A Poem for the Victims
Create a poem based on letters written by Holocaust victims sent to family members from home, hiding, ghettos, prisons, and concentration camps.
Wisconsin Academic Standard: Hist1.b: Effect
Effect
Lesson Plan
A New Life
Students will learn about the difficult circumstances that survivors faced after the war in rebuilding their lives, and learn about the different factors in many people’s decision not to return to the countries where they had previously lived.
Enduring Understanding
Often, Jewish survivors made the decision to settle in countries besides their native ones after the war because their families, communities, and lives back home had been destroyed and they faced continued violence and antisemitism there.
Essential Question
- 1Where could survivors find a place they could call home after theirs had been destroyed?
Readiness
Ask the students what kinds of problems they thought survivors might have faced when they were finally liberated. Lead a short discussion, based on previous knowledge of the war and the Holocaust, about the difficulties in rebuilding people’s lives.
Input
Read the resource, Survivors and the Displaced Persons era by ‘The Holocaust Explained,’ The Wiener Holocaust Library with the class, including the accompanying images. You can stop reading at the section titled, ‘German-Jewish Communities Outside the Camps.’ Take time to answer questions to the best of your ability and clarify if necessary. Ask students to take notes on key facts that stood out to them about why survivors felt they could not return to their home countries, or the antisemitism they continued to encounter.
Output
As a class, discuss the reasons why many people may have chosen not to move back to countries such as Poland or Hungary at the end of the war.
Lead a discussion with students about what the word “home,” “country,” or “citizenship” means to them, and how difficult it would be to have lost these things. Make sure to discuss how difficult it was to feel as if you could not go back to where you were before because you might be injured or worse, but how other countries did not want you, either.
Wisconsin Academic Standards
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Teacher Primer
Know Before You Go
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Lesson Plan
The Weight of Freedom
Students will engage with a survivor’s personal story about the aftermath of the war, immigration, and the complexity of re-building home and family.
Enduring Understanding
After everything survivors went through, their attempts to reunite with their families and their desire to rebuild was full of seemingly endless heartbreak, struggles, questions, and challenges.
Essential Question
- 1Is it possible to piece together the stories of friends and loved ones in the wake of WWII? How might this have affected people's decisions on where to rebuild their lives and homes?
Readiness
Explain to the students that the aftermath of WWII and the liberation of people from concentration and death camps was the beginning of a difficult period of recovery for around 6 million refugees and displaced persons. Jewish refugees in particular faced much discrimination by authorities, and had a difficult time re-building their lives.
Input
Split the class into 4 groups, assigning a section of Nate Leipciger’s post-liberation story to each group. Allow each group 15 minutes to read through their assigned text and list out events detailed, as well as specific things that stood out to them in the story, to be presented to the rest of the class.
Output
Allow 5 minutes for each group to present each section of the story in chronological order, beginning with group 1 and ending with group 4.
Use the remaining 10 minutes to discuss with the class the reasons why Nate Leipciger and his father chose to rebuild their lives outside of Poland, as well as what aspects of the story stood out to them. If there is any time remaining, ask the students whether or not knowing the whole story made it difficult to understand what happened. Explain that often families were separated from each other at different points of the war, so that they may know one part of the story but be unaware of others. This made it very difficult to reunite with other members of the family who survived, or to figure out what happened to those who did not.
Wisconsin Academic Standards
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Teacher Primer
Know Before You Go
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Lesson Plan
There’s No Life in a Cemetery
Students will hear the story of one survivor, Raye David, and discuss topics surrounding the concept of home, how survivors rebuilt their lives after the war, the kinds of things that they deemed most important in rebuilding their lives, and why they chose not to return to the countries where they were born.
Enduring Understanding
Often, Jewish survivors made the decision to settle in countries besides their native ones after the war because their families, communities, and lives back home had been destroyed and they faced continued violence and antisemitism there.
Essential Question
- 1Is "home" something that we build ourselves, or something we are born with? Is it a combination of both, or neither of these?
Readiness
Explain to the students that after WWII ended and liberation from the camps a very difficult period of recovery began for around 6 million refugees and displaced persons. Jewish refugees in particular faced much discrimination from authorities, and had a difficult time re-building their lives. Discuss how complex the process was for emigrating, but even though it took years, many Jewish survivors were determined to do it.
Input
Watch the source video with the class (suggested start time at 23:30). Tell students that the woman is named Raye David, a Holocaust survivor that ended up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin after the war.
Output
As a class, lead a discussion based around the following questions:
- Why did Mrs David insist that they could not return to Vilnius?
- Why do you think Mrs David’s family thought getting married and starting a family was one of the most important things that she should do once they arrived in their new home in America?
- Besides starting a family, what were some other important things that she focused on as she settled into her new life, such as the education of her husband David?
- What is the reason that Mrs David says she does not hate the Germans/Nazis, and what does she say about the difference between forgiveness and hatred?
- How did Mrs David cope with her experiences, and how has it shaped her outlook on how she wants to/has lived her life?
Wisconsin Academic Standards
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Teacher Primer
Know Before You Go
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Lesson Plan
Pseudoscience
Students will learn the history of antisemitism and how it was transformed into Nazi racial antisemitism through the years.
Enduring Understanding
Antisemitism was not invented with the rise of the Nazi party. It had deep roots that were transformed to fit the racist ideology of the time.
Essential Question
- 1How can we be sure that what we're learning is accurate?
Readiness
Begin by prompting your students to think about forms of intolerance. What kind of ‘isms’ can they think of that separate one group from another in a detrimental way?
Do they believe that certain ‘isms’ are more powerful than others? Why might this be?
Input
This lesson can be found in an expanded form here.
Divide students into groups or pairs.
Distribute the first definition card within this three page bundle, which defines the terms ideology, racists and ethnicity.
In groups, pairs, or individually students work to define the yellow highlighted words. After the group defines the word, they use dictionaries to check their definitions.
After 5 minutes come together and have students briefly share:
- How their definitions of highlighted words were similar/different to the dictionary.
- If defining the highlighted words increased their understanding of the definitions of ideology, racists, and race.
Pivot toward the question of pseudoscience: Now that we have definitions of racists and race, let’s examine the pseudo science behind beliefs that human behavior is biologically determined. See if they know what pseudo means.
Distribute and read definition cards two and three which defines pseudo, science and racial antisemitism.
–> Students can repeat the definitional activity used with the first definition cards for the second and third cards as well..
Check for understanding of the concept of pseudoscience and racial antisemitism.
Answer questions or clear misconceptions before proceeding.
Output
Watch this short clip from USHMM about racism in the Nazi party. Then ask students to respond to the following questions either in writing or small groups before opening up for a large group discussion. You may also assign certain questions to groups or individuals to reduce the time for responses.
- At the beginning of the video, the narrator remarks that the Nazis “wanted to create a racially pure Germany”. What about this statement is already a red flag, given what you know about race?
- During the Nazi era, racial science was taught in schools, and this helped create a youth that was complicit with the racism that Nazi’s were promoting. Why were such violent biases taught to young people in school?
- Sometimes people claim something as “scientific” to make it sound legitimate, even if it is patently false. Why is the legitimizing stamp of science so important?
- How can racism help keep a party or political group in power?
- Despite overwhelming scientific data to the contrary, many people still believe in the superiority of certain races. Why might individuals hold onto a belief that has been discredited because it’s not factually true? How might they change their minds?
- What information do racists use to justify their beliefs? How can radical beliefs, like these, be challenged and countered?
Wisconsin Academic Standards
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
BH1.a: Individual Cognition, Perception, and Behavior
BH1.b: Personal Identity and Empathy
BH2.a: Relationship of People and Groups
BH3.a: Social Interactions
Hist1.a: Cause
Hist1.b: Effect
Hist2.a: Patterns stay the same over a period of time
Hist3.c: Current Implications
Inq4.b: Critique conclusions
PS3.c: Power in Government
Teacher Primer
Know Before You Go
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Lesson Plan
History of Hatred
Students will learn the history of anti-Judaism and its relevance when studying the Holocaust. Open up into a discussion about prejudices in history and how rumors and hatred get carried through generations.
Enduring Understanding
Stereotypes and misinformation of the Jewish people has persisted and changed through the years, with much of it still visible in present day.
Essential Question
- 1Why is it important to study the history of anti-Judaism when discussing the Holocaust?
Readiness
Ask students how they define religion. Then, how might they define ‘religious differences’?
Furthermore, can they consider how religious differences have been handled throughout history? Is this a peaceful history or a bloody one?
Input
Divide the class into a maximum of six groups. Have each group elect one person as their recorder. Note that everyone else must read and all members should contribute to the answers.
Direct student to the resource, Anti-Judaism before the Enlightenment by Facing History and Ourselves. Ask students to read through the resource and go over the Connection Questions found at the bottom of the page in their small group. Have groups write down their answers. Give 25 minutes for this exercise.
Output
Come back together as a class and go over the answers to the connection questions. Ask each group to answer one question, selecting them randomly. Tell students they should be adding to their answers with thoughts discussed by the class and answers from other groups.
If time permits, ask students the questions below in an open discussion.
- Does this history feel relevant to the present day?
- Can you think of other groups that have faced similar hardships in history that still prevail today?
Wisconsin Academic Standards
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
BH1.b: Personal Identity and Empathy
BH2.a: Relationship of People and Groups
BH2.b: Cultural Patterns
BH3.a: Social Interactions
Hist1.a: Cause
Hist1.b: Effect
Hist2.a: Patterns stay the same over a period of time
Hist2.b: Patterns Change over a period of time
Hist3.a: Connections
Hist3.b: Perspective
Hist3.c: Current Implications
Hist4.a: Historical Context
Inq3.a: Develop claims to answer inquiry question
Inq4.a: Communicate conclusions
Teacher Primer
Know Before You Go
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Lesson Plan
Carrying Out The Final Solution
Students will watch a documentary on the Stanford Prison Experiment. Open the class into a discussion on the psychology of violence and group behavior.
Enduring Understanding
Dehumanization of victims fosters a culture of perceived power and cruelty from perpetrators.
Essential Question
- 1How can perceived power affect how someone may act?
Readiness
Prepare students by telling them the preface of the Stanford Prison Experiment; that it was a social psychology experiment to investigate the psychological effect of perceived power and dehumanization of the “other.” While this study was put into the context of a standard prison, it has often been used to help explain the psychology of perpetrators during the Holocaust.
Explain that many perpetrators signed up to work at a concentration camp or killing center and that there are countless stories of unnecessary brutality from many of the SS guards.
Input
Play the BBC Documentary about the Stanford Prison Experiment (29 minutes). Explain to students that while this was a real study that took place, the ethics of it were questioned and regulations for social experiments have since been put into place. Some question the validity of this study as some students may have been playing up their roles to give the researcher “something to work with.” However, even if some actions were played up, it can still help to stir a conversation about the effects of dehumanization and authority.
Output
Teacher's Note
Although the participants of this study were provided “roles”, make sure this lesson, or any other lesson on the Holocaust does not turn into a role playing activity. We strongly discourage this as it is impossible to say how one would act under the most extreme of circumstances. If necessary, review the Teacher Guidelines on our website.
After the video, open up a class discussion about what they saw. Many students will have strong opinions about this video, so the discussion may be led in different directions. The questions below are meant to guide you, but you can also let the conversation flow naturally. It is most important that the conversation is brought back to the context of the Holocaust.
- What did you find the most shocking?
- What were the effects on the guards? On the prisoners?
- As mentioned in the beginning with the example of Milgram’s experiment, how does the presence of an authoritative person “taking the blame” affect how people act?
- How can this be related to perpetrators of the Holocaust?
- What sort of tactics did they use to dehumanize the prisoners?
- How did the uniform the guards wore help to disconnect them from the prisoners? *Hint* Think about their eyewear.
- What role do you think “herd mentality” (the act of adopting certain behaviors based on influence from peers) played in people’s participation?
Wisconsin Academic Standards
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Teacher Primer
Know Before You Go
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Lesson Plan
Defying the Treaty of Versailles
Explore the preparations made by Hitler as he geared up for war. Read through a secondary source, with excerpts from some primary sources, in order to get an understanding of how these actions were viewed. Explained as defensive measures, Hitler began increasing the military, reconstructing the German air force, and taking back the Rhineland.
Enduring Understanding
Hitler openly defied restrictions set forth in the Treaty of Versailles with seemingly no repercussions.
Essential Question
- 1If there are no consequences, what stops someone from breaking the rules?
Readiness
Ask students who the initial aggressor was in WWII?
Given that it was Germany, and given that Germany was not supposed to be capable of war, how did they become the aggressor?
Tell students that they will be reading about the initial actions taken by Hitler that would ultimately drive Germany toward war. Note that they will also be exploring how these illegal actions were perceived by people at the time.
Input
Direct students to the source, Battle for Work, which is an excerpt from Facing History and Ourselves. Have them read through the document individually first, taking note of sections, words or ideas that they didn’t understand clearly. Give students about 10 minutes to read this text.
Then, divide the class into five groups. Start them on the path toward understanding by having them attempt to answer one another’s questions about the text.
Ask the large group whether they think Hitler’s jobs program might have been attractive to Germans, amidst a depression and in the wake of the defeat of WWI. Then, ask each person to read, Rearming Germany by Facing History and Ourselves.
Output
In the same small groups, have students discuss the questions available on the ‘Rearming Germany’ page. For the first fifteen minutes, ask each group to talk through each question and discuss what they think about each. Then, assign one question to each group and ask them to quickly prepare a short response to their question to kick off the broader, full class discussion about that question.
Wisconsin Academic Standards
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Teacher Primer
Know Before You Go
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Lesson Plan
Rising From The Ashes
Students will learn the devastation caused by World War I and its equally devastating aftermath. Enter Hitler, a fresh face with the charisma to work his way into a position of power; the perfect platform to spew his extreme views.
Enduring Understanding
World War I was a devastating blow to Germany’s economy, politics, and ego. The result was a struggling society desperate for stability.
Essential Question
- 1How does political or economic instability create an opening for extremist views?
Readiness
Tell students that they will be watching a video on the aftermath of World War I. Ask students why they think it is important to study World War I when setting the groundwork for Holocaust education.
Input
Watch the video, Chapter 1: Aftermath of World War I and the Rise of Nazism, 1918-1933 by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
While the students watch, have them answer the following questions:
- What was the political and economic scene like after World War I?
- What did Hitler do while in jail? How might his incarceration have helped his public image?
- How did Hitler get into a position of power? Was he elected?
- How did the emergency decree get signed? What impact did it have?
Go over the questions as a class, clearing up any points of confusion any of the students may have.
Output
Open up a class discussion with the questions below using pre-writing or pair-and-share if appropriate for your students.
- Advances in technology meant that war became more destructive, the video mentions the introduction of poison gas. What advancements in war have been made since World War II that cause more destruction? Are there any advantages to the new methods of war?
- Why do you think it was so hard for Germans to accept that they had lost the war?
- Were there any signs you noticed that could have foreshadowed what was to come?
Wisconsin Academic Standards
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Teacher Primer
Know Before You Go
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Lesson Plan
A Solution to Weimar
Learn about the complex and trying time that Germany experienced during the Weimar Republic (1919-1933).
Enduring Understanding
The Weimar Republic was Germany’s first democracy; meaning leaders were tasked with a complete makeover of institutions, political culture, education, and judiciary systems.
Essential Question
- 1How do fragile democracies create fertile ground for extremism?
Readiness
Teacher's Note
Prior to this lesson students should have general knowledge and understanding of the Treaty of Versailles. If necessary, go over a lesson on the Treaty of Versailles before moving on.
Ask students how they might go about solving a problem under difficult circumstances. (Maybe they want money for a game system that their parents do not want to pay for. Perhaps their parents do not approve of them spending time with a new friend.) How does being faced with a difficult problem help inspire creativity?
Input
Watch the video, Facing History Scholar Reflections: The Weimar Republic by Facing History and Ourselves once through as a class. Watch it a second time pausing after the following sections to discuss. Ask students what questions they have about the clips. Go through the questions that accompany each clip.
Beginning – 1:11 Intro to Weimar and the end of WWI
- How did the end of WWI set the stage for what was to come?
- Do you think the Allies had other options than the terms they set at Versailles?
1:20-2:32 Politics and the arts
- Name some ways German society changed during the early Weimar years?
- What are some of the most interesting developments during this era, in your opinion?
2:32-4:08 Outsiders and Insiders
- What was the event that led to rising popularity for the extremists?
- What is opportunism?
4:09-End Growing popularity with the Nazi party
- How do you think the Nazi party was able to gain so much traction?
- Why did people follow Nazism? Was it because of their anti-Jewish stance or for other reasons?
Output
Teacher's Note
Often students will wish to pull this conversation into the present day, Be ready to either engage with this carefully or redirect to the topic at hand.
Open up a discussion about how the Nazi party aimed to solve the problems prevalent during the Weimar years.
- What problems were people facing?
- How did the Nazi party benefit from these hard times?
- How were people convinced by their rhetoric?
Wisconsin Academic Standards
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Teacher Primer
Know Before You Go
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Lesson Plan
Understanding the Weimar Republic
Navigate the complex and trying time of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) by exploring readings and testimonies from the era.
Enduring Understanding
The Weimar Republic was Germany’s first democracy; meaning leaders were tasked with a complete makeover of institutions, political culture, education, and judiciary systems.
Essential Question
- 1How can changes in government affect all aspects of society?
Readiness
Teacher's Note
Prior to this lesson, students should have general knowledge and understanding about the Treaty of Versailles. If necessary, go over a lesson on the Treaty of Versailles before continuing on.
Ask students what they think Germany was like following the end of World War I. What might they expect it to have been like, after a war that saw them lose a great deal of power? Would they expect that the initial response would be radical democracy? Would they expect that democracy could lead to Nazism?
Input
Pull up the resource, ‘The Weimar Republic: The Fragility of Democracy‘ by Facing History and Ourselves. Scroll to the bottom where all of the readings are located. Point out the different titles of resources that represent all that was happening during this brief period in German history.
Click on the reading titled, ‘Virtual Essay: Free Expression in the Weimar Republic‘ Read through the first paragraph and click through some of the images with the class. They will be assigned different readings from this page.
Output
Divide the class into groups of three to five. Assign each group a reading. You may choose others, but recommendations include ‘Rumors of Betrayal’, ‘When Money Had No Value’, ‘Women in the Weimar Republic’, ‘A New Economic Crisis’ and ‘Voices in the Dark.’
Have students read through their article in groups and prepare to share what they learned from it with the class. Students should be able to answer what contribution it played into the fragile democracy.
Wisconsin Academic Standards
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Teacher Primer
Know Before You Go
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.