Today we are continuing with our Witch Theme for October.  This time, I will present a documentary about the last woman who was tried as a witch in Britain.  When did this happen?  Well, it happened during World War II!

Tony Robinson investigates the case of Helen Duncan, the last person in Britain to be jailed as a witch.  It was before D-Day and she was predicting the invasion.  She was tried as a witch during World War II.  Duncan was uncannily accurate in her predictions during World War II.  She was a threat to British National Security.  MI-5 got involved with her case.  Was she talking with the spirits of the dead soldiers?  Where they telling her secrets she should not have known?  Becky McCall and Tony Robinson find out more about Helen Duncan.

Britain was on a war footing and everyone was on edge.  D-Day was coming and the military did not want the Nazis to know what they were planning.  This woman was such a threat to national security that the military decided to put her on trial and lock her up.  She was the last person in Britain to be put on trial for witchcraft.  She was arrested as a spy.  Helen Duncan was a psychic medium.  She spoke with the dead.

Robinson heads to Portsmouth to investigate Helen and what happened.  He goes to a place where Helen held her seances.  People flocked to her séances because they wanted to speak to their relatives.  They sought comfort from Helen.  One particular night, she announced that the HMS Barham had sunk.  It shocked the people in the room.  The Barham’s sinking was a state secret.  MI-5 sent officers to Portsmouth to investigate Helen’s claims.  The Barham’s sinking was announced three months after it happened.

Robinson and McCall do a catch-up on what they discovered.  They go to the primary sources that surrounded the Barham’s sinking and the sailors who died on that ship.  Who did Helen speak for when she made this announcement?  She spoke with a sailor named Sid, and the people in the room recognized him immediately.  They find the sailor’s name on a memorial in Portsmouth.  They discovered that he lived on the street where Duncan held her séance.  McCall and Robinson part to do further investigating.  Then Robinson goes to a modern-day spiritualist church and observes a service.  McCall investigates how mediums work.

McCall discovers that the family who had sailors on board the Barham received a letter from the government telling them about the sinking.  They were also instructed to keep the sinking a secret from the public.  So perhaps Duncan guessed that one of the witnesses had a sailor in the family that had died and guessed that it was the Barham.

To learn more about the Helen Duncan case continue to watch the documentary.

Tony Robinson is an excellent presenter.  He approaches this strange story with skepticism.  He does an excellent job balancing his skepticism with the evidence presented.  He takes his time as he reflects on the evidence before him.  Becky McCall is also excellent at bringing in a scientific eye to this investigation.

This is an interesting look at something that happened in World War II.  It was fascinating to find out that the last person in Britain to be tried as a witch happened during World War II.  I do not think anyone could have guessed that.  This would be a good documentary to share for research purposes for an independent study student.  If you need something interesting to show to the students during October.

This is the last of my suggested YouTube Video series.  This final section will cover the early 1900s to the Present Day.  I hope that I have provided a wide variety of suggestions for your classroom.  These videos could be shown when there is a teacher in the room or a substitute teacher in the classroom.

Lost Liners - YouTube
This documentary features Bob Ballard exploring his career as an oceanographer.  He discusses the Titanic and Lusitania and learns about the Empress of Ireland.  He talks about the Titanic’s discovery and the problems it caused.  Then he talks about the mystery of Lusitania’s sinking.  Finally, he visits the Empress of Ireland as his last ocean liner.  He visits the Empress of Ireland with a descendant of one of the passengers.  *Highly recommended for a middle school and high school classroom.  This documentary can be broken up into sections.*

Waking the Titanic - YouTube
Fourteen young people from one small town in Ireland made their way to America, on board the Titanic.  They traveled together in a group to keep each other safe.  Only 3 survived the trip.  The deaths of 11 young people deeply scarred the town they grew up in.  Narrated by the actor who played Branson on Downton Abbey.  This docu-drama offers a different perspective on the Titanic by sharing the story of ordinary people.  *Highly recommended for an elementary school, middle school, and high school classroom.  Recommended for a substitute teacher to show.*

Women Who Made History - Sophie Scholl - YouTube
Sophie School was a resistance fighter during World War II.  Initially, she had joined the Hitler Youth.  Her father was not pleased with this.  She loved music, boys, dancing, and alcohol.  Sophie and her siblings were arrested for listening to music.  Sophie was surprised that the government would arrest and imprison children.  This is a German-produced documentary with English voiceovers.  *Highly recommend for middle school and high school classrooms.*

Anne Frank & Eva Schloss: Tale of Two Sisters - YouTube
Holocaust documentary, this documentary is about Anne Frank and her step-sister Eva Schloss.  Their stories ran parallel to each other, their families both fled Germany when Hitler came to power, both settled in the Netherlands, they met each other young, both ended up in concentration camps.  Anne died, Eva survived.  Eva shares the story of the diary and her memories of the Holocaust.  *Recommended for a high school classroom.  Recommended for an independent study student.*

World's Deadliest Sea Disaster - YouTube
The Wilhelm Gustloff was a ship that was sunk in the Baltic towards the end of World War II, taking with her 10,000+ souls.  It was the deadliest shipwreck in history.  The survivors come together to tell their survival story.  This can also be used in a computer science class as they determined the number of people who died in the wreck by using computer simulations.  *Recommended for a history classroom as well as for research purposes.*

*Wartime Farm:  YouTube
Ruth Goodman, Peter Ginn, and Alex Langladas as well as new team member Henry live as farmers facing the conditions of World War II.  Goodman, Ginn, and Langladas startup with setting up the farm for war conditions, planting the fields, and trying their hand at recycling.  They deal with rationing.  They also take in war refugees, participate in home defense and welcome the Americans.  *Highly recommended for both middle school and high school history and agricultural classrooms.  Highly recommend it for independent study students and clips.*

Chernobyl: 35 Years After - YouTube
The disaster at Chernobyl happened on April 26, 1986.  It was the worse nuclear disaster in world history.  It still haunts the Ukrainian people to this day.  This documentary is about a group of survivors who returned to Prypiat.  They discuss their experiences and their feelings about the disaster.  Some have broken their silence for the first time.  This documentary is German-produced with English translations. *Highly recommend for both high school and middle school classrooms and independent study students.*

Today will be a little different.  I will share several documentaries from World War II on one of deadliest shipwrecks in history: Wilhelm Gustloff.  I heard of the Wilhelm Gustloff from my pre-calculus teacher, Mr. Shiffer and was shocked to see that it was the biggest wreck.  I like learning about shipwrecks and not just the Titanic.

This ship was built by the Nazis and it was used to reward good workers with a cruise.  During World War II the Navy commandeered the ship for barracks for U-boat crews.  It sat at Anchor in Poland for the duration of the war.  Eventually it was the ship where thousands of refugees placed their hope in escape in before finally becoming their tomb.

The Wilhelm Gustloff story served as inspiration for Ruta Sepetys: Salt to the Sea.  You can purchase it on Amazon.  If you use that book in an English class, then I would recommend that you show your class a documentary about the shipwreck to enhance the reading experience.

World's Deadliest Shipwreck
The World's Deadliest Shipwreck was the Wilhelm Gustloff, it was sunk towards the end of World War II by a Soviet Submarine.  The survivors of this shipwreck were pushed aside as more pressing manners came to the forefront as well as the need to forget how Germany behaved during the war.  With the end of the war, since it was German ship, nobody didn't care they were German victims of a shipwreck since the atrocities of the Holocaust came out.  Now the remaining survivors are telling their tale as computer science answers the question how can so many people die in one night?

You can check out the video link here.

I would recommend that a teacher show this documentary in a classroom.

Sea of Death
Divers explore the shipwrecks of three refuge ships that were sunk at the end of World War II.  These ships were sunk by Soviet torpedoes and killed over 20,000 people over the course of several nights.  They were the Stueben, Goya and the Wilhelm Gustloff.  The divers check the condition of the wrecks.  Now the survivors of these wrecks are finally able to tell their stories after decades of silence.

If you need a filler for a class or to have available for the sub then show this documentary.

Available on YouTube

Last Voyage of the Wilhelm Gustloff
This is a National Geographic documentary on the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff.  The refugees were fleeing from vengeful Soviets.  Some refugees captured and sent to Siberia.  They go to the people who survived the Gustloff sinking.  The Gustloff was torpedoed by a Soviet submarines.  For those who manage to climb onto a raft it soon became a life and death struggle.

The story of the refugees was heartbreaking as well as a the story of the children who died with their feet sticking up above the water due to the life vests.

Available on YouTube

The Sea Hunters - Wilhelm Gustloff
The Sea Hunters, lead by Author Clive Cussler explore the wreck of the Wilhelm Gustloff and tell this forgotten story of World War II.  There were suggestions as to why this tragedy was forgotten.  The intention of this mission was to find, document and publish their findings about the wreck.

If you wanted a second option for a documentary to show to a class, this would be on my list as a recommendation.

Available on YouTube