The Story of Defiant Requiem:
The Holocaust and Creative Resistance 

In this module, students will view the documentary film Defiant Requiem and learn the little-known but meaningful story of Jewish conductor Rafael Schächter and a group of prisoners in the Terezín ghetto who learned to sing Verdi’s Requiem as an act of creative resistance. Students will gain general knowledge about the Holocaust or build on what they already know, and they will consider the nature of creativity as defiance in oppressive times.

Propaganda and Deception:
Terezín as a “Model Ghetto” and the Red Cross Visit

In this module, students will study the story of Jewish conductor Rafael Schächter and a group of prisoners in the Terezín ghetto who learned to sing Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem as an act of creative resistance.  Students will study the complex nature of Terezín, exploring how it functioned as a typical Nazi ghetto and how it had unique characteristics as a propaganda tool.  They will learn about the visit of the International Red Cross on June 23, 1944 and the “beautification” efforts the Germans undertook to conceal the reality of conditions in the ghetto and its role in their genocidal plans.  Students will also consider the final performance of the Verdi Requiem in Terezín and its meaning in this context.

Module 3_ (1) Elements of Rhetoric Graphic OrganizerThe Rhetoric of Verdi’s Requiem:
Reading the Libretto in Three Contexts

In this module, students will engage in close readings of excerpts of the Verdi Requiem libretto considering how the same words sung in different contexts can yield different meanings. Using the elements of rhetorical situations as a starting place (speaker, audience, and subject), students will study the meaning (purpose) of the libretto in three contexts: a Catholic funeral mass, a Jewish chorus singing for an audience of fellow imprisoned Jews in a Nazi ghetto, and a much-reduced Jewish chorus singing for an audience of Nazi authorities and members of the International Red Cross sent to inspect the Terezín ghetto in the final year of the war.

Resisting Oppression:
The Arts and Creativity in Terezín

In this module, students will consider the story of conductor Rafael Schächter and his chorus in the context of other musical, artistic, theatrical, and intellectual efforts in the Terezín ghetto. Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the material, students will learn about a variety of artists working in different media and consider the significance and meaning of their work in that unique context.