Objective: Helping the students understand how the Nazis distorted language and thought.
Materials: Slideshow of words, slideshow of illustrations by Edouard Steegman inspired by the book Lingua Tertii Imperii (The Language of the Third Reich: A Philologist’s Notebook) by German philologist Victor Klemperer.
Workflow: Following a historical review of the creation of the camps, the students base their work on a slideshow of words. They give a contemporary definition of each word, then another definition, altered by the Nazis. Another slideshow is presented, showing the contemporary illustrations of Edouard Steegmann, inspired by Victor Klemperer’s book. The students give their interpretations of the drawings, with the help of their earlier study of the words.
Time: 1.5 hours
Level: Upper secondary school.
