Have students think about the term “resistance” in the context of the Holocaust. Have them consider and respond to the question, “What are Jews resisting during the Holocaust?”

Explain to your students that despite the risk of harsh and fatal punishments, many Jews still chose to resist in any way they could. Ask students for possible reasons for why some Jews could not resist. (Hunger, sickness, isolation, lack of weapons, care for children, parents, or other family members). Record their answers on the board.

In addition to the term “resistance,” have students think of the term “survival.” Take a few minutes to discuss how these terms are similar and how they are different. Share the official definitions of resistance and survival with the class.

Resistance: the refusal to accept or comply with something: the attempt to prevent something by action or argument.
Survival: the state of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances.

• Is survival a form of resistance?

Write down the heading, “Jewish Resistance during the Holocaust” and below write the subheadings “Cultural/Spiritual Resistance” and “Active/Armed Resistance.” Ask a student volunteer to write down key ideas for each form of resistance under the appropriate heading.

Explain that spiritual resistance can often be seen as an attempt to maintain one’s previous way of life and his or her unique identity. The terrible reality in which Jews lived was expressed by the teacher, Chaim Kaplan who lived in the Warsaw ghetto: “Everything is forbidden to us, but we do everything.”

Play the video testimonies for Roman Kent and Helen Fagin to the class. There will be a few questions specific to each testimony, so you may choose to play one at a time and have the students answer the questions corresponding to the video before moving on to the second one. Ask the questions in an open discussion with the class.

Questions on Roman Kent:

1. What are specific examples of resistance Roman Kent shares in his testimony?
2. Roman wants people to understand that contrary to what some may thing, Jews did resist the Nazis during the Holocaust in a variety of ways. Why do you think he feels it is important for people to understand this?

Questions on Helen Fagin:

1. How would you characterize the activities Helen Fagin initiated in the ghetto?
2. What purpose does the Gone with the Wind story serve for the students in Helen’s “clandestine school”?

Have the students take 10 minutes to reflect and write out how their understanding of resistance has changed over the course of the lesson.

Take the time you have left to ask students to share what they wrote down in response to the prompt.

Start by defining resistance for the class: “The refusal to accept or comply with something; the attempt to prevent something by action or argument.”

Next, ask students to work in groups of three to create a working definition for resistance. A working definition is one that builds in meaning as they receive information and gain clarity on the topic.

In these same groups, have students read through the poem “Resistance Is…” from Facing History and Ourselves. Ask the class if they would want to alter or add to their definitions of resistance after reading it. Give them a few minutes (no more than 5) to add to their working definitions.

Divide the class into groups of three to read through the Pronouncement by Abba Kovner from Echoes & Reflections. Let students know that Abba Kovner wrote this manifesto while at the Vilna ghetto in an attempt to stage an uprising.

Have one student from each group read through the text out loud as the others follow in silence. Then have each group discuss the questions below. Have one student in each group take notes that include the significant points of their discussion.

1. What was the objective of the manifesto? How do you think Kovner wanted people to respond?
2. What is he asking the ghetto’s inhabitants to believe, and what is he asking them not to believe?

Ask the groups to read through the passage once more. This time, having them focus on the language and answer the following questions:

1. What metaphors, words, or phrases does Kovner use to convince people that Ponary is not a labor camp?
2. Which words or phrases have the most impact?

Have each group review the first definition of resistance that they wrote at the beginning of the lesson. Still in their groups, encourage them to discuss whether or not they think they need to make more changes after analyzing Abba Kovner’s call to resistance. Give them a few minutes to do so.

Ask each group to share their definition of resistance and explain what revisions they made and why.

Ask students what the words “liberation” and “freedom” mean to them. Usually people give positive answers to these concepts. Briefly explain that even though personal freedom and liberty is, objectively, good, in cases where you gain liberty and freedom after a period of trauma, fear, and violence, it can be a very difficult thing to adjust to and everyone reacts differently to it.

Give a brief presentation of images of life after liberation taken from the Yad Vashem archives. Point out the faces and body language of image subjects. Explain that people’s experiences of liberation were very different, as allied forces reclaimed territory at different times. Because there were so many people with nowhere to go and no possessions to speak of, often they would live in DP camps which were created from the remnants of the concentration camps that some were liberated from.

Divide the class into groups of 4 – 6 students.

Give each group a selection of survivor testimony provided by Yad Vashem to read and discuss. If possible, allow students to have access to, or have the presentation of images remain projected as they go through the testimonies. In these groups, the students will create a list of questions, concerns, and feelings that survivors bring up in the testimonies to present to the class.

As the groups present, collect their answers to be used in continued discussion. Were there common themes in survivor feelings, concerns, and questions of the future?