Collection
Materials for Teaching Holocaust and Human Behavior
Explore the collection of media referenced in our unit Teaching Holocaust and Human Behavior, available both online and in print.
Subject
- History
- Social Studies
Grade
6–12Language
English — USPublished
About This Collection
This page is designed for educators using Teaching Holocaust and Human Behavior. It contains all of the videos, teaching strategies, and other digital resources referenced throughout the guide.
Journals in the Classroom
Create a practice of student journaling to help your students critically examine their surroundings and make informed judgments.
Word Wall
A word wall supports students’ tracking of new or important vocabulary by displaying these words in a shared space in the classroom.
Letter to Students
Read aloud this letter with your class before you embark on the unit Teaching Holocaust and Human Behavior.
Letter to Parents and Guardians
Inform parents about what their students will be experiencing in the weeks to come during their study of Holocaust and Human Behavior.
Classroom Experience Checklist
Ask students to reflect on their experiences as students in a classroom community as preparation for creating a classroom contract.
Sample Facing History Classroom Expectations
Help students get started creating their own classroom contract by responding to these sample expectations.
Read Aloud
Encourage class participation and develop students’ active listening skills by reading aloud text excerpts.
Words Matter
Reflect on the power of the words that we attach to people through an Anishinaabe woman’s memory of being called an “Indian” while growing up in Canada (Spanish available).
Finding Confidence
A young woman describes her journey overcoming an inner bully and fear of being different.
Finding One's Voice
Julius Lester describes finding his identity in an unexpected place as an African American teenager living in the segregated South.
![Artist Glenn Ligon created Untitled: Four Etchings [B] using a quotation from writer Zora Neale Hurston’s essay, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me.”](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_622x400_2x/public/2022-07/D15968_Medium_res.webp?h=c15025bd&itok=oMMTHJR5)
Gender and Identity
Read the personal reflections of a mother whose young son has challenged her assumptions and expectations about gender identity.
Being Jewish in the United States
Explore the complexity of Jewish identity with reflections from three teenagers about what being Jewish means to them.
The Individual and Society
How does our society shape the way we define ourselves and others? Explore some of the dilemmas people experience when others perceive them differently than they define themselves.
Identity Charts
Use identity charts to help students consider the many factors that shape their own identity and that of groups, nations, and historical and literary figures.
Jigsaw: Developing Community and Disseminating Knowledge
Students will become “experts” on a topic and then share their new knowledge with peers.
Word Wall
A word wall supports students’ tracking of new or important vocabulary by displaying these words in a shared space in the classroom.
The Danger of a Single Story
In her TED Talk, writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie describes the effects that labels can have on how we think about ourselves and others.
The Danger of a Single Story
Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie challenges us to consider the power of stories to influence identity, shape stereotypes, and build paths to empathy.
Little Things Are Big
Puerto Rican writer Jesús Colón describes a time when his awareness of stereotypes influenced his decision-making.
The Danger of a Single Story Viewing/Reading Guide
Help students process Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk with these prompts.
Street Calculus
This cartoon by Garry Trudeau explores the ways that identity impacts how we perceive people.
Text-to-Text, Text-to-Self, Text-to-World
Use this handout to help your students make text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections.
Concept Maps: Generate, Sort, Connect, Elaborate
Students sort, arrange, and connect their thoughts on an idea or question, creating a visual representation of their understanding.
Think-Pair-Share
Think-Pair-Share activities facilitate thoughtful group discussions by having students first reflect individually and discuss their ideas with a partner.
Concentric Circles
This kinesthetic discussion activity invites students to be active listeners and speakers and to interact with a wide range of classmates.
Universe of Obligation
Reflect on how individuals, communities, and nations decide who has rights that are worthy of respect and protection with this introduction to the concept of the "universe of obligation."
We and They
Discover how societies throughout history have defined membership based on ideas about human similarities and differences, such as race, religion, and nation.
What Do We Do with a Difference?
A poem by James Berry invites us to question the ways we as individuals and societies react to difference.
Understanding Strangers
Journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski traces back to the earliest family-tribes and discusses how human beings either cooperate or divide with “the other."
Universe of Obligation
Help your students map out their own universe of obligation with this printable handout.
Think-Pair-Share
Think-Pair-Share activities facilitate thoughtful group discussions by having students first reflect individually and discuss their ideas with a partner.
Common Core Writing Prompts and Strategies: Holocaust and Human Behavior
This resource provides writing prompts and strategies that align Holocaust and Human Behavior with the expectations of the Common Core State Standards.
Anticipation Guides
Get students thinking about the ideas and themes that they’ll encounter in a unit or a text.
Four Corners
Get all students involved by asking them to show their stance on a statement through their positioning around the room.
Think-Pair-Share
Think-Pair-Share activities facilitate thoughtful group discussions by having students first reflect individually and discuss their ideas with a partner.
Exit Tickets
Use exit tickets to assess students’ understanding, monitor their questions, or gather feedback on your teaching.
Growing Up with Racism
In a letter to her daughter, Lisa Delpit reflects on how racism has shaped her worldview and her hopes and fears for her child.
Preparing Students for Difficult Conversations
Students establish a safe space for holding sensitive conversations, before introducing the events surrounding Ferguson, by acknowledging people's complicated feelings about race and creating a classroom contract.
What Do We Do with a Difference?
A poem by James Berry invites us to question the ways we as individuals and societies react to difference.
Which One of These Things Is Not Like the Others?
This handout introduces students to the idea that when we sort and categorize, we make judgments about which characteristics are more meaningful than others.
Race: The Power of an Illusion (The Difference Between Us)
Login Required
The first episode in the three-part series Race: The Power of an Illusion explores if differences exist in biological variation on the basis of race.
Race and Racism
Have students annotate and reflect on scholar George Fredrickson's definition of race.
A Class Divided
Third-grade teacher, Jane Elliott meets with her former class to discuss the experiment on discrimination she conducted 15 years earlier and the effects it had on their lives. She also gives the lesson to employees of the Iowa prison system.
We and They
Discover how societies throughout history have defined membership based on ideas about human similarities and differences, such as race, religion, and nation.
Exit Tickets
Use exit tickets to assess students’ understanding, monitor their questions, or gather feedback on your teaching.
“We Don’t Control America” and Other Myths, Part 1
A young Jewish woman shares a time when she encountered someone with a false stereotype about Jews.
“We Don’t Control America” and Other Myths, Part 2
A young Jewish person reflects on the impact of antisemitic myths on attitudes today.
“We Don’t Control America” and Other Myths, Part 3
Olympic gymnast Kerri Strug reflects on why she gets asked the question “You’re Jewish?” (Spanish available).
Anti-Judaism before the Enlightenment
Deepen your understanding of the history of antisemitism with this overview of the persecution, violence, and restrictions Jews throughout Europe faced during the Middle Ages.
From Religious Prejudice to Antisemitism
Learn about the restricted rights and membership of Jews in newly unified Germany, and antisemitism's pervasiveness across Europe during this period.
Overview of Anti-Judaism and Antisemitism
This handout provides students with an overview of the long history of hatred and discrimination against Jews.
The Ancient Roots of Anti-Judaism
Scholars trace anti-Jewish myths, hatred, and violence back to the time of the Roman Empire in this historical overview of anti-Judaism’s roots.
Antisemitism from the Enlightenment to World War I
Scholars describe the persistence of antisemitism in Europe from the Enlightenment through World War I and explain how new social, political, and pseudo-scientific justifications were created to perpetuate old prejudices.
The Brutal Realities of World War I
Gain insight into the death and destruction of World War I with firsthand accounts from former soldiers.
Negotiating Peace
Learn about the concessions that the Treaty of Versailles required from Germany after its defeat in World War I.
The Beginning of World War I
Why did World War I start? Learn about some of the important causes of World War I and the spark that ignited the fighting.
Disillusion on the Battlefield
Get insight into the experiences of soldiers in World War I through poetry and literature excerpts.
Signing the Armistice
Find out about the terms of the armistice that ended World War I and the rumors that swirled in its wake.
World War I in Europe and the Middle East
World War I was fought between the Central powers and the Allied powers simultaneously on several fronts in western Europe, eastern Europe, and the Middle East. See full-sized image for analysis.
John Singer Sargent, Gassed, 1919
John Singer Sargent painted Gassed in 1919, depicting the effects of chemical weapons used by Germans against the British in the Battle of Arras on August 21, 1918.
Otto Dix, Verwundeter (Wounded Soldier), 1924
Dix was a New Objectivist artist known for the brutal realism of his paintings. He was wounded several times by German soldiers on the western front during World War I. He based his series Der Krieg (The War) on these experiences.
Think-Pair-Share
Think-Pair-Share activities facilitate thoughtful group discussions by having students first reflect individually and discuss their ideas with a partner.
K-W-L Charts
Use K-W-L charts to help students assess what they already know about a topic and what they want to learn.
World War: Choices and Consequences
Investigate how World War I heightened divisions between “we” and “they” among people and nations and left behind fertile ground for Nazi Germany in the following decades.
Defining Democracy
Students brainstorm different definitions of democracy and consider democracy's relationship to their own communities and cultures.
Introduction to the Weimar Republic
Help students be active listeners of your mini-lecture on the Weimar Republic.
Weimar Republic Images
Use these photos and fine art from the Weimar Era to have students complete an image-analysis activity.
Education in the Weimar Republic
Use this handout in a Stations activity that asks students to explore several aspects of life in the Weimar Republic.
Voices in the Dark
Use this handout in a Stations activity that asks students to explore several aspects of life in the Weimar Republic.
Hyperinflation and the Great Depression
Use this handout in a Stations activity that asks students to explore several aspects of life in the Weimar Republic.
Women in the Weimar Republic
Use this handout in a Stations activity that asks students to explore several aspects of life in the Weimar Republic.
The Bubbling Cauldron
Have students demonstrate their understanding of the conflicts and tensions in the Weimar Republic by completing this graphic organizer.
Two-Minute Interview
Students interview classmates to gather evidence and ideas about a topic as they practice being active listeners.
Annotating and Paraphrasing Sources
Teach students to carefully read material by having them underline key words, write margin notes, and summarize main ideas.
The Weimar Republic: The Fragility of Democracy
Explore the efforts to build a democracy in Germany in the 1920s, and examine the misunderstandings, myths, and fears that often undercut those efforts.
Common Core Writing Prompts and Strategies: Holocaust and Human Behavior
This resource provides writing prompts and strategies that align Holocaust and Human Behavior with the expectations of the Common Core State Standards.
Give One, Get One
Students seek out and share ideas and information with classmates through this cooperative learning strategy.
Exit Tickets
Use exit tickets to assess students’ understanding, monitor their questions, or gather feedback on your teaching.
National Socialist German Workers’ Party Platform
Explore the provisions Hitler proposed at the National Socialist German Workers' Party’s first large party gathering 1920.
Hitler in Power
Consider the motivations and expectations of Paul von Hindenburg when he appointed Hitler to chancellor of Germany.
Choices in Weimar Republic Elections
Students read fictional biographies of German citizens and make hypotheses about the citizens' voting choices in the Weimar elections.
Hitler's Rise to Power: 1918-1933
Scholars Wendy Lower, Peter Hayes, Michael Berenbaum, Jonathan Petropoulos, and Deborah Dwork describe how Adolf Hitler became a powerful political figure in Weimar Germany in the aftermath of World War I.
Hitler’s Rise to Power, 1918-1933 Viewing Guide
Give students these prompts as they watch a short documentary on the Nazis' rise to power.
What did the Nazis Believe?
Check-in on students' comprehension of the Nazi Party Platform with these true/false questions.
1932 Election Results
Share this data on the elections in Weimar Germany to prompt discussion about politics in Weimar and the rise of the Nazi party.
1932 German Election Ballot
The 1932 German election ballot featured 36 parties, many of which existed only on paper. The number of different groups made it difficult for any single party to gain a majority in parliament in the Weimar Republic.
Think-Pair-Share
Think-Pair-Share activities facilitate thoughtful group discussions by having students first reflect individually and discuss their ideas with a partner.
Read Aloud
Encourage class participation and develop students’ active listening skills by reading aloud text excerpts.
Pre-War Jewish Life in Eastern Europe
Explore photographs of the everyday lives of European Jews living in shtetls and larger cities before World War II.
Photo Analysis of Prewar Jewish Life
Complete a Text-to-Text, Text-to-Self, Text-to-World activity using photographs of Jewish life in Europe before World War II.
A Day in Warsaw
This short documentary captures the spirit of Jewish life in Warsaw, Poland, before World War II.
Sholem Aleichem: Understanding the Life of Shtetl Jews
This clip from "Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness" covers the advantages and disadvantages of growing up in a shtetl as seen through Sholem Aleichem's story "The Town of the Little People."
Word Wall
A word wall supports students’ tracking of new or important vocabulary by displaying these words in a shared space in the classroom.
Text-to-Text, Text-to-Self, Text-to-World
Use text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world comparisons to help students connect ideas in a text to their own lives, current events, and history.
Shaping Public Opinion
Read about the far-reaching efforts of Joseph Goebbels and the Ministry of Propaganda to generate enthusiasm for the Nazi party.
Targeting Jews
Learn about the Nazis' boycott of Jewish-owned businesses, including a firsthand account from a German Jew.
"Restoring" Germany's Civil Service
Read a letter exchange between Adolf Hitler and President Paul von Hindenburg regarding a law that suspended Jews from positions of civil service in Nazi Germany.
Where They Burn Books...
Consider the significance of the public burning of books in Nazi Germany in 1933.
Isolating Gay Men
Find out how Hitler strengthened enforcement of Paragraph 175, a German constitutional law that criminalized same-sex relations between men.
Storm Troopers, Elite Guards, and Secret Police
Learn about the roles of the the SA, the SS, and the Gestapo in Nazi Germany.
Spying on Family and Friends
Discover the effects that the “Malicious Attacks” law, which criminalized dissent to the Nazi party, had on one German family and on German society as a whole.
Speaking in Whispers
Learn about the role of cell and block wardens, Germans who collected information about their neighbors in Nazi German society.
From Democracy to Dictatorship
Alfred Wolf, a Holocaust survivor from Eberbach, Germany, recalls the changes he noticed in Germany after the election of Adolf Hitler.
Hitler's Rise to Power: 1933-1934
Scholars Timothy Ryback, Wendy Lower, Jonathan Petropoulos, Michael Berenbaum, and Peter Hayes discuss Adolf Hitler’s final steps in securing total power in Germany.
Hitler’s Rise to Power: 1933–1934 Viewing Guide
Guide students' comprehension of a short documentary on the Nazis' rise to power.
Democracy to Dictatorship Reading Analysis
Use this handout in a Stations activity that asks students to explore several aspects of life in the Weimar Republic.
Hitler's First Victims
Author Timothy Ryback explains how, in 1933, four Jewish political prisoners at Dachau concentration camp became some of the first victims of Hitler and the Nazis.
Fishbowl
Use the Fishbowl discussion strategy to help students practice being contributors and listeners in a group conversation.
Pledging Allegiance
Compare the text of Germany's original military oath with Hitler’s new oath, and consider the implications of the oath's promise of allegiance to a single leader.
Do You Take the Oath?
Students consider the choices and reasoning of individual Germans who stayed quiet or spoke up during the first few years of Nazi rule.
Refusing to Pledge Allegiance
Read about two individuals refusals to pledge their allegiance to the Nazis and the consequences they faced.
No Time to Think
Explore bystander behavior, conformity, and obedience in a German college professor’s account of how he responded to Nazi policies and ideology.
Working Toward the Führer
Consider how the Nazis leveraged Hitler’s public image in their pursuit to transform German society according to Nazi ideology.
Read Aloud
Encourage class participation and develop students’ active listening skills by reading aloud text excerpts.
Exit Tickets
Use exit tickets to assess students’ understanding, monitor their questions, or gather feedback on your teaching.
Word Wall
A word wall supports students’ tracking of new or important vocabulary by displaying these words in a shared space in the classroom.
Found Poems
Students compose poems using only words, phrases, or quotations from a text that they find meaningful.
Socratic Seminar
A Socratic Seminar invites students to facilitate a discussion in order to work together toward a shared understanding of a text.
Lifted Line Poem
Educators will provide a creative way for students to engage with a text by transforming a line they find meaningful into a poem.
Discovering Jewish Blood
Find out how one family's lives changed when Hitler passed the Nuremberg Laws in Nazi Germany.
The Common Interest before Self-Interest
Read the text of a widely distributed Nazi pamphlet that outlined National Socialism's central goals and defined what it meant to be German.
Breeding the New German "Race"
Learn about the sterilization law in Nazi Germany and other measures taken by the Nazis to ensure the purity of the Aryan race.
A Wave of Discrimination
Review a list of anti-Jewish laws, policies, and decrees made in Nazi Germany in 1933.
First Regulation to the Reich Citizenship Law
Use this excerpt from the Nuremberg Laws in a Big Paper activity that will help students understand the role of laws in Nazi Germany.
Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor, Part 1
Use this excerpt from the Nuremberg Laws in a Big Paper activity that will help students understand the role of laws in Nazi Germany.
Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor, Part 2
Use this excerpt from the Nuremberg Laws in a Big Paper activity that will help students understand the role of laws in Nazi Germany.
A Class Divided
Third-grade teacher, Jane Elliott meets with her former class to discuss the experiment on discrimination she conducted 15 years earlier and the effects it had on their lives. She also gives the lesson to employees of the Iowa prison system.
Think-Pair-Share
Think-Pair-Share activities facilitate thoughtful group discussions by having students first reflect individually and discuss their ideas with a partner.
Big Paper: Building a Silent Conversation
Students have a written conversation with peers and use silence as a tool to explore a topic in depth.
Word Wall
A word wall supports students’ tracking of new or important vocabulary by displaying these words in a shared space in the classroom.
Common Core Writing Prompts and Strategies: Holocaust and Human Behavior
This resource provides writing prompts and strategies that align Holocaust and Human Behavior with the expectations of the Common Core State Standards.
Give One, Get One
Students seek out and share ideas and information with classmates through this cooperative learning strategy.
The Impact of Propaganda
Get insight on the ability and limits of propaganda to influence the beliefs, feelings, and actions of those exposed to it.
Nazi Recruitment Propaganda
This mid-1930s poster says, “The NSDAP [Nazi Party] protects the people. Your fellow comrades need your advice and help, so join the local party organization.
Hitler Youth Propaganda
This 1935 poster promotes the Hitler Youth by stating: “Youth serves the Führer! All ten-year-olds into the Hitler Youth.”
Propaganda during World War I: An Appeal to You!
Journalist, lecturer, and author Adam Hochschild discusses the use of propaganda during World War I.
Art as Propaganda: The Nazi Degenerate Art Exhibit
Jonathan Petropoulos discusses the importance of the German 1937 Degenerate Art exhibit.
Triumph of the Will Propaganda Film
Leni Riefenstahl's documentary-style film glorified Hitler and the Nazi Party. It was shot at the 1934 Nazi Party congress and rally in Nuremberg.
The Impact of Nazi Propaganda: Visual Essay
Explore a curated selection of primary source propaganda images from Nazi Germany.
Think-Pair-Share
Think-Pair-Share activities facilitate thoughtful group discussions by having students first reflect individually and discuss their ideas with a partner.
Crop It
Help students interpret an image by “framing” smaller portions of the image and analyzing them.
Read Aloud
Encourage class participation and develop students’ active listening skills by reading aloud text excerpts.
Word Wall
A word wall supports students’ tracking of new or important vocabulary by displaying these words in a shared space in the classroom.
Connect, Extend, Challenge
Deepen students' understanding of a topic by having them connect to their prior knowledge.
Four Corners
Get all students involved by asking them to show their stance on a statement through their positioning around the room.
Big Paper: Building a Silent Conversation
Students have a written conversation with peers and use silence as a tool to explore a topic in depth.
Connect, Extend, Challenge
Deepen students' understanding of a topic by having them connect to their prior knowledge.
Word Wall
A word wall supports students’ tracking of new or important vocabulary by displaying these words in a shared space in the classroom.
Models of Obedience
Consider how conformity, obedience, and desire for belonging influenced the attitudes and values of youth in Nazi Germany.
Even If All Others Do—I Do Not!
Reflect on the true story of a father who dared to challenge the education his children received in Nazi Germany.
The Birthday Party
Gain insight into the pressures that compelled young people and their families to support Nazi youth organizations with this story about a member of the Hitler Youth.
Youth in Society Anticipation Guide
Use these statements about the role of youth in society to complete a Four Corners activity.
Changes at School under the Nazis
Kurt Klein, who emigrated from Walldorf, Germany, to the United States in 1937, recalls how Nazi policies and propaganda affected his life at school.
Friendship and Betrayal
Ellen Kerry Davis, a Jewish woman originally from Hoof, Germany, describes how her family’s friendships were impacted by Nazi rule.
Youth in Nazi Germany Reading Set 1
Have students read and annotate passages on the experiences of youth in Nazi Germany.
The Night of the Pogrom
Learn what incited Kristallnacht and get insight into the experiences of Jews in Germany on the night of horrendous violence in November 1938.
Opportunism during Kristallnacht
Examine firsthand reports of the theft committed against Jews during the chaos and violence of Kristallnacht.
A Family Responds to Kristallnacht
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Learn about a family who assisted their Jewish neighbors after Kristallnacht, and the consequences they faced for this decision to help.
Thoroughly Reprehensible Behavior
Read a report from the disciplinary hearing of a German college student who chose to help his Jewish neighbors after Kristallnacht.
A Visitor’s Perspective on Kristallnacht
Consider a Swiss merchant’s account of how his German colleagues responded to the events of Kristallnacht.
World Responses to Kristallnacht
Consider how leaders like FDR, clergy members, and ordinary people around the world responded to the news of Kristallnacht.
The Hangman
Explore bystander behavior and the challenges of speaking up with Maurice Ogden's poem “The Hangman.”
Nazi Telegram with Instructions for Kristallnacht, November 10, 1938
A translation of a telegram sent from Reinhard Heydrich, Major General of the SS, on November 10, 1938, that instructed local German officers on how to carry out the anti-Jewish measures that became known as Kristallnacht.
"Kristallnacht": The November 1938 Pogroms
Scholars discuss the events of Kristallnacht, a series of violent attacks against Jews in Germany, Austria, and part of Czechoslovakia in November, 1938.
Kristallnacht: The November 1938 Pogroms Viewing Guide
Use this handout to help students record notes for the film, "Kristallnacht": The November 1938 Pogroms.
Elsbeth Lewin Remembers Kristallnacht
Holocaust survivor Elsbeth Lewin describes her and her family's experience of Kristallnacht in Mainz, Germany.
Decision-Making in Times of Fear and Crisis
Help students analyze a reading about the choices made by a person or group during Kristallnacht.
The Range of Human Behavior Vocabulary Terms
Students predict the definitions of perpetrator, victim, bystander, and upstander, using context clues.
Connect, Extend, Challenge
Deepen students' understanding of a topic by having them connect to their prior knowledge.
Think-Pair-Share
Think-Pair-Share activities facilitate thoughtful group discussions by having students first reflect individually and discuss their ideas with a partner.
Exit Tickets
Use exit tickets to assess students’ understanding, monitor their questions, or gather feedback on your teaching.
Word Wall
A word wall supports students’ tracking of new or important vocabulary by displaying these words in a shared space in the classroom.
Jewish Refugees from Austria
Examine a 1938 poll that reveals the public opinion in the United States toward the Jewish refugee crisis.
The Evian Conference
Learn about the conference called by FDR in 1938 to discuss the growing Jewish refugee crisis.
World Responses to Kristallnacht
Consider how leaders like FDR, clergy members, and ordinary people around the world responded to the news of Kristallnacht.
Memory and Decision Making in Europe Today
Consider the connection between the refugee crisis facing Europe in 2016 and the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust.
Turned Away on the M.S. St. Louis
Holocaust survivor Sol Messinger describes his experiences attempting to emigrate from Germany to Cuba in 1939 aboard the ship the M.S. St. Louis.
Preparing for the Kindertransport
Vera Gissing, a Holocaust survivor from Czechoslovakia, recalls how her family prepared her for the Kindertransport, a rescue mission that brought thousands of Jewish refugee children to Great Britain.
American Experience: America and the Holocaust
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This episode of The American Experience examines the role of the United States in the Holocaust, exploring such issues as American antisemitism and the deliberate suppression of information that European Jews were slated for genocide.
Open Aggression and World Responses
Consider the dilemmas faced by world leaders as Nazi Germany began taking aggressive action against neighboring countries and individuals in the late 1930s.
Barometer: Taking a Stand on Controversial Issues
Structure an active class discussion in which students express their opinions by standing along a continuum.
Jigsaw: Developing Community and Disseminating Knowledge
Students will become “experts” on a topic and then share their new knowledge with peers.
S-I-T: Surprising, Interesting, Troubling
Use this quick way for students to demonstrate their engagement with a text, image, or video by having them identify what they find surprising, interesting, and troubling.
Word Wall
A word wall supports students’ tracking of new or important vocabulary by displaying these words in a shared space in the classroom.
Colonizing Poland
Learn about the Nazis’ plan to rearrange the population of Poland, which resulted in the displacement of more than a million ethnic Poles and Jews.
“Cultural Missionaries”
Consider what German citizens thought of Hitler's plan to colonize Poland through these reflections from a member of the League of German Girls and two German soldiers.
The War against Poland: Speed and Brutality
Examine how Nazi Germany's army targeted both the Polish army and the people of Poland as it waged war.
Dividing Poland and Its People
Learn how the Nazis imposed their racial hierarchy on the people of Poland during the German occupation.
"Unworthy to Live"
Learn about the Nazis’ medical killing program that was responsible for the murder of mentally and physically disabled people during World War II.
Bystanders at Hartheim Castle
Consider why the residents of Hartheim kept silent about the evidence of mass murder they witnessed in their town throughout World War II.
Protesting Medical Killing
Explore the stories of three German ministers who chose to speak out against the Nazis’ "euthanasia" program.
Hitler's Ideology: Race, Land, and Conquest
Scholar Doris Bergen discusses the ideologies of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
The Growth of Nazi Germany
Between 1933 and 1939, Greater Germany expanded significantly as a result of the Third Reich’s annexations and conquests in eastern Europe.
League of German Girls in the Warthegau
After Germany conquered the Warthegau region of Poland, members of the League of German Girls moved there to help colonize and spread German culture.
Jews in German-Polish Border Town
This photograph shows Polish Jews who were expelled from their homes in Germany by the Nazis 1938.
Exhibit on Germany's Colonization of Poland
An exhibit at a Berlin school persuades Germans to help colonize the Warthegau area of Poland. The exhibit says “The land calls you!,” and the painting shows a settler’s car passing by a Polish border sign that has been knocked down.
Bishop von Galen and the War against the Disabled
Scholar Doris Bergen discusses Bishop von Galen and his opposition to the Nazi T4 euthanasia program.
S-I-T: Surprising, Interesting, Troubling
Use this quick way for students to demonstrate their engagement with a text, image, or video by having them identify what they find surprising, interesting, and troubling.
Save the Last Word for Me
This discussion strategy helps students practice being both active speakers and active listeners in a group conversation.
Take This Giant Leap
Begin your study of the Holocaust with a poem by Holocaust survivor Sonia Weitz.
A Basic Feeling of Human Dignity
Diary entries from a Jewish woman imprisoned in Bergen-Belsen shed light on how prisoners in camps and ghettos were deprived of dignity.
Voices from the Warsaw Ghetto
Learn about the Oyneg Shabes, a group in the Warsaw ghetto that documented Nazi crimes and the daily lives of the ghetto's residents.
Teaching with Testimony
Engage students in personal accounts from survivors with this collection of video testimony, survivor profiles, and a lesson plan.
Choiceless Choices
Consider the experiences of Jewish prisoners who were forced to help German guards murder other prisoners.
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Learn about the largest act of resistance by Jews against the Nazis, mounted by prisoners of the Warsaw ghetto.
Resistance during the Holocaust: An Exploration of the Jewish Partisans
Explore the stories of Jewish partisans that stood against Nazi oppression, genocide, and antisemitism during World War II.
Step By Step: Phases of the Holocaust
Scholar Doris Bergen describes the phases of events that led to the Holocaust.
Phases of the Holocaust
Help students understand the four major stages of the Holocaust according to scholar Doris Bergen.
The Nazis in Vilna
In his testimony for USC Shoah Foundation, Holocaust survivor Jack Arnel describes what he saw as a 12-year-old when the Nazis occupied Vilna, Lithuania in 1941.
Main Nazi Camps and Killing Sites
Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis established more than 40,000 camps for the imprisonment, forced labor, or mass killing of Jews, Sinti and Roma, Communists, and other so-called “enemies of the state."
Mobile Killing Units
Dr. Kutorgene write about what had happened in Kovno as the Nazis prepared to murder the Jews in the ghetto there.
Auschwitz
Allow students to reflect on a range of experiences and stories from the Holocaust in a Big Paper silent discussion.
We May Not Have Another Chance
This handout can be used to distribute a reading from the perspective of Holocaust survivor Sonia Weitz to your students.
Diary from the Łódź Ghetto
Allow students to reflect on a range of experiences and stories from the Holocaust in a Big Paper silent discussion.
Creating a Found Poem
Creating a “found poem” from a Holocaust survivor’s testimony can be a way to pay respectful attention to and honor his or her experiences.
Gallery Walk
A gallery walk activity gets students moving as they explore a range of documents, images, or student work displayed around the classroom.
Graffiti Boards
Help students process their thoughts and emotions on a topic by engaging them in a written conversation with their classmates.
Read Aloud
Encourage class participation and develop students’ active listening skills by reading aloud text excerpts.
Think-Pair-Share
Think-Pair-Share activities facilitate thoughtful group discussions by having students first reflect individually and discuss their ideas with a partner.
Found Poems
Students compose poems using only words, phrases, or quotations from a text that they find meaningful.
Exit Tickets
Use exit tickets to assess students’ understanding, monitor their questions, or gather feedback on your teaching.
A Commandant’s View
Get insight into how a commander at a Nazi death camp viewed his victims and coped with his actions.
Bystanders at Hartheim Castle
Consider why the residents of Hartheim kept silent about the evidence of mass murder they witnessed in their town throughout World War II.
Protests in Germany
Investigate different examples of protest and resistance by Germans against the Nazi regime in the 1940s, including the White Rose resistance group.
Deciding to Act
Marion Prichard reflects on rescue, heroism, and the choices she and others in German-occupied Amsterdam made during the Holocaust.
Le Chambon: A Village Takes a Stand
Explore rescue during the Holocaust with the story of a community in Southern France that sheltered and hid thousands of Jews fleeing Nazi persecution (Spanish available).
Denmark: A Nation Takes Action
Learn about the people of Denmark’s collective effort to hide and rescue Jews from deportation during the Holocaust.
Reserve Police Battalion 101
Investigate perpetrator behavior with historian Christopher Browning’s study of the men of a police unit that killed Jews during World War II.
Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War
These lesson plans use the Ken Burns’ documentary "Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War" to explore what motivated Waitstill and Martha Sharp to help refugees.
Facing History Scholar Reflections: Bystanders and Resisters
Dr. Paul Bookbinder discusses the roles of bystanders and resisters during the Holocaust.
Perpetrators, Bystanders, Upstanders, and Rescuers
Help students analyze an assigned reading about an individual in Nazi Germany, focusing on choices, motivations, and consequences.
Choices and Consequences
Help students be active listeners of their classmates' presentations about the choices individuals in Nazi Germany.
Obedience: The Milgram Experiment
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This documentary describes the social science experiment known as The Milgram Experiment.
The Courage to Care
This film profiles both Jews who were rescued during the Holocaust and individuals who rescued Jews in France, Holland, and Poland, and raises questions about the moral and ethical dilemmas that rescuers confronted.
Life or Death in the Netherlands
Marion Pritchard, a member of the Dutch resistance who hid a Jewish family during the Nazi occupation of Holland, describes what happened when a Dutch Nazi policeman investigated her house.
Finding Safety in Italy
Holocaust survivor Esther Bem describes the people in Northern Italy who protected her and her family during World War II.
Weapons of the Spirit
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This film tells the story of the people of Le Chambon, who saved 5,000 Jews during WWII.
Open Aggression and World Responses
Consider the dilemmas faced by world leaders as Nazi Germany began taking aggressive action against neighboring countries and individuals in the late 1930s.
A War for Race and Space
Explore Germany's efforts to impose a new order on Europe based on Nazi racial ideology during the first two years of World War II.
The Holocaust
Confront the history of the Holocaust, and reflect on the human behavior revealed in the choices of perpetrators, bystanders, resisters, and rescuers.
Think-Pair-Share
Think-Pair-Share activities facilitate thoughtful group discussions by having students first reflect individually and discuss their ideas with a partner.
Establishing the Nuremberg Tribunal
Learn about how the Allies established the international tribunal that was responsible for conducting the trials of Germany’s leaders after World War II.
The First Trial at Nuremberg
Learn about the international tribunal that tried and sentenced German leaders at the end of World War II.
Raphael Lemkin and the Genocide Convention
Learn about lawyer and activist Raphael Lemkin's efforts to make the world recognize mass murder as an international crime.
Transitional Justice in Germany
Learn about the concept of transitional justice and reflect on ways that Germany as a nation has faced its past and accepted responsibility for the Holocaust.
Transitional Justice in South Africa
Learn about South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and consider how it enabled the country to face a history of violence, hatred, and discrimination.
Moral Luck and Dilemmas of Judgment
Reflect on the challenges posed by making moral judgments about the actions of people in the past.
Justice after the Holocaust Anticipation Guide
Use this handout to help students analyze the main issues that the Allies faced as they tried to figure out how to achieve justice after World War II and the Holocaust.
Facing History Scholar Reflections: The Nuremberg Trials
In this video, Dr. Paul Bookbinder gives an overview of the Nuremberg trials.
An Overview of the Nuremberg Trials
Students learn about key events from the Nuremberg Trials and connect them to their opinions about justice after the Holocaust.
Legacy and Memory
Review some of the profound legacies of the Holocaust and World War II and consider how these histories continue to influence our lives today.
Word Wall
A word wall supports students’ tracking of new or important vocabulary by displaying these words in a shared space in the classroom.
Barometer: Taking a Stand on Controversial Issues
Structure an active class discussion in which students express their opinions by standing along a continuum.
Fishbowl
Use the Fishbowl discussion strategy to help students practice being contributors and listeners in a group conversation.
Exit Tickets
Use exit tickets to assess students’ understanding, monitor their questions, or gather feedback on your teaching.
Exit Tickets
Use exit tickets to assess students’ understanding, monitor their questions, or gather feedback on your teaching.
After Charlottesville: Contested History and the Fight against Bigotry
Students consider the power of historical symbols as they investigate the 2015 controversy over the Confederate flag in South Carolina and then draw connections to the violence in Charlottesville.
Acknowledging the Past to Shape the Present
Learn about two initiatives aimed at confronting past violence and reflect on how facing the past can help shape a better future.
Creating a New Narrative
This speech delivered at the dedication of the Lynching of Ell Persons Historical Marker is a powerful reflection on the creation of new historical symbols.
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Memorial
This memorial was built on the site of Warsaw’s Jewish ghetto. When it was unveiled in 1948, the city still lay in ruins all around it
Aschrott Fountain
In Kassel, Germany, artist Horst Hoheisel created a “counter-memorial” marking the site where a majestic fountain built by a Jewish citizen once stood; it had been destroyed by the Nazis in 1939.
Stolpersteine
A Holocaust sidewalk memorial marks the spot where a family lived before they were murdered
Memorial to Roma and Sinti Victims of National Socialism
This memorial in Berlin, Germany, was designed by Dani Karavan and opened in 2012. The triangular stone at the center of the pool holds a fresh flower which is replaced every day.
Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach
Miami Beach is home to a large number of Holocaust survivors, who commissioned this memorial by architect Kenneth Treister in 1990. The outstretched arm is almost four stories tall.
Shoes on the Danube Bank Memorial
Sixty pairs of shoes mark the site in Budapest, Hungary, where fascist Arrow Cross militiamen shot Jews and threw their bodies into the river in 1944 and 1945.
Holocaust Memorials and Monuments
Explore images of memorials and monuments to the Holocaust located in Europe and the United States.
Jigsaw: Developing Community and Disseminating Knowledge
Students will become “experts” on a topic and then share their new knowledge with peers.
What Difference Can a Word Make?
Consider the power that words have to influence people to act on behalf of others.
Bullying at School
Learn about some responses to school bullying and reflect on the power students have to make positive changes in their own school communities.
The Voices of Millions
Learn about the advent of online activism and consider the internet's impact on civic participation.
Acknowledging the Past to Shape the Present
Learn about two initiatives aimed at confronting past violence and reflect on how facing the past can help shape a better future.
Seeking a Strategy that Works
Learn about the Pakistani activist Khalida Brohi and the strategies that she employed to improve the lives of women and girls throughout her country.
Believing in Others
Learn about the challenges and successes one woman encountered in her efforts to make a difference.
Walking with the Wind
Congressman and activist John Lewis describes his vision of how we can work together to strengthen our communities and make a better world.
Online Civic Participation
Share with students political theorist Danielle Allen's ten questions to ask before choosing to take action online.
Analyzing Levers of Power
Help students use the “levers of power” framework to identify how individuals make political and social change.
Choosing to Participate
Students use the “levers of power” framework to identify ways they can bring about positive change in their communities.
Common Core Writing Prompts and Strategies: Holocaust and Human Behavior
This resource provides writing prompts and strategies that align Holocaust and Human Behavior with the expectations of the Common Core State Standards.
Common Core Writing Prompts and Strategies: Holocaust and Human Behavior
This resource provides writing prompts and strategies that align Holocaust and Human Behavior with the expectations of the Common Core State Standards.
Rapid Writing
Help students unpack their responses to a text or video using this structured protocol that requires alternating between thinking and writing.
Fishbowl
Use the Fishbowl discussion strategy to help students practice being contributors and listeners in a group conversation.
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Students both respond to and design Holocaust memorials as they consider the impact that memorials and monuments have on the way we think about history.
Justice and Judgement after the Holocaust (UK)
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Students continue to explore the question “Who am I?” by examining the concept of dual or multiple identities and reflecting on their own identities as Jews.
The Roots and Impact of Antisemitism (UK)
Students explore the long history of discrimination against Jews and come to understand how anti-Judaism was transformed into antisemitism in the nineteenth century.
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Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust
Students define the term resistance and then learn about the different ways that Jews resisted the Nazis during the Holocaust.
Teaching Holocaust and Human Behavior
Use this 23-lesson unit to lead middle or high school students through a study of the Holocaust that asks what this history can teach us about the power and impact of choices.
Introducing the Writing Prompt
In step 1 of the unit assessment, students develop an initial position for an argumentative essay in response to a question about the importance and impact of choices in history.
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Facing History & Ourselves is designed for educators who want to help students explore identity, think critically, grow emotionally, act ethically, and participate in civic life. It’s hard work, so we’ve developed some go-to professional learning opportunities to help you along the way.
Exploring ELA Text Selection with Julia Torres
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Listen to #DisruptTexts founder Julia Torres about taking a critical lens to text selection in ELA classrooms.
Working for Justice, Equity and Civic Agency in Our Schools: A Conversation with Clint Smith
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Virtual
Listen to writer and educator Dr. Clint Smith as he shares his poetry and reflections on working for justice, equity, and civic agency in our schools.
Centering Student Voices to Build Community and Agency
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Virtual
Explore approaches to centering student voice, building authentic relationships and cultivating community with Molly Josephs, the creator of This Teenage Life, a youth-driven, story-sharing podcast that started as a school club.
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