Tell students that the letters that they will look through in this exhibit were sent from the Czech lands, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and the Ukraine and that they were written by victims of the Holocaust.

Not all authors of these letters understood their fate. Some letters may depict uncertainty, some optimism, and others may show that the author knew exactly what awaited them. There were also cases when people were coerced to write letters saying all was well, when the reality was far more grim.

Direct students to the handout “Creating a Found Poem” by Facing History and Ourselves. Read over the instructions as a class before directing students to the Yad Vashem exhibit, “Last Letters From the Holocaust:1944”.

Each letter is accompanied by some background information on the sender and receiver; students should read these as well.

Create a poem together as a class in order to give students an idea of what to do. Use the short letter, “Dear Papa” as an example. Ask students to brainstorm ideas on how to write the poem. Remember, you can reuse words to help make the poem longer than the postcard. Be creative!

Have students look through the Yad Vashem exhibit and choose a letter to write their poem from. Allow your students some time to complete their poems. When it appears that everyone is done, get the conversation flowing by asking the following questions:

1. How did it feel reading these letters?
2. Did you feel a connection to the person whose story you wrote about?

Let students have the opportunity to take their poems home to keep working on them for the next day or two. Collect the poems at the end of the class (or week if you decide to give more time). Keep them as a class project that you can use as an example in doing this lesson with other classes. Ask for volunteers to read their poems aloud to the class.

Collectively read Martin Niemoller’s famous lines, recorded as a poem “First They Came” available from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

Ask students to reflect on the meaning of the poem. What is most striking about it? What message is it sending to its audience?

Place Martin Niemoller in context by watching the video Awakening Conscience from Facing History and Ourselves. Prior to showing the seven-minute video ask your students to take notes on the things they think are most important. What strikes them about the story of Niemoller and the history that surrounds his story?
After the video, ask students to share what they discovered, prompting them to clarify why they felt this information was important.

If missed, ask students what they make of the following issues, in particular and return to these sections of the video if necessary:

1. Broad acceptance and hope about the Nazi Regime (1:05)
2. Nationalism–an exclusionary allegiance to one’s nation or state (2:47, 3:50, 6:00)
3. Churches willingly aligning with fascism (3:20)

Ask students to return to the poem and either ask a student to read it aloud or watch this rendering here.

Given what they now know about Niemoller’s story, ask them to reflect on the lines again in some individual writing. Who is the ‘they’ Niemoller is referring to? What does it mean to ‘speak out’? To whom would Niemoller or any other citizen of Germany ‘speak out’?

Note that denial is part of the process of genocide. Ask your students what they make of this fact: how is denial part of genocide?

Think-Pair-Share

Think: Give students 5 minutes to think and write about how they understand denial to be part of the process of genocide.

Pair: Then provide 5 more minutes to pair with another student to articulate their perspective.

Share: Finally, ask them to report out to the larger group: how do they understand this concept?

Provide students with the Anti-Defamation League Resource on Holocaust Denial and ask them to read the ‘Know It’ section. Have them read with the 3Ps method: They should take notes on what they find to be the most a) Powerful b) Puzzling and c) Propelling.

In order to familiarize yourself, and your class with this model, please look over this guide: 3Ps: A Critical Reading Guide.

Given them 15 minutes to read and record their responses. Then ask students to pair and share with a classmate for 5 minutes

You may want to collect the 3Ps and the final paired work for your records or additional work.

Finally, ask each group to consolidate an answer to the initial question about denial as a stage of genocide. How do they understand Holocaust denial as a continuation of the Holocaust itself. Give 5 minutes for the group to compose an answer before prompting them to share with everyone.

Ask your students if they have heard the term antisemitism before. If they have, how do they understand it? Guide discussion toward the definition from the Anti-Defamation League to set the stage for the rest of the lesson.

Turn toward the reading about Contemporary Antisemitism from Echoes & Reflections. Begin by reading the first section aloud as a class, answering any questions or defining words about which the students require clarification.

Then, divide the class into two groups.

• Members of group 1 should read the section on Post-Holocaust Antisemitism.
• Members of group 2 should read the section on Antisemitism Today.

Have every student read their section individually. Then pair with another member of their group to clarify the main points, questions, and challenges.

Finally, ask group 1 pairs to partner with group 2 pairs.
Have each pair share their summary of the section they read. What were the most important parts, what questions do they have, what is their understanding of the historical era being addressed?

Then, ask the quartet to answer the following set of questions:

1. What ties these two eras of hatred together? How are they similar?
2. What distinguishes the two eras of hatred?
3. Antisemitism has been called a conspiracy theory: what parts strike you in this way?
4. If Antisemitism was foundational to the Holocaust and remains prevalent today, should we be concerned about the possibility of a repeated catastrophe?