DOCUMENT RESUME ED 420 612 SO 028 885 AUTHOR Schindler, Carolyn B. National Decision Making during the Holocaust. Romania and TITLE Bulgaria: A Study in Contrasts. Fulbright-Hays Summer Seminars Abroad, 1997. (Romania and Bulgaria). Center for International Education (ED), Washington, DC. SPONS AGENCY PUB DATE 1997-00-00 14p.; For other documents in the 1997 program, see SO 028 NOTE 883-890. PUB TYPE Guides Non-Classroom (055) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. *Anti Semitism; Fascism; Foreign Countries; High Schools; DESCRIPTORS *Jews; Judaism; Justice; Nationalism; Nazism; Political Attitudes; Political Science; Social Bias; Social Discrimination; Social Studies; World Affairs; *World War II Bulgaria; *Holocaust; Romania IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT This one-week intensive study is intended for use within a one semester course focusing on the Holocaust and human behavior for the upper level high school student. The unit examines the history of Romania and Bulgaria, especially during Nazi occupation in World War II. Students explore the decisions of each nation and the impact they had on the lives of the citizens. Students research the two countries to determine how the Jews were treated during the Holocaust and the way in which national decisions were made and implemented. (EH) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** ULBRIGH 430411k)aticts.,- L`111-14WWW' 1 during the Holocaust. National Decision Making in Contrasts. Romania and Bulgaria: A Study Abroad, 1997. Fulbright-Hays Summer Seminars (Romania and Bulgaria) Carolyn Schindler History Teacher Duxbury Junior Senior High School Duxbury, MA 02332 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) tThis document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI positior. or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 2 Mti\V CH21 (0)M [11) NANO LA Ual ND BULGARIA A STUDY IN CONTRASTS A mini-study unit by Carolyn B. Schindler for 1997 Romania-Bulgaria Fuibright Summer Seminar for Teachers 3 I NATIONAL DECISION MAKING BETWEEN THE YEARS 1918 AND 1946 ROMANIA AND BULGARIA A STUDY IN CONTRASTS This one week intensive study is intended for Use within a one semester course called THE HOLOCAUST AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR. Offered to juniors and seniors in high school, this elective course examines not only the events of the Holocaust, but the reasons which led to its development. Much of the focus of the course is on individuals and their behavior. We study victims, victimizers, bystanders, and resisters. We read memoirs of people who lived through those years to analyze and compare the decisions they made and the reasons for them. I went on the Romania-Bulgaria Fulbright with the idea of investigating the Holocaust as it manifested itself in each country, but I soon learned that my quest was not going to be easy. In Romania first, I found no one who would or could talk about the Holocaust. I was even told to change my topic, that the research had not yet been done. I located only one synogogue which was not open, nor could I tell if it still functioned. I learned of one person who had sheltered a Jewish friend, but I was able to interview no one. The lack of information was discouraging. It certainly was true that the economic situation today is so bleak that people give all their attention to survival, and that life under the Communist dictator Ceaucescu was so restricted that perhaps no study had been done. However, Bulgaria proved just the opposite. People there seemed proud of their national role in the Holocaust, and they bragged that not one Jew had been given up to Germany's genocidal plans. I visited a functioning synogogue in Sofia and learned about Jewish history in Bulgaria before, during, and after the war. I also interviewed two elderly women, one Jewish, one Gentile, about the war years. Even though present economic conditions are perhaps even more bleak that those in Romania, people were not reluctant to discuss what happened during the war. There is no sense of national shame over what happened to Bulgarian citizens of any religious or ethnic origin. While in Romania and Bulgaria, it occurred to me that not only individuals but nations make decisions which have a profound impact on their citizens, that national decision making is even more complicated and intricate than individual decision making. Romania and Bulgaria are two eastern European countries about which little is known in the United States. What happened in those two countries in the years leading up to the war as well as the reasons for the national decisions made and actions taken before, during and after the war should prove to American students that there are no simple answers to the WHYS of history, that predictions of what might have, could have, and should have happened often prove wrong in the face of the realities of war. NATBONAL DECOSOON AMONG EDURONG THE HOLOCAUST ROEVIANBA AND BULGARBA ON-CLASS RESEARCH PROJECT How much can you learn in 6 minutes? For the purposes of this project, you have selected one of two eastern European countries involved in World War II - Bulgaria or Romania. Right now you probably know very little about either country. Today we will be seeking answers to questions related to the decisions made in each of these countries before, during and after World War II. By working together, members of each group should be able to find out a great deal about one country and teach it to the students in the other group. DIRECTIONS: As you look up answers to the following questions, record both the answer and the source of the answer on your chart. 1. Location: Where is Bulgaria/Romania? What are its borders? How big is the country? Has the size of the country or its borders changed at all in the 20th century? Where is the country located in relation to the Germany of 1940? 2. Pre-World War II History: On which side did Bulgaria/Romania serve in World War I? Why? What happened as the result of that decision? 3. Government: What kind of government did Bulgaria/Romania have in the years between the wars? 4. Economy: Find out all you can about basis of the economy in each country just before World War II. What were each country's natural resources? Had these countries been affected by the Great Depression? 5 I 2 5. lion and EthudicOty: MriOch religions were practiced in each Repos) c(s utr:try? Which ethnic groups existed in e ch country? Was there a history of tolerance or intolerance between religious and ethnic 1 groups? 6. rraegatOons with 1{15tOer's Germany: Once Hitler came to power in Germany, how did relations between ulgaria/Romania and Germany if change, at all? Describe the relations with Germany in the years between 1933 and 1939. 7. World War II: On which side did Bulgaria /Romania participate in the war? Why? Was it by choice or by conquest? Was there any alternative? 8. Military actions: Did each country have an army or a navy? If so, what were they used for? Where did they serve? What happened within each country during the war? Were there military or civilian casualties? Was there any fighting? Was there any property damage? Who inflicted it? Holocaust actions: Were any religious or ethnic groups singled 9. out for "special treatment"? Which? by whom? What happened? 10. At the close of World War II in Europe: On which side was Bulgaria/Romania? What were the results? 11. Since World War II: Summarize the history of each country since 1945. Include what you can about government, economy, population, boundaries. 111 12. Today - 1997: boundaries, population (including religious and ethnic groups), government, and economy. What, in your estimation, has been the legacy of the past fifty years? 6 3 Iffihne you probably won't be ablle to find answers to MO quesUons in the time allotted, your group should be able to grind most of them by dividing up the work and cwnsuOtting the following classroom sources: lananac 1996 World Atlas of the Holocaust Encyclopedia of the Holocaust Encyclopedia of the Third Reich Holocaust CDRom Resource Book from Facing History Romania CDRom Classroom encyclopedias and reference books Assignment for next class: In an essay, summarize what you learned about Bulgaria/Romania and the decisions made by each nation before, during, and after World War II. Would different decisions have been possible? 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