Explain to students that the Nazis established numerous ghettos and camps throughout Europe, all with their unique attributes. The camp that will be discussed in this lesson, Terezin, or Theresienstadt, was incredibly unique and served many purposes.

Prominent Jews, especially artists, musicians, and cultural figures were among the people sent to Terezin because their disappearance in society may otherwise raise suspicions.

Use the resource, Terezin: A Site for Deception, by Facing History & Ourselves to give students an overview of the ghetto. Read through this resource as a class and analyze the picture by Bedrich Fritta together. Students will be given other pictures from Terezin to analyze later, so do this one as a class.

Divide students into small groups and provide them with these images (without captions) and have them look through the images and discuss the questions on the last page. Give students about 5-10 minutes for this.

After students have had a chance to look through the images without the captions, provide them this document that includes the captions and context. Give students some time with the pictures and allow them to discuss the questions on the last page. Give students an additional 5-10 minutes for this.

Call the class together to share what they discussed. Have a representative from each group share an overview.

Lastly, return to the essential questions and open into a class discussion about the use of art in the camp system.

Explain to students that as persecution for Jewish people in Nazi occupied territories worsened, more and more people were seeking refuge in other countries. Many countries, including the United States, had a long waiting list to obtain visas.

Pull up this checklist from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Americans and the Holocaust virtual exhibition. Examine one or two of the steps in greater detail.
Up until August 1939, no visas were required to enter Shanghai.

Read the following excerpt from a diary entry about entrance to Shanghai:

“We have to go to Shanghai. Terrible letters come from there. One runs again to see if our names are on the list to leave. Before, when one saw his name on the list, one was happy. Today…one cries.”
-Rose Shoshana Kahan diary entry, 1941

Ask students why they think people continued to seek refuge in Shanghai despite hearing such terrible things from there? What does that say about the desperation people had to leave Europe?

In partners or individually, have students read through this article by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum about Polish Jewish Refugees in the Shanghai Ghetto and answers the questions below.

1. What were conditions like for the refugees that ended up in Shanghai?
2. How did things change after the attack on Pearl Harbor?
3. How did the Jewish refugees maintain a sense or ordinary life?

Come together as a class to go over their answers.

Begin by providing your students with background information on concentration camps. Concentration camps were created for a variety of reasons, including forced labor, detention of individuals viewed as enemies of the state, and eventually, mass murder.

Pull up the resource, Polish Victims, by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. As a class, read the first two paragraphs of this article, ending where it begins to talk about “Germanizing Poland.”

Open into a brief class discussion with the following critical thinking question:

Why did German forces eliminate or arrest not just leaders of political groups, but of religious organizations as well?

Explain to your students that they will be examining documents from a Polish victim of Nazi persecution, Rev. Stanley Dabrowski.

In groups of 2-3, have students look through and analyze the primary documents from series 1 and 2 of the Rev. Stanley Dabrowski papers from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

In groups, provide students with the following instructions below. Provide 10-15 minutes for this activity.

1. Look through the documents from series 1 and series 2.
2. What can you gather from these documents about Rev. Stanley Dabrowski’s life?
3. What was happening around this time in the greater context of the Holocaust leading up to Stanley’s arrest?

Once students have had an opportunity to research for themselves, provide this overview of Rev. Stanley Dabrowski’s life, compiled from research by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

How does Rev. Dabrowski’s story contribute to your overall understanding of the Holocaust?

Bring up the painting The Refugee by Felix Nussbaum from the Echoes & Reflections website. Ask your students the following questions: Who is the man? What does the globe represent?

Explain that the painting was created by an artist who was killed at Auschwitz. How does the artist express the plight of the refugee in this painting?

Direct students to the resource, Evian Conference by Echoes & Reflections. Read it through as a class or have students read it to themselves.
· What were some reasons countries gave for not wanting to take in refugees?

Break students out into groups of 3-5 to discuss the questions below.

1. Why do you think Franklin D. Roosevelt made it clear that no country would be forced to change its immigration quotas?
2. What do you think could have happened if at least one of the bigger powers (such as the United States or France) were to volunteer to help in a greater capacity?
3. The Evian Conference is seen as an utter failure by the international community to address the refugee problem in Europe. Considering what happened to the Jews, do you think the international community has a moral obligation to help refugees?
4. Should there be an international agency that requires countries to assist refugees?

If time permits, reconvene as a class and go over what the groups discussed.