Haya-Lea was born in 1920 in Rovno, which then belonged to Poland. She grew up in a traditional Jewish family, joined a Zionist youth club called Hashomer Hatzair and looked forward to emigrating to Palestine, just like her sister. But the Soviets took eastern Poland in September 1939 and Haya-Lea's membership in Hashomer Hatzair earned her a ten year sentence of hard labor in Siberia. The rest of her family remained behind, not knowing that the Nazis would overrun the town soon after Haya-Lea's deportation to the east. Haya-Lea survived the Gulag and moved to Leningrad (St. Petersburg), where she shared her story with Centropa in 2002. This film is dedicated to Haya-Lea, who died shortly after the interview.
Haya-Lea Detinko -- Surviving Stalin's Gulag
Lesson plans for this film
12 results
| Title | Language | For grades | Documents | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Jewish Life in Poland in the 20th Century English ProjectSubmitted by Eden Degerzi and Yuval Ravid-Tal (11th Grade)English Teacher and Project Designer: Sylvia AsherIroni "Tet" High- School, Tel-Aviv The Jewish Life in Poland in the 20TH Century as Presented in Centropa’s Film about HAYA LEA-DETINKO and Amos Oz’s Book A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESSThis project is based on a Centropa film about the life of Haya –Lea Detinko (http://www.centropa.org/centropa-cinema) and Amos Oz’s book-A Tale of Love and Darkness.Both the film and the movie describe the Jewish life in the town of Rovno in Poland, before and after the Second World War, and they complete each other and emphasize each other. I) The Jewish Life in Rovno Before the Second World War ”But many ordinary Jews in Rovno in the twenties were keen that their children should learn Hebrew and go to Tarbuth,…..Meanwhile everyone read newspapers in Hebrew, argued, sang songs from the Land of Israel, recited Bialik and Tchernikhowsky,…there was a kind of tremendous excitement about everything national. It was very similar to what you see here today with the Palestinians, only without their penchant for bloodshed. Among us, Jews, you can hardly see such nationalism nowadays.”Amos Oz, p.185 1. Where do we see this nationalism in the movie? Pay attention to the schools where Hava and Haya-Lea Detinko studied, the youth movement they belonged to, the celebration of the Jewish holidays in Rovno, etc.Several domains of the Jewish life in Rovno are reflected in the movie. In the city of Rovno in Poland, Orthodox Jews lived alongside modern Jews. Haya's father, Nachman Abramovic Katz, was educated at a religious school and was even religiously ordained rabbi. There were Jewish activities in the Diasporas as well. Her family was traditional and religious, and her mother kept kosher at home. There was also a synagogue in Rovno, where many Jews used to pray, and Haya's father took part in the staff. The "culture" school in the city, combined the Hebrew language with the Polish language studies. The Jewish holidays were celebrated in schools : as stated in the film, Haya and her sister, Hava, dressed up in honor of Purim.Rovno had a youth movement "Hashomer Hatzair", to which Haya and Hava belonged. The goal of the movement was to help build the State of Israel. "Hashomer Hatzair" children sang, studied as a big, unified group and worked hard, physical works as a kibbutz. II) The Gentiles –Jews Relations in Poland Prior to the Second World War A. Read pp. 183-184 in A Tale of Love and Darkness and answer the following questions:1. What was the Poles’ attitude towards the Jews?The Polish attitude toward the Jews was insincere and was based on ulterior motives Outwardly, they invested much effort at showing support for the Jews, by fostering Jewish education, strengthening the Jewish roots and granting the option of observing the Jewish customs. But the real attitude of Poles towards Jews was an attitude of disgust. However, the Poles did not show their real feelings because they wanted to be considered noble and humane and make a good impression on Versailles and the UN. 2. Why did the Poles encourage Zionist education and Jewish schools?Poles encouraged Zionist education because they had an ulterior motive.The Poles' hidden motive was the removal of Jews from Poland to Palestine. To do so, the Poles have strengthened the national consciousness of Jews and encouraged Jewish education by supporting the establishment of synagogues and schools that taught Zionism. 3. What was the hidden fear in every Jewish home?The hidden fear in every Jewish home was the fear of getting hurt by the Poles. Jews had to change their behavior completely, so as not to irritate, annoy or cause conflicts with the Poles, all in order not to encourage anti-Semitic acts, the results of which could be terrible. 4. How were the Jewish children taught to behave with the Gentiles?Jewish children learned to behave politely with the Gentiles, to be quiet and graceful, so that the Gentiles would not say that the Jews were too noisy and brash. In addition, the Jewish children were taught that they must look presentable at any given time in order to avoid the Gentiles' rage. 5. What does Amos Oz mean when he says: “Diaspora Jews became cats, in the bad sense…”Amos Oz's quotation refers to the hypocritical behavior of Jews towards the Gentiles. Cats symbolize hypocrisy: on the one hand, cats fawn on their owners to please them, but, on the other hand, they may attack, scratch and hurt their owners. B. How are the relations between the Jews and the Gentiles in Rovno presented in the film about Haya Lea Detinko?The Polish attitude toward the Jews was supportive and allowed integration into the large Polish society. The Jewish integration in the Polish society is reflected in the movie by the existence of integrated schools, where Jewish religious education combined with the Polish culture; it means that the Jewish children could learn the Hebrew language while also learning the Polish language. In addition to wearing the traditional Jewish outfit and being integrated in the Polish society, a synagogue was built in Rovno, which gave the Jews the option of keeping their precepts, while also having the option to work in order to make a living. III) The Jews and the Arabs in Palestine “We thought that soon, in a few years, the Jews would be a majority here and as soon as that happened we’d show the whole world how to treat a minority, our minority, the Arabs. We, who had always been an oppressed minority, would treat our Arab minority justly, fairly, generously, we would share our homeland with them, share everything…” Which part(s) of this prophesy about Jews and Arabs in this country came true, and which did not?There are parts of Amos Oz's prophecy that came true.Most of the population in Israel is a Jewish majority. We share most things, such as the economy, education and territory, along with the Arab population; but, on the other hand, there are things that have not yet been fulfilled, for example no peace agreement between Jews and Arabs has been signed.Many of the Jews' attempts to achieve peace between the two nations are doomed to failure due to the refusal of the Arabs. Amos Oz dreamed of a situation in which the Jews are the majority, and they act respectfully towards the minority groups in the country. Amos Oz's quotation expresses disappointment with the Jew's attitude towards the Arab minority. The Israeli Jews possess physical strength, but Amos Oz expected the Jews, who had been a minority in Diaspora, not to use their strength against another minority. Therefore, Oz's quotation indicates a partial failure of Amos Oz's prophecy. IV) The Journey to Rovno and to Oneself “I now believe that all journeys are ridiculous: the only journey from which you don’t always come empty-handed is the journey inside yourself.” (A. Oz)The movie and the book are a journey to Poland at the beginning of the 20th century, but not only to Poland. Would you say that you learned something about yourself as a Jew, and as an Israeli. from the journey to Rovno? If yes, what?The film and the book taught us about the inner strength of the Jews, deepened our understanding of the Jews" difficulties in the Diaspora and of their relentless struggle for the establishment of the Jewish state.We found ourselves proud of the Jewish people and nature, and more aware of the need to maintain the power and territory of the State of Israel. In addition, we realized that the Jews are a nation, and this nation has a right to its own territory and sovereignty. Therefore, the Zionist activity, which began in the Diaspora, should be continued, in order to make sure that the legacy of past generations is taught to future generations, strengthening the language and national symbol of our nations. V) Reflection1. What impressed you most in the movie and in the book?The things that impressed us in the film were Zionist activities carried out by Jews in the Diaspora, their strong desire to build the country and their willingness to invest all their lives for the cause. The other thing that impressed us was the difficulty of the Jewish life in the Diaspora, living in fear of the Germans, the need to change their character, behavior and physical appearance in order to appease the Gentiles around them.An additional thing that impressed us in the book of Amos Oz was the formulation of statements, the use of sentences and phrases that are open to interpretation and do not constitute a definite meaning. 2. Which idea/s, conclusion/s from the movie and from the book are you taking with you in life?We take with us the message of the book and the movie, the understanding that we must continue to fight and keep the areas of the Land of Israel, despite the opposition of other nations, in order to realize our rights as a nation. Quotations from the book of Amos Oz made us understand how Jews thought and behaved in the past , i.e., mainly to please other people.We realize the importance of building up a different character now, no longer aimed at pleasing other people. |
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| Regardless of Destiny. A Human in the Midst of Totalitarianism (based on film and interview of Centropa with «Haya Leia Detinko») Óraterv History This lesson plan was devised to introduce the life of Haya Leia to pupils and to help them analyze the difficult situation she faced in the midst of totalitarian state, the USSR. It aims to deepen student knowledge about the Holocaust during the Second World War; to cultivate tolerance, multiculturalism and respect of other nations; to teach pupils empathy, critical and conscious attitudes towards the history of their own nation and other world nations; to promote awareness of historical heritage and to facilitate forming of an individual attitude towards it, to teach pupils to understand common human values and honor the memory of Holocaust victims. |
en | 10, 11 | ||
| Centropa Biography Film/Stolpersteine Assignment History, other projects In this project, students work in pairs to read Centropa biographies, create a 5 minute video about the interviewee, and design a Stolpersteine (commemorative stone) for them. |
en | 6, 7, 8, 9 | ||
| Surviving Stalin's Gulag - Interactive Film Script History The interactive film scripts combine the scripts of the Centropa Films with the links metioned in the Study Guides, thus marking various historical, cultural and geographical references.You can use the film scripts in your class in order to understand the fulm better and help students to dig deeper in the (personal) stories by exploring history.The film scripts are available in English and German and can be downloaded as PDF documents. |
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| Haya-Lea Detinko: Centropa, Russia and Zionism History This lesson plan uses resources from the Centropa website including some of Ursula Reinhart-Döring’s lesson plan from the teachers’ section. Because her lesson was designed for ESL kids, Margaret Chasan adapted it for English speakers and added her own elements.You can either download the lesson plan as a .doc below, or you can follow this link to the original blog post by Margaret Chasan on her school's homepage. While you have all the lesson plan basics in the .doc, there is additional information and additional tasks in the blog post. |
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| רובנו - ציר זמן.doc History |
he | |||
| Using the Detinko film with Amos Oz History This lesson plan describes how an Israeli school used Centropa´s Detinko film with Amos Oz's book "A tale of love and darkness". Both depict Jewish pre-war life in Rovno. |
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| Haya-Lea Detinko: Lesson plan for ESL teachers History |
en | University | ||
| Túléltem a Gulágot - Haya-Leo Detinko története Óraterv History Az óraterv a sztálini Szovjetunió és a Gulág világába kalauzol el bennünket. A világtörténelem fontos eseményein keresztül nyerhetünk bepillantást egy hagyományos, a tradíciókat tisztelő és követő zsidó család életébe, sorsába. Az óratervhez kapcsolódó film, valamint a hozzá kötődő a kérdések jól bemutatják a 20. század nagy sorsfordulóin átívelő életutat, valamint nagyban elősegítik a diákok sztálini Szovjetunióval, az ottani zsidóság sorsával kapcsolatos ismereteik bővülését, történeti gondolkodásuk fejlődését.(a film angol, héber, lengyel, német, orosz és ukrán nyelveken érhető el) |
hu | 11, 12 | ||
| We Remember History Students make a 3-5 minute film that tells the story of a family member. We start the project by showing Centropa films as models for short films that tell a compelling story through narrative, visual and audio elements. Students interview family members, learn to craft a compelling story about their family, write the narration, collect the photographs and visual images, choose appropriate music and edit everything using film-making software. We conclude the project by having a film festival where we invite parents and each student film is shown. Through this project students learn crucial 21st century skills of research, writing, storytelling, and editing, and students and parents alike are delighted with the results. |
en | 8 | ||
| Storytelling and Filmmaking to Remember Holocaust Survivors History In this project Jewish middle/high school students explore Jewish life in Europe, the Holocaust, and post-war immigrant life in America through the experiences of local Holocaust survivors from Central or Eastern Europe. The students take primary source material from the survivors’ oral history testimonies and combine that with background historical study. They use this material to create short films telling the life stories of the survivors before, during, and after the Holocaust. Essentially, students perform the work of historians in transforming the raw data of history into compelling narratives, creating and preserving respectful memories of valued members of the community for posterity. Centropa interviews and photo archives serve as a model and source for research and Centropa films do the same for the final student product. |
en | 8 | ||
| Using Amos Oz with the Detinko film Literature An Introduction to Centropa’s film about Haya-Lea Detinko. This lesson uses excerpts from A Tale and Love and Darkness by the great Israeli novelist, and the film about Haya-Lea Dinko, to teach about live in the town of Rovno before WWII. |
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