Born in New York, Ethel Stafford graduated from nurses' training in 1944, went in the Army, and was transferred to Europe. She didn't know what was happening to Jews. The medical staff she was with came in and took over Guadelupe Camp and took German prisoners into the hospital. It was so incredibly inhumane. Bodies burned from the waist down. The guards had set fire to a straw-floored building burning 1000 people alive. The stench was terrible. They brought the German townspeople to the site to bury each body in an individual grave. All denied any knowledge of what was going on. She couldn't believe that people could do this to other human beings. "We must learn to respect the person, not the status, and be kinder," she says.
Standards
- 5.3 Demonstrate an understanding of the economic, political, and social effects of World War II, the Holocaust, and their aftermath (i.e., 1930–1950) on the United States and South Carolina.
- 6.5.CE Explain the impact of nationalism on global conflicts and genocides in the 20th and 21st centuries.
- 7-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the causes and effects of world conflicts in the first half of the twentieth century.
- The influence of both world wars and the worldwide Great Depression are still evident. To understand the effects these events had on the modern world, the student will utilize the knowledge and skills set forth in the following indicators:
- 7-4.5 Summarize the causes and course of World War II, including drives for empire, appeasement and isolationism, the invasion of Poland, the Battle of Britain, the invasion of the Soviet Union, the "Final Solution," the Lend-Lease program, Pearl Harbo...
- 7-4.6 Analyze the Holocaust and its impact on European society and Jewish culture, including Nazi policies to eliminate the Jews and other minorities, the Nuremberg trials, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the rise of nationalism in Southwest...
- The influence of both world wars and the worldwide Great Depression are still evident. To understand the effects these events had on the modern world, the student will utilize the knowledge and skills set forth in the following indicators:
- 8.5.CO Compare South Carolina and U.S. wartime contributions and demobilization after World War II.
- This indicator is intended to encourage inquiry into the significant causes of World War I and the impacts of the Treaty of Versailles, including its failure to prevent future global conflicts.
- USHC-7 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the impact of World War II on the United States and the nation’s subsequent role in the world.