more than 40 pounds. You might ask students to see if grandparents have an old suitcase, similar to the type that European Jews might have had. Student groups should be able to tell why they chose what they packed. Those thinking outside the box will go beyond personal usefulness or sentimentality to issues such as value on the black market, etc.
At the liberation of Auschwitz, huge piles of clothing, shoes, medicines, hair, baby items, combs and brushes were left behind by the Germans, who had taken these items from their prisoners/victims. A common picture is of a pile of shoes found at the liberation of the camp. As an exercise, suggest your class bring in a pair of shoes (labeled so they can be returned) for each member of his/her family living in your school area. Make arrangements to pile these up somewhere - in the hall outside your classroom is suggested. Have students from neighboring classes come out to the hall and give their impressions of the mountain of shoes – write about the impact the shoes have on them. What do they think the shoes symbolize? How is it that someone can be reduced to only a pair of shoes? What if a person had to take back someone else’s shoes, or clothes? What would that do to their identity? Students choosing this project should develop a questionnaire based on the preceding queries and compile student responses. They should then analyze the responses and come up with conclusions and/or summary statements, injecting their own impressions/feelings along the way.

RESOURCE:

Kor, Eva Mozes as told to Mary Wright. Echoes From Auschwitz: Dr. Mengele’s Twins – The Story of Eva and Miriam Mozes. Terre Haute, IN: C.A.N.D.L.E.S., Inc. 2002. 189 pages. ISBN #0964380765.

C.A.N.D.L.E.S. website available at http://www.candles-museum.com/frmain01_04.htm.