Students study the vibrant culture of the Jews who lived in the shtetls in eastern Europe, while also deepening their understanding of prejudice toward minority groups.
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Resource Type
Image
Holocaust
Pre-war Jewish Life
Friends in Shtetl
A group of friends sledding in the shtetl, January 12, 1932.
Video
Holocaust
Pre-war Jewish Life
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."
Featured Collection
Holocaust
Sholem Aleichem and the Challenges of Modernity
Explore the transformation of traditional Jewish life in late 19th- and early 20th-century eastern Europe through the story of renowned playwright and author, Sholem Aleichem.
Image
Holocaust
Pre-war Jewish Life
Shabbtai Sonenson and Teacher
Shabbtai (Shepske) Sonenson takes one of the shtetl's Hebrew teachers for a ride on his new motorcycle, 1941.
Gallery
Holocaust,
Pre-war Jewish Life
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.
Image
Pre-war Jewish Life
A Jewish Family Walking Down a Street in Kalisz, Poland
A Jewish family walking down a street in Kalisz, Poland on May 16, 1935. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as more and more countries lifted age-old restrictions on Jews, many modern Jewish families lived urban lifestyles that were in stark contrast to life in a shtetl.
Video
Sholem Aleichem: A World in Transition: Emancipation, Acculturation, and Antisemitism - part 2
This excerpt from "Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness" depicts the various ways Jewish communities responded to economic and social changes.
Video
Holocaust
Pre-war Jewish Life
Antisemitism & Religious Intolerance
Sholem Aleichem: A World in Transition: Emancipation, Acculturation, and Antisemitism - part 1
This excerpt from "Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness" depicts the various ways Jewish communities responded to economic and social changes.
Lesson
Holocaust
Jewish Life before the Holocaust
Students learn about pre-war Jewish life and compare it with today’s diaspora in order to reflect on how modernity can impact tradition.
Lesson
Holocaust
European Jewish Life before World War II
Students analyze images and film that convey the richness of Jewish life across Europe at the time of the Nazis’ ascension to power.
Image
The Fiddler, 1912 by Marc Chagall
The Fiddler, 1912 by Marc Chagall. Oil on canvas, 188 x 158 cm, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. This painting, done in Paris, depicts a fiddler against the background of a town resembling Chagall’s childhood shtetl, Vitebsk. It recalls aspects of Chagall’s life in Russia, integrating both Christian and Jewish elements and practices.
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Everything you need to get started teaching your students about racism, antisemitism and prejudice.