Process Paper
Both of my dad’s parents escaped from World War II. As I was growing up, I
always tried to learn as much as I could about my family’s history. My
Grandmother was a little girl when she was taken from her home in Poland and
transported on cargo trains all through Europe. She finally moved to Canada. My
Grandfather also lived in Poland during the whole World War II, and after the
war, he and his brother stole a plane and flew to America.
This past summer I went to Poland and became very interested in the Polish
history of World War II. With the rich stories I have grown up with, it was an
easy decision to choose a topic about Poland for my History Day project. I
conducted my research by first looking at online databases, and read about the
effect of World War II on Poland. The main things I found were concentration
camps and the Invasion. I felt the Invasion was more of a turning point because
it turned Hitler’s dreams of conquering Europe to a concrete action. Finally I
narrowed down my topic to the Invasion of Poland.
After I had my topic picked, I asked my Dad about what he knew of the
Invasion. He knew all about Poland’s history from his parents who were there
during the Invasion. I then went to the library and found many books about World
War II. My favorite primary source is my Wujek Tomek (Great uncle Tom), he
escaped after the war and remembered the invasion very well. I spent many hours
reading about the Invasion and then began to formulate my thesis.
This project was being done by all of the 9th graders at my school, and the
assignment was to do a website. My teacher asked me if I wanted to compete and I
decided I wanted to. I worked for several more weeks to find research materials
to make my website complete.
The NHD theme is turning point in history. My topic is the invasion of Poland
which is considered to be the start of World War II. World War II lead to the
creation of the United Nations and also lead to new technological advancement. I
thought doing the start of a major turning point would be a great project for
this theme. Given more time on this project, I will work on getting more primary
source interviews through family contacts in Poland.
always tried to learn as much as I could about my family’s history. My
Grandmother was a little girl when she was taken from her home in Poland and
transported on cargo trains all through Europe. She finally moved to Canada. My
Grandfather also lived in Poland during the whole World War II, and after the
war, he and his brother stole a plane and flew to America.
This past summer I went to Poland and became very interested in the Polish
history of World War II. With the rich stories I have grown up with, it was an
easy decision to choose a topic about Poland for my History Day project. I
conducted my research by first looking at online databases, and read about the
effect of World War II on Poland. The main things I found were concentration
camps and the Invasion. I felt the Invasion was more of a turning point because
it turned Hitler’s dreams of conquering Europe to a concrete action. Finally I
narrowed down my topic to the Invasion of Poland.
After I had my topic picked, I asked my Dad about what he knew of the
Invasion. He knew all about Poland’s history from his parents who were there
during the Invasion. I then went to the library and found many books about World
War II. My favorite primary source is my Wujek Tomek (Great uncle Tom), he
escaped after the war and remembered the invasion very well. I spent many hours
reading about the Invasion and then began to formulate my thesis.
This project was being done by all of the 9th graders at my school, and the
assignment was to do a website. My teacher asked me if I wanted to compete and I
decided I wanted to. I worked for several more weeks to find research materials
to make my website complete.
The NHD theme is turning point in history. My topic is the invasion of Poland
which is considered to be the start of World War II. World War II lead to the
creation of the United Nations and also lead to new technological advancement. I
thought doing the start of a major turning point would be a great project for
this theme. Given more time on this project, I will work on getting more primary
source interviews through family contacts in Poland.