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https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1200210.pdf

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From the Author of "A Long Walk to Water"

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From the Author of "A Long Walk to Water"

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40xz0afCjnM

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Middle School Level

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If Elena, 14, is sent back to her country, she may be murdered.

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Lesson -Understanding global refugee crisis

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Lesson -Understanding global refugee crisis

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What responsibility do individuals have to respond to the needs of refugees? What can an individual do to help?

How can closely examining a troubling moment in history inform our choices today?

Students will gain a better understanding of the refugee crisis and what it means to be a refugee.

Students will reflect on the implications of the historical episode involving the St. Louis in 1939, particularly in relation to responses to the current refugee crisis.

Students will consider the importance of "humanizing" those who otherwise seem distant and different from us.

Students will recognize the power of taking a "small step" when faced with a problem that seems too large to tackle.

There are more people displaced in the world today than at any time since the end of World War II. Samantha Power, United States Ambassador to the United Nations (2013-2017), shared this fact with dozens of New York City students, all immigrants, during a visit to Newcomers High School in May 2016. By discussing the global refugee crisis with them, Ambassador Power hoped to inspire in the students a sense of responsibility-to bridge the gap between "us" and "them"-and to empower them to take action.

This lesson draws on readings and short videos featuring Ambassador Power in conversation with the young people of Newcomers High School to explain and humanize a crisis that often feels too overwhelming to confront. After surveying the scope and impact of the global refugee crisis, students will come to understand what makes someone a "refugee." They will then learn how even small ways of seeing the "other" in ourselves can make a difference in our approach to large and complicated problems involving the needs and well-being of people distant from us. The lesson also considers the value of looking critically at historical moments-in particular, the case of the St. Louis, a ship that carried Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution across the Atlantic in 1939-and recognizing in them implications for our choices today.

There are currently more than 65 million people displaced worldwide-the highest number on record since the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) began collecting statistics. At least 15 conflicts have erupted or reignited around the world since 2010, contributing to this crisis. Half of the world's refugees have come from only three war-torn countries: Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia. In Syria alone, where a brutal civil war has raged since 2011, nearly 5 million have sought to save themselves and their families by fleeing the country, while 8.7 million have been displaced within the country's borders. Millions of refugees are living, often in overcrowded camps, in Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran, Jordan, and Ethiopia. Millions of others have fled to Europe and other countries around the world.

This lesson asks students to consider how a refugee crisis in the 1930s might help us think about how we respond to today's refugee crisis. In the 1930s, hundreds of thousands of European Jews were refugees, fleeing persecution from Nazi Germany. One challenge facing these refugees was that very few nations would protect them or take them in. In 1939, over 900 Jewish refugees boarded the ocean liner the St. Louis and set sail for Cuba. Before they left, Cuba had agreed to accept the refugees, but by the time the ship arrived, the Cuban government had changed its mind. The ship then sailed along the Florida coast, hoping the US government would accept the refugees. It passed close enough to Miami for the refugees to see the lights of the city, but they received no assistance. The ship was forced to return to Europe, where the refugees faced a perilous future. The results from a 1939 poll of 5,000 Americans indicated that 53 percent of respondents regarded Jews as different from "real Americans." That, coupled with economic troubles at home, may have accounted for why Americans did not wish to accept a ship full of refugees.

1. Introduce the Crisis
To begin the lesson, tell students that in 2016, more than 65 million people are displaced from their homes as a result of wars, persecution, or severe economic difficulties. Figuring out how to respond to this many displaced people and the problems that forced them from their homes has been a global crisis. Share the following resources with the class in order to give students a glimpse of the scale and consequences of this crisis:

Have students watch the video clip An Overview of the Refugee Crisis.

Show students the image of Za'atri Refugee Camp in Jordan, near the Syrian border. When you share this image, tell students that in August 2016, according to the UNHCR, 79,225 people lived there. All of them fled across the border from Syria to escape the brutal civil war. According the UN, 4.9 million people have been displaced outside Syria since its civil war began in 2011.

Have students take notes about the crisis as they view these resources, and then ask them to briefly respond to these questions in their notebooks:

What have you learned from these sources about refugees and other displaced persons around the world? Why do you think this current situation is considered a crisis?

What do these resources suggest about the experiences of individuals and families who have been forced to leave their homes?

Why should world leaders care? Why should individuals like us care?

Have students share their thinking with the class briefly, using the Think, Pair, Share teaching strategy.

2. Define Refugee
Tell students that of the 65 million people who have been displaced around the world for a variety of reasons, some-according to the United Nations-deserve special protection. They are designated as refugees.

Have students begin to fill out a K-W-L chart. Start with the "K" and "W" columns (save the "L" column for the end of the activity). Ask:

What do you Know about what a refugee is or about what makes someone a refugee?

What do you Want to know about what a refugee is or about what makes someone a refugee?

You might also compile a class K-W-L chart on the board, asking students to volunteer to share statements and questions they listed in the "K" and "W" columns of their individual charts.

Next, introduce the video clip The Definition of a Refugee by telling students that for over half a century, the international community has struggled to help millions of displaced persons who fear for their safety. The term refugee is not a casual designation; it is a word that applies under very specific circumstances. In the clip, Ambassador Power discusses the factors that lead a person to be designated as a refugee. After watching the clip, students should write down the factors they heard.

The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), or UN Refugee Agency, further clarifies the meaning of refugee by distinguishing it from the term migrant. Examining the relationship between these two terms can help to clarify their meanings. Introduce and discuss the UNHCR's definitions page, "Refugee" or "Migrant"-Which is right?, to help deepen students' understanding of who is classified as a refugee and why that classification is important. Drawing a Venn diagram on the board to illustrate the relationship between these terms might be useful.

Finally, begin a class conversation to make sure students understand the Ambassador Power's formal definition of a refugee, paying special attention to the terms "well-founded fear of persecution" and her examples: people fleeing conflict and people targeted for persecution.

Students should then complete the "L" column of their K-W-L chart ("What did you L earn?"), which may be used as an assessment. Finally, in pairs or groups, have students decide which questions they raised in the "W" column of their chart remain unanswered.

3. Learn from History
Looking back at history can inform our decisions today. Tell students that the United Nations created the refugee designation in 1951, six years after the end of World War II. At the time, many believed that it was important for international institutions such as the newly founded United Nations to commit to aiding refugees because of the failure to help those fleeing Nazi persecution in the 1930s and 1940s. In the video clip Refusing Passengers Aboard the St. Louis, Ambassador Power discusses one particular example of such failure to help refugees in the 1930s and how we might look back on it now.

In order to understand the context for Ambassador Power's discussion of this failure to help Jewish refugees during World War II, students will need some background information on the voyage of the St. Louis in 1939. You might consider having them read the second paragraph in the Context section from this lesson or either of the additional readings A Refugee Crisis and The Voyage of the St. Louis.

Show Refusing Passengers Aboard the St. Louis, in which Ambassador Power addresses a student's question about the lessons we can learn from history. Along with the background information you offer students on the story of the St. Louis, this video clip will become the primary "text" for a class discussion. You may want to share the following questions before showing the clip to help students focus their attention, and then allow time for journal writing in response to the clip:

Why would governments refuse to offer refugees entry into their country? What are some reasons for allowing or denying entry? Which reasons do you find most persuasive?

How does the voyage of the St. Louis relate to our own time, particularly in regard to the global refugee crisis? How is it different? How does hindsight help us understand an event in history differently than people understood it at the time? According to Ambassador Power, how has this history affected the way some individuals and organizations are responding to the refugee crisis today?

The Learn to Listen/Listen to Learn teaching strategy can help you structure deeper conversations between your students in response to these questions, if time permits.

4. Choose to Help
Ask students to think about what they have learned so far and to write down some thoughts in response to the following question: What makes taking action on a crisis of this magnitude seem so daunting?

Then show the clip The Importance of Humanizing Refugees. Have students add to what they wrote about helping refugees as they watch the video by responding to the following questions: What barriers to choosing to help does Ambassador Power describe? What does she say about how these barriers might be overcome?

Have students share their thinking with the class briefly, using the Think, Pair, Share teaching strategy. In the discussion, help students highlight the ideas suggested by Ambassador Power of humanizing refugees and taking small steps.

Finish the lesson by guiding students through a discussion of tangible actions they might take in response to learning about the refugee crisis. They should discuss the following questions:

What does it mean to "humanize" a cause? How can we help to humanize the refugee crisis, both in our own eyes and in the eyes of others?

What "small steps" can we take in our school and in our community to help respond to the refugee crisis?

When considering the "small steps" they might take, students may draw additional inspiration from Ambassador Power's 2016 speech Overcoming Fears and Spurring Action (excerpted). Because efforts to aid refugees vary widely from community to community, figuring out "small steps" may require creativity and additional research. Students might investigate what programs in their communities are already in place to aid refugees and how they might participate in those programs. Students may also investigate the positions of their representatives in local, state, and national governments with regard to refugees, and they may think about ways to support or influence those positions. They might find additional ideas for supporting refugees on the International Rescue Committee's global refugee crisis website.

1. The ways in which individuals, communities, and nations think about who should get a helping hand has a lot to do with how they define their universe of obligation. Sociologist Helen Fein coined this phrase to describe the group of individuals "toward whom obligations are owed, to whom rules apply, and whose injuries call for amends." A society's universe of obligation, then, includes those people who that society believes are deserving of respect and whose rights it believes are worthy of protection. Just as Fein used the term to describe the beliefs and policies of a society, we might also refer to an individual's universe of obligation to describe his or her beliefs and attitudes toward others.

Universe of obligation is therefore a concept worth introducing in a class discussion about how we respond to refugees. During the third activity in this lesson, if time permits, consider introducing one or more of the activities in the Facing History lesson plan Defining Community: The Universe of Obligation at this point in your exploration of today's refugee crisis.

2. Have students consider some powerful examples set by Newcomers High School students. In 2012, the students, all immigrants, told their own stories of being welcomed to this country. While these students are not refugees per se, each story nonetheless provides a powerful example of people taking small steps to help new arrivals.

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What responsibility do individuals have to respond to the needs of refugees? What can an individual do to help? How can closely examining a troubling moment in history inform our choices today? Students will gain a better understanding of the refugee crisis and what it means to be a refugee.

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A story of escape, resilience, hope, and trauma

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Clemantine Wamariya: War and what comes after

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Clemantine Wamariya was six years old when the Rwandan Civil War forced her and her sister to flee their home in Kigali, leaving their parents and everything they knew behind. In this deeply personal talk, she tells the story of how she became a refugee, living in camps in seven countries over the next six years -- and how she's tried to make sense of what came after.

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https://democracyeducationjournal.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=home

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Children’s books and teaching ideas

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Check out “Refugee” on Netflix
https://www.netflix.com/title/80160127?s=i&trkid=13752289

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Refugee One has resources and information for families.

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​On Saturday, April 27, RefugeeOne hosted an evening dedicated to helping refugees flourish. More than 500 people gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of refugees in becoming U.S. citizens.

For all the paperwork, studying, legal fees, interviews, and waiting-lots of waiting-becoming a U.S. citizen is no easy feat!

We were privileged to hear from 5 courageous and inspiring refugees about what becoming U.S. citizens means to them. Watch the video to hear their stories.

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Refugee Resettlement Services, Chicago IL - RefugeeOne

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​On Saturday, April 27, RefugeeOne hosted an evening dedicated to helping refugees flourish. More than 500 people gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of refugees in becoming U.S. citizens. For all the paperwork, studying, legal fees, interviews, and waiting-lots of waiting-becoming a U.S. citizen is no easy feat!

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Putting the human connection to refugee books

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Putting the human connection to refugee books

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(Educating the teacher about the origins of this genre and the importance of it, specially now)

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Books by Patricia De Arias

NPR stories about Patricia De Arias

New Kids' Books Put A Human Face On The Refugee Crisis

New Kids' Books Put A Human Face On The Refugee Crisis

New Kids' Books Put A Human Face On The Refugee Crisis

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NPR stories about Patricia De Arias New Kids' Books Put A Human Face On The Refugee Crisis New Kids' Books Put A Human Face On The Refugee Crisis New Kids' Books Put A Human Face On The Refugee Crisis

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https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war
History Channel online - Vietnam War
https://www.lostandfoundcat.com/
-Interactive website on Kunkush's story

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35806229
-BBC News on the Syrian War

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code of ethics and conduct for ngos

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WANGO Awards Call for Nominations 2016 WANGO Award Recipients 2013 Environment Award 2011 WANGO Award Recipients 2010 WANGO Award Recipients 2009 WANGO Award Recipients 2008 WANGO Award for Education 2007 WANGO Award Recipients 2006 WANGO Award Recipients 2005 WANGO Award Recipients 2004 WANGO Award Recipients 2003 WANGO Award Recipients 2002 WANGO Award Recipients

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Book lists and teaching ideas

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Global Issues

The German liner St. Louis, carrying about 900 German Jewish refugees, was denied entrance to the Havana harbor in 1939. The ship was later denied entrance to the United States and returned to Hamburg, Germany. Credit... Associated Press

Browse all our Text to Text lesson plans Introduction .
Today there are more than 65 million displaced people worldwide - the highest number on record since the United Nations Refugee Agency began collecting statistics. Europe faces a humanitarian crisis, with thousands of people fleeing conflicts in Syria and around the Middle East and Africa arriving in Greece, Hungary, Germany and other countries each month. Some European citizens are wary of allowing refugees to enter, citing concerns about security and the economy; other countries on the continent have struggled to find the resources and the political will to meet migrants' and refugees' needs.

For many observers, today's challenges also raise uncomfortable historical echoes, as scenes of refugees crowding European train platforms and waiting in grim reception camps recall the events of World War II and the Holocaust. A Times article noted the parallels and asked, "How apt is the comparison between Syrians today and German Jews before World War II, and what can and cannot be learned from it?" In an Op-Ed in August, the columnist Nicholas Kristof argued that "history rhymes" and wrote, "Today, to our shame, Anne Frank is a Syrian girl."

Mr. Kristof and other writers invoke the fate of Jewish refugees in the 1930s as a cautionary tale about the consequences of indifference and inaction in the world community today. A new documentary film by Ken Burns and Artemis Joukowsky, " Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War," offers another historical lens that can sharpen our perspective on today's crisis. It tells the little-known story of Martha and Waitstill Sharp, an American couple who left behind the safety of their Massachusetts home and their own young children to aid refugees in Europe on the brink of World War II. The Sharps faced a complex and desperate situation with humanity, creativity and courage.

In this Text to Text, we pair a Times article about the historical resonance of Europe's refugee crisis with an excerpt from "Defying the Nazis" that chronicles the Sharps's relief and rescue mission in 1939. Together, these texts raise important questions about whether there are "lessons" of history and invite reflection on how individuals and governments choose to respond to those in need.

Police officers on Sept. 4 guarded a so-called reception center for migrants in Roszke, Hungary. Some migrants were tricked into boarding trains for such camps. Related Article Credit... Reuters

Even before the beginning of World War II in September 1939, Nazi Germany's open aggression toward both neighboring countries and people within its borders had sparked a refugee crisis. The German annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland in 1938 increased the number of people affected by Nazi restrictions, while at the same time those restrictions intensified to the point that Jews, political dissidents and others were effectively removed from German public life and denied rights, employment and education. Germany's aggressive steps to expand its borders touched off both an international political crisis, as world leaders scrambled to avoid war, and a humanitarian refugee crisis, as hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people, mostly Jews, sought safety from the Nazis in countries outside the grip of the Third Reich.

Despite an isolationist mood, a suspicions of refugees, and official policies that often discouraged involvement, some Americans felt a sense of responsibility toward European refugees and found ways to act on their behalf. The Unitarian Church - a liberal religion with roots in Christianity - had links to Czechoslovakia and wanted to offer assistance to refugees streaming into the country. Though Germany had annexed Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland region, the rest of the country and its capital remained still free and independent. In January 1939, Unitarian leadership sought volunteers to lead an aid mission in Prague. Seventeen couples had turned down the risky post, but Martha and Waitstill Sharp decided to accept. Just weeks later, after arranging for neighbors to look after their children, ages 8 and 3, they sailed for Europe.

In Prague, the Sharps spent seven months providing food, shelter and medical care to refugees. Just weeks after they arrived, German troops occupied the whole of Czechoslovakia. The Sharps quickly saw the necessity for rescue as well as relief efforts, and mastered the intricacies of emigration procedures, helping refugees find jobs and sponsors abroad and often accompanying them on dangerous border crossings. They were watched by the Gestapo and had to do much of their work in secret. The Sharps went home to Wellesley only when they heard rumors of their imminent arrest. But just a few months later they returned to Europe, this time for another rescue and relief mission in war-torn France. There, Martha led a children's emigration project that allowed 27 children from dissident or Jewish families to escape to the United States. For their work in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia and France, the Sharps have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem - the highest recognition accorded by the state of Israel to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during World War II. They are two of only five Americans to be so honored.

In the aftermath of World War II, the newly formed United Nations moved to set up international bodies and laws to define the status and rights of refugees for the first time. The U.N. High Commission for Refugees was established in 1951 and given a three-year mandate to resolve postwar refugee problems. Sixty-five years later, it still exists, and there are more refugees around the world today than at any time since the end of World War II.

Today's refugee crisis has its roots in conflicts all around the world. Many of those fleeing to Europe come from Syria, where a brutal civil war that began in 2011 has created nearly 5 million refugees, many of them children. Some of those refugees live tenuously in camps and cities in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon; many others, desperate to get to Europe, have risked their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea in small boats. The crisis has overwhelmed the systems for aiding refugees created in the wake of World War II. Humanitarian impulses and the rights of refugees guaranteed by international law are competing with concerns that the migrants may pose a threat to the security of European countries where they seek asylum. In fact, the refugee crisis and the threat of terrorism have become intertwined in the minds of many Europeans.

Can the history of the refugee crisis of the 1930s help us think about how we respond to Syrian refugees today? The Times article by Daniel Victor' explores the parallels between today's Syrian refugees and Jewish refugees before World War II. We pair this news article with a 10-minute excerpt from "Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War" that focuses on the Sharps's efforts to help refugees escape from occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939. Together, these sources complicate our thinking about how individuals and governments define their responsibility to refugees, in the past and the present.
________ Key Questions
* What are similarities and differences between the refugee crises of the 1930s and today?

* How might examining the history of refugees in the 1930s inform the choices that individuals and governments make in responding to refugees today?

Activity Sheets: As students read and discuss, they might take notes using one or more of the three graphic organizers (PDFs) we have created for our Text to Text feature:

* Comparing Two or More Texts

* Double-Entry Chart for Close Reading

* Document Analysis Questions
_________ Text 1: "Comparing Jewish Refugees of the 1930s With Syrian Refugees Today," Daniel Victor, The New York Times, Nov. 19, 2015.

A tweet drawing a historical parallel to the current plight of Syrian refugees drew thousands of retweets this week.

An article in The Washington Post with a similar premise also drew attention in recent days.

They both raised the question: How apt is the comparison between Syrians today and German Jews before World War II, and what can and cannot be learned from it?

Some historians say that, while the two groups are not completely symmetrical, there are lessons to be drawn.

Republican leaders and some Democrats have sought to halt the Syrian refugee program, fearing fighters from the Islamic State could be among the 10,000 migrants allowed to enter the country.

"We cannot allow terrorists to take advantage of our compassion," Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin said. "This is a moment where it is better to be safe than to be sorry."

In 1938, Jews sought to escape Nazi Germany at a time when the United States was struggling through the Great Depression, and Americans expressed similar concern over accepting refugees.

"I don't think it would meet the part of wisdom," said Senator Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota, according to the Nov. 5, 1938 edition of The New York Times. "Our conditions here at home prohibit accepting an influx of population."

Peter Shulman, an associate professor of history at Case Western Reserve University and the man behind the @HistOpinion Twitter account, said most of the responses to his tweet had supported the premise, while others disputed it. Americans were primarily concerned with economics in 1939 while today's fears are related to safety, many replied.

It's true that Americans in 1939 were worried about refugees taking jobs. Those who lived through the Depression were overwhelmingly supportive of restricting immigration, Mr. Shulman said.

But safety was also a concern. Jews were associated with a variety of acts and ideas that were seen as un-American, Mr. Shulman said, including Communism and violence.

That caused Jewish refugees to be "extraordinarily, excruciatingly vetted," said Marion Kaplan, a professor in the Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University.

"The State Department worried that among the Jewish refugees there would be Nazi spies," she said. "There was hysteria about fifth columnists coming in with the refugees."

One area where the two refugee groups do not neatly match, Ms. Kaplan said, is the racial animus they faced both home and abroad. Unlike modern Syrians, Jews in the 1930s "were singled out as the racial enemy, par excellence, in German society," she said.

And the United States was not entirely welcoming. On top of wanting to preserve jobs, Americans were concerned about Jews "weakening the Nordic or Anglo racial stock," Mr. Shulman said. "That was a very real concern."

He added: "You can't just reduce it to economics or politics. That sort of racial identity was very powerful."

________

________ For Writing and Discussion
1. How does Daniel Victor's article compare responses to Jewish refugees in the 1930s with responses to Syrian refugees today? What are some of the key similarities and differences? How do ideas about race and religion shape attitudes to refugees in each example? What other factors play a role?

2. How does the film clip from "Defying the Nazis" connect to Mr. Victor's article? How does it extend your thinking about the lives of refugees and the fears, hopes and challenges they have experienced? How does it add to your understanding of United States' policies and attitudes toward refugees in the 1930s?

3. The historian Peter Shulman, interviewed in the article, argued that there are "enough similarities between Jewish refugees in the 1930s and Syrian refugees today to draw a 'moral connection' between the two situations." Do you agree with Mr. Shulman? Why or why not? If yes, how would you describe this "moral connection?"

4. What dilemmas did Martha and Waitstill Sharp face in their decision to leave home and help refugees in Europe? What risks did they take? What do you think motivated them to make a choice to help refugees when that was so at odds with American public opinion and national policy?

5. Many who connect the refugee crisis of the 1930s to the plight of Syrian refugees today emphasize the failure of the United States and other countries to help. The Sharps's story, in contrast, is about a small group of private citizens banding together to aid refugees. Is their history relevant to the current refugee crisis? How might a story of people who chose to help then inform decision-making about the refugee crisis today?

6. In another Times article, a Human Rights Watch staff member argued, "We all say we have learned the lessons of history, but to be turning away these desperate people who are fleeing a horrific situation suggests that we haven't learned the lessons at all." What are the potential benefits of looking for "lessons" in history? What might be some of the challenges or drawbacks? Why is it so difficult to learn and apply the "lessons of history?"

Martha and Waitstill Sharp departing New York Harbor for Europe in 1939, in "Defying the Nazis." Credit... Sharp Family Archives

1. Contextualizing Today's Refugee Crisis: Samantha Power is the United States ambassador to the United Nations. Recently, she visited Newcomers High School in New York City to discuss the current refugee crisis with students, all of whom are immigrants to the United States. In this video, a student asks, "Did World War II and the Holocaust change how the United States of America and the world thinks about the refugee crisis right now?" In response, Ms. Power shares the history of the St. Louis, a ship of Jewish refugees that was turned away from United States in 1939.

Based on Ms. Power's response, what significance does she see in this history? How does hindsight help us understand an event differently from people at the time? According to Ms. Power, how has this history affected the way some individuals and organizations are responding to the refugee crisis today? The lesson " Understanding the Global Refugee Crisis " from Facing History and Ourselves includes more footage of Ms. Power's conversation with students, with additional readings and questions that contextualize today's crisis. It invites us to think about the importance of humanizing refugees and suggests that there are small steps people can take to help.

2. Learning from the Sharps's Mission: The short video "A Willingness to Act" is drawn from Ken Burns's and Artemis Joukowsky's documentary, " Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War," featuring the voice of Tom Hanks as Waitstill Sharp. Facing History and Ourselves' companion classroom resources invite students to explore what motivated the Sharps'smission, the dilemmas they faced, and the impact of their actions. Three lesson plans for teaching with "Defying the Nazis" incorporate additional clips from the film, activities like historical character maps, which help students identify the forces that shaped the Sharps's decision to act, and letters from the Sharps's archive, like this 1940 letter from Martha to her young son, Hastings, where she explains her decision to stay in Europe to help vulnerable children.

3. Gaining Perspective on History: Part of the challenge in drawing "lessons" from history lies in the fact that when we look back at a moment in history, it's difficult to fully inhabit the perspective of the people who lived at that time and see the world as they did. One way to gain perspective is to read news accounts of events, like the refugee crisis in Czechoslovakia in 1938 or the American debate about accepting Jewish refugees in 1939, that were written at the time the events were happening. The New York Times's archive contains dozens of stories about the refugee crisis of the 1930s and the United States' response to it. Below are just a few of those articles.

* Refugee Ship Idles Off Florida Coast (June 5, 1939)

* Refugee Ship (June 8, 1939)

* Hoover Backs Bill to Wave Quota Act for Reich Children (April 23, 1939)

* French Seize 2 Refugee Vessels (Aug. 9, 1939)

As you read them, consider these questions: How do the articles portray the crisis and the options available to refugees? What was the range of responses and attitudes to refugees, and what arguments were offered in support of allowing or restricting immigration? What questions would you want to ask the individuals living at the time who are quoted in these articles? What would you want them to understand?

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum project " History Unfolded: U.S. Newspapers and the Holocaust " is another way to gain insight about what ordinary Americans knew and thought about Europe, based on accounts in local newspapers from all over the United States. Its website offers hundreds of articles from newspapers in the 1930s and 1940s. It also invites readers to become "citizen historians" by seeking out and submitting articles from the archives of their own local newspapers.

New York Times coverage of the current refugee crisis is collected on this Times Topics page on Refugees and Displaced People. How do you imagine people reading these articles in the future reacting to what they see? What might you want these future readers to understand about the forces that shape attitudes to refugees today?

4. Considering the Protections Afforded Refugees: The United Nations created the official "refugee" designation in 1951 to encompass individuals who have been forced to flee their countries because of persecution, war or violence. At the time, many believed it was important for international institutions such as the newly founded United Nations to commit to aiding refugees because of the failure to help those fleeing Nazi persecution in the 1930s and 1940s. In this video, Sasha Chanoff, the director of the refugee advocacy organization RefugePoint, explains the distinction between refugees and other migrants and describes the international agreements that govern the rights and treatment of refugees today. What laws and protections are in place for refugees today that did not exist during Europe's refugee crisis in the 1930s? What do you think these international agreements have achieved? Where do you think they have fallen short?

A New York Times Room for Debate piece in September 2015 asked five scholars and advocates to respond to the question, " What Can Countries Do To Help Refugees Fleeing to Europe? " How do the contributors' perspectives add to your thinking about what responsibilities governments have to refugees coming from outside their borders? What is the role of empathy and ideals in how countries respond to refugees? What is the role of practical concerns?

A family of refugees receiving an English lesson from William Stocks, 23, in Marietta, Ga. "My job is to serve these people," Mr. Stocks said, "because they need to be served." Credit... Dustin Chambers for The New York Times

5. Aiding Refugees, One at a Time: When they accepted the mission to Czechoslovakia in 1939, Martha and Waitstill Sharp were among the founders of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, a nonsectarian human rights group that is still active around the world. Today, too, even as the refugee crisis has provoked political controversy, individuals and private organizations have found ways to aid refugees. Mothers in the United States called for donations of baby carriers and children's clothing and delivered them to refugees in Greece. Some Germans greeted arriving refugees at the border of their country with welcome signs in German, English and Arabic. And in Canada, where the government pledged to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees, a private sponsorship program gave people a way to provide essential support and help the government keep its promise.

The articles below highlight some of these efforts. As you read them, consider: How do these stories compare to that of the Sharps? What is the range of actions individuals have taken to help refugees in Europe today? How do these various efforts differ, and what do they have in common? What tools are these individuals and groups using to make a difference? How have people been able to help when they live in proximity to refugees? How have they helped when they are far away? What can an individual or a small group accomplish that a government may not be able to?

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Text to Text: Comparing Jewish Refugees of the 1930s With Syrian Refugees Today (Published 2017)

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Global Issues Browse all our Text to Text lesson plans Introduction . Today there are more than 65 million displaced people worldwide - the highest number on record since the United Nations Refugee Agency began collecting statistics.

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https://www.pbs.org/pov/watch/lostboysofsudan/video-lostboysofsudan/

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https://www.waterforsouthsudan.org/salvas-story

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=25bwiSikRsI

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B12syeJflbQ

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PBS Online Film Festival
Season 2018 Episode 13 | 3m 27s

There are 64 million refugees in the world today, individuals who are often invisible to us. Multimedia artist Ifrah Mansour read her poem "I AM A REFUGEE" at Twin Cities World Refugee Day, where these portraits were taken. In it she calls for greater acceptance and understanding. "Won't you just let me find my humanity right here next to you?"

Aired: 05/04/18

Expires: 07/12/20

Rating: NR

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I Am a Refugee | Season 2018 Episode 13 | PBS Online Film Festival

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PBS Online Film Festival Season 2018 Episode 13 | 3m 27s There are 64 million refugees in the world today, individuals who are often invisible to us. Multimedia artist Ifrah Mansour read her poem "I AM A REFUGEE" at Twin Cities World Refugee Day, where these portraits were taken.

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Book Riot - has children's, YA, & adult books. This is a list of adult books on the immigrant experience, but there are many others:  https://bookriot.com/2019/09/11/best-books-about-immigrants/

Brightly has a ton of different reading lists too!  https://www.readbrightly.com/books-to-help-kids-understand-what-its-like-to-be-a-refugee/

And We Are Kid Lit. Every year they also put out a summer reading list:  https://wtpsite.wordpress.com/2019/03/24/2019-summer-reading-list/  (Highly recommend "Dreamers")

Here is Colorin Colorado's children's book list for the refugee experience:  https://www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/refugee-experience-books-children

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/learning/lesson-plans/text-to-text-comparing-jewish-refugees-of-the-1930s-with-syrian-refugees-today.html

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Classroom Resources (& resources for students)

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Classroom Resources (& resources for students)

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https://www.tolerance.org/topics/immigration