Together with our partner schools in Italy, Norway and Portugal, we would like to analyze what makes a hero. German 9th graders are dealing with the topic Individual and Society in all subjects taught to them all year long. Considering the fact that we in our schools today deal with lots of different backgrounds the students come from, the question how an individual can integrate into society and what it can expect from society are diversely dealt with, just like the question what society can expect and needs from individuals. The occupation with the topic “hero” can combine all these questions in an exemplary way. Starting point for all schools will be the novel by Martin Zsusak “The Book Thief” – a novel about a little girl‘s life during the time of World War II, being given away to a stepfamily, presumably because her mother is Jewish. Thanks to her stepfather the little girl learns how to read and write. Again due to her stepfather she also lives in a rebellious environment in those dangerous times, full of secrets to keep, little and big defiances against the totalitarian regime. This novel is set in a fictional little town in Bavaria, the project’s basis for finding out about how the Third Reich has been perceived and portrayed in literature. The German students will prepare a guided tour through the outskirts of Munich with reference to life there from 1930 to 1950 and the aftermaths of having to come to terms with the Third Reich later. This can include visits to cemeteries of working camp victims and a trip to the Concentration Camp in Dachau as well as the new NS Documentary Centre in Munich and the exhibition on the heroes of the White Rose at the LMU. English being the lingua franca for all participating students will make sure that everybody understands what’s going on in those exhibitions. Close to the school in Mafra there is the historical prison at the Fort of Peniche, where students can visualize local history. On the outskirts of Oslo there were working camps for prisoners which can be at the basis of a visit to find out about life during German occupation. And Genua, being one of the few cities that have been handed back from German occupation without a fight, presents yet another point of view of life and its hardships during those times. One question our participating students will have to work on starting with “The Book Thief” is, what exactly defines a hero (and who in the novel can be attributed with the label) – and do “everyday heroes” exist as well? Do they differ from “national heroes”and if so how? These “everyday” heroes might include soldiers, firefighters, single moms and dads, nurses, … the students might have come across in their personal lives or their readings and movie watching. Putting their fingers on nationalistic characteristics, the students will furthermore set out to find out whether these characteristics are the same in other European countries. Do Italian, Norwegian and Portuguese students define heroes the same way as German students do? Starting from fictional characters presented in novels about the time of the Nazi Regime, they will go further into modern national literature, which is part of their curriculum. The students, aged 15 - 17 years, are presented with lots of different heroes in the literary curriculum of their German classes (e.g. in Bavaria Storm’s Schimmelreiter, Dürrenmatt’s Physiker, Morton Rhue’s The Wave, Keller’s Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe, Frisch’s Andorra). Other subjects like religious education, history, social studies and even the foreign languages present further material for the students to analyze in depth what makes a hero. So the participating students will choose a second medium for the project, each different, depending on the national curriculum of each partner school and the students’ interests. When visiting the partner schools, the students will first discuss their findings about “The Book Thief” and their definition of “hero” and then carry on to present their second choice with another, maybe more modern or a more classical hero figure. The aim of the project proposed is to make European Youngsters aware of values we all share, no matter which country we live in or come from and also of the differences there are in perception, dealing with history and especially with the focus of how the national role during the time frame from 1930 to 1950 is promoted and taught.They will be able to bring their new experiences into their classrooms at home and share them with the rest of their class and school, as well as in the case of the HGV with the complete year 9 and with this promote the necessity to look across borders, not close them.
Starting point for all schools had been the novel “The Book Thief” by Martin Zsusak. The novel’s heroine, Liesel lives in a rather rebellious environment in those dangerous times, full of secrets to keep, using little and big acts of defiance against the totalitarian regime in power. This novel was the project‘s starting point for finding out about how the Third Reich has been perceived in the project partner country’s history. In Genua, the hardships during German occupation and the rule of the Italian fascist regime became visible when meeting Italian heroes as well as visiting historic locations. When in Mafra we visited the Aljube prison in Lisbon, instead of the Fort Peniche, where students were able visualize the cruelty of the Estado Nuevo. The mobility to Germany in December 2022 included a visit Nuremberg, on the one hand the site of the Nazi Party rallies, on the other hand the location which held the first international trial ever, prosecuting leading figures of the Third Reich after its defeat, instead of the NS Documentary Center in Munich. We did not visit the working camps for prisoners on the outskirts of Oslo during the mobility to Norway, but we learnt about the courageous sabotage of the Heavy Water Plant in Rijukan and visited the sites of their secretive landing as well as the site of sabotage in the plant itself. We also visited the Museum July 22 teaching us about heroic acts in order to rescue others. The leading question of our project was what exactly defines a hero. It was very difficult throughout to differentiate between idols and heroes, between role models and heroes, between mere acts of human kindness or actions necessary to assure a working society and heroic deeds in the face of losing one’s social standing or even death. The students also discussed over and over again whether “everyday heroes“ do exist as well, if they differ from “national heroes“ and how. And it was very difficult to actually decide if historic heroes were really heroes by the modern definition of the word, since some of them had been considered traitors even at the time of their death or their heroic deeds included killing innocent people as well. It was interesting to see that Norwegian, Italian and Portuguese students encountered the same difficulties defining heroes as German students did. Being 9th graders, the students were presented with lots of different heroes in the literary curriculum of their German classes during that school year. Religious education and history were taught bilingually in 20/21 and in natural sciences lessons they met a long list of scientists who had helped to change the world for the better during their time. Social studies and French classes presented further material for the students to attempt an in-depth analyses what makes a hero. Covid and the restrictions resulting from it forced us to discuss the students’ findings about “The Book Thief“ and their first definitions of “hero“ in two virtual meetings online instead of during real life mobilities – which obviously was more difficult to conduct as a start than during in person encounters. And a lot of the things prepared and worked on could only be presented on the “heroes wall” at the particular schools during that time instead of showing, presenting and discussing them with visitors who had worked on the same things. When we were finally able to start out on the mobilities, there was a change in participating students due to our different scholar systems and with this the necessity arose to reduce the work basics. Nevertheless, the aim of the project never changed: It was meant to make kids aware of values we all share and also awareness for the differences there are in perception, dealing with history, especially with the focus on the national role during the time frame from 1930 to 1950. A lot was learnt about this historic period in the partner countries – Italy’s Mussolini regime, Portugal’s Estado Nuevo and Norway’s seemingly calm but overall refusal to go along with the German demands, which astonishingly did not cost as many lives as could have been expected. The participating students have all been able to bring their new experiences and their newly acquired knowledge into their classrooms at home and share them with the rest of their classes or courses, and with this promote the continuous necessity to look across borders, not close them.