The guest lesson I offer is called “WW2 from a European perspective”. The aim is to introduce students / participants to war stories from other countries. This is how Dutch young people hear, for example, about the German Franz, Ukrainian Marija or British Bernard. Then we will discuss these people. These are true stories selected by me. I have often been in contact with the family members and I bring documents with me that I can show. Like Franz’s death notification letter.
After I have told about a few people, it is the turn of the students / participants themselves. Namely to conduct research in groups about a person from another country. They use their smartphone or laptop for this. Then it is up to them to also give a short presentation about the war story. They have free choice in this. For example, one participant told the story of a Czech pilot in the British RAF. But I can also help by giving suggestions of names.
These are the war stories I use during my guest lectures:
Franz killed in action in Italy
Marija ‘Ostarbeiter’ (forced laborer) from Ukraine
Bernard killed in action between Nijmegen and Arnhem
Johannes missing in action in Russia
Jen as a worker in a German mine
Henk and ‘kidnapping’ in Curaçao
