DOE Lesson Plan - American History: Tony, A Soldier's Journey

Worksheet: The American Response to the Holocaust

Tony:  A Soldier's Journey
 

Penpals Marianne and Jane
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum


 

Tony Acevedo
US Holocaust Memorial Museum

US Army medic Tony Acevedo was captured in January 1945 and taken to a German prisoner-of-war camp. There he and his comrades were beaten, tortured, and forced to do hard labor. Tony recorded every atrocity and death he witnessed in a secret diary to honor his fellow soldiers and keep their memory alive. 

Graphic of Marianne and Jane for link below

           View his story.


QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

  • In what year was Anthony Acevedo sent to Europe to fight in World War II? What was his assignment in the war?
  • Using the Holocaust Chronology or Timeline, what else was happening in World War II and the Holocaust at that time?
  • Describe the conditions in which Tony Acevedo faced his first combat experience.
  • What did Tony Acevedo carry with him? Why?
  • Which soldiers were transferred to Berga? Why was Tony Acevedo transferred with them?
  • Describe the conditions in Berga.
  • What did Tony Acevedo find when the Red Cross package came?
  • How did Tony Acevedo help his fellow soldiers in Berga? What did he decide to do to help preserve their humanity?
  • As the Allied troops approached what happened to the prisoners from Berga?

READ: READ: BERGA-ELSTER ("SCHWALBE V")

Millions of people suffered and died in camps, ghettos, and other sites during the Holocaust. The Nazis and their allies oversaw more than 44,000 camps, ghettos, and other sites of detention, persecution, forced labor, and murder. Among them was the Berga-Elster subcamp of Buchenwald.

ACTIVITY

  • Create a 10 item chronology or timeline of the history of the Berga-Elster subcamp of Buchenwald.

WATCH:  WWII POW Donates Artifacts to Museum


QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

  • Why do you think what Tony Acevedo did was important? Why did he think it was important?
  • Resistance comes in many forms, including armed resistance as well as aid, rescue and spiritual resistance and armed resistance. What do you think motivated Anthony Acevedo to write his diary? How was this a form of resistance?
  • What risks might Anthony Acevedo faced by writing his diary?
  • Why do you think his donation of the diary is important?
  • What does the diary tell us about conditions in the camps? The fate of the prisoners? The behavior of the Nazis? 

 

ARTIFACT STUDY

Document From Anthony Acevedo's Collection

 

Anthony Acevedo papers

Document | Accession Number: 2010.440.1

 


 

 

 

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

  • How did Anthony Acevedo come to receive the diary?
  • What kinds of things did he record in the diary?
  • Why do you think he kept the diary for so many years?
  • Why do you think he finally donated the diary?