For a class project, we decided to read the World War II novel, Daniel’s Story, by Carol Matas. This novel is about how a young boy and his family struggle to survive during World War II and the Holocaust.
The setting starts out in Frankfurt, Germany. Daniel is going over all of his photos from when life was good and safe. His family would always come over, and there was no such thing as Jewish Concentration Camps, yet. As the story goes on, he is looking at his photo album and remembering everything that had happened before this horrible war.
Next, in the story he and his family are in the ghettos of Lodz, Poland. Life was very threatening there. It was either you get on the train and go to Auschwitz, or you stay in Lodz and eventually get killed by the S.S. Soldiers. Daniel decided to run away from their family who were boarding the train to Auschwitz. As soon as Daniel stepped out of the house he was caught by an S.S. Soldier who threw him on the train that was off to Auschwitz.
After Lodz, Daniel and his family were off to Auschwitz, Germany, a concentration or “Death” camp. When they arrived in Auschwitz they were separated from each other. The weak men, women, and young children were sent to the gas chambers where they were covered in toxic gasses until they died. After the gassing, they were thrown into the crematory to be cremated or burned. Daniel was separated from his mom and sister but was with his dad. Daniel’s aunt and cousin died. After working hard, Daniel found his sister and was reunited with her, although, his mother had died. Daniel then was sent to a concentration camp in Buchenwald.
While Daniel was at Buchenwald, he was living in a room with many people. He realized the concentration camp they were in was not a death camp like in Auschwitz; they were there to work. Daniel and his father were sent to work on a building was going to become a gas chamber for the death of the people that they had journeyed with. Daniel was sometimes commanded to take pictures. When he saw a Jewish child die on the streets because a S.S. officer shot him, he threatened to shoot the officer. He then realized that the Nazi’s thought that no one was equal to them.
Still at Buchenwald, Daniel looks at another picture that reminds him of when his father was shot and he was in the hospital so he got to sleep on a cot by himself. He also got to eat real food like bread, cheese, and other rich foods. He ran out of the room and found a beautiful landscape. He then started taking beautiful photographs. After, he was sent on a train, again.
They stopped in a little town in Poland. Daniel and his friend were beat. A doctor then sent his friend to a hospital in Lodz.
When they got there, they performed an operation on the boy. The surgery was not a success, Daniel’s friend, Peter, died.
Daniel then was asking people how to get to the closest ghetto. When he got to the ghetto, he saw his friend Rosa, but it is not the Rosa he remembered. They talk, Rosa tells him how life was when he was gone. She said that her father and her brother died. She had also said that she had talked to Erika and that Erika had died. Daniel knew that he really loved Rosa. He got down on his knee and asked Rosa to marry him. She accepted. The war was over; Rosa and Daniel walked off to start a new life in Palestine without hatred and evil.
Candace & Kelly
“ A Sorrowful Night ”
We decided to compose this piece because Daniel’s Story is a sad and depressing story. So we decided that a good way to show that, is through music. In this piece called “A Sorrowful Night” there are many low notes with some high notes. We also chose to write a piece of music because we both played a musical instrument and we have some talent in writing notes, and figuring out where to put them.
We
put a combination of high and low notes to represent the obstacles that Daniel
had to face. This piece was mainly composed for a flutist (Candace) to play.
Listen as Candace plays it and see how it relates to the story and World War II.
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Kelly F.
Math:
We decided to make a graph showing how many people died, because in the book Daniel’s Story Daniel talks about people getting killed at each concentration camp. We wanted to know how many people died. We found out how many people died at each of the concentration camps that Daniel was at, and connected it to math by making a pie graph.
Social Studies:
Frankfurt- Frankfurt is where Daniel started his journey. Frankfurt is the transportation hub of Germany. Modern Frankfurt has one of the largest airports in Europe. It is an important center of Germany. In World War II, bombers leveled half of Frankfurt during WWII. It was then rebuilt after the war.
Peter H. Merkle- Frankfurt- The World Book Encyclopedia- V7-2003
Lodz- Lodz is the second largest city in Poland. The Nazis occupied Lodz during WWII. The city was severely damaged during the war. It was then rebuilt.
Janusz Bagajski- 420- World Book Encyclopedia- V12- 2001
Auschwitz- Auschwitz was the largest death camp during WWII. It is located in Poland. The Camp consists of 3 buildings. Gas chambers and furnaces are kept in the 2nd building. More people died in Auschwitz than any other camp.
Charles W. Sydnor- Auschwitz- The World Book Encyclopedia- V1- 2003
Buchenwald- Buchenwald was a labor camp. People worked in factories. Most of the people died form hunger, or were killed (Hakim, 121). About 57,000 people died in Buchenwald.
Charles W. Sydnor- The World Book Encyclopedia- V2- 2001
Science:
Zyklon B
In the book, Daniel’s Story, by Carol Matas, Daniel talks about how people went to the gas chambers and got killed. We wanted to find out what gas was used and how it killed them. When we researched, we found out that it was Zyklon B.
The gas that killed them was Zyklon B, which is also known as Hydrogen Cyanide. When the people were sent to the gas chambers, the gas would rise and go through into their bodies. It would go straight to their lungs and suffocate them. The people would die instantly. About 300 people could die in 15 minutes.