My Spanish Bosnian Life: The Montiljo Family of Sarajevo (Centropa)

High School (Grades 9-12)

A Centropa film lesson about Hana Montiljo Gasic, born in 1940 into a Sephardic family in Sarajevo, exploring migration, the Holocaust in Bosnia, and the rescue of the Sarajevo Haggadah.

Overview

Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 found refuge in the Ottoman Balkans, and for four centuries Sarajevo was home to a vibrant Sephardic community that spoke Ladino. Hana Montiljo Gasic was born into that community in 1940, a year before most of Sarajevo’s Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. In this lesson, students watch Centropa’s short film of her family photographs and stories, and investigate migration in the Balkans, the Montiljo family, the wartime rescue of the Sarajevo Haggadah, and the people who risked their lives to save others.

Questions Students Explore

  1. Why do people migrate, and what do they carry with them?
  2. How did Sephardic Jewish life in Bosnia change before, during, and after World War II?
  3. Who risked their lives to save people, and a priceless book, during the war?

What Students Do

  • Brainstorm reasons for migration.
  • Watch the film in four topic groups and take notes.
  • Report to the class and complete a timeline, family tree, or research project on a rescuer.

At a Glance

Grade level: Grades 9 to 12 (also works in grade 8)
Time: One 45 to 50 minute lesson, plus homework
Source: Centropa, written by teachers at a 2015 seminar in Sarajevo

About this resource

This lesson and film were created by Centropa, which preserves Jewish family stories from Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. It is not a JIMENA lesson. Both are free on Centropa’s website.

Downloads

  • Lesson Plan  My Spanish Bosnian Life lesson plan (PDF, Centropa)

View the lesson on Centropa  Opens on centropa.org

Procedures

Before You Teach

  • Preview the film, Hana Gasic: My Spanish Bosnian Life (14.5 minutes, English subtitles).
  • Gather images of the Sarajevo Haggadah, a fourteenth century illuminated manuscript from Spain that was hidden from the Nazis in 1942 and saved again during the 1990s war.
  • Build background. The Ladino speaking Sephardic community of Sarajevo dates to the sixteenth century.
Body of Lesson

Lesson Steps

  1. Brainstorm: why do people migrate?
  2. Introduce the film and the four topic groups: migration in the Balkans before, during, and after World War II; the journey of the Sarajevo Haggadah; the Montiljo family; and the people who saved lives and the Haggadah.
  3. Watch the film and take notes.
  4. Groups report to the class.
  5. Homework: a migration timeline, a Haggadah timeline, a Montiljo family tree, a profile of a rescuer from the student’s own country, or a role play.
Conclusion

Reflection

Students write about one object their own family has carried from place to place and why it matters.

Assessment Ideas

  • Formative: group notes and reports.
  • Summative: the homework project.
Extension Activities
Resources and External Links