AP

Euro Edsall
Examining the Impact of War on Civilians
Before going over these documents, we will watch a short video on Japanese Relocation.

Directions: Read over each of these documents, and explore the links to different accounts of events from
WWII. Use the graphic organizer provided to keep notes on the documents.

Document 1

Document 2

Document 3
Read a retrospective account of the bombing of Dresden (all 5 pages):
http://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=1589

Document 4
“Facing Stalingrad” A online Archive of survivors of the Battle of Stalingrad
Choose TWO survivors and read their story.
http://facingstalingrad.com/




 AP Euro Edsall
Examining the Impact of War on Civilians
Document 5

Robert Boothby. Excerpt from Boothby: Recollections of a Rebel (1978)

Then came the Blitz. After Coventry, the East End of London had to bear the brunt. Every night, from dusk to
dawn the German bombs fell upon them. Woolton suggested that I might go down there every morning about six
o'clock when the 'All-clear' sounded, and see what I could do to help. I found that, as they came out of the
shelters, what comforted them most was a kiss and a cup of tea. These were easily provided. Almost overnight I
got the Ministry of Food to set up canteens all over the East End, manned by voluntary workers, where the tea
was free. When we took them back to their homes, often reduced to rubble, their chief concern was what had
happened to the cat. I am afraid that the cat searches which I tried to organize were less successful than the
canteens.

A number of people, including Kingsley Martin, the Editor of The New Statesman and Ritchie Calder, now Lord
Ritchie- Calder, came down to help. But the dominant figure was a priest called Father Grozier. He never failed.
He seemed to be everywhere all the time; and his very presence brought comfort, and revived confidence and
courage, to thousands of people.

The people of the East End of London - the true cockneys - are a race apart. Most of the men were dockers, all
the women cosy. Taken as a whole, they were warm, affectionate, gay, rather reckless, and almost incredibly
brave. Sometimes the language was pretty rough, but it was so natural and innocent that it never jarred. One day
I came across a small boy crying. I asked him what the matter was, and he said: "They burnt my mother
yesterday." Thinking it was in an air-raid, I said: "Was she badly burned?" He looked up at me and said, through
his tears: "Oh yes. They don't muck about in crematoriums." I loved them, and I am glad to have been close to
them in their hour of supreme trial.

Document 6
Evelyn Rose. Interview given in 1987 about her experience as a teenager during the “Blitz”

If you were out and a bombing raid took place you would make for the nearest shelter. The tube stations were considered to
be very safe. I did not like using them myself. The stench was unbearable. The smell was so bad I don't know how people
did not die from suffocation. So many bodies and no fresh air coming in. People would go to the tube stations long before it
got dark because they wanted to make sure that they reserved their space. There were a lot of arguments amongst people
over that.

We did not have an Anderson shelter so we used to hide under the stairs. You felt the next bang would be your lot and it was
very frightening. My grandmother was a very religious person and when she was with us during the bombing raids she
would gabble away saying her prayers. Strangely enough, when I was with her, I always felt safe.

Documents 7+
Choose three different ways that the “Home front” was impacted in Europe from the following website.
Make sure you read a few different sources from each category to get a well-rounded picture.

http://spartacus-educational.com/2WWhome.htm