Echoes & Reflections
Rescuers and Non-Jewish Resistance
What does it mean to be a rescuer during the time of the Holocaust? Learners consider the role of those who resisted the Nazi invasions, including hiding Jewish people, throughout Europe. Activities include listening to the testimony of...
Curated OER
Rethinking Perpetrators, Bystanders and Rescuers: The Case of Max Schmeling
The focus of this lesson is personal choice and how changing circumstances can affect one person's ethical choices. During the Holocaust, people made choices, and by placing individuals in the appropriate historical context learners can...
Facing History and Ourselves
The Holocaust: Bystanders and Upstanders
Scholars analyze the role of bystanders during the Holocaust. The investigation explores the roles of the bystanders, upstanders, and rescuers with primary and secondary resources to determine actions taken—or not—and their implications...
Discovery Education
Physical Oceanography and Meteorology, Navy Search and Rescue Operation
It's an ocean rescue mission! Groups must find a pilot downed off the coast of the Chesapeake Bay. Rescuers must determine the distance needed to travel as well as the heading to get to the pilot's last known position. Taking into...
Curated OER
Anne Frank: Rescuers
Students discuss heroic behavior of individuals from the Holocaust. They examine early civilizations and their contributions to the foundations of human culture. They
recognize that heroic behavior (just like discrimination) is done...
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Rescuers Who Made a Difference
Students explore the many ways that people helped Jews during the Holocaust. In this World War II activity, students read and discuss The Yellow Star by Carmen Agra Deedy. Students journal about times when they were bystanders as well as...
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Rescuers: Those Who Risked Their Lives to Save Others
Students examine stories of Holocaust heroes. In this Holocaust lesson, students study the contributions of those who saved Jewish prisoners. Students compose reflective essays pertaining to the topic.
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Deliberate Acts of Kindness
Students recognize and honor kind acts of Holocaust liberators and rescuers, and realize importance of kind acts towards others.
Curated OER
Twenty and Ten
Fourth graders examine moral choices faced by Gentiles during the Holocaust and the role of the rescuer.
Curated OER
The Holocaust: Media Anchors
Learners explore the Holocaust by reading the book "Until We Meet Again" and viewing the film "Devil's Arithmetic". They identify the political, economic and social context of the Holocaust and complete a research project on a real...
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Anne Frank: Rescuers
Tenth graders examine how heroic behavior is done by average people who stay true to their beliefs. They investigate how discrimination can be prevented.
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Rethinking Perpetrators, Bystanders, and Rescuers: The Case of Max Schmeling
Students examine the life and actions of Max Schmeling during World War II. They read and analyze an article, compare/contrast Schmeling's choices with other people during this time period, and write a journal response.
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Oral History
Students create oral histories. In this oral history lesson, students prepare for and conduct interviews with Holocaust survivors, liberators, or rescuers. Students study the provided procedure for the interview and present their...
Echoes & Reflections
The Children and Legacies Beyond the Holocaust
Using video testimony, primary source documents that detail international agreements, and structured discussions, learners consider the precarious position of children during the Holocaust and other international conflicts, and how to...
Echoes & Reflections
The Ghettos
Young historians examine primary sources, including diaries, poems, and photographs, to consider the conditions in the ghettos and how they fit into the escalation of the Third Reich's plot against the Jewish people.
Echoes & Reflections
Studying The Holocaust
While many young scholars are familiar with the Holocaust, they may not understand the specific history that led to the unprecedented atrocity. The first lesson in the unit helps teachers gauge their pupils' background knowledge. A...
Echoes & Reflections
Survivors and Liberators
The end was just the beginning. The period immediately after the end of World War II and the Holocaust is often called "The Return to Life" as survivors looked to reunite and recreate broken families and shattered lives. A two-lesson...
Echoes & Reflections
Nazi Germany
The Holocaust was an evolution of anti-Semitism, scapegoating, and targeted violence against Jews with Nazi policies. A resource unpacks the escalation in violence, along with the erosion of democratic institutions, during the 1930s....
Echoes & Reflections
The "Final Solution"
Nazi policies shifted from deportation and imprisonment to extermination of the Jewish people in death camps in the "Final Solution." Learners examine photos of artifacts, read poetry written by survivors, analyze testimony from...
Echoes & Reflections
Jewish Resistance
Resistance to the Holocaust took on many forms. Learners explore the passive and active resistance of Jewish people who continued their practices and observances, as well as organized resistance against the evils of the Nazis. An...
Curated OER
Righteous Among the Nations: Oskar Schindler as a Study Case
The Righteous Among the Nations are non-Jews who risked their lives during the holocaust to save Jews in countries under Nazi rule. Class groups examine the criteria for being named to this group and then must decide, based on the...
Echoes & Reflections
Timeline of the Holocaust
An interactive timeline uses images, videos, primary source documents, and links to informational text to chronicle the history of the Holocaust from 1933-1945.
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Decision Making: Who Was Right?
Help your class explore the question "Is it ever right to disobey a law?" With a strong base of knowledge about the Civil War, anti-slavery movement, and Underground Railroad, your class explores civil disobedience in Marshall, Michigan...
Echoes & Reflections
Perpetrators, Collaborators, and Bystanders
After the Holocaust, the world grappled with how to bring justice to the Nazis. But what to do with the thousands—if not millions—who allowed it to happen? Young historians consider the issues of guilt, collaboration, and responsibility...