Holocaust UnitNatalie Lewis Ashley Wren

Table of Contents

• 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– Adolph Hitler

– Poles

– Slavs

– Roma (Gypsies)

– Jews

– Nazi

– Refugees

• Places– 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

• IntroductionFocus 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.orgDiscuss. 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 Choice1. The largest killing center that house 4

gas chambers in 1943. At the height of deportation, killed up to8,000 people per day.

a. Hungaryb. Auschwitz- Birkenauc. Treblinka d. 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

5. This is an example of:a. Judob. Ghettoc. Kristallnachtd. Anti-Semitism

Reads “Jews are not wanted here”

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?

ResourcesTeacher

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO TEACH ABOUT THE HOLOCAUSTYour 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 HOLOCAUSTBy 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 SchoolsBy 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 BookThis 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)

ResourcesDICTIONARY OF THE HOLOCAUST: Biography, Geography, and

TerminologyBy 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)

ResourcesFACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES: Holocaust and Human

BehaviorThis 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)

ResourcesHITLER 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 KITThought-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.

ResourcesTHE 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 EuropeCombining 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• 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)

ResourcesANNE 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 SurvivorsBy 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 HolocaustBy 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)

ResourcesTHE 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 ViewsEdited 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)

ResourcesDAILY 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 STORYBy 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)

ResourcesTHE 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 HOLOCAUSTBy 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)

ResourcesFORGING 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 SeriesBy 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 HOLOCAUSTTells 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• MediaTHE 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. HISTORYI 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 MeiselConnecting 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 BUNDLEExamine 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 SchoolEleven 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)

AMENDirected 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 ExperienceThis 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 GirlTen 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 JUSTEach 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-and-white and color. 21 minutes. Communications for Learning. ©2001.(DVD)

ResourcesTHE 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 StudiesA 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)

ResourcesTHE 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 HOLOCAUSTBy 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 HOLOCAUSTDiaries, 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)

ResourcesECHOES 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)

FRIEDRICHBy 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 ResourcesDennis 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)

ResourcesHOLOCAUST

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® PresentationIntroduce students to key topics and issues regarding the Holocaust and help them develop critical thinking skills with this curriculum bundle. Topics include historic anti-Semitism, 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)