Procedures for Lesson
Comparing/Contrasting Medieval Architecture and Myths with Their Use by Nazis
by Jan-Ruth Mills
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Time
estimations for each activity given to accommodate planning for 50 or 90 minute
periods.
First Hour
Objective:
Preparation: Print out first page of Mauthausen Architecture Activity for each student to have a copy, and enough of second page for each group. Write homework on the board: Research some aspect of knights or castles in the Middle Ages, either mythological or historical.
First Activity 15-20 minutes after students are settled in groups: Before breaking up into groups, remind students that in analyzing a visual text the evidence to support their conclusions must come from what they see in the visual text. Detailed description is very important here. (At the beginning of each semester, I spend several days introducing the expectations of group work. I use the Six Traits to discuss Rubrics for group work with written and visual texts. A corresponding scoring box is provided on all group work handouts. Students will be anxious and uncertain about how to succeed if this is their first time doing group work with these expectations).
Explain to students that they will be asked to analyze the appearance of “a building” (I don’t identify it as Mauthausen Concentration Camp at this point). Break students up into groups and ask them to fill out group worksheet. I encourage them to take notes on their copy of the photo. If the students know the context of the activity (unit on Holocaust) some may identify the eagle as a symbol of the Third Reich and begin to discuss Nazism or the Holocaust. As I circulate, I direct these students to focus discussion on the building itself and remind them that their evidence for this activity must come from what they see. If the eagle leads them to believe the building was used by Nazis, what period of history does the structure remind them of? What features lead them to this conclusion?
Whole Class Share 20 Minutes: During whole class share, some groups will be able to describe architectural features from medieval architecture. Other students may identify this as a fort, using prior knowledge of Southwestern American or Native American architecture. In either case, encourage a discussion of the designer’s intention for the building to appear to be a defensive structure, a fortification against an enemy. Brainstorm other similarities between forts and castles as a way to include all groups’ contributions as valid.
To discuss the similarity with medieval architecture, one could note the presence of
Narrow windows to protect archers: Embrasure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrasure
Turrets are similar to those in defensive castles http://www.ontarioarchitecture.com/turret.htm
Some students will note that the tower to the left looks as if it has crenels and merlons similar to medieval battlement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlement. Discuss whether this is actually true or if the designers meant the viewer to associate the structure with medieval battlement.http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/beyond-the-pale/english/06.html
Discuss how those who approached the building in question
were meant to feel about themselves. How those people who lived nea
Explain that this is a photograph of Mauthausen
Concentration Camp which the Nazis began to build using slave labor in 1938
after Nazi Germany took over
Second Hour/ Day
Preparation: Print out Homework If you don't have the ability to project slides from the computer, then print out one set of the slides for each group and assign moderator to return them at the end of class..
Ten-Twenty minute
discussion: Ask students to read or share their homework. Brainstorm about Middle Ages on board. What were the events
students associate with this period? Possible responses: Knights were
chivalrous, damsels were in distress, magicians like Merlin worked magic. Someone usually
discusses the Crusades. Here I discuss whom the Crusades were
against...originally intended to “free”
Twenty Minutes: Discuss
the structure of Mauthausen. Why do you think the designers chose to build this
structure to look like a
Return to
Mauthausen Power Point. (If you can't project the image from the
computer, then break students up into groups and pass out the copies of the
slides #2-8. Assign "Moderator" from each group to return slides to you at end
of class) Slide #2, Burghausen Castle, Bavaria. And #3 Alcázar
Castle in
Show slide #4: This is Commandant Frank Ziereis, who was in
charge of Mauthausen. This large “castle” was supposedly built to protect him
from “enemies.” Note how the embrasures are facing into the “castle.” The “battlement” or protec
Slide #5: Notice how the guards and officers are sitting on the same battlement above the garage doors. How brave is this? Who would attack them?
As the architectural historian Paul Jaskot points out in his book The Architecture of Oppression, Nazi architecture was meant to communicate how much power the state had over people, to scare people into believing that they had to obey the state or they would be severely punished.
Return to the brainstorm about the Middle Ages. What were knights known for? Virtues such as chivalry, honor, honesty, courage, faith. Did the Nazis demonstrate this? Did they have the courage they were supposed to have?
Play LINK TO ROSSNER. (Sol Rossner describing a beating he received at the hands of an SS man. What “courage” did it take to abuse Andrew...a fourteen year old boy?
Pair and Share (20 Minutes) Optional
Print "A Twelve Year Old Nazi" (source: Adjutant General File 254 Detention and Internment Camps USGCC Record Group 260 39 40 17 02 courtesy Gusen Memorial Committee Digital Archive Project where more primary source materials can be found). Explain that this document was prepared by US Army investigators from the 511th CIC (Criminal Investigation Corps). Ask students to compare/contrast image of Commandant Ziereis as he appears on the SS photograph and his treatment of his son described in this document.
Preparation for
Homework: Discuss slides # 6-8. The Nazi Eagle
over the gate of Mauthausen was another symbol used to associate the state with
the power of kings and emperors rather than an elec
Distribute Homework
Day Three
Preparation: Print Final Project for everyone and enough Auschwitz-Birkenau Activity for groups of three and (if you can't project the image) enough copies of Slide #9 for Pair/Share.
Ten Minutes: Ask students to share responses to homework. How do the values of the eagle on the US Seal differ from the Nazis use of the eagle? What do they think about the statement “Out of many, one.” Do they think it applies just to the original thirteen states? Can its meaning now include different races and religions?
Show slide #9 or distribute. Discuss how Nazis tried to use the symbols of
“chivalry” to make Hitler appear to be protecting the German people against an
“enemy”...those who were considered “different” from the accep
20 minutes. Divide students into groups and give each group the Auschwitz-Birkenau Group work.
Whole Class Share:
Final Assignment: At the end of the war, thousands of children and young people were released from Concentration Camps. Young boys like Andrew Schot were very weak, very sick. Many of them took months and even years to recover. Ask students if they have ever been to a hospital? What was it like? Did they feel comfortable? If they could design a hospital, would it be different? Pass out assignment and discuss how architecture can be used to heal as well as harm communities.