Study Guide: E-Guide Curriculum Connections About this guide and how to use it. Background Information for the Teacher Saskatchewan Brundibár Project Historical Context Historical Significance Support from Holocaust Survivors Story Synopsis Themes of Brundibár Curriculum Connections List of books, both Fiction and Non-fiction. Website links related to: Brundibár The Holocaust The Arts Dealing with Bullying Themes of Brundibár linked to Saskatchewan Learning's Curriculum Guides: Grade 5 ARTS Grade 5 SOCIAL STUDIES Grade 5 HEALTH Grade 5 ELA (English Language Arts) Grade 6 ARTS Grade 6 SOCIAL STUDIES Grade 6 HEALTH Grade 6 ELA (English Language Arts) Grade 7 ARTS Grade 7 SOCIAL STUDIES Grade 7 HEALTH Grade 7 ELA (English Language Arts) Grade 8 ARTS Grade 8 SOCIAL STUDIES Grade 8 HEALTH Grade 8 ELA (English Language Arts) ABOUT THIS GUIDE AND HOW TO USE IT The intent of this e-guide is to provide educators with relevant support materials that will enhance the richness of their students' experience with the opera and to deepen the meaning of their learning within the themes. By studying the Holocaust, students learn to challenge preconceptions and understand the complex relationship between individual identity and universal identity. This e-guide provides resources for discussion with regard to teaching children about the kind of thinking that fosters discrimination in all its forms. Focus of the e-guide is on the historical context of the opera Brundibár, the Holocaust, and the appreciation of the arts. There is also a section on Bullying, as this subject is relevant to the opera. Specifically, this e-guide is aligned with the Saskatchewan Learning Curriculum for grades 5 to 8 in Arts, Social Studies, Health and English Language Arts. The e-guide is mainly link-based. This means that we have provided links to important, relevant and comprehensive websites that teachers might find useful in preparing their lesson plans. Many of the sites provide relevant links to other sites and resources. With the reality of the growth rate of the Internet, it cannot be considered an exhaustive list of resources and it should be viewed as a starting point of exploration of resources. After you follow an external link to another website and you want to come back to this e-guide, click the BACK button on your Internet browser (several times, if necessary.) This will bring you back to the e-guide. We welcome your comments about the guide. Producer: Rita McLeod, Phone: 306-374-8077, Fax: 306-374-9898 Background Information for the Teacher Saskatchewan Brundibár Project: 2005 marks the 60th anniversary of the end of Second World War. It seems fitting to bring the Brundibár to Saskatchewan at this time, and at the same time contribute to the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of our province. The event is a special project of the Saskatchewan Music Educators Association (SMEA), and the organizing committee includes representatives from Saskatoon Children's Choir, Persephone Theatre, Saskatoon Composers¹ Performance Society and Agudas Israel Jewish Community in Saskatoon. Other participating organizations include University of Regina Conservatory, Saskatchewan Jewish Council, B¹Nai Brith, University of Saskatchewan Drama Department, North Park Wilson School in Saskatoon and others. There are six performances (three school matinees, three evening performances) planned for Saskatoon on May 12-15, 2005 at Persephone Theatre, and two performances (one school, one evening) in Regina on May 27 and 28, 2005 at Darke Hall at the University of Regina. It is estimated that overall, 1500 school children will attend the performances, as well as 1500 adults. As of October 2004, all three school matinees in Saskatoon are sold out, and we are currently exploring the possibility of adding one more school show in Saskatoon. Negotiations are also under way to take the performance to Prince Albert. Historical Context The opera Brundibár was written by Czech Jewish composer Hans Krása in 1938. In 1942, he was deported to Terezín (or Theresienstadt), a ghetto created by the Nazis to amass European Jews in one location prior to transportation to the East for the ³final solution². In Terezín, Krása¹s opera Brundibár was performed more than fifty times by children and musicians from the ghetto. During the rehearsals and performances, as the transports to the East were in progress, there was a constant stream of new performers, replacing the previous performers who were being shipped to Auschwitz for extermination. For comprehensive and moving accounts of Terezín, the production of Brundibár during the Holocaust, and the opera¹s historical significance, check these two articles: Notes from the inset of CD set "Music in Terezín 1941-1944", by Alexander Goldscheider. "Brundibár, by Number 940" by John J. Church. This article originally appeared in Newsline, OPERA America's magazine for the opera industry. Historical Significance Theresienstadt or Terezín, a former garrison town near Prague, Czech Republic, was turned by the Nazis into a Jewish ghetto. In 1941, its original inhabitants were gradually evacuated and replaced by Jews deported from Czechoslovakia and other European countries. Built originally for 7,000 people, Terezín had to accommodate as many as 60,000 inmates. It was to Theresienstadt that many of Europe's artists and intellectuals were sent, most of them to be deported to the gas chambers of Auschwitz some time later. Brundibár was ideally suited for Terezín. It was not just its symbolism, the fairy-tale victory of good over evil, that led to a record 55 performances. Brundibár had all the makings of a successful modern children¹s opera - the plot, wonderful set, costumes, choreography, and most importantly, Œhit¹ music. Everyone in Terezín knew its melodies; you could hear them sung, whistled, hummed everywhere. The opera itself is a simple story about friendship, good winning over evil and about overcoming bullies. In the final chorus of the opera, the children sing: "Victory spectacular, Goodbye to Brundibár, O never afraid of him, battle won, war is done, now we are number one. Our song is strong and clear, our voices without fear, what a day. Whoever loves justice and will defend it and is not afraid is our friend and may play with us". At the end of the opera, children overpower Brundibár and celebrate his defeat. The parallel between Brundibár and Hitler is striking. How tragic then, that in real life, of the 15 thousand children who passed through Terezín, only about one hundred survived. Two of them are Dr. Dagmar Lieblová from Prague, Czech Republic, and Dasha Lewin from Los Angeles. Both of them will be in Saskatchewan for the 2005 performances. Support from Holocaust Survivors Dr. Lieblová is the Chairperson of the Terezín Initiative, a Holocaust survivor organization in Prague, Czech Republic. In the last several decades, she has been tirelessly working on assuring that the Holocaust is never forgotten. She speaks frequently with school children, mainly in Czech Republic, Germany, and Slovakia. Mrs. Dasha Lewin, from Los Angeles, California, is also a Holocaust survivor. Born in Czechoslovakia, she immigrated to the United States in 1961. She is an active member of the Jewish community in Los Angeles, on the Board of the Los Angeles opera, and member of Terezín Initiative. She is the former Vice-President of the cosmetic company Neutrogena. Both Dr. Lieblová and Mrs. Lewin were members of the original Terezín cast of Brundibár. They will be speaking to school children and/or the general public during their visit to Saskatchewan for the performances. Story Synopsis The two Brundibár heroes, Annie and Joey, have to buy some milk for their sick mother. They have no money and they soon learn that without money, they won¹t be able to buy anything. They watch the villainous organ grinder Brundibár playing the organ and being paid. Annie and Joey try to sing and make some money, but Brundibár chases them away. Tired, they sit under a tree and fall asleep. Three friendly animals, Sparrow, Dog and Pussycat, decide to help them. They gather a group of school children and in the morning they all sing together. People like their singing and pay them. Brundibár tries to interfere, but to no avail. In a last attempt, he steals Joey¹s money, but is caught and chased away. Themes of Brundibár What is particularly significant and moving while studying the opera, is the historical context in which the opera was originally performed ­ in a concentration camp, under the noses of the Nazis, who either weren¹t listening or didn¹t see the significance of the opera¹s lyrics. The opera speaks to today¹s children as well. It shows that if we pull together, we can overcome even the meanest bully. Thus, the following themes became the lens through which units of study, and subsequently web-based resources, were identified for the different subject areas. Historical Context The Arts Conflict Holocaust Drama Problem-solving Cultural Mosaic Visual Storytelling Bullying Impact on Today's Communities Music Appreciation Relationships Curriculum Connections Saskatchewan Learning Curricula Guide: Grades 5 - 8 [ Grade 5 ] [ Grade 6 ] [ Grade 7 ] [ Grade 8 ] The themes appear within the following subject areas: Arts Social Studies Health English Language Arts (ELA) Saskatchewan Learning's Curriculum Guides were analyzed for units of study within each subject area that are relevant to the themes of Brundibár. E-resources were then connected to each unit, including the Saskatchewan Learning Curricula Guide web links. Resources were selected based on the value to classroom teachers' realities of planning and delivering instruction and the relevance between the themes and the units of study. The resources are not meant to replace curricula but to enhance content. Therefore, some lesson plan sites may be included in order to support any teacher in area beyond their expertise; other sites may provide background or relevant resources. List of Books (These are not meant as exclusive lists) Fictional resources Grades 4-7 Bitter Herbs by Manga Minco The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank Hear O Israel by Terry Walton Treseder The Holocaust by Abraham Resnick The Holocaust: The World and the Jews, 1933-1945 by Seymour Rossel I am a Star by Inge Auerbacher The Number on my Grandfather's Arm by David Adler Number the Stars by Lois Lowry Promise of a New Spring by Gertrude Weismann Klein Terrible Things by Eve Bunting A Tribute to Anne Frank: Collected by her father, Otto Frank. Edited by Anna G. Steenmeyer Grades 7-Adult If I Should Die Before I Wake by Han Nolan The Last of the Just by Andrew Schwartz-Bart The Mission by Hans Habe The Oath by Elie Wiesel The Painted Bird by Jerzy Ko The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender Non-Fictional Resources: Art of the Holocaust by Janet Blatter and Sybil Milton Cabbages and Geraniums by Valerie Jakober Furth Charlotte: Life of Theatre by Charlotte Salomon Holocaust Poetry by Hilda Shiff Indelible Shadows: Films and the Holocaust by Annette Insdorf Playing for Time by Arthur Miller By Words Alone by Sidra DeKoven Ezrahl The Children of Izieu: A Human Tragedy by Serge Klarsfeld Seven Portals in Hell by Asher Torr The Song of the Murdered Jewish People by Yitzak Katznelson We Are Children Just the Same: Vedem, the Secret Magazine by the Boys of Terezín by Marie Rut Krizková, Kurt Jiri Kotouc and Zdenek Ornest [ Grade 5 ] [ Grade 6 ] [ Grade 7 ] [ Grade 8 ]