Behind the Bedroom Wall

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. Have you read any books or viewed any films that dealt with the Holocaust? If so, what did you learn? Why is it important to continue to learn about the events of the Holocaust?

Teaching Suggestion: You can use this exercise as an opportunity to gauge the class’s understanding of and readiness for the unit. If extensive misinformation exists in the class, or if the class’s shared knowledge of the events of WWII and the Holocaust are lacking, consider using the links below as a research-based activity to provide pre-reading context; this research can be conducted in class or as a homework activity. 

• The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s online “Introduction to the Holocaust” is an excellent starting point. The site also includes this article on the indoctrination of youth in Nazi Germany. A “Resources for Educators” section gives tips for teaching this difficult history to young people.

Short Activity

Browse two articles about the Hitler Youth program that trained children to believe in the values of the Nazi Party, focusing on the images presented in each article and their captions. Then answer these questions for discussion with your class:

• How are Hitler Youth represented in these images?
• Who are the images designed to appeal to?
• If you could set aside the problematic beliefs held by the group, would the program look tempting to you from the advertisements? Why or why not?

Teaching Suggestion: You may wish to alert students to the potentially disturbing racist content of the images. It may be helpful to remind them that we study the Holocaust in order to understand the dangers of prejudice and the importance of human-centered values in a society.  Due to the sensitive content, a wellbeing check-in may be considered appropriate.

• “Hitler Youth” - This article outlines the Hitler Youth program, including information about the child members who belonged to it, its impact on society and to the war effort, and the way it contributed to instances of racial hatred such as the kristallnacht (the “Night of Broken Glass”).   
• “Media Essay: Hitler Youth” - These short video anecdotes feature German adults who were children at the time of the Hitler Youth and League of German Girls. Some were in the Hitler Youth program; others were excluded from it and experienced their friends being systematically turned against them. Their memories attest to the all-encompassing nature of the program, and how effective it was in molding the beliefs of young people to devotedly support the proponents of Nazi Germany.

Differentiation Suggestion: English learners may benefit from answering the discussion questions using sentence frames such as “These pictures show me that Hitler Youth were supposed to look __________. I think the people who the images were meant to please were __________. If I were a German child at the time, I might think the program was __________.”

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Imagine a conflict that causes you to go into hiding with your immediate family in a confined space for an unspecified amount of time. You cannot contact friends or extended family or use social media or messaging. You are not permitted to go outside or even to look out a window.

Consider the following:

• How might you pass the time?
• What aspects of your daily life would you miss the most?
• What would be the most challenging aspect of your confinement? 

Teaching Suggestion: This activity aims to encourage students to connect with more empathy to the plight of Sophie and Rachel as they read Behind the Bedroom Wall. You could structure this exercise as a whole class discussion, a small-group discussion (with the option of feedback to the class), an independent writing (or drawing—see below) activity, or both.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with visual-spatial learning tendencies might find more connection with this prompt through drawing. For example, they might draw a labeled diagram of their backpack contents or a picture of themselves in their confined space. Encourage students to respond in whichever way allows them to best connect with and explore the prompt.