Bring the courageous and compelling story of Martha and Waitstill Sharp to life in your classroom.
The Sharps' story can be integrated into many different courses and units of study. If you're teaching a unit on the Holocaust (or a Holocaust and Human Behavior elective), use it to examine rescue and the diverse experiences of victims, survivors, and rescuers. This story can also be used:
- In US history courses, to help students understand America’s relationship to Europe as World War II unfolded
- In Civics courses, as a case study on the choices of two extraordinary upstanders
- To help facilitate classroom discussion around the ongoing refugee crisis
Get started.
An American minister and his wife undertook a rescue mission to help save Jews and refugees fleeing Nazi occupation.
Motivate your students to think about their responsibility toward others in light of the Sharps' work in Czechoslovakia.
Discover the complexities of Martha Sharp's rescue project by analyzing letters and other primary sources.
Learn more about the documentary film and companion book
Facing History is an educational partner of the documentary film and companion book, Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War. The film, directed by Artemis Joukowsky and celebrated filmmaker Ken Burns, can be seen on PBS.
Get to know the Sharps
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Children Rescued by Martha Sharp
The group of children Martha Sharp brought from France, Fall 1940
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Eva Rosemarie Feigl and Her Father
Photograph of Eva Rosemarie Feigl and her father, taken before she left France for the United States.
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The Theis sisters
The six Theis sisters en route from France to the United States, 1940.
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Letter from Gurs Prisoner Asking Martha Sharp to Rescue Jewish Children
Letter from Walter Goldberg, inmate of Gurs, France detention camp, to Martha Sharp, asking her to rescue Jewish children who arrived to the camp as prisoners, October 31, 1940.
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Martha Sharp's List of Children to Rescue
A list of the children Martha Sharp included in her second attempt to rescue children from France, November 1940.
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What America Meant
Public letter to the Sharps' Unitarian supporters describing the beginning of the children's rescue, written by Martha's colleague Helen Lowrie, November 23, 1940.
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Note from Eva Rosemarie Feigl to Martha Sharp
Note from Eva Rosemarie Feigl to Martha Sharp, December 10, 1943.
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Note from the Diamant Sisters to the Unitarian Service Committee
Note from the Diamant sisters to Unitarian Service Committee members, December 9, 1940.
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About the Project
Facing History is the lead educational partner for Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War, a multimedia project that includes a documentary film and companion book. Learn more about the project and watch a special message from filmmaker Ken Burns inviting you to tune into the premiere on PBS on September 20!
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