World war two our shared history draft

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1. Introduction……………………………………………………………..….p. 3
2.Participating schools: ……………………………………………….p. 5
- Steeton Primary School, England …………………………...p. 5
- SP 9 im. M. Kopernika, Dzierzoniów, Poland…………..p. 7
- OŃ Cirila Kosmača Piran, Piran, Slovenia ……………...p. 9
- ICS "Via Ferraironi" di Roma , Roma, Italy …………..p.12
- Bjørnsveen ungdomsskole, Gjøvik, Norway …………..p. 14
- Ecole Massenet-Pasteur, Saint Chamond, France .p.16
3. Meetings with WW2 survivors. …………………………….p. 18
4. Students‟ interviews. ……………………………………………...p. 24
5. Learning about World War Two. ……………………….….p. 38
- Students works
6. War songs from our countries. …………………………….p. 56
7. Videomeetings. ………………………………………………………….p. 62
8. Project in the media. ……………………………………………….p. 68
9. Our reflections on the project. …………………………...p. 74

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Introduction
This eTwinning project, 'World War Two: our shared history' was designed so
that pupils could research the war in their own country and share their work on
the project Twinspace. The aims were to benefit from an international
perspective of the consequences of war; an appreciation of our shared history;
and some understanding of the nature of history itself.
Schools in seven countries took part in this project: England, France, Ireland,
Italy, Norway, Poland and Slovenia.
As a cross-curricular project, subjects covered within the project included
history, foreign languages, ICT, geography, European studies, film and literature.
A number of ICT tools were used in the project, including blog, digital photos,
powerpoint, capzles, webex video-conferencing and Youtube video links. The
children particularly loved making vokis to introduce themselves to each other.
The Twinspace was well used to share the learning from each school so that the
pupils could benefit from international peer teaching and learning. As part of
their work, the pupils learned songs from the time of the war; and the lyrics and
music for the songs were available on the Twinspace. Pupils interviewed
survivors from the war and shared their interviews. Classes in each schools
researched a number of issues in the war and this work was uploaded and
shared.
Towards the end of the project, a video-conference call was held between four
of the participants: England, Italy, Poland and Slovenia. Pupils told each other
about the benefits of taking part in the project; and each school sang a song
(some of the others joined in with these songs). Headteachers from the schools
were also involved in the call; explaining how they felt that international project
work through eTwinning was beneficial to the schools. A particularly special
part of the call was the presence in Slovenia of one of the former teachers who
had been interned in the war in a labour camp in Germany in Lower Silesia – in
the town of the project partner school in Poland, Dzierżoniów (which before the
war was a German town Reichenbach).
The Project Diary was used throughout the project to give a good record of the
work during the project and to enable parents and pupils to access some of the
work at home.
Teachers benefited from collaboration with their international colleagues,

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websites and other resources. Teachers held a number of video-conference
calls throughout the project to discuss the progress of the work and to consider
ideas.
At the end of the project, pupils and teachers reflected on their learning gained
from their participation in the work. Strong bonds have been created between
the schools involved in this project and we hope to work together again.

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Participating schools
Steeton Primary School in England
http://www.steeton.bradford.sch.uk/

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Steeton is in Yorkshire, in the north of England.
There are 11 classrooms in our school and 3 others, eg library/music room, a
dinner hall and an ICT suite. In our music room we have lots of different
instruments eg drums, 4 keyboards, samba drums etc.
We have a wonderful wildlife area with an outdoor classroom (outdoor shelter).

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Szkoła Podstawowa nr 9 im. Mikołaja Kopernika, Dzierżoniów,
Poland
www.sp9dzierzoniow.pl
SP 9 Dzierżoniów, Poland - see the presentation

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Szkoła Podstawowa nr 9 im. Mikołaja Kopernika w Dzierżoniowa was set up in
year 1962.
We are a primary school with children aged 6-13.
This school year there are 412 students in 18 classes.
From year 4 there are sports classes in our school with 10 PE lessons a week.
Our school have been invoved in eTwinning projects since 2005.
Our project „Discovering Europe with foreign languages” won European Language
Label 2006 what is our most important achievement in teaching foreign
languages.

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OŃ Cirila Kosmača Piran, Piran, Slovenia
http://www.oskosmac.si

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OŃ Cirila Kosmača school with around 240 pupils is located in the medieval town
of Piran.Piran is located on Adriatic coast, 30 km from the Italian and 15km from
the Croatian border. Our area is a bilingual (Slovenian-Italian) and children also
learn the Italian language in the school. In fourth grade they begin to learn
English.
Our school is a UNESCO school. We have a lot of projects with a focus on
cultural heritage, education for peace, ecology, ...
This project involved our 5th grade (10-11 years old). In some phases of the
project will also collaborate pupils from 1st to 4th grade.
Classrooms 1-5

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Adriatic Sea seen from the school terrace
Piran – Punta with a lighthouse Piran – the Town Hall
Piran – Tartini square Venice house and the Towerbell

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ICS "Via Ferraironi" di Roma , Roma (RM), Italy
http://www.icferraironi.it

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The Comprehensive State Institute FERRAIRONI is located in Rome, Italy.
The area consists of a number of local communities which have developed in the
70's and 80's in the south-eastern area of the Capital of Italy.
The name of the area where IC Ferraironi has been built is VILLA DE SANCTIS,
after the name of a large adjoining park.
The pupils come from families living for the most part in the surrounding area,
but a consistent number of pupils are brought to the school by car, belonging to
other municipalities. Some of the pupils have to travel for over half an hour in
order to reach their school.
The Comprehensive Institute is formed by two Infant schools hosted in two
different buildings, three Primary schools and one Secondary school.
As from September 2012 our Headteacher is Mrs Stefania Pasqualoni. She used
to be a Secondary Level Teacher of English as a second language.

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Bjørnsveen ungdomsskole(Bjørnsveen lower secondary school),
Gjøvik, Norway
Bjørnsveen ungdomsskole is located in the town of Gjøivik in the eastern part of
Norway. A part of the country that is characterised by a dry climate, warm
summer months and as you will see from our photos a cold snow filled winter. The
school (Bjørnsveen) is located in the northern part of the town and caters for
pupils between the ages of 12/13 and 15/16. We have approximately 360 pupils
evenly spread across the three year groups. We hope to learn more about

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Norway‟s role in World War 2 with particular focus on the local area. At the
same time we wish to try and relate this information 'to the bigger picture'
happening across the rest of Europe.

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Ecole Massenet-Pasteur, Saint Chamond, France
Ecole Massenet-Pasteur in Saint-Chamond, is a primary school with about 160
pupils from 6 to 11, divided into 8 classes, one of which is a class for pupils with
special needs.

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Saint-Chamond – Town Hall Main church
Station Meeting roundabout

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3. Meetings with WW2 survivors
Meeting with Józef Oleksiewicz,World War Two
survivor,Polish Home Army captain
On Friday, 17th January 2014 Mr Oleksiewicz, great grandfather of one of our
school students visited our school (SP 9 Dzierżoniów, Poland) and told us about
WW2.Mr Józef was born in 1929 in a town Grybów in south Poland.
When the war started he was 10 years old and couldn‟t go to school as Germans
closed all Polish schools. He saw how Germans treated Jews and Polish people. He
wanted to fight against Germans and he wanted to join the army as his brother
did, but Mr Józef was too young. He helped the soldiers in the forest (the
partisans) and carried the messages which was very dangerous.
When he was 15 he became a soldier, he was wounded twice, he was caught by
Germans but he managed to escape. Mr Józef told us how difficult life was
during the German occupation. Polish people had to give the Germans a lot of
food and then they were starving. One winter Mr Józef‟s family ate only
potatoes three times a day as they didn‟t have any flour to make bread.
Mr Józef told us that Jews in Grybów in WW2 had to move from the town
centre, they only could live in the suburbs and couldn‟t even visit the town
centre. All Jews had to wear an armband with the star of David. Germans stole
all precious things from them and eventually sent them to the concentration
camp where most of them were killed.
When the war finished, a new occupation started in Poland and in Grybów too.
The communists arrested most of the Home Army soldiers. Mr Józef and many

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of his friends didn‟t want to be arrested and that‟s why he spent another two
years in the forest. Unfortunately in May 1947 he was caught and arrested.
First he was in prison in Kraków, then in a concentration camp in Jawor, where
Home Army soldiers were treated like traitors and Nazis. Mr Józef told us that
people in Jawor were sure they (the prisoners) were traitors who had helped
Germans during the war. He left prison in June 1950 when he was 21. Then he
moved to Lower Silesia.
This way war took the best years of Mr Józef‟s life, but he says he was lucky,
because he survived and wasn‟t killed, and wasn‟t sent to Siberia like many of his
friends.
Now he is 85 and he is the president of World Union of Home Army Veterans in
Strzelin and he often visits schools and talks about war and the Home Army. He
says we have to know our country's history to avoid another disaster like war.

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Meeting with Tončka Senčar, a Slovenian who as a
child spend 4 years in labour camps in
Lower Silesia
Tončka Senčar, our former teacher, paid us (OŃ Cirila Kosmača Piran, Piran,
Slovenia) a visit. She told us about four years of her childhood spent in labour
camps in Silesia (then - Germany, now – Poland).
Tončka was born in 1935 in Zgornji Obreņ, a small village near Breņice. She had
two brothers. In 1941, Germans stormed the village and took all the villagers
into the labour camp in Silesia.
In the photo, there is Tončka's family immediately upon arriving in the camp. In
the background, the shack they lived in.
Right after the arrival, the Germans wrote down their personal data and
germanized their names. Tončka showed us the medal with her camp number.

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A group photo was taken by the Germans.The internees had to send them home.
The photos served as a proof that they felt all right.
This photo was taken in the labour camp when Tončka turned seven. Her parents
promised her that her next birthday would be celebrated at home. The families
tried to keep spirits high. Unfortunately, Tončka returned home when she was
ten. At the age of nine, Tončka received the sacrament of confirmation.

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The photo of Tončka's family (the older brother missing). Being at work all days
long, the parents could only rarely see their children during the daytime.
The last camp where Tončka's family lived before the liberation. They were
saved by the Russians. The journey home lasted six weeks because the roads and
the bridges were destroyed. Franc, Tončka's older brother, carefully jotted
down all the stations on their way home.
All the horrors of the war notwithstanding, Tončka's ordeal had a happy ending.
The whole family returned to their village and rebuilt the farm. Tončka set to

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studying and became a teacher. In search of a post, the road brought her to
Piran. She has lived there for almost sixty years.
A couple of years ago, Tončka visited all four camps that marked her life and
the lives of her family members for good.
Today, Tončka is a retired teacher and is doing her best at passing down her
experience to the youth. We are grateful to her for sharing her story with us.
We inspected her camp medal. Questions went on and on.

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4. Students’ interviews
Children who were born more than half a century after the World
War II encouraged their grandparents to talk about the war.
Patrik was told by his great-grandma Giliola, who was born in 1936, about her
childhood in Portoroņ during the war. She remembers the school in Piran and the
alarms for air attacks which often interrupted the lessons. ' Fortunately, my
town wasn't bombarded as the planes were headed towards Italy and the central
parts of Europe' great- grandma told Patrik. She remembers the passenger ship
Rex which was sunk between Koper and Ņusterna. She also remembers the fear
of the Italian and German invaders. She also told Patrik that their house is
situated at the same place as the bunkers in World War II.
Lan talked to his grandma Ana and his grandpa Ņeljko. His grandpa told him that
the Italians took him to Pula and later to northern Italy to forced labor. When
Italy capitulated in 1943 he returned home on foot and he joined the partisans.
He told Lan proudly that he fought for the freedom of Istria and Gorski Kotar.
He fought in 43rd Istrian division. Luckily he was never wounded. During the
battle he once found refuge near Koper (village Borńt) where he spent three
days without food or water. Lan's grandma was a young shepherdess during the
war and she was also a courier. She carried partisans' letters to their families.
She taught Lan how she folded letters in order to make them very small and
easy to hide. She also remembers that partisans stopped at their house when
the war ended and her family offered them food and drink.
Doroteja was told by her great-grandpa that he was mobilized in the Italian
army in 1939. In 1940 he was taken to a special battalion to Sicily. After that he
was transferred to Algeria in Africa where he moved to the English army.
English soldiers took him to Montenegro where he fought with the partisans.
He fought in Montenegro, Dalmatia, Serbia and in the Srem front. He came home
in 1946. After the war he worked as a tailor. Doroteja's great-grandma lived in
Genoa and in Savona in Italy. She was a youth activist during the war. In 1942

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she organized the first campaign: young girls made clothes, gloves and caps. At
Christmas they donated them to partisans. She remembers the attack to the
village Kozjane. While they were burrying the dead she heard a song that the
partisans sang to their deceased comrades for the first time. She was also the
courier. After the war she was a sports teacher.
Both great-grandma Milojka and great-grandpa Doro were awarded with Medal
of Merit of the nation.
Lara Marija talked to her grandma Marja. She told Lara Marija how she was
taken with her mother and other relatives to the internment camp where they
slept in barns. They were then taken to Germany where they were moved from
one camp to the other. She remembers her mother who had to go to forced
labor every day. She came back late in the evening. Children were left alone and
closed all day without toys, animals and lessons. After the war she was afraid of
animals especially hens that kept running after her. Her father remained in
Yugoslavia and fought together with partisans. Lara Marija's grandma also
remembers the bombing and planes, tanks and American soldiers who freed
them. She said they were very kind. They gave children chocolate and cookies.
In 1945 they returned home with a freight train. The journey was long and
arduous as the railways were damaged. When they came home they found a
homestead burned to the ground and her father's grave.
Mia talked to her grandma and grandpa. When World War II started Mia's
grandpa was only six years old. His parents were teachers. Someday the Italian
soldiers burnt down the school because the partisans had spent the night in it.
The family moved to Vrhnika where Mia's grandpa went to school during the war.
His father was taken tothe Italian concentration camp Gonars. He came back
only after Italy capitulated.
Mia's grandma was only one year old when the war started. Her father was a
partisan. As she was so small and she could inadvertently betray they told her he
was dead. They sometimes hid from the enemy in the wood and in neighbouring
houses. Someday their neighbours betrayed them. Luckily they weren't shot
although they were threatened with guns.

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Jan talked to his grandma. She remembers the Italian school, the planes and
when they were expelled to Italy. When they returned home they had no cattle.
The enemy took everything from them. Her father was taken to Germany and
he didn't come back until the end of the war. Her brother was shot. Children
were scared all the time, they were afraid of everybody as they couldn't tell a
friend from an enemy. Someday the women had to carry heavy guns for Italian
soldiers over a very high hill. They walked for hours and their children were with
them. They were afraid for their lives.
In the Italian school they weren't allowed to speak Slovenian and the teacher
was unfair in assessing. After the war a Slovenian school was opened.
Enej talked to his grandma Ida and he recorded the conversation. Ida talked
about her youth during the war. She was a courier. She went to school. They had
to speak Italian at school. The teachers were mostly from Triest and they knew
the children were Slovenians. Even if the children sometimes spoke in Slovenian
the teachers didn't tell anyone and they weren't punished. She remembers hard
times although she says she was lucky to survive the war.
Tita brought to school 'A book of memories' which was issued by her grandpa's
brother. We read it and it was very interesting. We learnt about a young boy
who had to join the Italian army, how he fought for freedom and how he took
part in the reconstruction of the homeland after the war.
Our students' interlocutors told us some deep and often appalling stories,
although full of life and hope.
Thank you all.
Students and teachers of OŃ Cirila Kosmača Piran

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We lost everything and we didn’t know what was going to happen…
- Granny, how old were you when the World War II began?
- I was 11 then. I was born on 25th February 1928 in Szczyty.
- Where did you live before the war?
- I was born and till the moment of the outbreak of war I lived in a village
Szczyty (now it‟s a town in łódzkie voivodeship).
- How did life change in your village after the beginning of WW2?
- The first German attack on Poland took place in Wieluń – only 20 km from
Szczyty. All the inhabitants of the villages situated near Wieluń were almost
immediately displaced to France. We had to leave everything we had: our house,
our farm, animals, furniture, food… We could take only some personal belongings.
German farmers came and lived in our house and ran our farm. This way in one
moment our life changed. We lost everything and we didn‟t know what was going
to happen.
- Which events from WW2 do you remember most?
- The worst and the most remembered by me event from the war was the
displacement. It happened at night – German soldiers came into our home and
told us to leave the homestead. There were ten people in our family – 8 children
and parents. That night we were woken up, we only could take some personal
belongings and we were put on a cart and taken away from our home village and
homeland. Till today I have before my very eyes what happened that terrible
night.
- Did you go to school ?
-Yes, but only before the war. I went to a primary school. I graduated 3 classes.
In September 1939 the war broke out and I couldn‟t go to school any more.
- What happened to your family, friends and neighbours during the war?
- As I said earlier, my whole family, neighbours and friends were displaced to
France. In Szczyty stayed only my eldest sister Kazimiera . She didn‟t live with
us. She was married, had children and her own shop. Because of the shop
Germans let her stay in Szczyty.
- What did every day life look like under occupation?
- We were displaced to France to a town called Nance. It was in the Vichy
occupation zone. It meant, there was French government but it was under German
command. When the WW2 broke out that part of France signed an agreement
with the Germans and that‟s why displaced people were sent there.
We were lucky, the host we worked for, was a good man. Younger children looked
after the cattle and the older ones helped in the house as I did. We were treated
well.
- How did you celebrate the church holidays?

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- As I have already told you, we lived with good people and they treated us well.
The French people are Roman Catholics and celebrate holidays almost the same
way as we do in Poland. There were some different traditions and dishes, but the
atmosphere was the same.
- Did you have enough food during the war?
- Yes, we did. We never were hungry in France. But I think it was thanks to the
hosts we lived with. A lot of people starved during the war.
-Did all of your family survive the war?
-Unfortunately not. My sister‟s husband died in the concentration camp in
Auschwitz. They stayed in Szczyty after we were displaced and somebody told the
Germans that he was selling goods which were forbidden then (unfortunately I
don‟t remember what goods they were). Under occupation it was enough to arrest
a man and kill him. My sister was informed about his death by a notice sent from
the camp and she received an urn with his ashes.
Such procedure was taken at the beginning of concentration camps existence.
Later nobody took care of it.
- What happened after the war?
- After the war we all returned to Szczyty. When we arrived we saw that almost
everything was stolen or destroyed by Germans. My parents with my younger
sisters and brothers decided to rebuild their farm. The rest went west to Lower
Silesia (Dzierżoniów, Wrocław) and Silesia (Chorzów) to look for work.
- A lot of people looked for their family for many years after the WW2
through international organizations. Was the same in your family?
- I don‟t know about such situations in my family. But your great grandfather told
me his family was looking for him. When he was 14 he joined the partisans of AK
(Armia Krajowa – Home Army). He was caught and sent to the concentration camp
in Auschwitz where he spent a year. His family didn‟t know what happened to him.
He survived the camp, but after the war he had to hide in the forest for some
years because he could be arrested by communists as he was Home Army soldier.
Unfortunately I don‟t know the details.
- Granny, why did you settle permanently in Lower Silesia? How did it happen?
- In our region it was very difficult to find a job, everything was plundered and
destroyed. Then we heard that in the west lands, which were given to Poland after
the war, it was much easier to get good work. The first from my family to go was
my cousin with her husband. Soon I went to work in the clothing industry in
Dzierżoniów and I have lived here till today.
- Thank you Granny for such important and valuable information. It was a
great history lesson for me.
- I have to say thank you . It‟s really great that so many young people are
interested in their great-grandparents‟ past.
Julian Palimonka, class 6b interviewed his great-grandmother Natalia Tyczyńska born in 1928.

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Those events I won’t forget to the end of my
life…
My name‟s Agnieszka Swancar. I was born on 19th April 1909 in Pojana Micului. I
was Franciszka and Łukasz Juraszek‟s second child. I had two brothers – Szymon
(the elder one) and Oktawian (the youngest) and one younger sister – Joanna.
I don‟t remember my father because he went to the World War I and he
didn‟t come back. We were brought up by our mother. We were very poor. Life
was very hard in those days. I worked for Germans to earn some money and help
my mother. In the village Pojana Micului lived Germans and Polish people. In 1928
I married Jerzy Juraszek. We had four children – Maksymilian born in 1929,
Rozalia born in 1933, Jadwiga born in 1935 and Rudolf born in 1937. In 1940 my
husband had to join the army and I had to bring up our children on my own.
On Sunday evening 30th
April 1940, this date I will remember to the end of
my life, something terrible happened. In the morning we went to the church. The
priest wasn‟t there but we were saying the prayers, we were very anxious and
worried. Then a group of Germans came, closed the door of the church and
threatened to burn us all. Fortunately they didn‟t do that – thanks to people who
spoke German and asked those people not to do such a terrible thing. We went
home very sad and anxious about our future. At about 6 pm we saw German and
Romanian soldiers going out of the forest. I was preparing supper then. While I
was making „totch‟ – a potato cake, a German soldier came into our house and said
„Funf minuten her raus!‟ – „Leave the house in five minutes‟. We had only 5
minutes to take the most needed things and leave our home. I remember I threw
a blanket on the bed and put on it all the needed things. My oldest son ran to the
stable and led the cows out of it and took half a sack of flour. My daughters
took blankets and a feather quilt. The youngest son Rudolf took pots and pans.
We ran out of our house. However we didn‟t run to the place where the German
soldier told us to go. We escaped into the forest. Despite the spring it was
extremely cold, the temperature was below zero and there was some snow on
the ground. Twilight fell very soon and we started to build a shelter. We went to
the hill to see our village. The fire spread over the entire Pojana Micului.
Despite the night it was very bright. The view was terrible and excruciating. We
lost everything we owned. This picture will remain in my memory to the end of
my life.
Without a house, without any possessions, in dread fear I started my long
wandering with my children.
After burning the village, the Pojana Micului inhabitants‟ fates weren‟t the
same. Some people were caught and took to the glade near the stream, where
Germans and Romanians wanted to kill them all. Fortunately they didn‟t do it.

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Nobody knew why . The Polish people were sent to Gura Humoru and then
further into Romania. I with my children and some of our neighbours were living
in the forest. We had to be very strong and courageous to live with children in
the forest full of wolves and bears.
When the front line was getting nearer and nearer the Soviet soldiers talked
us into moving to a safer place, where the military actions didn‟t take place.
Altogether we marched in a column for a few days, through Serec, to
Tereblecz. Once it was a Romanian village, but after Soviet army occupied a part
of Bukowina in 1940, it was on the Ukrainian side.
Life there was quite good. We worked on the fields and in return we were
given food and grain. We took the grain and potatoes which we had earned to
Pojana on 6th
January 1945, when we returned home at last. The view was
terrifying – everything was burnt.
Amongst all our bad luck we had some good luck. My mother‟s house stood in
an out-of-the-way place and the arsonists missed it. The house was untouched.
For me and the others who returned it was the first home after coming back
from the wandering.
People were returning and they had to build shelters to live in. Slowly they
started to rebuild their homesteads. In spring we sowed the grain and grew the
potatoes we had earned earlier. We were starving – we ate only cheese, cream
and milk. Despite the poverty, people were friendly and helpful.
All those events are engraved in my memory forever. I will never forget them.
In 1946 as the Polish people Agnieszka and her family could go to Poland and
she decided to return to the country where her ancestors had lived about 150
years earlier. Together with many Pojana Micului villagers she reached Lower
Silesia, where my great grandmother Agnieszka lived long years till her death
The village Poiana Micului before the World War Two

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Agnieszka Swancar when young
Maciej Zając from class 5c, SP 9 Dzierżoniówhas written about his great-
grandmother‟s life

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I love my country and I know what
homesick is…
- Grandma, you have survived World War II. Can you tell me about life in
those days?
- When the war broke out I was 4 years old and I lived not far from Białystok,
exactly in a forester‟s lodge in the middle of the Białowieża Forest in a village
Żakowszczyzna. My father was a forestry worker. Many events I remember only
from my parents‟ stories, but the transportation on 10th
February 1940 I
remember very well.
At night I woke up and saw strangers and my parents walking. I started crying,
my mum was calming me saying that we are going to our grandmother. Then a
Soviet soldier came to me and gave me a biscuit, which didn‟t taste me at all. I
remember the taste till today. It tasted like caraway and it wasn‟t sweet.
- Do you remember anything else?
- I remember the way to the railway station. We went on a cart with the most
needed things parents took in a hurry. It was a winter morning. Behind the cart a
woman ran and shouted something. Probably she wanted to say goodbye to us,
but the coachman didn‟t stop. She was my godmother.
- And what happened then?
- We were taken to the railway station where goods wagons stood. We were
loaded onto them. Every wagon was closed and guarded by two soldiers with
rifles in their hands. I remember there was a steel stove inside the wagon. In
the corner there was a round hole in the floor – it was our toilet…
My mum hugged me and covered with something to keep me warm. The train
was going and going for days and nights…
- Do you remember where you arrived?
- There were wooden barracks placed one next to another, in the country, near a
cemetery. There was a NKVD station nearby. When somebody said that after
the war we would return to Poland, Russians pointed to the cemetery and said:
„There your Poland is.‟
We missed our homeland a lot and sometimes somebody sang a part of the
national anthem of Poland outside the barracks. If Russians found out about it
they started investigation immediately to find the person who dared to sing the
anthem. It was forbidden then.
- Where were you deported?
- We were in Barabasz, not far from Czelabinsk. My father and my older sister
(17-years-old) had to work in an iron ore mine, where water reached their ankles.
There were terrible conditions. The worst were the night duties – nobody could
be late. My mum stayed awake and woke up my father and sister. The other 14-

33
year-old sister had to work in a canteen. She was forced to learn Russian but
she opposed it absolutely and said she wouldn‟t learn Russian. As punishment she
was forced to work.
- What happened later?
- When Władysław Sikorski (Polish Prime Minister) held talks with Stalin about
common fight against the Nazis, we were moved to Kazachstan to kolkhoz
(collective farm) in a village Bratskoje. I remember the name of the railway
station – Burnoje. My father and sisters worked in kolkhoz in the fields. Every
family stayed with a family of natives, it means with Russians or Kazakhs. We
often were moved to another families – so that we didn't become too close.
There also were Chechens who were treated extremely badly. They were
starving all the time and they couldn‟t work in kolkhoz so they were dying from
hunger. I remember the father who carried in a sack their dead children to the
cemetery.
It‟s really hard to talk about hunger, how we were obtaining food…
The situation changed when the front got closer to Stalingrad. Then my
father was taken to Karaganda (Central Asia) to work in a coal mine there. He
wrote to us, he starved. In the photo he sent us, we saw he was swelled up from
hunger. He survived thanks to a Russian doctor.
We met our father in Poznań, where we travelled „west‟, because the borders
were changed after the WW2 and our house was outside Poland, in the USSR.
The train we travelled on stood in Poznań for a dozen or so days. One day my
older sister found out that to Poznań is coming a train from Karaganda with
Polish forced labourers. What a meeting it was! Tears of joy, we were so happy!
I‟d like to tell you about the end of the war. I remember, my mother had to
go to the office to deal with something, and what a happy news: closed because
of the end of the war: 9th
May 1945. Germany signed the capitulation!
When we were in Russian captivity I asked my mum: Are there any flowers
and trees in Poland? And then she answered: There are a lot of beautiful flowers
and trees, the meadows are full of flowers and in the woods there are
bilberries, mushrooms and singing birds...
Łukasz Mól from class 5a,SP 9 Dzierżoniów interviewed his grandmother born in
1935

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He saved Austrian farmers from death…
My great grandfather Wacław Krasoń was born in 1923 in a village Gorzkowice
about 70 km south of Łódź. He was 16 when the World War Two began in 1939.
Two years later the Germans gave an order that from each family in the town
one person had to go for forced labour to Germany. My grandfather had an elder
brother who was to go, but he was afraid of it. That‟s why my great grandfather
Wacław went to forced labour in terrible conditions. He was deported to Austria
to work on a farm. The farmer had two sons who were SS men and he was very
bad for the workers. He beat them, didn‟t give them enough food (they were
often starving) and they had to work from the dawn to dusk.
It was really difficult and my great grandfather together with another Polish
worker decided to run away. They walked from Vienna in Austria, through the
Czech Republic to Cieszyn Silesia. Unfortunately there, they were caught by
Germans and imprisoned. During the war, those who ran away from any kind of
camps or forced labour places were killed or sent to concetration camps. In
prison, my great grandfather worked very hard, the Germans noticed he was a
very good worker and decided to send him back to forced labour in Austria.
This time my great grandfather was lucky, because he was sent to a village
called Hochvolkersdorf to a good farmer, where he was working till the end of
war.
In January 1945 Germans took all the workers from the farms to Vienna,
where they had to build trenches around the city. For a whole month they had to
work outside where the temperature reached -30 degrees. When they finished
they were sent back to the farms.
The village, where my great grandfather worked was taken by the Red Army.
The Russians wanted to kill all the farmers in the village. Then my grandfather
started to protect them, he explained they had been good for their workers,
but the Russian soldiers didn‟t understand him. It took quite a long time, and
fortunately a Russian officer appeared. He knew Polish language and at last my
grandfather could explain everything clearly enough. This way he saved Austrian
farmers from death.
The Austrians were very grateful to my great grandfather for what he had
done for them. They made friends, wrote letters to each other for many years
after the war. They also invited my great grandfather to their village. Every
time he arrived in the village he was welcomed as a friend.
Witold Palus from class 5a, SP 9 Dzierżoniów has written his great-
grandfather‟s life

35
They came and took me and my two-year-old
daughter…
Every family has some incredible events. About the most important ones from
World War II in my great-grandmother‟s life, I talked to my father‟s
grandmother Jadwiga Kotwica nee Budzińska.
- How old were you when the World War II broke out?
- I was born in 1922, it means I was 17 when the war began.
- Where did you live before the WW2?
- I lived in the Eastern borderlands, in a village Niewierków, district Równe,
voivodeship Volhynia (Wołyń).
- How did life change in your village after the war began?
- In September 1939 into Eastern borderlands the Soviet Army invaded. The
Polish Army troop, which stationed not far from my village, welcomed the
Soviets as defenders from Germans. But it wasn‟t like that – the Red Army took
all Polish soldiers prisoners. Soviet occupation wasn‟t long – it lasted till summer
1941. Then the Germans invaded the USSR and they came to our village too. Our
life changed a lot then. Germans weren‟t good for us, but the worst were the
Ukrainians who belonged to UPA (The Ukrainian Insurgent Army). They were
called Banderowcy (Bandera‟s people) as their leader‟s surname was Bandera. The
worst happened when I was a wife and a mother. We ran a farm. There was lack
of food, because Germans took a bigger part of the food we produced.
- Which events from WW2 do you remember most?
- I went through many difficult periods during the war. But most I remember
what happened in 1943. In this year Ukrainians from UPA murdered hundreds of
thousands Polish people in the Eastern borderlands. First they killed Jews and
pillaged their properties.
I saw myself a situation when Ukrainians put a bottle on a Jew‟s head and shot
to it. They said that first they had to kill Jews and after that they would do the
same with Poles. And unfortunately they did .
It happened when my husband wasn‟t at home one day in 1943. Bandera‟s
people came and took me and my two-year-old daughter. They told me to sit onto
a horse-drawn wagon and took us to another village. There they were killing
Polish people. They wanted to do the same with me and my daughter. I was very
lucky because we had to wait and the Ukrainians went to help to kill another

36
Poles. Then I saw nobody was looking at us. I jumped down from the wagon and
ran towards the fields of crops. Suddenly I realized I forgot to take my baby
with me (I was in such a shock) and I returned very quietly and took her. We
jumped into the crops and ran for many hours. I don‟t know why, but I didn‟t go
home – I went to another village where my uncle lived. When I reached his house
I fell down and lost consciousness. Later they said they couldn‟t open the front
door because I lied there. They had to go out through the window to see what
happened. They took me and my daughter in and helped us. I was very lucky I
didn‟t go home as the Bandera‟s people were looking for me in my house. I also
found out that the Ukrainian who was the wagon driver, was seriously beaten by
Bandera‟s people because he let us run away.
I and my daughter lived with my uncle Paweł (Paul) for some weeks. It was safe
enough then because his wife was Ukrainian and Bandera‟s people let them live.
But soon Germans deported us to Germany to work there. In Germany we lived
till the end of the war. Life there was very hard: lack of food and a lot of work.
Several times I was close to death. But these are another stories. I remember
I was carrying food to Russian pilots who were hiding in the forest nearby,
because their plane was shot down by Germans. I don‟t know what happened to
them. One day I went to the forest and they weren‟t there. I only found a piece
of paper with a poem for me. I don‟t remember the poem as I had to destroy it
because it could be dangerous for me if someone would found out about it.
- What happened to your family, friends and neighbours during the war?
- I, my husband – your great-grandfather and our daughter survived. My parents
and my brothers and sisters also lived through to the end of the war. My
husband‟s brother was caught by Germans and sent to the concentration camp in
Dachau and died there. My uncle Paweł (I lived with his family in Volhynia) and
his family were murdered by Bandera‟s people. His son – as people said me after
the war - was buried when he was still alive and he started to speak before he
died. He was dumb since he was a child. I don‟t want to talk about Bardera‟s
people murders, because they were horrible, gruesome and it‟s really difficult to
talk about them.
- How did you celebrate church holidays during the WW2?
- In Germany we didn‟t have a day off because of church holidays. We
celebrated the holidays in our souls, quietly, dreaming about the end of the war.
- What did every day life look like then?
- When we were in Germany in a village Wiechau (now it‟s in west Poland in
Lubuskie voivodeship) we had to work hard all the time – in the fields, on the
buildings and later we had to dig trenches.

37
- Did you have enough food?
- No, we didn‟t have enough food. We were often very hungry. At the end of the
war even Germans had shortage of food. There were food ration coupons and the
rations were very small. Once while I was cleaning the attic I found a biscuit. I
was very hungry and I ate it immediately. In a moment I found a packaging of
the biscuits and I found out they were poisoned biscuits for rats. But I
survived – I had a terrible stomachache. I think the biscuit was very old and the
poison didn‟t work. I don‟t know.
- What happened to your family after the war?
- After the liberation as the repatriates we were sent to the west and we
settled in Łysiny near Wschowa, Lubuskie voivodeship. Some years later we
moved to Księgnice Małe not far from Sobótka in Lower Silesia.
- A lot of people looked for their family for many years after the WW2
through international organizations. Was the same in your family?
- Yes, many people from our family turned up even several years after the war.
We made use of the Polish Red Cross and they helped us a lot.
- Granny, thank you very much for the conversation. It was a real History
lesson for me.
About the most important war events during the World War II Artur Adam
Rajczakowski was talking to his great-grandmother Jadwiga Kotwica.

38
5. Learning about World War Two
The United Kingdom in World War Two
The only part of the British Isles to be invaded during World War Two were the
Channel Islands. The mainland of Britain was not invaded. However, civilians
were affected by the war.
We learned about the 'Blitz'. This was the period for 8 months from
September 1940 when British cities were bombed by the German Luftwaffe.
London was attacked many times, as well as other cities such as Coventry:
Searchlights were used to look for enemy aircraft and we painted these images:

39
Families were encouraged to build Andersen shelters in their gardens, where
they could take refuge during the bombing raids. Also, everyone was told to
grow vegetables, so that people in Britain didn't run out of food. We made
models of the shelters and vegetables.

40
World War 2 on Slovenian grounds
On 6th
April, 1941, German Army entered
Slovenian ground with no previous notice
of their intentions. A week later Italian
and Hungarian Army came, too. This is how
the WW2 started in our country, the land
being split among three invaders.
The occupying forces tried to make
Slovenian land their own and to assimilate
the local people. They were very agressive
and they took many men, women and children into concentration camps.
27th
April is Slovenian bank holiday as we celebrate
the day when the Slovenian officially started their
open fight against the occupying forces. On this
day in 1941 a combative political organisation was
formed and it connected all the Slovenian people,
no matter theirreligion or believes. It was ment to
fight the enemy and organize the people's
revolution.
In summer 1941 the partisan corps arose and in autumn they gathered into
batallions.
In 1942 Ljubljana was encircled with barbed
wire.
The 33-kilometre path, which crosses both
urban areas and the surrounding meadows
and forests, runs along the course of the
barb wire fence which surrounded Ljubljana
during World War II (from 1942 onwards),
when the Italian and later German occupying
forces tried to prevent contacts between
the city and its hinterland. The barb wire fence was guarded by around 1,300
soldiers and 400 policemen, who checked the identity papers of those travelling
to and from the city.

41
The path marked in red on an OpenStreetMap of Ljubljana
An avenue of birches along the path, in the Rudnik District
In memory of those events every year thousands of people take part in the walk
around the wire of invaded Ljubljana on 9th
May.
In 1942 people started organizing partisan schools on the land that had been
freed. They had no books or things for school so people only got basic education.
The freedom took a very long time to
come. WW2 in Europe ended on
Slovenian grounds.
It is believed that in Slovenia at
least 97,459 people died during the
war, which is 6.5 per cent of the
population.

42
Students works
Learning about WW2 – Steeton School
We started our work on World War 2 by thinking about what we already knew
and what we wanted to learn.
The outbreak of war in the UK
We learned about the events leading to the UK Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain's announcement on 3 September 1939 that Germany had invaded
Poland and that therefore we were at war with Germany:

43
D-Day: 6 June 1944
We watched a film about D-Day and learned about the
5 beaches in Normandy (Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword).

44
We learned which schools were taking part in the eTwinning project.

45
Learning about WW2 – SP9 Dzierżoniów
Polish students studied the reasons of World War Two outbreak, what was the
political situation in Europe in 1939.
Next they worked on Defensive War in 1939 in Poland as Germans invaded
Poland from the west on 1st
September and the Soviet Union from the east on
17th
September. Polish nation had to fight against two invaders what was very
complicated and difficult. Laura made a presentation showing this period of
history:
To watch the presentation click the link
below:http://www.slideshare.net/annaszsp9/defensive-war-1939-in-poland
On 10th February 2014 in Poland we remember as the 74th anniversary of first
wave of Polish people deportations into the USSR. Over a million people were
deported into Soviet Union (Siberia, Kazachstan and others). Most of them died.
Those who survived were really lucky. Łukasz's grandmother‟s family was among
the lucky ones...
Szymon made a presentation showing the part of World War Two which isn't
very well known in the west part of Europe.
To watch the presentation click the
link below:
Deportations into the Soviet Union

46
We studied the life under occupation in Poland. One of the most tragic moments
during the WW2 was Warsaw Uprising in 1944. The Home Army soldiers
wanted to avoid Soviet occupation after the war and they wanted to liberate the
capital city before the Red Army. Unfortunately Stalin ordered not to help the
Uprising and about 200 thousand people were killed while the Soviets were
watching them from the east bank of Vistula. They even didn‟t let British and
American planes land on the territory they had liberated.
The Warsaw Uprising was the largest single military effort taken by any
European resistance movement of World War II.
Joanna made an ebook about Warsaw Uprising.
Warsaw Uprising 1944
Polish soldiers fought against Germans in many countries in Europe, for example
in Italy (they fought for Monte Casino), in Holland, France, Belgium and in the
Battle of Britain. Kacper studied the history of No 303 Polish fighter
squadron.
Click the link below to watch the
presentation:
No 303 Polish Fighter Squadron

47
Polish students learned about famous people who were brave during the WW2
and helped other people even though they could be killed for it.
During World War Two the whole Poland was occupied (west part by Germans
and the east part by Soviets). Germans wanted to exterminate the whole
nations, first of all Jews. On the territory of Poland Germans set up many
extermination (death) camps, where they killed about 11 000 000 people. In
Poland during the war Germans set up a law - "Everybody who helps the Jews
will be killed". And it didn't frighten all the Poles as thousands of Polish people
helped the Jews, thousand were killed because if it. Janusz Korczak could avoid
death, but he didn't want to leave the Jewish orphans on their way to the
extermination camp Treblinka.
Wiktoria made a presentation to let you know Janusz Korczak:
To watch the presentation click the link below:
http://www.slideshare.net/annaszsp9/janusz-korczak-in-english
Aleksandra made a presentation about Irena Sendler - a nurse who during the
WW2 helped Jewish people from the beginning of the war. When The Warsaw
Ghetto was set up, she as a social worker could come in and out of the Ghetto
and she helped the Jews. When Germans started deporting Jews east it was
clear they were going to be killed in Treblinka extermination camp. Irena
Sendler with friends started smuggling Jewish children from the Ghetto giving
them new names and housing them with Polish families. Irena Sendler wrote the
children's data on pieces of paper, put them into a jar and buried it in the
garden. This way after the war children could know their real names and origin.

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Holocaust and Irena Sendler
In Poland during the World War Two the Germans sentenced to death everyone
who helped the Jews. This way a lot of people were killed. Karolina made a
presentation showing one brave priest, who was prisoned because he helped
Jews, then he was sent to concentration camp Auschwitz where he as a
volunteer was sentenced to starving death. After two weeks of starving he was
still alive and he was given a lethal injection of carbolic acid.
Maximilian Maria Kolbe

49
Stanisław Skalski (27 November 1915 – 12 November 2004) was a Polish fighter
ace of the Polish Air Force in World War II, later rising to the rank of general.
Stanisław Skalski was the top Polish fighter ace of the war and the first Allied
fighter ace of the war, credited, according to official list, with 18 11/12
victories and two probable. He fought in the UK in the Battle of Britain.
Wiktoria made a presentation about him:
Stanisław Skalski
Polish students were on a tripto Complex Rzeczka – underground corridors, part
of a construction project Riese (Giant) started by Nazi Germany in 1943-1945 in
the Owl Mountains and Książ Castle in Lower Silesia, previously Germany, now
territory of Poland. They saw the terrible conditions the prisoners had to work
the whole year long. Mela made a presentation about our trip and Complex
Rzeczka:
Click the link below to watch the
presentation:
A trip to Complex Rzeczka

50
On Friday 7th April 2014 Polish school was visited by 3 men from our local
Historical Reconstruction Group of 28th Regiment of Infantry.
They told us about soldiers' life before and during World War Two, showed us
the weapons from those days and of course we could see the soldiers' uniforms
from the war.
We also watched a film from the battle of Wizna which was performed 3 years
ago and in which they took part. Boys could touch the weapons: a gun machine, a
rifle and a gun. Our quests answered our questions about war and soldiers' life
during the war. The meeting was an exellent experience for all the students,
especially to these ones who have took in our project.

51
Learning about WW2 : pupils' work from IC Ferraironi of
Rome
CONVERSATION Number ONE: THE WAR
We are Year 3 pupils attending the Balzani annexe of the Ferraironi Institute of
Rome.
We are nearly 9 years old, but our teachers try to help us understand bits and
pieces of some harsh realities by means of approaching these themes in a way so
soft as to not create any worry or sadness. Nevertheless, we are by now able to
speak, reflect and share thoughts and knowledge about many subjects.
One of these subject is certainly the story of our predecessors, the way they
spent their lives studying, living at home, working. Our great-grandfathers, for
instance spent their childhood in such a very different way when compared to
ours.
Conversation NUMBER ONE is just the beginning of what is going to happen or
has already started in our classroom. We will type up the conversations
ourselves, or at least the ones among us who can use Word easily. For the time
being, it is our teacher Susanna who is explaining how our conversations will take
place.
Thrursday- January 23rd 2014
Teacher’s question n°1: What do we know about these two words put
together, “World War”?
Teacher’s question n°2: What does the word “WAR” mean?
Teacher’s question n° 3: What is “Il Gobbo del Quarticciolo”?
As for the third question, which translated means “The Quarticciolo
Hunchback”, a one-man-show which will take place at our school, by an actor
whose name is Emiliano Valente, was asked by our teacher in preparation of next
week‟s events. Seven classes, all belonging to the older grades (3d to 5th
grade)
will be watching the Play in groups in our large school Theatre, on Monday 27th
and Wednesday 29th
of January.

52
A show about the war: Il Gobbo del Quarticciolo
Children in Year 3 at the IC Ferraironi Institute
watched a one man show by the Italian actor
Emiliano Valente, on Wednesday 29 January 2014.
We were all celebrating the Day of
Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the
Holocaust.
The Play tells the story of the adventures of
some people living in the Quarticciolo suburbian
area of Rome (located near our school building), during
the Nazis‟ rounding-up operations.
These dates are very important dates in the Jewish Community all over the
world but not only among the Jewish.
The Holocaust had nearly finished by the time people in Italy were trying hard
to liberate Italy from the Nazis.
La seconda guerra mondiale
Research of photos and texts by Daniele,Ludovica, Andrea, Leon,
Beatrice, Patrizio , Samuele, Ludovica, Alice, year 4, IC Ferraironi
Roma
• We discussed in class about what we know about the world war.
• We asked in our families to tell memories or tales or things that parents,
grandparents, relatives remember about the period of the war
• Many of them told about bombing in Rome and in the region
• We asked info to our parents and grandparents and then we organized
texts. We‟ve also watched videos and songs in Twinspace by pupils of other
European countries. We agreed that the Second world war is very ugly
Hitler ha scatenato la guerra. Hitler started the war.

53
During Nazi occupation in Rome
• There was a hunchback who was a newspaper seller and was also a part of the
Resistance and helped people to get food. To capture him, the Germans
arrested all the hunchbacked in Rome
• Then Nazis killed 335 persons, shooting them, because 33 German soldiers
were killed by Partisans so SS ordered to kill 10 Italians for each German
soldier
• Once two boys found a hole and inside the cave there were all these dead
people.
• But at the end Americans helped us to win.
Bombing on San Lorenzo, in Rome
When my granddad was 7 he started to run away from war . With his family he
went to a small village to escape from bombing but there they found the German
soldiers. The soldiers lived in the school and stole food to farmers. Children
used to ask for bread to German soldiers. There was the curfew and once in the
family theyforgot to turn off the light. Germans came and broke the door with
their heavy boots and shot the lampbulb.
In the countryside
• I‟ve discovered that my grand grandfather built a bunker in the garden to hide
when they heard the bombardeers' planes
• My grand grand-father Giacomo and his son were captured and brought as
prisoners in Germany
• Another grand grand-father was imprisoned and then released and when he got
back home he was wearing only underpants and a jacket

54
Once good soldiers passed there and gave each child a coin, but when the bad
soldiers arrived they stole chickens and eggs.
During the war Germans captured Jewish people and imprisoned them in the
camps. Then they killed them in the gas chambers. 27th January is Memory day
to remember the day when Auschwitz camp was free.
These are the medals awarded to my Grandfather who fought during the second
world war.
We are lucky because now there is no more war and we can go where we want.
I think that German people understood their mistakes, except for some general.
I hope there won‟t be any other world war.The whole work is HERE
Viva la pace!We love peace!

55
Learning about WW2 by Ecole Massenet-Pasteur, Saint
Chamond
We are working on this book written by Tomi
Ungerer. We will play it on a theatre stage. We
noticed all the historic facts about World War 2
What we learnt about World War 2 thanks to that
book:
- The Jews had to wear a 'The star of David'in order to be recognised and their
life was very difficult at that time
- Women, men and children were sent to concentration camps
- In concentrations camps, there were gas chambers where people were killed by
inhaling toxic gas.
- World War 2 killed many innocent people: the Jews in the concentration camps,
men who were called to battle for their country, women or children in towns
during air raids.
- When an air raid was coming, sirens were wailing so that people could go down
to shelters to protect themselves from the air raids dropped by planes.
- After an air raid, everything was destroyed and there were fires too.
- American soldiers called GI came to liberate occupied countries.

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6. War songs from our countries
One of tasks for students was to learn singing war song from their country and
if possible from partner school‟s countries.
Italian students sang Bella ciao. This is the most famous Italian song from
the period of the WW2 and of the resistance against Nazi occupation in Italy.
The song is sung by the choir Sesta voce , the multi-ethnic choir of ICS "Via
Ferraironi" di Roma. Some parts are in Kurdish language, as often the choir sings
in other languages. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3HzD6NZcpQ
Una mattina mi son svegliato
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
Una mattina mi son svegliato
E ho trovato l'invasor
One morning I woke up
One morning I woke up
And I found the invader
O partigiano portami via
O partigiano porta mi via
Che mi sento di morir
Oh partisan, carry me away,
Oh partisan, carry me away,
For I feel I'm dying
E se io muoio da partigiano
E se io muoio da partigiano
Tu mi devi seppellir
And if I die as a partisan
And if I die as a partisan
You have to bury me
Mi seppellire lassù in montagna
Mi seppellire lassù in montagna
Sotto l'ombra di un bel fiore
But bury me up in the mountain
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
But bury me up in the mountain
Under the shadow of a beautiful flower
E le genti che passeranno
E le genti che passeranno
Mi diranno: "Che bel fior"
And the people who will pass by
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
And the people who will pass by
Will say to me: "what a beautiful flower"
È questo il fiore del partigiano
È questo il fiore del partigiano
Morto per la libertà
This is the flower of the partisan
This is the flower of the partisan
Who died for freedom.

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This song was also sung by a Polish student Mateusz Subocz from class 3a:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol2B8TNv5jw
Polish students sang a very popular Polish war song Piechota – Infantry.
This Polish war song was probably written in 1917 and was very popular during
the World War Two. Polish people still sing this song and children learn to sing it
at school as it is in primary school curriculum in Music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNJ4KqWKtLA

58
1. Nie noszą lampasów, lecz szary
ich strój,
Nie noszą ni srebra, ni złota,
Lecz w pierwszym szeregu podąża
na bój
Piechota, ta szara piechota.
Maszerują strzelcy, maszerują,
Karabiny błyszczą, szary strój,
A przed nimi drzewa salutują,
Bo za naszą Polskę idą w bój!
2. Bo idą, a w słońcu kołysze się stal,
Dziewczęta zerkają zza płota,
A oczy ich dumnie utkwione są w dal,
Piechota, ta szara piechota!
Maszerują strzelcy, maszerują,
Karabiny błyszczą, szary strój,
A przed nimi drzewa salutują,
Bo za naszą Polskę idą w bój!
1.They wear no lampasses but grey
uniforms,
They wear neither silver nor gold,
Always in front, the first to fight
Infantry, the grey infantry.
Riflemen keep on marching
Rifles glitter upon grey uniforms,
Trees salute as they go
For our Poland to fight!
2. As they walk, steel rocks in the
sunlight
Village lassies lurk behind the fence,
With pride in their eyes, gazing at
Infantry, the grey infantry.
Riflemen keep on marching
Rifles glitter upon grey uniforms,
Trees salute as they go
For our Poland to fight!
Polish students sang one morewar song, this time a song from Warsaw Uprising
Pałacyk Michla / Michler's Palace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwVW1Z0c-8M#t=20

59
Pałacyk Michla was written during Warsaw Uprising on 4th or 5th August 1944
by one of insurgents Józef Szczepański in Michler's Palace. This song became a
war anthem of Battalion Parasol (Umbrella) which was fighting for the Michler's
Palace. The Palace was destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising, but the song
survived and is still sung by Polish children (and others too). The language of it is
rather difficult to translate and there are many war words we don't use now.
It's about young people fighting against the Germans, about insurgents' life
during uprising, love and friendship.
Our music teacher at SP 9 Dzierżoniów plays the music and the school choir is
singing.
Polish students Kasia Wielgos from class 5d learnt to sing English war song
It’s a long way to Tipperary.
Then the other students also could learn this song using our film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hehmm6abpYM
It's a long way to Tipperrary, It's a long way to go;
It's a long way to Tipperrary To the sweetest girl I know!
Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell, Leicester Square,
It's a long, long way to Tipperrary,
But my heart's right there!

60
Slovenian students sang their patriotic song about highest mountain in Slovenia
- TriglavOj Triglav, moj dom – Oi Triglav, my home
Oj Triglav, moj dom, kako si krasan,
kako me izvabljań iz nizkih ravan
v poletni vročini na strme vrhe
da tam si spočije v samoti srce,
kjer potok izvira v skalovju hladan:
oj Triglav, moj dom, kako si krasan!
Oj Triglav, moj dom, četudi je svet
začaral s čudesi mi večkrat pogled,
tujina smehljaje kazala mi kras,
le nate sem mislil ljubeče ves čas,
o tebi sem sanjal sred‟ svetlih
dvoran:
oj Triglav, moj dom, kako si krasan!
Oi Triglav, my home, how gorgeous
you are,
How well you allure me from low
plains
onto the steep peaks in summer heat
to rest my heart in solitude
where a cold stream originates in
the rocks:
oi Triglav, my home, how gorgeous
you are!
Oi Triglav, my home, even if the
world
Often enchanted my eyes with its
wonders,
Far lands with a smile boasted of
their carst,
It is only you that I‟ve always
lovingly thought about, I‟ve
dreamed about you amid bright halls:
oi Triglav, my home, how gorgeous
you are!

61
English students sang Run rabbit,run
This was a popular song during World War 2 in England.
Introduction
On the farm, ev'ry Friday,
On the farm, it's rabbit pie day;
So ev'ry Friday, that ever comes along,
I get up early, and sing this little song...
Refrain 1
Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run,
Bang, bang, bang, bang! goes the farmer's gun,
Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run.
Refrain 2
Don't give the farmer his fun, fun, fun;
He'll get by without his rabbit pie,
So run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run.

62
7. Videomeetings
The teachers met for several times to choose the right tool for students
videomeeting. They tried ooVoo
Skype premium
And Webex
Finally they decided to use Webex, what was a good choice as everything worked
during the videomeeting. Students and teachers exchanged their opinion about
the eTwinning project, sang a war song.

63
The conference call on 9th April 2014
Times given are UK/ then Italy+Poland+Slovenia.
15 minutes per school,
1 Welcome
10.45/11.45 Welcome to the video conference call (England)
There were 4 schools taking part – from Italy, Poland, Slovenia and England.
2 Poland
Hello, We are students of Nicolaus Copernicus Primary School number 9 in
Dzierżoniów in Poland. Our home town is situated in the south-west part of
Poland.
To our school go children aged 6/7 to 13 and this school year we have 18 classes,
to which attend 410 students. From year 4 we have one sports class – with ten
PE lessons a week. Boys practice first of all football and girls handball. The
other classes have 4 PE lessons a week. Students have swimming lessons too.

64
About our town we have made some presentations you can see in the Twinspace.
From 2005 our school has been involved in eTwinning projects what lets us know
different countries and different cultures. We are very happy to be able to
work on this project with you. We have been learning a lot about World War Two
not only from our point of view, but also we could find out the other countries
history during the war. In Poland we all like the English film about William‟s
story during the war “Goodnight Mister Tom”. Very valuable was the
presentation with Toncka‟s story made by Slovenian school. It‟s incredible she
was in our town during the war – before WW2 our town was a part of Germany
and had different name – Reichenbach.
We had fun while making and watching Vokis. The letters from Slovenia were a
big surprise for us and they let us improve our English. We have already written
the answer letters and we hope you will get them in Piran very soon.
On behalf of our head teacher Wioletta Uchman-Chrząszcz and all of us we‟d
like to wish you Happy Easter and we hope to continue our work with you in the
future.
Now we want to sing one of the most famous war song in Poland Piechta –
Infantry

65
3. Slovenia
Headmistress, teachers and students said a few words.
The headmistress
Our special quest Tončka Senčar
Slovenian students sang “Oj Triglav, moj dom”

66
4. Italy
Susanna, Paola and students said a few words about the project in Italy.
Italian children sang two songs
L'Aquilone (the kite)
Bella Ciao

67
5. England
John Cooper, headteacher said:
Hello from England!
My name is Mr Cooper and we are all here to welcome you to Steeton Primary
School, in Yorkshire.
The school is in a village, between the town of Keighley and the Yorkshire Dales
National Park. We have 11 classes, with children from the ages of 4 to 11 years
old.
This is an exciting opportunity for us to work with schools around Europe using
eTwinning. We believe that it gives pupils an excellent experience of working
internationally to broaden our friendships; creating a richer curriculum for all of
our pupils
Our children now readily accept and embrace the differences there are between
all our cultures, whilst at the same time recognising the majority of areas within
our lives where we share the same values and habits.
We welcome the opportunity to understand and see how our partners across
Europe live and learn.
We look forward to hearing more from you all in the future. Our best wishes to
you all from Steeton Primary School.
Children at Steeton to say:
1 eTwinning is very safe. It tells us about other countries and helps us meet new
friends around Europe.
2 We really enjoyed looking at all the photos and films of the schools on the
eTwinning Twinspace.
3 We really enjoyed looking at your World War 2 work throughout the topic and

68
we learned a lot.
4 We enjoyed our trip to Eden Camp, which was a prisoner of war camp and is
now a Visitor Centre.
5 We liked using new tools like StepMap and making vokis and we loved taking
part in the logo competition.
6 We hope to work with you all again in another project. We are now going to
sing'Run, rabbit, run.'

69
8. Project in the media
Our project in the local newspaper: The Keighley News
Hailey (a student of Steeton School)brought in items from the second world war
which had been owned by her great-grandfather, James Holdsworth:
www.keighleynews.co.uk/news/10995132.Hands_on_history_work_at_Steeton_P
rimary_School/
Youngsters in Steeton have been receiving a vivid introduction to what ordinary
people experienced during the Second World War.
Year five and six pupils at Steeton Primary School are taking part in a learning
project, which also involves schools in six other European countries.
The programme for the term includes a trip to the Eden Camp modern history
theme museum, near Malton.
As well as finding out about Britain's role in the war, the children have been
sharing information with their young counterparts elsewhere in Europe.
A Steeton Primary spokesman said: 'They've heard about a retired Slovenian
teacher who was sent to a labour camp in the war, learned about a Polish man
who was part of the resistance, and saw a film of the bombing of Rome.
'One pupil, Hailey Spencer, brought in some photos of her great grandfather,
James Brian Holdsworth, who worked in Reykjavik from July 1940 to September
1942.'

70
Our video call was reported in the Craven Herald, a
newspaper published in Skipton, near Steeton
Steeton children make foreign friendsRead online here
Schoolchildren chatted with youngsters in Italy, Poland and Slovenia.
The pupils of Steeton Primary School, near Keighley, took part in an
international video conference call.
The call – which was projected on a giant screen – was part of the Steeton
pupils‟ work on the Second World War The children exchanged information
about how the war affected their country, and each school sang a song from the
war.
The youngsters have also written blogs about their research.
The children in Slovenia were joined on the call by a former teacher who had
been imprisoned in a Nazi labour camp in German-occupied Poland during the war.
Teacher Diana Linford was the project co-ordinator at Steeton Primary and is
an eTwinning Ambassador for the Yorkshire region.
She said: “Both children and teachers benefit enormously from working with
schools in other countries.
“It helps to give a depth and sense of perspective.”

72
Our project in local newspapers and portals
in Dzierżoniów, Poland
On 21st
January 2014 after visiting us by World War Two survivor Mr Józef
Oleksiewicz an article about our project appeared.
http://www.dzierzoniow.pl/pl/news/sp-9-poznaje-histori-ii-wojny-wiatowej
They wrote about Mr Józef‟s life, our project‟s aims and what we had done to
that time. They also wrote Tončka Senčar‟s war story including the labour camps
in Lower Silesia.

73
On 10th April 2014 an article about our videomeeting appeared in local portals
and info websites in Dzierżoniów. Even on the local tv website you can read about
our videomeeting and about the whole project, which is a great success for all of
us.
http://www.dzierzoniow.pl/pl/news/wojenne-wideospotkanie-sp-9
http://ddz.doba.pl/?s=subsite&id=39557&mod=3
http://dtp-24.pl/wojenne-wideospotkanie-sp-9,57483
And the local tv website:
http://www.tvsudecka.pl/34,4037-wojenne_wideo_spotkanie_sp_9_.html

74
9. Our reflections on the project
Students’ reflections:
PUPILS OF CIRIL KOSMAČ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PIRAN ABOUT THE
PROJECT
We think that the project was very interesting. We have learnt a lot of
interesting things about World War II from our grandparents and from Mrs
Tončka Senčar, a lady who survived the war. We loved listening to our
grandparents but at the same time we felt sorry for the people who died in the
war.
Students of 5.B
I liked everything we did, watched and listened to, because I think it is
important to learn how it was in the past and we realized how many people
suffered.
Endi Malkar, 5.a class

75
For me the best part was video-chatting on Skype and when we sang a song »Oj,
Triglav, my home«. Activities that I remember most were the conversation with
Tončka Senčar and watching movies Life is Beautiful, Do not cry, Peter and the
Boy in the stripped pajamas.
Sean Walter Ńker, 5.a class
I have found out that in other countries people experienced World War II in
different ways. Many people survived.
Aleksander Stanič, 5.a class
The most interesting thing for me was when we got to know about Tončka's life
in a labour camp and when we talked to other schools by Skype. I liked the
project because I have learnt many new things.
Tańa Viņman
I have learnt a lot of new things. We listened to many songs, we talked by Skype,
we watched a lot of films and we listened to Tončka Senčar who told us about
her life in a labour camp.
Ajla Bečirović

76
REFLECTIONS ON OUR PROJECT FROM THE PUPILS AT
STEETON PRIMARY SCHOOL
I liked all of the project really. I liked the build up to the conference call. I
liked all of the different countries and schools and I liked to speak to the
different countries in the conference call.
I liked the WW2 project because I got to see what other countries thought and
felt like in war-time. I also liked the conference call the songs from other
countries.
I liked it when we got together in the hall and did the conference call. I liked all
the schools and learning about the different songs they sing.
I liked doing the conference call and hearing more about the world war. I liked
all the different schools and countries.
I liked it when we learned songs. I liked the conference call, learning how they
lived in Slovenia, Italy and Poland and the disastrous moments that they went
through. Every moment was special in its own little way but knowing how they
felt won it for me.
We enjoyed the conference call because we got to talk and interact with the
other children. We learned a lot from receiving the information. The logo
competition was great. It was interesting learning about how people in other
countries coped with the war and the bombing.
I enjoyed doing the logos and voting for the other ones. The powerpoints were
great. Eden Camp was the best trip have been on.
I enjoyed learning about men going from many countries to try to do what's
right.
I enjoyed going to Eden Camp. I enjoyed learning about World War 2, especially
the rationing, the blitz and Anne Frank - it was very interesting and very sad.
I really enjoyed looking at some videos about world war 2. I have enjoyed
learning about Hitler and the Jews and some of the songs like 'It's a long way'.
Also I have enjoyed the art work that we have done.
I learned that war is horrible. I enjoyed going to Eden Camp and I learned that
Hitler hated Jews.

77
REFLECTIONS ON OUR PROJECT FROM THE PUPILS
AT SZKOŁA PODSTAWOWA NR 9, DZIERŻONIÓW
I learnt a lot about World War Two. I enjoyed watching film "Goodnight Mister
Tom and voting for logos. Dawid
I learnt about bad people who caused World War Two. I really liked the film
"Goodnight Mister Tom. Jakub
The most interesting thing in the project was watching film " Goodnight Mister
Tom". I learnt a lot what World War Two was, how people lived during the war.
Kasia
I learnt a lot about the war. I liked the film "Goodnight Mister Tom" and I
enjoyed using VOKI. Robert
I found a lot about World War Two. I enjoyed watching films(Goodnight Mister
Tom, A boy in striped pijamas, Courageous heart of Irena Sendler). I liked
drawing logo and making my avatar on VOKI.Mela
While working on this project I found a lot about World War Two. I liked the
presentations and especiallythe film about William "Goodnight Mister Tom".
Aleksandra
I enjoyed watching the films about war "Goodnight Mister Tom" and "A boy in
striped pijamas". I learnt you have to be nice and polite to everyone even though
you do not know him/her. We commemorate the war victims. I know a lot of
people were killed during the war. We have to remember. Paweł
In this project the biggest impression on me made the film "Goodnight Mister
Tom". I enjoyed voting for the logos. I liked the the films and presentations
from another countries. I leart that Germans and Russians occupied Poland and
life during the war was really difficult. Łukasz
I like the film "Goodnight Mister Tom". Now I know how people lived during the
war in some European countries. I learnt an English war song "It's a long way to
Tipperary" and some Polish war songs, what I like. I studied the history of
Warsaw Uprising and now I know how terrible war is. Joanna
I like the film about war in England "Goodnight Mister Tom". I found out a lot
about World War Two and at last I saw in what conditions people lived during

78
the war. Our trip to underground corridors in Rzeczka learnt me how terrible
conditions prisoners had in the German concentration camps. Kacper
The most from the project I like the film "Goodnight Mister Tom". This film
showed me English people life during the war. Before I knew nothing about war
in England and other European countries. Szymon
I learnt that war started by Germany invasion on Poland and later Germany
invaded another countries. Now I know in Norway war was from 1940 to 1945. I
also know in different countries living conditions were different. In Poland we
were invaded by two enemies: Germany and the Soviet Union. Now I know in
Poland some soldiers (those from Home Army) after the war were treated as
traitors and were imprisoned and killed by communnist government. I know it
from the meeting with Mr Józef who visited us at school. Wiktor
I like the film "Goodnight Mister Tom" most. I enjoyed using VOKI and voting
for logos. I liked the meeting with soldiers from Historical Reconstruction Group
who told us about soldiers life during the war. Wiktoria

79
WW2 reflections in the YEAR 3 section A class of the IC
Ferraironi of Rome
January 2014 - from some of the pupils’ workbooks:
“I imagine the war to be this way: ordinary men who throw bombs, military
people killing each other. Another man who throws a bomb where a mother and a
child are outside their house and they are playing together. Then a helicopter
keeps on dropping bomb after bomb.”
Martina
“I imagine the War as a moment when the soldiers destroy my school and
therefore I feel sad and full of fear because I couldn‟t any longer go to school
or meet my friends. If there was a war I wouldn‟t be able to go to the gym
either.”
Nicolas P.
“The war to me is when there are lasers being used to fight. There are devils
and some are the strongest ones. Their lasers are red, green and blue, but the
strongest one of all is Lord Fener and the Devil because their swords are very
very red.”
Samuele
“The war to me is when someone suffers or goes to Heaven dying but fighting
with great courage. When War is done, I feel very sad, it is as if a piece of me is
taken away. I have seen with my very eyes a lot of soldiers, walking on foot or on
the helicopters. In my classroom, war is when everybody fights with each other”.
Margot
“I imagine WW2 with tanks shooting all the time against their enemies, killing
many people. The airplanes drop bombs and the houses are destroyed and there
are many people who are wounded or die. To me there shouldn‟t be wars because
there is a lot of suffering and I am sorry for this”.
Alessandro O
“To me war is when people suffer and get hurt. The war breaks up everything,
destroys the houses, the schools, a bit of everything. In the war people also die
and I am sorry for this.”
Nicolas G

80
“I‟ve heard about the World Wars and I know that there were two. To me it‟s
war when our teachers are upset and children are sent to other class groups and
I am sorry about this.”
Andrea
“There have been two Wars and they have destroyed a lot of things. To me war
is when there is a lot of noise in my classroom”
Lorenzo
“To me the World War is when two nations fight or even when parents are upset
with their children or they get angry at work”
Marta
“To me the World War is when I am in a row with my brother and our parents
get really upset with the two of us.”
Giulia
“War is when two countries fight over something one of the two has and the
other one wants it too”.
Noemi
“A War is when two cities or even more fight one another to obtain what they
don‟t have inn their city. For example: France against Spain, the French want to
take away what the Spanish have and the Spanish want to take away something
like cheese”
Alessandro F

81
Teachers’ reflections
REFLECTIONS ON OUR PROJECT FROM THE TEACHERS AT STEETON
PRIMARY SCHOOL
My colleagues and I have greatly valued being a part of this project. I think
there was a good balance between flexibility to allow the project to fit in with
the curriculum at all the different schools, with also some shared activities such
as the vokis, StepMap map-making and, of course, our wonderful schools' video-
conference call.
It has been helpful sharing resources, links to websites, songs, ideas for new IT
tools, with all of the colleagues in the project. Holding the teachers' video-
conferences at week-ends was very helpful in planning the future work for the
project.
The webex video-conference call really brought the project to life for the whole
school at Steeton. All the classes from Year 1 to Year 6 took part - 9 classes
and their teachers, plus our headteacher. Many children have come up to me to
say how much they enjoyed taking part and seeing all the other pupils in the
other countries. I think the sharing of songs in a big project like this one is
particularly effective when doing a conference call as the songs can be shared
and enjoyed even without the words being completely understood.
I think the sharing of all the countries' experiences in the war has enriched the
curriculum enormously, making our pupils think about the consequences of war
throughout the whole of Europe, not just the effects in the UK. Being able to
see events from more than one point of view has been invaluable and it has
encouraged us all, pupils and staff, to start thinking about the nature of history
itself.

82
TEACHERS OF CIRIL KOSMAČ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PIRAN ABOUT THE
PROJECT
Education for peace, tolerance, acceptance of differences and safeguarding of
cultural and natural heritage have been at the core of our UNESCO school and
other UNESCO schools worldwide that have helped us be what we are for the
last twenty years. Nowadays, we continue our work through eTwinning project
together with our friends from Poland, Italy, England, Norway, France and
Ireland. The young ones learn about the horrors of war, aware of the
significance of transmitting values by means of word of mouth, songs… that
emanate from the struggle for national liberation.
I pride myself on our school and its cooperation in the project, the aim of which
are, among others, intercultural learning, communication between teachers and
pupils, and, last but not least, weaving friendly ties.
Zlata Milič, principal of Ciril Kosmač
Elementary School, Piran, Slovenia

83
Learning about European history, investigating WWII in particular countries and
exchange of information with the peers from other european countries are some
of the purposes of our project.
The project is an excellent opportunity for intergenerational cooperation, mainly
by means of various activities, such as discussions with older people who spent
their childhood or adolescence in wartime. In this way pupils experienced a
direct learning about consequences of war and the impact it has on people. Our
pupils were able to compare, on account of the narrations, life in the years from
1939 to 1945 with modern times. Pupils learned about history by means of
patriotic songs and songs from WWll, films about the war, lectures held by
senior pupils and video-conferences which enabled them to express their views.
They participated in all the phases of the project and helped create a joint e-
book.
This project both stimulates our pupils to become aware of our common
european history and to preserve peace as well as to learn about tolerance and
friendship with other nations.
Mojka Mehora Lavrič, coordinator of e-Twinning projects
at Ciril Kosmač Elementary School Piran
Through this project our
students had the opportunity
to use and practice English and
Italian. They wrote short
letters in which they
introduced themselves. They
were very glad when they got
letters from partner schools.
Natańa Kozlovič,
English teacher

84
We, the adults, often ask ourselves what children ought to be taught and what is
better left unsaid. The children are not bothered with such questions, they
absorb everything that is interesting, tense, about them, directly or indirectly.
On this account, I am enraptured with our participation in the research work
about WWII because it gave us an opportunity to peep into the ways how those
who lived in the war time felt and comprehended what befell them. Our pupils
interviewed their parent, relatives and acquaintances, rummaged through the
pages of books, surfed the Internet and came up with many interesting things.
They gained knowledge about children and their childhood in wartime and that‟s
what is worthy of our efforts. To feel our fellow-men, to become cognizant of
history and not to breed hatred, to find links with peers, to be aware of the
fact that it is man who causes wars and that wars ruin lives and they can happen
anywhere anytime. The only protection against them is to respect ourselves and
our fellow-men.
It is good to meet in order to develop and cultivate respect, to research our
past and to plan our future. All these ideas were nicely presented in the
activities that shaped our joint project.
Vika Kuńtrin, class teacher, 5.b

World war two our shared history draft

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