Luggage Tag
| Artefact: | Luggage Tag |
|---|---|
| Theme: | Efforts to Leave |
| Grade Level: | Intermediate (6-9) |
Suggested time: 20 minutes
Grades: 10+
BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Read Efforts to Leave and carefully observe the images of the Luggage Tag using the magnifying feature. Be sure to read the English translation of the luggage tag.
1. What is a luggage tag?
2. Based on your examination of the luggage tag and its translation, make a table with three columns. Individually or in small groups, write down your findings in three lists:
- Column 1: List all the facts you can determine simply by examining the luggage tag (and translation), back and front.
- Column 2: List all the information you cannot determine from examining the luggage tag (and translation). In other words, what are the gaps in the evidence? What questions cannot be answered by looking at the luggage tag?
- Column 3: Try to fill those gaps in the evidence. Write down all the inferences (educated guesses) you can draw about the luggage tag based on your knowledge of this period in history?
3. Jewish refugees were only permitted to immigrate to Canada if they could obtain a “special permit” issued by the federal cabinet. These special permits were rarely granted to Jewish refugees trying to flee from the Nazis. Read the text of the special permit that was issued to Hermann Rosenthal (Federal Order-in-Council No. 140, January 26, 1939, Vol. 1640, page 6):
| Dr. Hermann Rosenthal, aged 65 years, and wife, Betty, aged 56 years - These proposed immigrants are citizens of Germany of Hebrew race, presently residing in England. It is stated the first named has been engaged as a physician but does not intend to follow any occupation in Canada. It is proposed to make entry conditional on the transfer of $40,000 capital [over $800,000 in today’s dollars]. |
4. According to this passage in the Order-in-Council, what factors were considered important by the federal government when it granted Hermann and his wife special permission to immigrate to Canada?
5. What do these factors tell you about the attitudes of the Canadian public and Canada’s immigration policies at the time? (Hint: review these passages from the Canadian Encyclopedia.)
6. The special permit was issued to Hermann on January 26, 1939. Look at the entries on the timeline around this date. List the factors that might have caused Hermann to flee Germany and apply to immigrate to Canada.
Extension Activity:
1. Following the Second World War, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1948. Article 14 of the UDHR recognizes the universal right of every human to flee persecution in their home country and seek asylum (safety) in another country. How do you think the Holocaust might have influenced the recognition of this universal right?
2. What steps can we take to ensure that individuals facing persecution today are able to find refuge and safety in other countries?