Curriculum & Programming

Future Options for Young People, dateline 1936:
Simulation Activity

by Gila Ansell Brauner & Barbara Weill

Synopsis:

Careers Fair simulation, based on the very different paths open to young people in Eretz Yisrael to build their own future in 1936, with a re-situation in the historical context.

Aims:

1. Create identification with a peer group of ordinary people in our history as contemporaries.
2. Address the genuine issues facing young people, together with their values, motives and behavior.
3. Evaluate the "event" in historical context.
4. Maximize integration of and benefit from background materials on this period.

Notes to the Educator:

• This activity is based on access to the Pedagogic Center's website for background information on several of the options. For those without access, a collated file [#28] is available.
• Useful books are: the Encyclopedia of Zionism, Pillar of Fire.
• Useful films are: Pillar of Fire /abridged/ cassette #1.

Suitability:

24-39 participants. If using 8 roles, can be adapted for 16-24 participants.
Age 16-21.

Time:

Requires at least 90 minutes - 2 hours, or suitable for an evening, in addition to preparation.

Materials & Preparation:

A preparatory session on the site for all staff;
Computers w.modem & real time online access; (optional)
"Four corners: banners
Position cards in several copies [see next file], to be placed at the 4 corners [see below];
Maps and mapping materials;
Video equipment for screening film extract from "Pillar of Fire" [where possible];
Audio and recording equipment;
Music cassettes;
Bristol sheets and graphics materials;
Photocopier;
DTP set-up;
Voting slips;
Large room with at least 13 small tables/stands for Careers Fair.

Procedure

1. Set the scene by showing the relevant section in the abridged version of "Pillar of Fire" or another film extract of your choice. If unavailable, give a brief review of the situation at this time.
2. Present the following situation and enter the first stage.

   Situation

   The year is 1936. You are a class of final year students at the Herzliya Gymnasium [High School] in Tel Aviv. You and your friends are discussing what you will do next year. It seems there are over a dozen broad options, which you have divided into 4 categories, to help you make your decision.

   Decide first which of the 4 categories appeals to you and go to the appropriate corner banner:

           Study/   _______________________________________Settlement
           Career  |                                       |
                   |                                       |
                   |                                       |
                   |                                       |
                   |                                       |
           Industry|_______________________________________|Activism
           & Trade
   

3. The moderator should now encourage people in relatively "overcrowded" corners to move around to another banner.

   In each corner, there are a number of position cards, up to 3 copies [2 in smaller groups] of each option, set in separate piles. Each participant can choose one card. It would be more interesting if all the options were covered by one or more participants.

   The cards will be laid out as follows: [Asterisks indicate cards for the adapted game in a smaller group.]

   Study/Career		Industry & Trade:
   Ia*	Study at the Technion/Hebrew U/Bezalel Academy	IIa*	Work in manufacturing industry/construction
   Ib*	Study Abroad	IIb*	Start a business in Eretz Yisrael
   Ic	Become a journalist	IIc	Develop business in the Middle East
   Settlement:		Activism:
   IIIa*	Join an existing kibbutz	IVa	Ideological shlichut abroad & teach Hebrew
   IIIb*	Join the Tower and Stockade settlement movement	IVb	Work in the Zionist movement in Eretz Yisrael
   		IVc*	Go to Europe to help illegal immigration
   		IVd*	Join the Haganah
   		IVe*	Join the Etzel

   Participants who have chosen the same position card move together and take up a work area/table.

4. The current assignment is to mount a Careers Fair for all Tel Aviv students.

   In order to do this, participants are first asked to read their cards for basic information; where they are marked as available online, one person can carry out a search online. Reference books should also be available for those stands which do not require an Internet search. At this stage, the information is to be worked into convincing arguments for person-to-person contact at the Fair and exhibits.

5. Preparation of exhibits. There are several possibilities for these, some of them appropriate for one particular option. Each stand requires one visual and one other medium of publicity.

   Model [kibbutz, tower & stockade]
   Maps [urban industry, as above]
   Poster or Special Issue postage stamp [industry, Haganah, Zionist movement, business...]
   Leaflet or bookmark [Study, Haganah, tower & stockade, Etzel...]
   Badges for all visitors to the stand [II, III]
   Recorded announcement [music plus PR], music [Haganah, Etzel, all forms of activism...]
   Feedback [oral or written testimony] from "previous recruits" [any...]

6. Participant "teams" take turns at their stand while their partner[s] tour the exhibits at the Fair, engaging other exhibitors in dialogue about their choice.
7. Participants fill in voting slips with what they consider the 3 most attractive choices [excluding their own]. Votes are collected and counted while the group moves chairs to sit in a circle.
8. Review the vote:
   Which were the most popular choices?
   Why?
   Realistically, in what events would these people have become involved as a result of their choice in the years 1936-40 [or beyond]?
9. Relating to the context:

   Would young people have seen and considered all these options in 1936?
   What factors would have weighed in their choice?
   What did people really decide to do?
   How do you view that choice today?

   To the Educator:
   Realistically speaking, young people would be affected greatly by the choice of their peers [in class, in a youth movement], as well as by their personal background:
   [immigrants or veterans? when? from what country? parents' ideas and finance.]

   Reference Notes:
   [More information can be obtained by looking at: the Fifth Aliyah, under Concepts - Aliyah on our website, or as reprinted in the following file.]

   Tel Aviv was founded during the Second Aliyah, and grew during the Third - Fifth Aliyot, so that there would be many first generation olim in a typical class. They could have been born in Poland and come as infants, or they may have come more recently from Germany.

   Children of recent immigrants would be more likely to be influenced by family choices in the "old country" and opt for a similar path; veteran inhabitants would be involved in the youth movements and more sensitive to the acute problems of building the country's infrastructure for the future. German immigrant families would be particularly sensitive to the worsening situation of Jews in Germany; students born in Central Europe would be aware of the limitations on immigration certificates and the threat of danger to their own immediate families still in Europe.

   Many Polish olim went into shops and commerce; many German families continued in business - some even came with their machinery as they could not bring money. Foreign investment capital was easily available for industrialists who came penniless to the country. Other German families may have pursued academic careers before fleeing Hitler's Germany, but only some were able to find suitable employment here - others went into retailing and small businesses.

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