Constitutional Rights Foundation
U.S. Immigration Policy and Hitler’s Holocaust
Though the Statue of Liberty welcomes political refugees to her shores, the welcoming sentiment has not always been reflected in the American citizenry. High schoolers read about the regrettable period in United States history when the...
US Holocaust Museum
Time Capsule in a Milk Can
Imagine dumping out a milk can and finding letters from one of the darkest moments in history! Scholars use Holocaust Reading Passages and research to discover how people recorded and hid history during the events of World War II. They...
University of Southern California
Coming to America After the War
As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War II. To...
Curated OER
Maus: Cubing Questioning Strategy
Maus is the text for a postreading activity that has class members using a cubing strategy to analyze, in depth, topics (racism, past and present, forgetting/remembering the Holocaust, representing the Holocaust) associated with Art...
Curated OER
"You're Probably Tired, Dear Diary" - Children's Diaries during the Holocaust
As part of the study of WWII and the Holocaust, class members read a series of diary entries written by children during the onslaught of Nazi occupation. Each entry is accompanied by biographical information and discussion questions. The...
Facing History and Ourselves
Life for German Youth in the 1930s: Education, Propaganda, Conformity, and Obedience
The German youth faced an onslaught of propaganda when they went to school, thanks to the Nazi regime led by Hitler during World War II. Pupils relate their education experiences to German youth by analyzing primary source readings,...
Curated OER
Maus Lesson Plan
The artistic choices Art Spiegelman made in his graphic novel, Maus, are the focus of an exercise that asks class members to compare classic comic book forms with Spiegelman’s panels and frames. Directed to specific pages and guided by a...
Facing History and Ourselves
A Scene from a Middle School Classroom
Citizens in the modern world can't imagine making the same social choices made by many Germans in the 1920s and 1930s, but they don't realize that they actually do it every day by ostracizing others. A case study of middle schoolers...
Curated OER
Diaries And Memoirs
Students analyze how personal diaries and memoirs record actual events. They compare and contrast diaries and memoirs from the Holocaust. They engage in journal or diary writing as a way to explore one's own feelings and self.
Curated OER
Anne Frank: One of Hundreds of Thousands
Students conduct research to put Anne Frank's diary into historical context. They use maps, timelines, essays and websites to examine the early victories of the German army, paying special attention to the Netherlands and experiences of...
K20 LEARN
Comparing/Contrasting Characters Through Two-Voice Poems: Characterization
Two babies, two fathers, two experiences, two worlds. Partners craft two-voice poems to capture the points of view of two men with very different lives who have just become fathers.
University of Southern California
Persecution of the German-Jews: The Early Years - 1933-1939
Young historians learn about the dehumanization process of stripping German Jews of basic, fundamental rights prior to the genocide of European Jews in the 1940s. Learners watch video clips of survivors who recount such events as the...
Curated OER
Political Asylum Talk Show
Learners view videos, visit websites, and read about the nature and changes made to the idea of political asylum. Beginning with Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany, they will explore policy change throughout the years. The lesson...
Curated OER
Night: Annotated Bibliography
This annotated bibliography and list of websites are valuable resources for any study of the Holocaust and/or of Elie Wiesel's Night.
Curated OER
Teaching the Holocaust Through Poetry
W.H. Auden’s poem “Refugee Blues” launches a study of the problems of refugees. Background information about the poem and general information about Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria are provided, as are discussion questions and...