OBJECTIVES | DOCUMENTS | BACKGROUND | GLOSSARY | EVALUATE PRIMARY SOURCES | EVALUATE WEB SITES | LEARNING ACTIVITIES | DDAY BIBLIOGRAPHY | WWII BIBLIOGRAPHY
From the Author
The mission of the Eisenhower Library is to preserve and make available historical documentation relating to the life and times of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Our holdings include written and photographic records of many of the most important world events of the twentieth century. By encouraging and facilitating use of these historical materials, it is our hope that students and teachers alike, undertaking this research in primary historical materials, will gain a greater knowledge of our nation's and world's past. Such knowledge can, we believe, help develop deeper understanding of current issues confronting our nation, resulting in more positive and widespread citizen participation in public affairs.
The staff at the Eisenhower Library is very interested in making our historical resources available to a wider and younger audience. One of the most practical ways of doing this is to produce document packets for educational use in schools. Archivists can and should ally themselves with teachers in cooperative working relationships. This is, we think, the raison d être for document packets.
During the early 1990s- the years commemorating the 50th Anniversary of World War II-the Eisenhower Library produced a document packet relating to the war. Students were challenged with examining facsimile copies of key wartime documents and making determinations as to which documents were most significant. The scenario suggested for this project called for a student to play the role of enemy agent, gaining access to highly sensitive documents. We selected a well-documented event, which, if the outcome had been different, might have significantly altered the course of history-D-Day, June 6, 1944. We asked, "What if the Allied landings in Normandy had failed?" Some of the documents in the packet provide critical information, which, in the hands of enemy agents, would have almost certainly have changed the outcome of the Allied landings in France in June 1944. We included among these sensitive, high-level documents two or three which would have been more routine in nature, and one which was produced in Allied headquarters as a joke.
Speaking personally, one of the most satisfying experiences we have as archivists at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library is to see a young person become excited about studying history. It is our hope that this Spy Kit document packet will stimulate such interest.
David Haight
Archivist
January 4, 2002
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Library and The Eisenhower Foundation invite teachers, students, and the general public to download materials from World War II Spy Kit: The Great Nazi Intelligence Coup. We encourage using this material to enhance learning experiences with primary sources including official documents, photographs, letters, and other archival material for a wide variety of educational uses. We invite your comments and suggestions, and would enjoy hearing about the ways in which the material was integrated into the curriculum and the outcomes it produced.
This material is free and may be downloaded and reproduced for educational purposes only. Any reproduction or distribution of all or part of this site, outside the aforementioned guidelines, without the expressed permission of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library and The Eisenhower Foundation, is prohibited.
INTRODUCTION:
This project is designed to introduce students to primary source material by having them participate in an exercise in historical "what might have been." Students will engage in critical thinking and document analysis and, through the process, will learn more about Operation OVERLORD and World War II in general. This "Spy Kit" centers on Operation OVERLORD and is designed to allow students to play the role of fictitious German agents who penetrate General Eisenhower's headquarters to secretly photograph, within a short time period, a few critically important operations planning and intelligence documents.
The "Spy Kit" scenario is one of several formats, which can be designed to teach students about World War II and can be readily modified to fit the needs of individual classes and students. For example, the number of documents included in this packet can be increased and substitutions made to further specific teaching objectives. While this project suggests a 20 to 30 minute time frame for identifying critically important military planning documents by a student acting as a German Agent, more time for document analysis will probably be needed before or after enacting the 20 to 30 minute espionage scenarios.
This packet is appropriate for high school students and may be used for either regular or advanced placement classes. It can probably be used most effectively in a smaller classroom (10-12 students), but can be adapted to fit larger classes with students working in groups of approximately four or five.
MEANING OF THE TERM "D-DAY":
D-Day is a military term used to designate the unnamed day on which an operation commences. The operation may be an assault, amphibious landing, or bombardment. The second day of the operation would be D+1, the third day would be D+2, etc. [Note: H-Hour refers to the hour the operation begins on D-Day.] By use of generic terms such as D-Day and H-Hour, military planners do not have to modify an operation plan if the intended commencement date changes due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances. For example, everyone involved in the operation will know that at H+12 [12 hours after beginning time on first day] the "XYZ Bridge" should be captured or that on D+3, the fourth day of action, the troops should be 10 miles inland from the beaches.
There have been (and continue to be) many D-Days, but the most famous D-Day in history is June 6, 1944, the allied invasion of Normandy.
TEACHER PREPARATION:
Thoroughly review World War II and D-Day with the sources you have on hand. Next, consult with your school's librarian (media specialist) and compile an inventory of books, bound periodicals from the era, audiovisual materials and computer software on these topics at your school. Review the books listed in the select bibliography provided with this project and determine which ones would be most helpful to you and your students to undertake this project. Visit with your librarian about purchasing these books for the school library if your departmental or classroom budget is inadequate. Consider purchasing posters, packages of photographs, and maps that will capture student interest. Your local historical society likely houses fascinating primary sources on the topic of World War II and D-Day. Check the vertical file, photo index and manuscript index. There may well be local veterans who participated in D-Day. Consider making photocopies of articles and manuscripts and ordering a few photographs. Using your collection of resource materials, plan to set up a World War II and D-Day resource center in your classroom for student use while you work on the Spy Kit.
Ideally, instructors using this or other primary source teaching packets should feel free to consult with the Eisenhower Library staff. Check out the Library's web site, which contains a number of D-Day primary sources. This project has a list of useful web sites, where you can find the Library's URL. The Eisenhower Library houses a wealth of archival materials on World War II and D-Day, and we encourage teachers to consider doing primary research here; however, it is not essential, for the successful use of document packets in the classroom.
STUDENT PREPARATION:
Ideally, the Spy Kit will be integrated into the classroom study of World War II, although it could be used as a self-contained unit to teach about the importance of primary sources in the study of history. Before using the project, teachers should ensure that students are introduced to World War II through discussions, lectures, reading assignments, and preliminary testing to measure basic knowledge. To derive the most education value from this project, students must start with an adequate background of World War II and the era that surrounds it. Students should be able to explain the primary causes of the war and to list major nations, alliances, political leaders, and commanders. In addition, students should be familiar with significant events and a general chronology of the war. Both physical and cultural geography figured prominently in the planning and successful implementation of D-Day. Climate and weather, tides and currents, relative and absolute location, topography, infrastructure, and cultural considerations should be touched on during the initial instruction on World War II. The documents contained in this package will effectively reinforce students' prior knowledge.
NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR HISTORY:
The World War II Spy Kit: The Great Nazi Intelligence Coup addresses the National Standards for History, especially the five Standards in Historical Thinking which include (1) Chronological Thinking, (2) Historical Comprehension, (3) Historical Analysis and Interpretation, (4) Historical Research Capabilities, and (5) Historical Issue-Analysis and Decision-making. Within the content Standards, this project supports Era 8, Standard 3B for U.S. History and Era 8, Standard 4B for World History. An online copy of the National Standards for History may be found at www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs or you may contact the National Center for History in the Schools, University of California, Los Angeles, 1100 Glendon Avenue, Suite 927, Box 951588, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1588.
INTERDISCIPLINARY FEATURE:
A selection of interdisciplinary documents has been included in this project. There are a number of leaflets in a wide variety of European foreign languages, among them French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Flemish, and Norwegian. In most instances, English translations are provided. The project also includes four propaganda posters, five maps, and four photographs. (There are a number of D-Day photographs located on the Eisenhower Library's web site at www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/dl/hd.htm.) Teachers using this project may wish to add an interdisciplinary feature to their own curriculum and/or may want to share these primary source documents with colleagues who teach government, geography, art, psychology, or communications.
NOTE FROM THE EDUCATION SPECIALIST:
Today we recognize that the integration of primary source materials into the curriculum is an invaluable tool in the improvement of K-12 education. After a sometimes-hesitant start, teachers now feel more comfortable with incorporating documents, photographs, and artifacts into their lessons, and students have demonstrated that they are far more capable than we ever imagined at reading and analyzing them. What is more, students who "discover" history through primary resources, develop an affection-even a passion-for the discipline that is rarely matched through more traditional methods.
The "World War II Spy Kit: The Great Nazi Intelligence Coup" is a curriculum lesson that will transport your students back more than half a century to be a part of history as the Allies prepare to launch Operation OVERLORD. They will assume the role of Nazi spies who breach Allied security to steal top-secret documents, critical to the success, or failure, of D-Day, the invasion of Normandy. Students will analyze documents, prioritize them, and provide rationale for their decision making. Lastly, students will create their own scenario of how history "might have been" if the D-Day invasion had been thwarted by successful Nazi intelligence.
Our Presidential Libraries are truly national treasures, and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas, houses impressive collections of World War II manuscripts, audiovisual materials, and artifacts. What is contained in this lesson is but a tiny representation of the rich collections that are available for research. Although it may not have been typical for teachers to do primary research in the past, that is rapidly changing. We encourage you to come to the Eisenhower Library or any other of the other Presidential Libraries or to the National Archives to do research. It will be an experience that will be unlike any other you have experienced in your career and it will change forever how you view your role as teacher.
Kim E. Barbieri
Education Specialist
World War II Spy Kit Cover and Table of Contents - pdf
World War II Spy Kit - pdf
NOTE: All primary source documents can be only be viewed and then printed online and are not part of the pdf documents.
