Memory of Babyn Yar

A tragedy for diversity in Ukraine

Sprache: English
Von: Prof. Dr. Yurij Shapoval, Yulia Ostropalchenko
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Ablaufplan

  1. Stunde 1: The Tragedy of Babyn Yar

    1. Lernziele

      • The pupils gain a general understanding of the Holocaust, genocides, the Einsatzgruppe etc.
      • They gain or actualize basic knowledge about the history of Ukraine with regard to the Holocaust.

    2. Vorbereitung

      • The teacher should make sufficient copies of material 1.
      • Technical prerequisites to present the video in material 2 are given. The teacher checks the video and reflects whether it is appropriate to watch with the specific group of lerners or if an alternative access has to be prepared.
      • The teacher prepares an association mind map by writing the following word on the whiteboard or a pin board: Holocaust, Babyn Yar, Genocide, Ukraine, Einsatzgruppe, Memory culture. There should be enough space around the words to place various prompt cards. The map will be used again in the next lesson.
      • Prompt cards, pens, and pins or magnets to place them on the association map, should be prepared.
      • The teacher takes a look at the definition of some of the key terms in the glossary (material 13). The timeline (material 12) may serve for orientation during the five lessons.

    3. 1 . Introduction

      Dauer 15 min
      • The teacher introduces the subject of the unit and discusses the lesson's keywords: Ukraine, Holocaust, Babyn Yar, Genocide, Einsatzgruppe, and Memory culture.
      • The teacher notes the contributions on the whiteboard and may complete some details that seem very important with the help of the glossary (material 13). Still, in general the discussion rather serves to find out the pupil's previous knowledge.
      • Discussion starters: 
        > What do you know about Ukraine and its history? (optional question for pupils who live outside of Ukraine)
        > In what situation was the territory of Ukraine on the eve and at the beginning of the Second World War?
        > What do you know about the Holocaust in Europe during the Second World War and in Ukraine in particular?
        > What were the plans of the Nazis regar­ding the fate of the Jews who lived in the territory of modern Ukraine?
        > What do you know about Babyn Yar?
        > What were the mission and tasks of the Einsatzgruppen during the Second World War?
        > What is the meaning of memory culture?
      • The teacher hands out the worksheet (material 1) and asks the pupils to fill in the first two columns of the table.

    4. 2 . Phase of Work

      Dauer 25 min
      • The teacher shows the video (material 2).
      • After watching the video, the pupils discuss the content and their impressions.
      • Discussion starters: 
        > What is the central message of the video?
        > To what extent do the eyewitnesses’ testimonies help you better understand the tragedy of Babyn Yar?
        > What does it tell about memory practice?
      • Then, the teacher asks them to fill the last column of the table (material 1).
      • During this, the teacher hands out prompt cards and pens and places the association mind map in front.
      • The teacher asks the pupils to write down their associations with these expressions and place them on the map.

    5. 3 . Conclusion

      Dauer 5 min
      • Teacher and pupils read the mind map together, correcting the position of some cards if necessary, and internalizing the result for the following lessons.
      • The teacher ensures that the mind map will be available at the next lesson.

  2. Stunde 2: How it all began

    1. Lernziele

      • The pupils gain a deeper understanding of the history right before the Nazis committed their crimes in Babyn Yar.

    2. Vorbereitung

      • The teacher places the mind map from the last lesson in front so that the pupils can see it.
      • The teacher provides sufficient copies of material 3.

    3. 4 . Introduction

      Dauer 5 min
      • The teacher recalls the memory of the last lesson by again showing  the mind map of the previous lesson. In this lesson, the pupils will get a deeper insight to the history by working with textual sources.

    4. 5 . Phase of work

      Dauer 15 min
      • The teacher divides the pupils into small groups and circulates the worksheet (material 3).
      • After a brief individual reading period, the pupils initiate a group discussion on content and meaning of the document. This interactive session allows the pupils to engage and contribute to the learning process, regardless of the language in which they read the document.
      • The teacher makes sure that the discussion of the groups that start earlier do not disturb the other groups.

    5. 6 . Presentation of the results and conclusion

      Dauer 20 min
      • One group presents the results, and pupils of the other groups add further details and opinions.
      • Finally, the teacher adds missing details.
      • Learning expectations:
        The course of action of publishing such an announcement was a typical Nazi strategy to deceive and confuse their victims before execution. The announcement did not show the Jews that they were in mortal danger, it instead was giving the impres­sion that they would be resettled. Indeed, some rumors in Kyiv made people believe that they would be sent somewhere else. The ban on entering apartments left behind and appro­priating Jewish property may have even created the illusion of protection, that their property would be safe and await their return. At the same time, the announce­ment contained the threat of punishment by death for disobedience. Therefore, it was quite understandable that many Jews believed it safer to comply and move at the appointed time to the meeting point.
      • The teacher then concludes that the vast majority of Jews who cmae to the meeting point were killed, and only very few people survived.

  3. Stunde 3: A Place unremembered

    1. Lernziele

      • The pupils gain an insight into the complexity and controversiality of the memory culture in Babyn Yar during the Soviet period.
      • They know the main reasons behind the suppression of the memory in Babyn Yar and different periods of the memory culture.
      • The pupils understand that the controversy can be regarded as the beginning of the Soviet propaganda creating an image of Ukrainian as collaborators and complicit in the murder of Jews, which is the basis for the actual propaganda used by President Putin justify war officially.

    2. Vorbereitung

      • The teacher provides sufficient copies of materials 4 and 6.
      • The teacher prepares the video’s presentation (material 5) and selects the chosen excerpt (min. 10:18 to 14:47).

    3. 7 . Introduction

      Dauer 5 min
      • The teacher starts the lesson by informing the pupils that in 1961, the Russian-Soviet poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko published a poem titled "Babyn Yar". The first lines are: "There are no monuments over Babyn Yar".
      • The teacher asks the pupils if they know what this was about.
      • After a short discussion, the teacher announces that the following lesson will be on the complex and controversial commemoration of Babyn Yar.
         

    4. 8 . Phase of work I

      Dauer 15 min
      • The teacher hands out the eyewitness account (material 4) and asks the pupils to read it silently.
      • The teacher asks the pupils to summarize what they have read.
      • To provide further context, the teacher shows the excerpt (min. 10:18 up to 14:47) of the video on Paul Blobel (material 5).
      • After watching the video, the teacher asks the pupils to discuss whether this cover-up operation may have led to the suppression of the commemoration of Babyn Yar.
      • Learning expectation:
        From this discussion the teacher will learn about the pupil’s previous knowledge on post-war Soviet propaganda.
        The discussion should lead to the conclu­sion that Soviet officials had no obligation to cover up crimes committed by the Nazis, but blocked the commemoration of Babyn Yar for different reasons.
       

    5. 9 . Phase of Work II

      Dauer 15 min
      • The teacher explains that during the Second World War, Josef Stalin had begun a campaign against Soviet Jews, claiming that Jews were unpatriotic and not loyal to the countries in which they lived. Soviet offi­cials also refused to recognise Jews as members of Soviet society, therefore, offi­cial reports on the massacre of Babyn Yar in 1944 proclaimed Soviet citizens as vic­tims without showing that the majority of them were Jews. Ironically, this could actu­ally be interpreted as a sign that Jews were integral parts of the society, so it was not even worth mentioning that these Soviet civilians were Jews, but this was clearly not the intention of the Soviet offi­cials withholding this information, they rather intended to cover up the genocide.
        After Stalins death, the first plans to erect a monument in 1957 were stopped. Instead, a sports stadium was intended to cover the place of the massacre, but this plan was not realized either. Likewise, a park with a monument was not realized in Babyn Yar.
      • However, these plans were thwarted by Nikita Khrush­chev, who advocated for the construction of a dam in 1961 to store sludge and water from the nearby quarry, a decision that profoundly impacted the memory of the place.
      • The teacher stops here, divided the class into working groups and hands our the worksheet on Kurenivka's flood (material 6).
      • The groups read the text and answer the questions.

    6. 10 . Presentation of the results

      Dauer 10 min
      • The pupils present their ideas on naming Kurenivka's flood as "Revenge of Babyn Yar".
      • Learning expectation:
        The idea of calling the flooding “Revenge of Babyn Yar” reflects the protest against the Soviet suppression of the commemoration of the massacre and criticizes the government for covering up.
      • At the end of the lesson, the teacher directs the pupil's attention to the fact, that in the same year, the flood occurred, the publication of the previously mentioned poem was allowed, showing that Soviet politics of suppressing the commemoration started weakening.
        However, in the 1960s and 1970s, trials of former collaborators took place. Those together with the monument at Babyn Yar that nonoured the Soviet citizens who were killed, can be regarded as the beginning of the current narrative used by Vladimir Putin to claim that Ukrainians are accomplices of the fascists.

  4. Stunde 4: The Memory about Babyn Yar in the Time of Ukrainian Independence

    1. Lernziele

      • The pupils understand different aspects of the commemoration controversy and know the significant monuments.
      • The pupils reflect on the symbolism of memory culture.

    2. Vorbereitung

      • The teacher makes sufficient copies of material 7 for the group work.
      • The teacher holds one copy of material 8 to present the commemoration controversy.
      • Pinning materials for presenting the images (material 7) in front are available.
      • The equipment for presenting a video (material 9) is prepared.

    3. 11 . Introduction

      Dauer 1 min
      • The teacher announces that this is the last lesson on the topic, which deals with the actual perspective.

    4. 12 . Phase of work

      Dauer 19 min
      • The teacher divides the class into 6 groups and hands out to each group one of the photographs of the Babyn Yar monuments (material 7). Every pupil in one group holds one copy of the respective image.
      • The pupils work on the task in their groups.
      • Shortly before the group work ends, the teacher hangs or projects the images in front to be visible to everybody.

    5. 13 . Presentation of the results and closer look

      Dauer 20 min
      • The groups present their results. The teacher may assist with some details, but announces that they will contextualize the monuments together after the presentation.
      • After presenting the results, the teacher reads the text on the commemoration controversy (material 8) and shows the resepctive monument when the text deals with it.

    6. 14 . Conclusion

      Dauer 5 min
      • The teacher summarizes that it was an important step to recognize that the massacre of Babyn Yar was directed primarily but not only against Jews. Roma, prisoners of war, and Ukrainian nationalists were also killed there. It was a genocide and part of the Holocaust.
        Further, not only victims of this genocide fell or were thrown into the ravine, but also victims of the Holodomor.
      • The teacher shows the video (material 9) and asks the pupils to discuss the symbolism.
      • At the end of the lesson, the teacher reminds the pupils not to forget to bring the worksheet "What means Babyn Yar" (material 1) again for the final lesson.

  5. Stunde 5: Memory of Babyn Yar and the War in Ukraine. Eyes closed

    1. Lernziele

      • The pupils reflect on the connection between Babyn Yar and the actual war in Ukraine.
      • The lesson helps the pupils to grasp the profound significance of the term genocide and its direct impact on conflicts and wars, fostering a sense of empathy and understanding.

    2. Vorbereitung

      • The teacher makes sufficient copies of material 11.
      • Technical devices for an internet research (group work) are available.
      • The teacher recalls the dynamics in the previous lessons. In case confrontative discussions between Russian (and pro-Russian) pupils and Ukrainian (and pro-Ukrainian) pupils continuously arouse or traumatized Ukraininan pupils are in the class, the teacher may skip the discussion if elements of the current war can be regarded as genocidal. In case of doubt, the teacher asks the pupils directly individually, before the lesson.
      • The teacher prepares the presentation of the image (material 10).

    3. 15 . Introduction

      Dauer 5 min
      • The teacher presents the image of the 81st anniversary of the massacre of Babyn Yar (material 10), asks the pupils to describe it first and then interpret it.
      • When a translation app is installed on the pupil's cellphones, they can use the camera function to interpret the text into a language they understand. This is, for example, possible with Google Lens.
      • Discussion starters:
        > What is the meaning of the text?
        > What is the meaning of  the missile? Do you have an idea what happened in 2022?
      • The teacher announces that the following lesson will draw connections between what happened in Babyn Yar and the actual war.
      • The teacher reminds the pupils that they have already learned about the Nazi narrative which can be traced back up to the times of the massacre of Babyn Yar.

    4. 16 . Phase of work

      Dauer 20 min
      • The teacher recalls the information the pupils gathered in the first lesson about the term of genocide and reads the definition from the glossary (material 13):
        “Genocide is an act intentionally committed with the aim of the complete or partial destruc­tion of any national, ethnic, racial or religious group by taking the lives of mem­bers of such a group or inflicting serious bodily harm on them, creating living condi­tions for the group designed for its com­plete or partial physical destruction, redu­cing or preventing childbearing in such a group or by forcibly transferring children from one group to another.”
      • The teacher asks the pupils to discuss whether the tragedy of Babyn Yar was a genocide.
      • Advice:
        The next step should be skipped if very pro- and anti-Russia controversies in the class are expected. Regarding the Ukrai­nian pupils in the class, the teacher deci­des beforehand whether this step is appropriate or not. In case of doubt, the teacher may also ask the respective pupil before deciding.
      • The teacher raises the question of whether the war in Ukraine that was renewed in 2022 also contains elements of a genocide. If the discussion becomes emotional, the teacher can quickly introduce the next step.
      • Learning expectation:
        The pupils can use this slot to discuss the war. They can use the chance to express their concerns, by connecting their impressions with the task of knowledge transfer. Similarities to genocide can be seen in the mass shootings in Bucha (also known as the “Massacre of Bucha”); the fight for Mariu­pol was different; shelling of places where civilian population gathers may not be judged as specifically genocidal, but indeed violate international laws; the destruction of infrastructure and the mining of cultivated areas can, in masses, be considered as genocidal, if it is extensive to harm parts of the Ukrainian population; sexual crimes as war crimes are also genocidal; further, the deportation of children reminds of the Nationalsocialist crimes. It is worth noting that the Russian aggression destroys citizens of Ukraine, regardless of their ethnicity.
      • The discussion can be closed by emphasizing that the final judgment will always be made after such conflicts. Following the discussion, the teacher asks the pupils, how the judgment whether violent conflicts or wars were genocieds or not, can be made.
      • When no new statements are given, the teacher introduces the project "Closed Eyes" (in Ukrainian "ЗАКРИТІ ОЧІ" and asks the pupils to form groups and find out what the project is about and introduce one case. The teacher hands out the worksheet (material 11).
           

    5. 17 . Presentation of the results

      Dauer 5 min
      • One group presents their results; the other pupils may complete the project's presentation.
      • The other groups add the presentation of their cases.

    6. 18 . Closure

      Dauer 15 min
      • The teacher informs the pupils that on March 1st, 2023 Russian missiles were fired at the territory of the Babyn Yar memorial complex. President Zelenski commented on this attack on Twitter: “Why you repeat ‘Never again’ for 80 years, if when a bomb falls on Babyn Yar, the world remains silent? Five more lives were lost. History repeats itself…”
      • The teacher asks the pupils for their opition on thes Tweet.
      • After the discussion cools down OR right on time to finalize the lesson with a retrospective view, the teacher asks the pupils to review and reinforce their understanding of the concepts coverd by looking at the worksheet from the first lesson (material 1).
      • At the end of the lesson the teacher allows pupils to express their opinions of feelings about what they just learned.

Sie können auch die gesamte Materialsammlung zusammen mit dem kompletten Text dieser Unterrichtseinheit herunterladen.

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