Milkweed

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Which groups of people were persecuted by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi German regime during World War II (WWII)? What methods did he use to persecute these individuals, and why? What were the consequences of his actions?

Teaching Suggestion: This question orients students with the setting of the novel: an invaded Poland in 1939. You may wish to provide students with some background understanding with information such as the following: As Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazi party, Adolf Hitler sought to exterminate all groups of people that he believed to be “inferior” to the Aryan German race. In order to accomplish his goal of “racial purity,” Hitler would go on to invade regions of Europe he believed should be a part of Germany’s lebensraum (“living space”), ultimately starting WWII. Furthermore, he would eventually establish concentration camps to detain, enslave, torture, and kill those he deemed “undesirable.” Such groups included political dissidents, especially Communists; Jehovah’s Witnesses; gay men; Roma communities; people with disabilities; and Jews.

Hitler’s attempted genocide of these groups, known today as the Holocaust, had numerous detrimental physical, psychological, and emotional consequences on surviving populations, including loss of family members, destruction of property and land, and the passage of generational trauma. These and similar resources may also be helpful to students in providing context.

• The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shares a “Mosaic of Victims” of the Holocaust.
• History.com analyzes “How Germany’s Invasion of Poland Kicked Off WWII.”

2. What were some of the effects of WWII on children living in countries invaded by Nazi Germany? How did the living conditions affect those children who were orphaned by the war?

Teaching Suggestion: This question invites students to critically think about the effects of war on children. As the novel is from a child’s point of view, the protagonist’s narrative is both filled with wonder of the surrounding world and overshadowed by the fact that he is an orphan with no knowledge of his family. Misha, who identifies himself as “Stopthief,” and his group of friends can be viewed as a representation of all the children who lost their families during WWII and, as a consequence, were forced to grapple with The Physical, Emotional, and Moral Costs of Survival. Scarce food, harsh living conditions, and discriminatory laws ultimately resulted in many children leaving school and turning to crime in order to survive without a traditional familial support network.

For those who were lucky to find a new caretaker such as Doctor Korczak and his orphanage (please see the Paired Resource for Chapters 1-9), conditions were still difficult, particularly if the children were from a persecuted community. Spinelli encompasses this sentiment in the following quote from Chapter 33: “This was the ghetto: where children grew down instead of up.”

• This article from Urban Labs discusses the challenges that displaced children experienced during WWII.
• The World Holocaust Remembrance Center created an interactive tool for children to learn about life in the ghettos during WWII, along with a complementary teacher-facing guide for classrooms. (This resource connects with the Activity.)

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Do you believe hope is a good or bad thing in a person’s life? Explain your reasoning, and substantiate your opinion with examples drawn from your experience or those of people you have read or heard about.

Teaching Suggestion: This question invites students to consider the theme Hope as Both a Negative and Positive Force in the context of their personal lives and experiences. You may wish to encourage students who can’t think of examples from their own lives to consider people they have read or heard about, including biographical subjects. Generally, society insinuates that hope is a positive frame of mind for individuals to have; however, Spinelli offers an alternative viewpoint, that hope can have detrimental effects on a person’s emotional, physical, and psychological well-being. This is evident in his example of the ghetto residents refusing to believe that the trains will lead them to death camps as opposed to resettlement villages. This prompt connects directly with the Discussion/Analysis Prompt.

Differentiation Suggestion: For more advanced classes, students may use this question as an opportunity to analyze situations in which it is appropriate to have hope and situations in which it is not appropriate. Invite students to include examples from literature, history, or other relevant situations in their responses.