Give the students a brief overview of the lead-up to the Wannsee Conference, including a short history of the development of internment camps and ghettos. Explain that the Holocaust was a gradual process of violence and oppression; the end result of a series of events throughout the 1930s and WWII, and implemented by various groups throughout the Nazi sphere. There was no direct order signed by Adolf Hitler from the beginning. Many different people were in charge of its organization. The Wannsee Conference served to iron out details of mass extermination of the Jewish people. Despite everyone knowing what was happening, there was never a direct order for murder.

Watch the first 30 minutes of the 1984 German film Die Wannseekonferenz, available with subtitles. (Suggested stop time 31:22). Ask students to take note of details that may have surprised them, as well as key words or phrases, such as “final solution” and “Jewish question.” Stop the video at the following intervals and talk about the topics underneath, or take this time to answer any questions your students may have.

Pause movie at 10:06

• Attitude in the way people discuss these very serious topics.
• Confusion over racial versus religious definition of Jew.
• What problem did they have with the train in Riga? What was the concern?

Pause movie at 19:15

• Discuss this quote: “Shared knowledge means shared responsibility. Shared responsibility means shared liability” 13:16
• What are your thoughts about the conversation had about feeling sick at the sight of the executions and him saying, “It proves we Germans are human.”?
• What does he mean when he says, “If X, then Y”?

Lead the class in a discussion about what details may have surprised or stood out to them about the depiction of the Wannsee Conference – for example, how people casually discussed mass murder interspersed with laughter and socializing; the scene where we see one SS official paying fetch with a dog while his colleague complains that his “top secret” documents about Jewish mass killings are being circulated amongst everyone.

Give a short background of events leading up to the Wannsee conference. Make sure to mention that mass killing of European Jews had already begun, but it was not as widespread or organized. Give a list of the different people attending the conference, found here, as well as their jobs, to show the variety of different governmental agencies who were brought together to cooperate in genocide.

Divide the class into groups of 4 or 5. Provide each group with a copy of the Wannsee conference minutes. Give the groups 15 minutes to read through the minutes and ask them to highlight words or phrases used in relation to the fate of Jewish populations (i.e. “evacuation to the East”). If students are unsure, a good example would be the phrase “Jewish question” itself as it is not readily apparent that the “Jewish question” means “How do we get rid of European Jews?”

Lead the class in a discussion following the words and phrases that students highlighted. Explain these terms and phrases, and what they really meant (i.e. “evacuation to the East” meaning “being sent to a concentration or death camp”). Make sure to point out phrases that may have been overlooked.

Finish the discussion with an overview of what we can learn from this document, including relevant questions; this document shows that numerous government authorities were in cooperation in an effort to carry out this genocide:

1. Did any of the participants surprise or confuse the students? If so, why or why not?
2. How does this document show that Nazi leadership felt the necessity to tread carefully?
3. What does this mean? For example, could this indicate that the leadership knew what they were doing would be met with criticism? Criticism from whom? The German population, international groups? Both?
4. Point out the succinct, unemotional nature of the discussion and how it directly contrasts with the subject matter. Does it strike you as odd that someone could so emotionlessly discuss the genocide of an entire group of people?
5. What does this say about how Nazis felt about Jewish people?

Review the concepts of euthanasia and propaganda and allude to the fact that mercy killings had to be sold to the public in order for there not to be widespread resistance. Before initiating conversation about the video, be sure to clarify relevant terms. Other concepts that are important here include Darwinism and heredity.

Watch the first 13 minutes of the video, The Killing Films of the Third Reich. Prepare to stop at various sections to discuss and contemplate the content.

1. Begin by watching the section from 2:15-5:15 which gives a background to the role of propaganda in promoting the need for euthanasia. Pause for a reflection–written or verbal discussion–on the following questions:
   1. Ask your students to consider the phrase ‘life unworthy of life.’ What does this mean? How could this be possible? Do they see anyone portrayed this way in today’s world?
   2. The first two films called ‘What You Inherit’ and ‘Hereditarily Ill’ set the stage for the conversation. What does it mean to be ‘hereditarily ill’? Can one recover from such illness?
   3. Notice that the ‘hereditary diseases’ are also held against people who have fallen on hard times. What does this say about the science that backs up the discrimination?
2. Continue from 5:15 – 8:50
   1. Why were these films ‘required’ to be seen by audiences across Germany?
   2. What do you think about the idea that human life should be dictated by nature exclusively?
   3. What is a ‘genetic threat’? What is ‘sterilization’?
3. Continue again from 8:50 – 13:05
   1. Why do they use the image of a professor or doctor in their propaganda videos?
   2. Hitler ordered the killing of individuals after the war started. Why?
   3. Have you ever heard of any other victims of the Holocaust who were gassed?
   4. Why was evidence destroyed and fictional death reports created?

Now, ask students to generate their own responses to the video. Ask them to write about:

1. What was the most astonishing fact about the video?
2. What section would they like to go back and watch again?
3. What questions do they still have about this era of Nazism?

Then, bring the discussion back to a large group and use student answers to have a large discussion/review sections of the video.

Explain to students that there was a very distinct process that the Nazis developed to optimize the efficiency of arrivals at the camps. Ask students if any of them are aware of what this was like? Have they heard anything about the selection process before?

Watch this video by Yad Vashem to get an overview of the structure and layout of Auschwitz. Then show students video testimonies from Ellis Lewin and Eva Kor by USC Shoah Foundation iWitness.

Ellis Lewin Questions:

1. How does Ellis describe the experience of arriving at Auschwitz?
2. What does Ellis say about the pace at which things were happening?
3. Why didn’t Ellis’s father want Ellis to hang on to him?

Eva Kor Questions:

1. How does Eva describe her surroundings when she got off the train?
2. Why did Eva’s mother hesitate when she was asked if the girls were twins? Explain to students that, alongside the other horrible things done to people in the camps, some were chosen for medical experiments. Twins were often selected for genetic experimentation.
3. How did Eva react when the SS tried to tattoo her arm?

Survivors often describe their arrival at the killing centers as a chaotic time filled with fear and uncertainty. How did listening to these two testimonies contribute to your understanding of this?

Begin by telling students that between 1941 and 1943 underground resistance movements began popping up in over 100 ghettos in Nazi-occupied countries. Triggered by the deportations and liquidation of the ghettos, many of these resistance groups staged uprisings in order to fight the Nazis or escape.

Ask students if they can list any ghetto uprisings that they have heard of before. Then explain that you will be taking a closer look at the uprising from the Warsaw ghetto.

Direct students to the resource, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Play the animated map video for the class before diving into the reading. Divide the class into groups of three or four and provide them with the instructions below.

1. Go through the reading with your group. You may switch off reading sections, designate one person to read through, or all read over it silently.
2. As a group, take notes using the 3Ps method, writing down something you find a) Profound b) Puzzling and c) Propelling.
3. Go over the list of critical thinking questions and write down your answers.
   1. What pressures and motivations influenced some of the ghetto residents to join the resistance and fight back?
   2. What factors and conditions might delay a persecuted group from resisting?
   3. What risks might a group or individual face when resisting the actions of government or society?

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

Come back together as a class and ask the groups to share what they had written down. Begin by asking groups to share what they found puzzling about the reading, is there anything that still needs to be cleared up?

Ask students to think of  forms of resistance they have participated in or have seen or heard others do. Can they come up with any examples or instances where people took part in resisting, either violently or non-violently?