Holocaust Unit
Natalie Lewis
Ashley Wren
Table of Contents
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•
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•
•
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Introduction
Concepts
Objectives
Activities
Evaluation
Resources
– Teacher
– Student
– Audio Visual
Introduction
• The Holocaust is horrible time in world
history that everyone should learn from. It
is very important that everyone knows the
cruelty that took place.
• This unit is a guide to teaching about the
Holocaust and how to be active in
preventing another occurrence of such an
event.
Concepts
• Terms
– Holocaust
– Genocide
– Anti- Semitism
• People/ Groups
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–
–
–
–
–
–
Adolph Hitler
Poles
Slavs
Roma (Gypsies)
Jews
Nazi
Refugees
• Places
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–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Europe
Germany
Poland
Soviet Union
France
Netherlands
Austria
Hungary
Concepts
• Ghetto
– Warsaw
– Lodz
• Concentration Camps
– Camp Systems
– Auschwitz
• Other
– Kristallnacht
– Synagouges
– Final Resolution
Objectives
• Analyze the consequences of the Holocaust.
• Analyze the impact of the Holocaust
• Analyze the results of political oppression during the
Holocaust and other acts genocide.
• Analyze the results of economic oppression during the
Holocaust and other acts genocide.
• Analyze social oppression during the Holocaust and
other acts genocide.
• Analyze other violations of human rights during the
Holocaust and other acts genocide.
• Identify Europe and locations important to the Holocaust.
• Identify important people and groups.
Activities
• Literature Circles
Introduction: (Introduce on Day One, Continue throughout unit)
Class will be introduced to several books (mostly non- fiction) about the
Holocaust. Teacher will give a brief synopsis about each book. Students
pick three that they would like to read. Teacher will then decide which
books will be read and who will read each. (4-5 groups with 4-5
members)
Outcome: Students will gain understanding of real experience of people
who lived through the Holocaust. Students will compare how each
experience is the same or different.
Development:
Students will read books in groups. Every few days they will meet for a
few minutes to discuss what is going happening in the reading.
After all books are completed, students will be divided into new groups
with each book represented. They will compare how the books are
similar or different.
Activities
• Introduction: (Day One)
Students will be introduced to the Holocaust.
• Objective:
Students will be introduced to Unit and gain
broader understanding about this event.
• Development:
Teacher will give pre-assessment to learn how much the
students already know about the holocaust.
Class will begin constructing Time Line to be displayed
around class during unit.
Activities
• Day 2- 3
Introduction: Students will be introduced the
rise in power of Hitler. Discuss events that
led up to the involuntary seclusion of the
Jews.
Objective: Students will understand how this
event was able to happen.
Development:
Activities
• Kristallnacht
• Introduction: Focus on Kristallnacht, and its
impact.
• Objective: Students will gain understanding of
first major raid on Jews during the Holocaust.
• Development:
– Listen to Johanna Gerechter Neumann’s description
of Kristallnacht on the United State Holocaust
Memorial Museum Website (ushmm.org).
View Map of detailing where raids took place.
– View photos of destruction (on the ushmm.org)
Activities
• Introduction:
– Students will explore stories of the victims of the
Holocaust.
• Objective: Students will analyze the risks that
the targeted people took to survive. Students will
gain understanding of life at this time.
• Development:
– Student will explore online exhibits at the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum (not
Activities
• Introduction
Focus on life in Ghettos.
Objective:
Students will understand the hardships that people
faced while living in these ghettos. Students will
understand difference between what these
ghettos were and what is called a “ghetto” today.
Development:
Watch “Give Me Your Children” on ushmm.org
Discuss. Was this fair? Was this right?
Activities
• Focus on Concentration Camps
• Objective:
– Students will be able to identify the different types of
camps and identify the well known camps on a map.
– Students will be able to explain “Final Resolution”
• Development:
– Students will work in groups to explore the different
camps. Students will present information to the class.
Evaluation
Multiple Choice
1. The largest killing center that house 4
gas chambers in 1943. At the height of
deportation, killed up to8,000 people per
day.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Hungary
Auschwitz- Birkenau
Treblinka
Warsaw
Evaluation
2. November 9, 1938, is know as _______.
On this night German soldiers raided Jewish
homes, businesses and synagogues, killing
dozens and sending over 20,000 to
concentration camps.
a. Kristallnacht
b. Einsatzgruppen
c. Genocide
d. Ghetto
Evaluation
3. The leader of the Nazi party. Wanted to
eliminate the Jewish race.
A. Joseph Stalin
B. Adolph Hitler
C. Chaim Potok
D. Albert Einstein
Evaluation
4. City district where Jewish population was
concentrated, isolated from those who
were not Jewish.
a. Auschwitz
b. Kristallnacht
c. Ghetto
d. Roma
Evaluation
Reads “Jews are not wanted here”
5. This is an example of:
a. Judo
b. Ghetto
c. Kristallnacht
d. Anti-Semitism
Evaluation
• True/ False
1. The Holocaust was a genocide where
nearly one hundred thousand Jews were
killed by Soviet Soldiers.
2. In addition to Jewish people, Poles, Slavs
and Roma (Gypsies) were targets of the
Nazi cruelty.
Evaluation
• Essay
– There were many hardships that Jews had to
endure during the Holocaust. Identify and
explain the significance of three of these
events.
– Explain why it is important that we study and
learn from the Holocaust. What can we learn
from this event?
Resources
Teacher
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO TEACH ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST
Your students need to know about the Holocaust. Finally—the very best way to teach them. Grades 5 and up. Knowledge Unlimited.
(Video, Posters, and Resource Book)
THE COLUMBIA GUIDE TO THE HOLOCAUST
By Donald Niewyk and Francis Nicosia. This essential reference for teachers and mature students integrates five books within one cover. The
first section provides a narrative overview placing the Holocaust within the larger context of European history. Part two looks at critical
issues and problems. Among them: rescuers and bystanders, motivation of perpetrators, victims’ reactions to persecution. A concise
chronology of events (1918 to 1993) comes next followed by a 90-page encyclopedia with brief articles on over 200 people, places, terms,
and organizations. Part five contains an exhaustive annotated guide to print, video, electronic, and institutional resources available for
further study. Index. Appendixes. Columbia University Press. 473 pages. ©2000.
(Book)
CONNECTING WITH THE PAST: History Workshop in Middle and High Schools
By Cynthia Stokes Brown. Emulating professional historians, students move quickly from passive learners to active participants—examining
artifacts, reading primary sources, recording findings, and reporting. With the Holocaust as a model, the author gives step-by-step
directions for teaching workshop history from planning to final presentations. Along with classroom vignettes, she provides student writing
samples (stories, journal entries, character sketches), guidelines for judging documents, and suggestions for grading. Appendixes contain
additional student work, sources of primary and literary documents, and works cited. Teacher resource. Heinemann. 124 pages. ©1994.
(Book)
CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY: A Holocaust Resource Book
This comprehensive curriculum guide offers dozens of individual and group activities, report topics, online projects, primary source documents,
timelines, photographs, discussion questions, and reference materials to supplement lessons on the Holocaust. Units begin with a general
introduction to the Holocaust and the foundations of anti-Semitism, follow Hitler's rise to power, examine World War II and the death
camps, and culminate in an exploration of postwar events and the founding of Israel. Grades 6–12. Glossary. Bibliography. Spiral bound.
8½" x 11". Knowledge Unlimited. 164 pages. ©1999.
(Book)
Resources
DICTIONARY OF THE HOLOCAUST: Biography, Geography, and
Terminology
By Eric Joseph Epstein and Philip Rosen. Janusz Korczak.
Rudninkai Forest. Daimler-Benz. Nacht und Nebel. Useful for
identifying people, places, organizations, and specialized
terminology, 2000 brief entries sketch in people's careers, how
certain place names became connected with the Holocaust, the
roles assumed by various groups, and the meanings of particular
words, phrases, and abbreviations. Extensively cross-referenced,
this sometimes formidable book is recommended as a teacher
resource. Many entries end by suggesting further readings. Index.
Bibliography. Greenwood. 416 pages. ©1997.
(Book)
Resources
FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES: Holocaust and Human
Behavior
This comprehensive anthology and idea book for dealing with the
subject of genocide in the 20th century presents extensive readings
and activities for raising important issues. Each well-documented
and thoughtful section contains teaching rationales, selected
readings and activities, and extensive bibliographic references to a
wide range of supplemental materials. Chapters include "The
Individual and Society," "Germany in the 1920s," "Conformity and
Obedience," "Bystanders and Rescuers," and "Historical Legacies."
The book goes beyond mere facts to encourage study of the
Holocaust in terms of human behavior and its social impact. Index.
Illustrated. 8" x 10". 576 pages. Revised edition. ©1994.
(Book)
Resources
HITLER AND THE NAZIS: A History in Documents
By David Crew. Annotated documents record the history of Germany from Weimar through defeat
of Hitler's Third Reich. The collection includes photographs, speeches and memoirs of Nazi
officials, spy reports, Holocaust records, military action papers, letters, journal entries, advertising,
art exhibition catalogs, and a picture essay on propaganda posters. Contains approximately 100
black-and-white illustrations. Grades 7–12. Index. Timeline. Bibliography. Source notes. 8" x 10".
Oxford University Press. 171 pages. ©2005.
(Book)
HOLOCAUST AND DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE KIT
Thought-provoking (though not graphic) images and stirring songs will engage younger learners,
while all students will be challenged by simulations based on the real experiences of children and
teens during the Holocaust with this resource kit. Students learn about living in hiding, forced
relocation to ghettos, and different faces of resistance by participating in songs, watching
videotaped interviews with survivors, and viewing photographs. A short film tells the story of the
brave men and women who fought during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising to stop the transports to
Nazi death camps, and innovative activities illustrate the risks and moral dilemmas connected with
resistance. A complete teacher’s guide includes background information, transcripts of the
interviews, activities, and suggestions for observing the Days of Remembrance. Grades 4–12.
Ghetto Fighters’ House.
Resources
THE HOLOCAUST CHRONICLE: A History in Words and Pictures
By John Roth et al. Written and fact-checked by leading scholars, this massive hardback recounts
the Holocaust in 14 by-the-year chapters (1933 through 1946) plus an introduction, prolog, and
epilog. The book features more than 2000 photographs (many in color and published for the first
time in book form), maps, and images drawn from the U.S. Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem in
Jerusalem, and other public archives and private collections. Expanded captions describe every
illustration in clear, factual language, and hundreds of sidebars detail people, places, issues, and
events. Lead-in essays set the stage for each year, while a running timeline records happenings in
Jewish history from 1500 BC to 1999. Note: some graphic images. Grades 7 and up. Illustrated.
Index. Appendixes. Glossary. Bibliography. 9" x 11". Publications International. 765 pages. ©2000.
HOLOCAUST CLASSROOM LIBRARY: Teenage Experiences in Nazi Europe
Combining fiction and memoirs, this kit leads students to consider the Nazi Holocaust from the
point of view of those teenagers caught up in it. The books describe such experiences as the
underground, survival of young people in the country, the hiding of Jewish children in Christian
homes, escape from Europe, friendship between Jewish and Christian children, and dealing with
memories of unspeakable cruelties. A teacher's guide suggests ways in which the classroom
library can be used in a variety of fields: history, literature, language arts, political science,
psychology, and sociology. The guide also furnishes discussion questions, suggested units, and a
reproducible worksheet with ideas for student projects. Alternate titles may be substituted when
regular titles are unavailable. Grades 7–9. Zenger.
(Teacher’s Guide)
Resources
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Student
AFTER THE DARKNESS: Reflections on the Holocaust
By Elie Wiesel. In his powerful summing up, Wiesel provides both a concise historical record and a memorial to all
who perished. He writes about the creation of the Third Reich and how the West seemingly fell in with Hitler’s
program before September 1939. He criticizes Churchill and Roosevelt for what they knew and ignored, and he
praises little-known Jewish heroes. Augmenting Wiesel’s text are testimonies from survivors who recall, among
other moments and events, the Nuremberg Laws, Kristallnacht, death-camp transports, the gas chambers, and
ultimate liberation. Outsized and illustrated with 36 black-and-white photographs from the U.S. Holocaust
Museum, the book also features evocative endpaper and cover photos. Testimonial credits and author note.
10½" x 11". Schocken Books. 48 pages. ©2002.
(Book)
ALAN AND NAOMI
By Myron Levoy. New York City, 1944. The last thing Alan wanted to do was be a friend with some crazy girl, a
Jewish refugee from France. He didn’t really want to spend hours with her, slowly getting her to talk and to trust
him. He didn’t want to think she was smart and funny—but he did. An engrossing storyline and a heart-breaking
ending make this realistic novel an ideal way to explore the Holocaust and tolerance. Grades 4–6. HarperCollins.
192 pages. ©1977.
(Book)
ANNA IS STILL HERE
By Ida Vos. The effects of the Holocaust on the life of a young girl are portrayed in this poetic novel. After the
liberation, Anna and her parents are reunited and try to reclaim their lives stolen by the Nazis. Traumatized by
three years of hiding alone in an attic, Anna must learn to be free again—but her parents refuse to discuss the
Holocaust with her, only aggravating her confusion. A neighbor, the lonely Mrs. Neumann, who awaits her own
daughter's return, befriends Anna and she slowly gains the confidence to discuss the war, her hiding, and being a
Jew. Anna eventually finds the spirit that has been silenced for so long. Translated from the Dutch. Grades 4–8.
Puffin. 139 pages. 1995 paperback edition.
(Book)
Resources
ANNE FRANK: Life in Hiding
By Johanna Hurwitz. This moving biography introduces Anne Frank's unforgettable story to young readers. Vividly
evoking life in the cramped annex, the author also tells of the Frank family's experiences before going into hiding,
what happened after they were discovered, and how Anne's father returned to the attic after the war and came to
publish her remarkable testament. Clear and simple in style, the book conveys the drama, fears, and hopes of a
young "chatterbox" whose personal tragedy stands as a symbol for the tragedy of the Holocaust. Grades 4–8.
Index. Chronology. Illustrated. Jewish Publication Society/Beech Tree.
(Book)
BEARING WITNESS: A Resource Guide to Literature, Poetry, Art, Music, and Videos by Holocaust Victims and
Survivors
By Philip Rosen and Nina Apfelbaum. A guide to more than 800 works by both well- and lesser-known Holocaust
victims and survivors. This useful resource begins by presenting historical background of the Holocaust. Next, the
work is divided into five parts: writers of memoirs, diaries, and fiction; poets; artists; composers and musicians;
and videos that feature testimony by survivors. Entries on each writer, artist, and musician provide a biographical
sketch and list of his or her works with full bibliographic data. Entries on literature and videos are annotated and
include recommendations for age-appropriateness. Finally, the guide concludes with indexes by title, artist or
writer, nationality, and—an especially helpful feature—by age-level appropriateness. Advanced students or teacher
resource. Index. Greenwood. 210 pages. ©2002.
(Book)
BYSTANDERS: Conscience and Complicity During the Holocaust
By Victoria J. Barnett. "We didn’t see anything." "I really don’t remember." "We knew nothing about any of that." In
her scholarly book, Barnett—Holocaust authority and consultant to the U.S. Holocaust Museum—examines the
whole phenomenon of people who try to escape evil by ignoring it. Drawing on the insights of historians,
theologians, and Holocaust survivors, she argues that those who stand by while murder is done do so for complex
reasons that go far beyond prejudice or anti-Semitism. The book abounds with personal stories, quotes from other
works, and reports of research studies. Chapters include summaries and source notes. Advanced students. Index.
Bibliography. Praeger. 185 pages. ©2000.
(Book)
Resources
THE CATS IN KRASINSKI SQUARE
By Karen Hesse. This hauntingly beautiful picture book from Newbery Medalist Hesse tells how a
young Jewish girl and her friends used cats to foil the Gestapo and save a bold plan to smuggle
food to men, women, and children starving inside Warsaw's ghetto. Full-page watercolors in
muted hues of brown and gold accentuate this true story that gives young readers a sense of the
bravery and resourcefulness Holocaust sufferers needed for sheer survival. Grades 2–5. Historical
note. 12" x 10". Scholastic. 32 pages. ©2004.
(Book)
CENTURY OF GENOCIDE: Eyewitness Accounts and Critical Views
Edited by Samuel Totten, William S. Parsons, and Israel W. Charny. Fourteen examples of
genocide are examined in well-researched articles that follow a common format: historical
background, what happened, why and how acts were committed, who the perpetrators were, the
world’s response, the long-range impact on victims, and lessons learned from the genocide. Each
article is personalized with arresting eyewitness stories. Subjects include the slaughter of Bantu
tribes in South-West Africa, the "deportation" of Armenians, the Jewish Holocaust and other Nazi
atrocities, genocide in Bangladesh, Cambodia, East Timor, Burundi, Rwanda, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and Kosovo; the Indonesian massacres; and Soviet-made famine in the Ukraine.
Additional essays consider the factors that inhibit international intervention to prevent genocide.
Advanced students. Index. Source notes and references. Routledge. 507 pages. Second Edition.
©2004.
(Books)
Resources
DAILY LIFE DURING THE HOLOCAUST
By Eve Nussbaum Soumerai and Carol. D. Schulz. Individual Jews caught up in the Holocaust
must have felt like they were being devoured by history. That is the impression that emerges from
reading this chronological account, which always looks first at each new development in Hitler’s
intensifying and accelerating scheme of persecution, and then looks at the personal experiences
of affected individuals as recorded in dozens of haunting letters, diaries, and memoirs. The book’s
grim and indignant examination of Nazi policies and their very human repercussions is leavened
somewhat by final chapters celebrating rescuers and liberators. Grades 7 and up. Index. Glossary.
Suggested resources. Illustrated. Greenwood. 312 pages. ©1998.
(Book)
DANIEL'S STORY
By Carol Matas. "Remember my story. I was one of the lucky ones." We know him only as Daniel,
a once-happy Jewish boy torn from his native Frankfurt and shipped to a series of Nazi death
camps. Every incident in this sensitively written novel is based on accounts given by Holocaust
survivors. Daniel, his younger sister, and parents are sent first to the ghetto in Lodz, Poland, then
to Auschwitz, and finally Buchenwald. By war's end, only Daniel and his father survive to be
rescued by the Americans. In this moving account, young readers identify with real characters to
gain a strong sense of the Holocaust and the suffering of its six million victims. Grades 4–9.
Chronology. Glossary. Scholastic. 136 pages. ©1993.
(Book)
Resources
THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC
By Jane Yolen. Hannah's a modern American girl of 13 (well, almost) who really doesn't care to
know about the dark past that haunts her relatives—but when she opens a door during Passover
Seder, suddenly she finds herself in a Polish shtetl in 1942 and the Holocaust is happening to her!
She can't seem to wake up from this nightmare, so Hannah learns things she never wanted to
know—about concentration camps, about death, about heroism, and most of all about
remembering. A compelling, award-winning novel for young adults. Grades 6–9. Puffin. 170
pages. 1990 paperback edition.
(Book)
ESCAPE FROM THE HOLOCAUST
By Kenneth Roseman. A unique approach to fictional history brings the developing events of the
Nazi holocaust closer to the reader: on each page of the story, the reader is faced with a choice—
how shall the story proceed?—and with each choice, the story unfolds differently. As a young
Jewish medical student from Poland studying in Berlin at the start of Hitler's rule, will your fate be
(among others) to end up as a prisoner at the Dachau concentration camp? or as a refugee in
America? or as a gunner in the British air force? Because the choices are numerous, the book
provides a variety of options for an individual reader or for a class of readers. Grades 5–9. Union
of American Hebrew Congregations. 177 pages.
(Book)
Resources
FORGING FREEDOM: A True Story of Heroism During the Holocaust
By Hudson Talbott. In this dramatic account, the author brings to life the heroic efforts of Jaap
Penraat, a young Dutchman, who risked his own life during World War II to save the lives of over
400 Jews. Written in a simple, yet captivating style, this vivid retelling follows the main character’s
exploits from using his father’s printing press to forge identification cards and papers for Jewish
neighbors and refugees to leading groups of twenty Jews at a time on the dangerous first leg of a
journey to Paris, the start of the underground pipeline to safety. Grades 2–7. Illustrated.
7½" x 9½". Putnam. 64 pages. ©2000.
(Book)
THE FORGOTTEN VICTIMS OF THE HOLOCAUST: The Holocaust in History Series
By Linda Jacobs Altman. Designed especially for students new to Holocaust studies, this book
gives an concise overview of events from 1939–1945. Chapter 1 explains Hitler's theories about
racial purity, while chapters 2–4 detail how the Nazis took more than five million non-Jewish
lives—Poles, Russians, Gypsies, homosexuals, and others—in their calculated effort to create a
master race. Grades 5–12. Index. Bibliography with Web sites. Timeline. Notes. Glossary.
Illustrated. Enslow. 104 pages. ©2003.
(Book)
HEROES OF THE HOLOCAUST
Tells the stories of brave individuals (Jewish and non-Jewish) who resisted Nazi rule, acted to
safeguard its potential victims, and worked to sabotage Germany’s war effort. Among those
profiled: Chiune Sugihara, King Christian X, Raoul Wallenberg, Miep Gies, Irena Sendlerowa,
Oskar Schindler, and the heroes of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon.
(Book)
Resources
•
Media
THE 1940s: War, Recovery and Rebirth
global war, Pearl Harbor, Japanese internment, the Holocaust, D-Day, the atomic bomb, birth of Israel, the baby
boom, popular music, European recovery. 110 minutes.
(video)
20TH CENTURY U.S. HISTORY
I
deal for research projects, homework, extra credit, cooperative learning, or to supplement textbook lessons, this
versatile resource connects students with 12 commonly studied topics of the past century. Adaptable for a range of
reading and ability levels, the materials are fully reproducible and include question sheets, lists of study terms,
quizzes and tests, matching exercises, timelines, writing assignments, and guidelines for projects and reports.
Topics covered: immigration, Theodore Roosevelt, World War I, the 1920s, Great Depression, World War II,
Holocaust, Cold War, Cuba, civil rights movement, Vietnam, and Watergate. Grades 7 and up. Answer key. Spiral
bound. 8½" x 11". Teacher’s Discovery. 93 pages. ©2001.
(Reproducible)
TAK FOR ALT—SURVIVAL OF A HUMAN SPIRIT: The Story of Judy Meisel
Connecting Europe’s Holocaust and America’s civil rights movement, survivor Judy Meisel recalls how a 1963 race
riot in Pennsylvania, sparked when a black family, the Bakers, moved into an all-white neighborhood, looked
chillingly familiar: "Here I was in the City of Brotherly Love, and it was like Kristallnacht, November 9th, 1948…,
and nobody did anything about it. So I baked some cookies and went to see the Bakers." The ensuing film
interweaves archival material and location footage of Meisel retracing her wartime experiences through Eastern
Europe—working as slave labor in a Kovno ghetto boot factory, watching as her mother disappeared into the
Stutthof gas chamber, crawling across a frozen river to flee a death march, passing as a Catholic while working for
the Wehrmacht, and finally escaping to Denmark, 16 years old and weighing 47 pounds. The film then turns to
Judy’s work as a civil rights advocate and educator, utilizing her story as a means of combating bigotry and racism
here in the United States. Her story offers hope that action on an individual level can be a powerful first step to
promoting tolerance: "One person can do a lot." Grades 7 and up. Color. 61 minutes. Sirena. ©1998.
(Video/DVD)
NIGHT LITERATURE BUNDLE
Examine the profound account of Elie Wiesel's boyhood experiences during the Holocaust.
Includes a class set of 30 paperback copies of the book (2005 edition); a Center for Learning
activity book tying in the book's social and historical context; a Contemporary Classics activity
book including exercises, tests, and discussion questions; Elie Wiesel's Night, a collection of
analytical and critical essays; and the 2002 documentary Elie Wiesel Goes Home, which follows
Wiesel as he travels back to his homeland and to Auschwitz (130 minutes).
(Books, Reproducible)
ADVICE FROM A SURVIVOR: Gerda Klein at Columbine High School
Eleven months after the shootings at Columbine High School, Holocaust survivor Gerda
Weissman-Klein visited the school with a message of hope: good can come out of evil. "I can’t tell
you how much your life story has helped me," one student wrote to her after hearing her speak.
This powerful segment from Nightline intermingles interviews of Columbine faculty with excerpts
of thank-you letters written to her by the students and footage in which Weissman-Klein relates
her moving story. Among the historical and psychological issues dealt with are coping with trauma
and loss, "survivor guilt," and the process of transforming the haunting question, "Why did this
happen to me?" into the profound mandate, "What must I do with my life?" Color. 21 minutes. ABC
News. ©2000.
(Video)
AMEN
Directed by Costa-Gavras. In this based-on-truth drama, the inventor of Zyklon-B, SS officer and
chemist Kurt Gerstein, is horrified to discover how his disinfectant is being used, so he conspires
with a young Jesuit priest to plead for the intercession of the Pope. Will Pope Pius XII resist or
abet Nazi inhumanity? No stacks of dead bodies in this Holocaust film; evil, instead, shuffles
papers and redirects railroad cars while good men do too little. Grades 10 and up. Color. 130
minutes. ©2002.
(DVD)
AMERICA AND THE HOLOCAUST—DECEIT AND INDIFFERENCE: American Experience
This meticulously documented program unfolds the disturbing story of how American immigration
policies during WWII prevented hundreds of thousands of Jews from finding refuge in the U.S.
Newsreel footage, interviews of authorities, official documents, and statistics are humanized as
the camera follows the moving story of Kurt Klein, who celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in the year
Hitler came to power, emigrated to America, struggled to bring his parents over, joined the U.S.
Army, and became a liberator of Nazi prisoners. Among the many topics covered are President
Roosevelt's inaction, Assistant Secretary of State Breckinridge Long's policy of "calculated
bureaucratic delay," and the belated formation of the War Refugee Board. The DVD is closed
captioned. Grades 9 and up. Color and black-and-white. 90 minutes. WGBH.
(Video/DVD)
ANNE FRANK: The Diary of a Young Girl
Ten lessons provide historical background and creative activities to teach students to recognize the main themes
in the diary and understand its implications in society. Written by teachers, the lessons include objectives, notes,
detailed procedures, and ready-to-use students handouts providing practical supplementary activities and
assessments. Included are "The Impact of World War II," "Prejudice," "Propaganda," "The Annexe," "Events in the
Diary," and "The Holocaust," as well as three lessons on Anne Frank as a person, as a writer, and "After the
Annexe." Grades 6–9. Bibliography. Spiral bound. 8½" x 11". Center for Learning. 95 pages.
(Reproducible)
AVENUE OF THE JUST
Each tree along the Avenue of the Just at the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem bears the name of a Christian
who saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust. Oral histories of ten of these courageous people recall their hopes
and fears in time of tragedy, speak of the underground "trafficking in human cargo," describe the elaborate
deceptions necessary to elude German soldiers, and profess guilt for surviving when their relatives died. Color and
black-and-white. 55 minutes. Anti-Defamation League.
(Video)
BEARING WITNESS: American Soldiers and the Holocaust
“When we walked in the chimneys were still smoking." Focused on American soldiers, this award-winning film
(CINE Golden Eagle, Telly Award) uses archival photographs, film, and moving interviews to explore the liberation
of the death camps. The liberators talk of the horror of the concentration camps—piles of bodies, the walking
dead, and the rancid smell of death. Szmulek Rosental, the only survivor interviewed, describes first losing all faith
in humanity, then he weeps with joy when he describes the liberators: "I see them—I see God. I see life."
Warning: some graphic footage. Includes an illustrated 13-page pocket-size guide. Grades 8 and up. Black-andwhite and color. 21 minutes. Communications for Learning. ©2001.
(DVD)
Resources
THE BIELSKI BROTHERS: The Unknown Partisans
“A shtetl in the woods" says one former inhabitant of the largest Jewish partisan group in Nazi-occupied Europe, a
complete community hidden deep in the Belorussian forest, and led by the Bielskis. Unique among fighting
partisan groups, the Bielskis would take in women, children and the elderly: their goal was always to save Jewish
lives. In this fascinating film, former inhabitants, including the two surviving Bielski brothers, speak out about their
efforts: fighting effectively against Nazi forces, destroying fortifications and sabotaging communications, liberating
Jews from the ghetto, and taking revenge on those who betrayed Jews to the Nazis. A powerful look at resistance
to the Holocaust. (The 302-page paperback by Peter Duffy offers a fast-paced, novel-like version of the Bielski
brothers' story.) Grades 9 and up. Color and black-and-white. 53 minutes. Films for the Humanities. ©1996.
(DVD/Video/Books)
BROKEN SILENCE
Presented by Steven Spielberg and Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, this DVD contains five
foreign language Holocaust documentaries (all with English subtitles) from five different countries. Each
approximately 56-minute film combines survivor interviews with footage from German and Allied sources. Titles:
Some Who Lived (Argentina), Eyes of the Holocaust (Hungary), Children of the Abyss (Russia), I Remember
(Poland), and Hell on Earth (Czechoslovakia). Note: very graphic scenes with corpses and prisoners close to
death. Color and black-and-white. 283 minutes. Universal. ©2004.
(DVD)
THE BYSTANDER'S DILEMMA: Thinking Skills and Values Exploration in the Social Studies
A series of historical and contemporary case studies focusing on the Nazi Holocaust, McCarthyism, slavery, youth
gangs, white collar crime, and violent crime. The case studies raise the questions: For what reasons should a
bystander choose to get involved in a particular situation? What risks, if any, are acceptable? What are the likely
consequences of possible alternatives? The program includes a teacher's guide with introduction, objectives, and
discussion questions. The six case studies and individual report forms are on reproducible pages. Designed for
history, government, and law-related classes. Grades 7–12. Zenger.
(Simulations, e-Book)
Resources
THE CAMERA OF MY FAMILY: Four Generations in Germany 1845–1945
This moving story is an effective vehicle for involving students in Holocaust studies without the use of shocking
and overwhelming material. It recounts the story of Catherine Hanf Noren, who was born to a Jewish family in
1938. Her family, which had lived in Germany for generations, was forced to flee shortly after her birth, and all
records of their experience were lost in the Holocaust's destruction. The program describes Ms. Noren's
perseverance in tracing her roots and rediscovering her heritage through the use of old family photographs that
had been preserved. Color and black-and-white. 20 minutes. Anti-Defamation League.
(Video)
CHILDREN OF THE HOLOCAUST
By Robert Mauro. "If one person remembers, we are still alive in someone's heart." Four teenage victims speak
from the grave, telling of their hopes and dreams in this touching one-act play. Designed for performance on stage,
as reader's theater, or as a radio drama, the 30-minute play describes what might have been in the lives of Anne,
Rachael, Michael, David, and countless others lost in the Holocaust. Five 19-page script booklets with brief
production notes are included. Grades 8–12. Meriwether.
(Scripts)
CHILDREN REMEMBER THE HOLOCAUST
Diaries, letters, and other recollections of the events leading up to the Holocaust, and life in the ghettos and
concentration camps, are interwoven with film clips and photographs to convey the horrors inflicted on Hitler’s
youngest victims. Host Keanu Reeves gives historical context to the personal tragedies: one girl’s father brings her
poison to spare her pain; a camp guard jeers at another, "How does it feel to use soap made from your parents?"
Liberation brings not just elation, but also a sense of purpose: The program ends on a strong note of
remembrance and knowledge in the face of ignorance and hate. Originally aired on CBS. Note: some graphic
footage. Grades 5–9. Color and black-and-white. 46 minutes. SVE/Churchill. ©1995.
(Video)
Resources
ECHOES AND REFLECTIONS—A Multimedia Curriculum on the Holocaust
First-person testimonies of survivors and witnesses are supported by ten comprehensive lesson plans (the teacher's guide totals almost
400 three-hole punched pages in a binder) supplying rationales, objectives, detailed procedures, extension suggestions, reproducible
student handouts, and transparency masters. Topics: reasons for studying the Holocaust, German anti-Semitism and Nazi propaganda,
from Weimar Republic to Nazi dictatorship, ghettos, "Final Solution," Jewish resistance, rescuers and non-Jewish resistance, survivors
and liberators, children in the Holocaust, and perpetrators, collaborators, and bystanders. Glossary. Chronology. Grades 8–12. Color. 157
minutes. Anti-Defamation League/Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation/Yad Vashem. ©2005.
(DVD)
FRIEDRICH
By Hans Peter Richter. The tragic story of a young Jewish boy in Germany during the 30s, as seen through the eyes of a friend. In candid,
simple words, this modern classic of juvenile fiction tells of a single Jewish family's destruction during the Holocaust. A chronology traces
German anti-Jewish laws and regulations announced from 1933 to the end of World War II. (The related activity book provides engaging
activities that involve students in the themes and social implications of Friedrich and Number the Stars.) Grades 5–9. Puffin. 149 pages.
(Book/Reproducible)
THE HISTORY HIGHWAY: A 21st-Century Guide to Internet Resources
Dennis A. Tinkle and Scott A. Merriman. Revised and expanded, this new edition with CD-ROM provides detailed information on
approximately 3000 Internet sites on American and world history. Annotated entries are arranged by topics and subtopics within such
categories as ancient history, science and technology, colonial American history, the Holocaust, religious history, historic reenactment,
historiography, electronic texts, libraries/archives/museums, military history, and women's history. Utility sections cover functions such as
e-mail, newsgroups, FTP, Telnet, Web browsers, ISPs, and search engines. The compilation retains its value with continuous online
updating available at the publisher's site. The book's entire contents are on the CD-ROM with hyperlinks to Web sites. Index. Annotated
bibliography. Glossary. Sharpe. 696 pages. ©2006.
(CD-ROM)
Resources
HOLOCAUST
Useful for teaching whole units or selected topics on the Holocaust, this resource
features short articles reinforced by activities, worksheets, and discussion questions.
After reading "The Day of Judgment: Nuremberg," for example, students debate the "I
was only following orders" defense, and answer ten questions on the trial. Among the
22 lesson titles: "The Roots of Anti-Semitism," "The Nazi Attack on German Jews
Begins," "Establishing Concentration Camps," "Jewish Resistance," and "Could the
Holocaust Have Been Avoided?" Grades 5-8. Bibliography. Answer key. Illustrated.
8½" x 11". Carson-Dellosa. 78 pages. ©1998.
(Reproducible)
HOLOCAUST CURRICULUM BUNDLE: Primary Sources and PowerPoint®
Presentation
Introduce students to key topics and issues regarding the Holocaust and help them
develop critical thinking skills with this curriculum bundle. Topics include historic antiSemitism, Weimar, the Wannsee conference, life in the concentration camps,
resistors, the Nuremberg trials, and more. Each component of the bundle—
PowerPoint® lecture and reproducible units on primary source analysis—was created
with National History Standards in mind. The PowerPoint® presentation is on a single
CD-ROM. Grades 7–12. Social Studies School Service. ©2001–04.
(PowerPoint, Reproducible)