What can a song teach us about life in a Nazi Labour camp?
The aim of this lesson is for students to investigate life inside a Nazi Labour camp through the medium of a song. The song, Peatbog Soldiers was written by an inmate in the Borgermoor camp, in Saxony.
Students will predict what they think such a song should include. They then use a range of source material to build up a picture of life in the camps.
Next they contrast this with the details of the song. What questions does this raise about the lyrics and the circumstances in which the song was written? Why does it include the details that it does? Why are certain things missing?
Download lesson
- Lesson presentation: PowerPoint
- Lesson write-up: PDF
- Resource 1 – Source pack: PDF
- Resource 2 – Lyric sheet: PDF
