TUESDAY - MAY 11, 2010

   Hey guys!  Today we finished watching The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (except in 3rd + 4th periods where we had between 5-15 minutes left.)  We discussed and clarified some things going on in the film that were contrary to what many of us thought about WWII, Germany, Germans, NAZIs, Jews, concentration camps, etc.

   We also analyzed and discussed some symbols and terms from WWII and the German military:  "SS" (Schutzstaffel were the highest order of the military... like a military police), the "Luftwaffe" ("luft" means air and "waffe" means weapon, which was Hitler's Air Force), and other symbols, like the "Totenkampf" (the "skull & bones" worn by SS who managed the concentration camps.)

   Tomorrow we will discuss the themes in the movie as related to NAZI policies during WWII and the "Final Solution" ...which led to the Holocaust.