Ask your students if anyone ever heard that the Holocaust was a crime that happened in secret–that ‘no one knew’? How were people killed? Did other citizens have an idea about the horrors of the Holocaust as it was happening? Were they in favor of it?

This lesson works best when complimented by the reading, What is the Holocaust by Bullets? by Yahud-in Unum. If you haven’t read it, please take the time to begin with the lesson plan ‘Operation Barbarossa’. If it is possible for your class to read this text prior to watching the video, ready your class by introducing them to its contents.

Then show this video interview with Father Patrick Desbois who researches sites of massacre.

After the video, ask your students to consider the following questions by writing responses independently:

1. Did you notice anything peculiar about the killing sites? If so, what did you see?
2. What do you think about the people who are being interviewed by Father Patrick Debois?
3. How does your perception of the Holocaust change, knowing neighbors were complicit and even interested in watching their fellow citizens be shot to death?

After this task is complete, ask your students to gather in groups of 3 or 4 to share their responses. Each group should also pick a person to serve as a representative for the group. Provide 10 minutes to let the groups discuss amongst themselves.

Then, initiate a conversation about these questions within the larger group, asking each representative to address the three questions that were previously provided. Moving question by question rather than group by group creates more space for generative conversation.

Finally, return to the perception that the Holocaust happened in secret. What do they make of this perception in light of this information?

Begin by asking your students how many Jews were murdered during the Holocaust?
Then, ask them where those people died? Was death isolated to specific areas like camps?
Finally, ask them if they can imagine why killing civilians would have been considered strategically important?

Prompt students to read the article, Einsatzgruppen: An Overview, from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia.

Use the 3Ps method to dig into the reading in a critical manner. Ask students to take notes on what they find a) Powerful b) Puzzling and c) Propelling. Give approximately 10 minutes for this exercise.

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

Then, split the class into groups of four students.

Distribute the two maps from this reading, death camps and mass shooting sites.

Ask the students to compare and contrast the two maps. Note that the number of people killed at the sites identified in each map are approximately equal. Ask each group to respond to the following prompts.

1. What are the major differences between these two forms of violence?
2. What do you suppose the impact would be on the communities in these areas?
3. What are the main differences between these two geographies of violence?
4. What was your Puzzling question? Does this answer the question you had?

After 15 minutes ask for group responses and broaden into a large class discussion.

Finally, return to the 3Ps that they recorded at the beginning of the lesson and share their Profound or Propelling comments, adding additional context to their comments.

Explain to students that one of the tactics used by the Nazi regime in their attempt to mass murder was the use of Mobile Killing Units, or the Einsatzgruppen. Under the cover of war, these groups marched into territories where they targeted and killed over half a million people, primarily Jews.

Navigate the Yahud-in Unum map. The map is dotted with red and blue marks, each indicating a site of a massacre committed by the SS. It is recommended that you and your class familiarize yourself with navigating the map–zooming, dragging, clicking in and out of the sites.

Then, select a single country to focus on as a class. Centering attention in this way helps generate a sense of greater accomplishment at the end of the lesson.

After selecting a country, refer to the map of SS movements. Note which SS groups would have been in the country and when–how long has this community been suffering from war? What might be their level of fear, hunger, or desperation when the SS show up?

Now, divide the class into groups of 3.

Each group must:

1. Choose a site that is documented online (red).
2. Examine all of the information available (text, pictures, videos, testimonials, etc.) and select the most significant and interesting information about the events that happened here.
3. Create a presentation for the class using a selection of the materials provided by Yahud-in Unum. The presentation should attempt to answer the following questions:
   1. 1. How does this local story contribute to our understanding of the Holocaust?
      2. What does this location teach us about intolerance? Indifference? Power?
      3. What is the importance of discovering these buried stories?

As the groups present, collect their answers to the major questions. These lessons can then become touchstones for continued discussion and inquiry about the Holocaust, about intolerance and about exploring the past.