Student Activities

History/Social Studies

• In the beginning of the program, the fortunate, selected European refugees make their way to the Henry Gibbins. Compare and contrast this voyage with two others: the SS St. Louis and the voyage of the Exodus. Visit the Museum of Tolerance's Multimedia Learning Center for more information on the SS St. Louis and the Exodus.

  SS St. Louis

  Exodus

• Once on the ship, the refugees are met with hostile looks and words by American GIs returning to the states. Listen carefully to the dialogue between the soldiers and the refugees.

  Create a list of arguments given by the soldiers for their antagonism against the refugees, using direct quotes from the miniseries. List some points that are given by Ruth Gruber and by the refugees in dialogue that are in opposition to those given by the soldiers.

  Repeat the exercise using the dialogue between the few hostile townspeople in Oswego and the refugees.

  Soldiers

  Townspeople

  Divide up into small groups and discuss the meaning behind these pieces of dialogue. Why is it important for different groups of people to listen to each other? How can understanding between groups come about in this way, as it did for the soldiers and the refugees and for the townspeople and the refugees?

• Ruth Gruber's personal story is conveyed to the viewer in a series of black-and-white flashbacks (see samples below). Although not in the book, these flashbacks become necessary to convey to the viewer the context for refugee rescue.

  Using the film's black-and-white flashback scenes, compile a list of the concepts or ideas that the filmmakers intended to convey. How did Gruber's experiences fit in with historical events and with those concepts? With a partner, research and report on the historical accuracy of the events. Be sure to prepare a reference page that is complete with print and Internet resources. (Use the Resource Page as a beginning for your research.)

• Discuss how families and family life are portrayed in both the book and film version and consider the following: What measures did families take to stay together? How did the separation of family members affect the refugees? In what ways was family life constrained during the voyage and in detainment at Fort Ontario? How were American families portrayed in the program, and how does this portrayal compare and contrast with that of the refugees' families? How do the scenes in the television version and Gruber's own account of her family's reaction to her wartime role shape our understanding of how families function?

• More than ever before American women had the opportunity to participate in the efforts surrounding World War II, both on the home front and abroad. From joining the military to filling positions vacated by men who went to fight in the war, women found a variety of ways to keep things running smoothly.

Research the various roles of women during World War II and create a fictional character based on one of these roles. Click here for some examples. A good resource to begin learning more about these roles is at this University of Illinois Web site. Write a monologue to be performed for the class in-character explaining what you did during the war, how you felt about the war, and what happened to you when the war was over. After everyone gives a presentation, discuss how the various roles represented fit into the grand scheme of feminism as it stood in the 1940s.

• Many of the refugees from Oswego are still living in the U.S. View the video clips on this site from the Safe Haven video and read the interviews and articles posted on the Safe Haven Web site. Also see the list of refugees that Ruth Gruber includes in the appendix of her book. What is the value of hearing the words and reading the stories of these former refugees now? If you could visit the past, what would you say to the refugees about their futures? What would you say to those that opposed the refugees' citizenship?

  Safe Haven Video Clips
  Clip# 1	Clip #2	Clip #3

• Look in the library and on the Internet for contemporary articles about refugees. What areas in the modern world are plagued with racial hatred, ethnic cleansing, and persecution? How is the Western world responding to the atrocities related to these events? Explore the various options that Western powers have for intervening-including military action and/or providing a haven for refugees-what is actually being done, and what you think should be done. How are government powers weighing in as politicians versus humanitarians and how do their actions compare with FDR's actions during and after the Holocaust? In terms of current events, what world atrocities compare to the ethnic cleansing policies of the Hitler government? How are they different from Hitler's policies?

  Write a class letter to your U.S. Congressperson asking about what is being done on Capitol Hill to address human rights infractions abroad.

• "These thousand people came from 18 countries.... The path of their emigration and escape was the path of Hitler's march across Europe. He came to Germany. They fled to Austria. He came to Austria. The Germans and Austrians fled to Czechoslovakia. He came to Czechoslovakia. They fled to Poland. He came to Poland. They fled through the Balkans to Yugoslavia and from there they fled to Italy. On August 3, 1944, they landed in New York Harbor." -From Ruth Gruber's memo to Secretary Ickes, introducing her report on the case histories of the Fort Ontario refugees (Haven, Appendix). Based on this quote, trace Hitler's conquest of territory-and the Jews' flight-across Europe using the map below.

  Use the timeline above to help you and the directory of names from the Congressional Record to study the backgrounds and nationalities of the refugees. Gruber goes on to write, "They are a cross-section of Europe's thinking, Europe's occupations, Europe's nationalisms, and, most of all, of Europe's indestructibility." What do you think this means? How is it manifested in the map of the journey as well as in the Directory of names, families, and citizenships? In some ways, America is not only a cross-section of Europe, but is a cross-section of the entire world. What moments in the program portrayed America in this way, both through the refugees and through the Oswego townspeople?

• Read this series of original, archived documents related to the Fort Ontario refugees, beginning with FDR's announcement of his plans to Congress in June of 1944 and following up through the Friends of Fort Ontario Guest Refugees correspondance and Fort Ontario memos and news bulletins as well as the B'nai B'rith articles. Judging by these documents, what groups do you see struggling against each other on issues concerning the refugees? What political and ethical reasons play into these struggles? Make a list of specific words or phrases that you feel embody these groups' arguments. Use this list of arguments, as well as the full documents themselves, to stage a class debate, which should include testimonies from individuals representing FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt, Congress, Friends of Fort Ontario Guest Refugees, B'nai B'rith, the actual refugees, Ruth Gruber, and any others that seem relevant.

  
  

• Wartime Bureaucracy and the Refugees: Research Activities.

  Click here for background information.

  • Search the Internet for information on the Department of Interior and Department of State and visit each Department's official Web site. Review the mission statements of both departments and compare and contrast the missions of both to their respective wartime records as portrayed in "Haven," and as chronicled in any other materials that you find.
  • Conduct a library search for books written on the history of the United States Department of State. Evaluate to what extent Breckenridge Long is portrayed as anti-Semitic in the book(s). Analyze his role in terms of his record on refugees.
  • Search your school library and the Internet for information on Franklin D. Roosevelt. Biographies on FDR abound and should help you with background information regarding his position on refugees. Evaluate to what extent his humanitarian efforts were constrained by political necessities. Analyze Eleanor Roosevelt's influence on the President in terms of refugee matters.
  • Read the book Haven and view the CBS mini-series. Develop a theory as to why the filmmakers consolidated the different characters representing the Department of State and/or Washington bureaucracy. How were these individuals portrayed in Gruber's book?