Description:
Though it boasts none of the graphic bells and whistles of many multimedia programs, Stories from the Warsaw Ghetto's sober approach to a sensitive subject attaches faces and lives to an event most often discussed in terms of ideologies and military strategies. The program details the experiences of Jews in Warsaw from the invasion of Poland until the end of the war, when a few of the Warsaw Ghetto survivors resettled in Palestine. The content is divided into three categories: Destinies, Tales, and Memories. Destinies follows nine people through the war, while Tales offers another seven personal stories, including first-person testimonies narrated in the speakers' original languages (with subtitles in English); Memories challenges users to consider the day-to-day decisions that ghetto inhabitants faced: should they behave as "good citizens," or should they take extraordinary risks in the face of certain death? Other features include maps of the ghetto during each year of the war; an index of relevant names, events, and terms; and a timeline of wartime events leading to the plight of Warsaw Jews. Supplementing textual information is the graphic content, which consists almost entirely of black-and-white still photographs from the war years, evoking the age of newsreels; some photos come from German film archives and should be viewed objectively. Stories from the Warsaw Ghetto takes just minutes to install and is easy to navigate, even without the thorough instructions included with the program. An ideal choice for history buffs of all ages or an excellent independent activity for high-school students studying World War II, this program sheds light on one of history's lowest points. --Matt Kohut
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