Family

By : Hana Dubova, written 2004

http://www.followmyfootprints.co/primary-source-family

Activity #1 : Identity Charts & Family Trees

In 1939, Hana’s identity chart would include the following :

Daughter, Sister, Cousin, Granddaughter, Great Granddaughter, Student, Friend, Zionist, Jewish, Child, Multilingual, Camper, Czech, European, Teenager (and more)

Instructions : What is your identity? Create your own identity chart describing who you are. When you finish, begin working on a family tree.

Materials Needed : Construction Paper, Markers, Picture of student to put in center of chart if available

Debrief Questions : Is your identity fixed? Will it always stay the same? How would it feel if someone decided that the only identity that mattered was “Jewish.” This is what happened to Hana and so many others throughout Europe.

Notes for Teacher : Let the students get creative with this. For family trees, they can cut out leaves for the trees and branches from construction paper or they can keep it more in the traditional format. Allow them to present their identity charts to the class and encourage them to share a family story (should draw inspiration from Hana’s essay, Family).