Hidden Letters reveals the engaging primary documents found in 1997, during the demolition of a small family house in Amsterdam, Manus de Groot, when a foreman noticed a small bundle of papers hidden in a ceiling. The papers consisted of 86 letters, postcards, and a telegram sent from an eighteen-year-old Dutch boy, Philip “Flip” Slier to his parents while he was imprisoned in a forced labor camp in Holland.  

Deborah and Ian Shine, first cousins to the primary documents author, Philip Slier or Flip, have been our genuine audience. The couple have engaged the students by generating conversations and responses for this project by posting to Mr. Spiegelman’s Blog, http://socsdteacher.org/gspiegelman. For students, knowing the knowledge level of the audience help determine how to write, how much information to include, how long to make text, how subjective or objective they should be, and how formal or informal the text should be.

Our goal is for the students to identify, evaluate, and reflect on their own learning in order to develop an empathetic understanding of others and other cultures in the school and global community.

When asked what their fee would be for a possible to visit to the South Orangetown Middle School, their response was, “We do not charge any fee, though we hope to sell a book, which of course doesn't happen when we talk to school kids, but no matter, that is fine. It is our hope that after hearing us talk and learning about Flip, some kid(s) will step up to the plate when they see someone being bullied or ridiculed, and rather than thinking, "Thank goodness they're not picking on me," will speak up and say, "Quit it!" After all it usually only takes one brave person to speak up for others to follow. “

Ms. Sorensen and Mr. Spiegelman's Class about his experiences during the Holocaust.

The Ration Coupons shown here are from the personal collection of a student's grandmother.

Listen to a select piece of the Violin Concerto in Major D written by Beethoveen.
How does it make you feel?
How could it have influenced others during Hitler’s time?
Can hope and despair coexist?

"The Sound of Silence" is the song that propelled the 1960s folk music duo Simon and Garfunkel to popularity. Listen to the words and respond to the following questions. Why did so few people choose to become rescuers while most people did not? What challenges and risks did all rescuers face? How did the rescuers cope with the challenges and risks?? In what ways can we display courage and hope in times of difficulty?

How can you make a difference by becoming informed and proactive citizens?

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The Germans imposed rationing on the Dutch. Nothing could be bought with out ration cards.

Nazi propaganda demonized and denigrated Jews and other groups to provide a rationale for their destruction. Arguments for their elimination were presented using unsupported inferences, visual images and stereotypes. Hidden Letters documents the 1933 book burning in Munich as an enactment of Heinrich Heine’s comment “Where they burn books, they will in the end, burn human beings too.” (Hidden Letters, p. 14) Flip’s letters and supporting materials demonstrate how his family and other Dutch citizens were not only denied access to information from traditional sources such as libraries but also to radios and pigeons which were confiscated and outlawed, too. Cut off from unbiased information, citizens found it increasingly difficult to mobilize and act effectively.

Hidden Letters also presents information demonstrating that the international press, movies and radio were remiss in informing citizens about the fate of the Jews. (Hidden Letters, p. 63.)

How do you evaluate resources for accuracy and objectivity to empower yourself as an informed citizen?

If you are a student remember to use only your initials.

We recently read the historical fiction novel, Number of the Stars by Lois Lowry. Flip and Ellen Rosen’s story have striking parallels and yet there are some pronounced differences. Like Flip, we shared the second hand experiences of Annemarie and Ellen under the Nazis. Explore the differences and similarities of Flip and Ellen.

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While many Dutch people collaborated with the Nazis, — the annotations in Hidden Letters point out that over 20,000 Dutch citizens joined the German army and that Dutch authorities cooperated in running labor camps and arresting resisters — many people, both Jewish and non-Jewish, did resist in ways big and small. Hidden Letters contains many of examples of the Dutch, including Flip’s, resistance to the Nazis. These would include the many Dutch people who hid Jews, onderduikers as they were called (Hidden Letters, pp.12-13) from the Nazis at the risk to their own lives and those of their families. Flip’s escape was certainly an act of resistance, but the farmers who sold or smuggled food to the men at Molengoot also engaged in acts of resistance. 

Consider whether a person can or should ever be a bystander to persecution and genocide whenever it occurs. Is this still happening in 2010?

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In the spring of 1942, Flip was sent to the Molengoot work camp run by the Dutch authorities at the behest of the Nazis. While at Molengoot, Flip wrote to his family almost everyday from the time of his arrival in April 1942 to his escape in September 1942. These letters describe the changing and increasingly deteriorating conditions in the camp.

How do these Hidden Letters help us understand the Holocaust?

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