Lesson Plan - Escape From the Soviets!

Build Background Knowledge

Before reading the article, have students take the five-question Prereading Quiz at junior.scholastic.com. The interactive quiz is self-scoring and will provide an explanation as students answer each question. Then prepare to watch the video “What Was World War II?” Tell students that the video has seven sections and includes “Pause and Discuss” questions. As you watch the video, stop and use Think-Pair-Share to discuss ideas for each question.

Preview Vocabulary

Use the online Skill Builder Words to Know to preteach the domain-specific terms Allies, Axis powers, civilian, deport, Nazi, radar, refugee, remote, and Soviet Union. Have students refer to the Skill Builder as they read.

Read the Article

Read the article aloud, have students read it independently, or have pairs read it together, alternating paragraphs for the introduction and sidebars and each taking a part for the interview. As students read, ask them to jot down ideas in response to the “As You Read, Think About” question.

Answer Close-Reading Questions

Have students write their responses, or use the Close-Reading Questions to guide a discussion.

• How did World War II begin? What happened in Poland? (Analyzing Events)
World War II began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Hundreds of warplanes, thousands of tanks, and more than a million soldiers struck from the west, north, and south. Great Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany. Less than three weeks later, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. In German-controlled western Poland, the Nazis built concentration camps where they killed millions of Jewish people and many others from all over Europe. In Soviet-controlled eastern Poland, the Soviets forcibly removed more than 1 million Polish people from their homes and put them in forced-labor camps in remote parts of the Soviet Union.

• How does the map “Europe & the Middle East, 1942” support the article? (Map Reading)
The map supports the article by showing how much of Europe and North Africa was controlled by the Axis powers in 1942, during World War II. Great Britain and the Soviet Union fought against them as Allied countries, along with the United States. Ireland, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey were neutral, but almost all of the rest of Europe was under Axis control.

• How did World War II affect Polikarp Van Pyrz and his family? (Cause and Effect)
Van Pyrz was 13 years old and living on a farm with his family in eastern Poland when the war started. When he was 14, Soviet troops came to where he lived at 4 a.m. and forced his family and others to march about 15 miles to a train station. They spent almost two weeks traveling in a boxcar with no heat and little food to a labor camp in northern Russia. Van Pyrz’s brother was forced to join the Russian army. After the Soviet Union joined the Allies, Van Pyrz’s family was allowed to leave the camp in 1942. The Soviets tried to starve the Polish people to death on the train ride back. His parents and sister died on the trip. After two months, Van Pyrz jumped off the train. He found his way to Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt, and eventually Great Britain, where he worked as a radar technician. Ten years after the war, Van Pyrz found and reunited with his brother.

• What details from the interview stand out most to you? How do they help you understand the events of World War II? (Key Details)
Sample response: Some of the details that stand out to me are Van Pyrz’s descriptions of the harsh conditions at the Soviet labor camp. He notes how his mother had to “saw down trees in the forest with a handsaw” while “the temperature was 40 degrees below zero.” Other details that stand out are his description of the orphans in Iran. When he says “because we hadn’t eaten food for so long, our stomachs couldn’t digest the food they gave us and many orphans died,” it helps me understand just how cruelly they had been treated at the labor camp.

• What are two other questions you would’ve asked Van Pyrz? Why? (Asking Questions)
Responses will vary.

• How does the sidebar “World War II” support the article? (Text Features)
The sidebar explains how the invasion of Poland started World War II. It helps readers understand why the Soviet Union and the U.S. joined the Allies and tells how World War II finally ended in Europe.

Analyze a Timeline

Assign the Skill Builder Timeline: World War II to help students understand and analyze events that took place after the invasion of Poland.

Enter This Year’s Eyewitness Contest

Use the Skill Builder Get Ready for Your Interview! to help students prepare for their conversations. Discuss the difference between open-ended and yes/no questions and brainstorm interview subjects together. Download the Eyewitness to History Contest Entry Form and Rules. Entries must be postmarked by January 24, 2022.

Assess Comprehension

Use Quiz Wizard to assess comprehension of this article and three others from the issue.