Liberators Discussion Questions

  • What evidence of crimes against humanity did Allied forces discover when they first entered the concentration camps?

  • What widely differing reactions to freedom did liberators encounter among the survivors in the crucial days that followed liberation?

  • From personal stories of liberators and survivors, what can be learned about the importance of (a) human action, (b) human rights, and (c) the human spirit?

  • Many Jewish children were sent to England during World War II to be kept safe. Research the Kindertransport and use evidence to explain if the program was, in your opinion, a good solution to the problem.

  • Discuss the purpose of the concentration camp "death marches" at the end of the war.

  • After reading the reactions of Generals Eisenhower and Patton to their discoveries in the concentration camps, imagine how you may have reacted. Discuss how such a large scale massacre could have been kept secret for so long.

  • After seeing some photos of the liberated concentration camps, imagine you were an allied soldier seeing these things for the first time. What would you write home to your friends and family?

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