Table of contents
10. There are always two sides to every story
This activity can be carried out in a classroom or in a museum.
Target group: High school students (age 15-19)
Duration: 45 minutes
Group size: 15-32 people
Activity objective
The goal of this activity is to demonstrate how a lack of context and subjective stereotypes lead to different interpretations of the same events, while teaching students how to critically analyze primary sources. Through this process, participants learn to compare diverse perspectives and adjust their initial, purely visual impressions based on a deeper understanding of historical facts and context.
Expected learning results
After completing this activity, students will:
- develop critical analysis skills by evaluating multiple historical sources and comparing conflicting points of view to uncover the nuances behind visual evidence;
- synthesize historical facts and personal impressions to construct balanced arguments, demonstrating an understanding that historical situations are often complex and defy simplistic moral judgments;
- demonstrate historical empathy by deeply deliberating on the difficult choices faced by individuals involved in armed or civil resistance during WWII, moving beyond initial judgments to understand their motivations;
- apply evidence-based reasoning to draw independent conclusions about the reality of life under occupation, grounding their interpretations in both historical context and critical examination of primary sources.
Description of the activity
Begin with a starter, asking a question about what participants remember / know / have learned about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Collect several answers.
Proceed with dividing participants into groups of 3 to 6 people. Ideally, there should be an even number of groups. Distribute copies (one copy per group) of a photo of one side of the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes Monument to half of the groups, and copies (one copy per group) of a photo of the other side of the monument to the other half of the groups without explicitly telling them what is depicted in the photos (photos can be found in an Appendix).
Ask the groups to describe what they see in the photo. Give them 8-10 minutes to complete this task.
You can present them with a structure, if you think it works better for the group.
Approximate structure of a description:
- Who are the people in the image?
- What are they doing?
- Where are they?
- Why are they there?
- When are these events taking place?
- What is the psychological state of these people? What emotions are they experiencing?
- What unusual things do you see in the image?
- What do you think the image is about?
Come up with a title for the image.
- Ask the groups to exchange photos so that everyone who worked on photo 1 now works on photo 2, and vice versa. (5-8 min).
- Once all groups have finished working on both photos, ask groups to read their descriptions of both photos.
- Explain that both photos are parts of a monument dedicated to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, designed by Natan Rapaport and unveiled on April 19, 1948, on the fifth anniversary of the uprising.
- Show two videos about the both aspects of the Uprising / sides of the monument:
Story of Sol Rosenberg, active participant of the armed uprising: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKON9LmqXSI (in English; subtitles can be used for different languages) & Story of Alina Margolis on sufferings of civilians in the Ghetto https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wr5NJ803Fil9qM9Bb94sAeUtB9fga_fw/view (in Polish with English subtitles).
(Optional) Ask groups to complete their original descriptions if they wish to.
After that, ask the participants to sit in a circle for a debriefing.
Reflection
- What emotions do you feel after completing this activity? Why?
- What did you base your assumptions about the people in the images on? Which specific details (clothing, gaze, surroundings) led you to certain conclusions about these people?
- Were you prepared for the fact that both images relate to the same event? What emotions did you experience upon realizing that you were analyzing two sides of the same monument? Why?
- Why, in your opinion, did Natan Rapaport decide to place both – the fighters of the Ghetto Uprising and the civilian population on the monument?
- How did the videos you watched change or complement your perception of both images?
- What is the message of this monument?
- What was the main revelation or the most important lesson for you personally after completing this activity?
- How can the experience of this activity be applied to our daily lives?
Tips for teachers/ educators
An educator who will conduct this activity should be familiar with the story of the Warsaw Ghetto and its Uprising.
To inform students about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the first armed urban resistance against the Nazi occupiers during World War II, you can watch an educational film “There Was No Hope” (https://youtu.be/VOpKGTz4GJA?si=rCLwI-u4lbK-kmxv) (26 min).
On the monument: the monument dedicated to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, designed by Natan Rapaport and unveiled on April 19, 1948, on the fifth anniversary of the uprising, consists of two different sides. One of them shows the heroism of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising fighters, as described by witness Sol Resenberg. The other one shows the suffering of civilians who were imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto and were deported to the death camp in Treblinka, where almost all of them perished. The tragedy of the fate of those who waited for the trains that took them to their deaths was described by Alina Margolis-Edelman.
Required materials
Two photos (attached) of the sides of the Warsaw Ghetto Fighters Monument – copies in accordance with the number of participants.
Projector and screen or a big TV screen for screening short videos.
Paper, pens.
Chairs for everyone and a room big enough for everyone to sit in a circle for a debriefing.
Authors/Copyright
Monika Koszyńska