“How Saba Kept Singing” was made in collaboration with HiddenLight Productions, Burnt Umber Productions and the WNET Group’s reporting initiative Exploring Hate. Sara Taksler is the director, writer and producer of the film.
Classroom resources accompanying Retro Report’s documentary “How Saba Kept Singing” will help students gain a deeper understanding of life at the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp; explore the connections in music, humanity and perseverance; and examine how anti-Semitism has evolved through modern history.
Remembering Auschwitz
Remembering Auschwitz
Life in the Camps
Escape and Liberation
David Wisnia, a survivor of the Holocaust, felt that his life could provide inspiration to others. He believed that we must “…do away with hatred, as hatred leads to death.” Here, David recounts his experiences as he returns to Auschwitz, accompanied by members of his family.
Finding Humanity During the Holocaust
David and Zippi
72 Years Later
This lesson plan encourages students to explore the question: How can humanity and relationships help people persevere in the face of great torment? Students will examine resistance during and after the Holocaust, analyze survivors’ experiences, and reflect on the persistence of the human spirit in the face of dehumanization and inhumanity.
Anti-Semitism
Journey Back to Poland
Seeing Parallels
Hitler Did Not Win
Bias and hatred toward Jewish people was not isolated to this period in history, nor did it cease with the end of World War II. This lesson helps students examine historical and contemporary Anti-Semitic incidents, along with the experiences of David Wisnia and his family.
The Power of Music
Introduction: David and Avi Wisnia
Auschwitz Archive
Concert “Mamale”
Avi: The Song Grandpa Sang to Dad
Family
Oświęim Performance
In this lesson, students will examine the meaning of music in their own lives, then use text and video to contrast the use of music by concentration camp prisoners as a means for resistance against the use of music by the Nazis as a means of domination and violence.