Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. The play takes place in Amsterdam between 1942 and 1944 during World War II and the Holocaust. What do you know or think you know about the Holocaust? How and why did it happen? Why is it important to continue learning about it?

Teaching Suggestion: Students will likely come to this topic with varying degrees of information and misinformation. You might consider having a class discussion to gauge their knowledge, then share or utilize the following links to provide a foundation in understanding the play. Alternatively, you might ask them to research or explore these resources as prereading work.

• The website for the “United States Holocaust Memorial Museum” in Washington, D.C. provides a large library of media, articles, and primary resources about the history of the Holocaust. Depending on student age and knowledge level, you may want to start with the “Introduction to the Holocaust” section. The site also includes a “Resources for Educators” section that gives tips for teaching this difficult history to young people.
• For an overview of World War II and the Holocaust, Crash Course European History offers four videos that might be useful for explaining the period: “