Auschwitz Through Art

To begin this lesson, pull up the first image from the Yad Vashem resource you will use below. This would be the piece by Yehuda Bacon. Be sure to expand the image before sharing with your students so they don’t see the context.

Ask students to take a few minutes to write down:

1. What do you see?
2. What questions do you have?
3. What do you think the artist might be feeling?

Discuss the responses as a class. Explain to your students that art can be a powerful way to learn about people and places.

Explain to your students the Auschwitz is known as the most notorious death camp that the Nazis created. Over one million Jewish individuals were killed there.

Pull up the resource, Teaching about Auschwitz through Art, by Yad Vashem. As a class or in small groups, read through the sections: Art as Evidence (1), Portraits (2) and Art as a Means of Conveying (4). While you go through each section, expand the accompanying art and ask students to share what they see and how it makes them feel.

In partners, ask students to discuss their answers to the questions below. Provide 10 minutes for this discussion and then ask for people to share.

1. What are the different reasons why people created art about their experiences?
2. How do these pieces help tell the story of the Holocaust?
3. What does it say about the importance of art that people risked their lives to create it in the camp?