Discuss the following quote by Suzy Kassem: “Stand up for what is right against the wrong.”
Ask the students what they think this means. Do they know what it means to be an upstander?

You may want to provide students with the definition of an upstander: a person who speaks or acts in support of an individual or cause, particularly someone who intervenes on behalf of a person being attacked or bullied.

Next, introduce Oskar Schindler. Tell your students that Oskar Schindler was one of the most famous rescuers during the Holocaust. His status as a factory owner allowed him to hire Jews and protect them from deportations. He had been arrested several times for his apparent favoritism towards Jews but this did not deter him. Schindler and his wife are responsible for the rescue of 1,200 persecuted Jews.

Direct students to the Testimony of Yitzhak Stern from Yad Vashem. Explain that they will be reading the testimony of someone saved by Oskar Schindler. Ask students to read the testimony to themselves. Open up a discussion with the class asking the following questions:

1. Why do you think Yitzhak’s colleagues were hesitant about trusting Schindler?
2. What made Yitzhak trust him anyway?

Divide the class into groups of three or five. After reviewing the quote and Yitzhak’s testimony, create a brief presentation on what it means to be an upstander. Presentations can be made with Prezi, PowerPoint, or done verbally depending on what time permits. Students may want to use this additional resource by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum to help them with their presentations.
Here are some questions to help focus the presentation:

1. 1. What is an upstander? What motivates a person to be an upstander?
   2. What did it mean during the Holocaust and what does it mean today?
   3. Come up with examples of upstanders from the Holocaust and from your life today.
   4. How can societies, communities, and individuals reinforce and strengthen the willingness to stand up for others?

Start by asking students, “What is an upstander?”

After students have had a chance to answer, you can provide them with the official definition. An Upstander is “a person who speaks or acts in support of an individual or cause, particularly someone who intervenes on behalf of a person being attacked or bullied.”

Next, discuss the following quote by Samantha Power- “If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.”

• Ask your students what this quote means to them. How does it help to explain the actions of upstanders and bystanders?

Direct students to the “Women of Valor” section from Yad Vashem. Show them where to find the women’s stories; take some time to click on one or two of the women’s stories to demonstrate how to find the information they will need.

Divide students into groups of three to five. Assign each group one of the heroines’ stories to look into. Ask students to prepare a presentation telling this person’s story. Presentations can be made with Prezi or PowerPoint, if your class does not have access to computers, presentations may be done with poster boards or large pieces of paper.

Once students have been assigned their group and heroine, provide them with the following questions to help structure their presentation.

1. Who was this person? Briefly describe her role as an upstander.
2. What made this person risk her life to save the Jewish people?
3. Did these women face any consequences for their brave actions?
4. Do you think their role as women made them more or less likely to act as upstanders?

Write the word “upstander” on the board. Ask the students what they think it means and if they can come up with any examples of being an upstander.

Watch the video, produced by CBS 60 Minutes, Sir Nicholas Winton “Saving the Children.” While students are watching the video have them take notes answering the following questions:

1. How did Winton hear about the trouble the Jews were facing?
2. What was Winton’s strategy?
3. What risks did Winton take in order to get the children out of Germany?
4. Who did he ask for help in looking for places for the children to go? What happened?
5. What event put an end to Winton’s transport operation?

After the video ends allow students to pair up and discuss the answers they put down. Allow approximately 10 minutes for this sharing.

After the video, discuss the following questions as a class:

1. Why do you think Winton stayed silent for so long about what he had done?
2. What made him do it in the first place?
3. How can we be upstanders in our own lives?
4. Consider the quote by Winton, “If something isn’t blatantly impossible, then there must be a way of doing it.” What does this mean to you?

Collect answers about being an upstander, specifically any answers about what makes people risk their own safety/well-being for the benefit of others. Bring these out in future discussions about bystanders.

Write the term “bystander” on the board and ask students how they would define it. Ask for examples of when someone could be a bystander.

Direct students to the resource ‘Bystanders‘ by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Read through the information as a class and allow students a chance to ask questions before moving on.

Have students think about the different degrees of bystanders, and what each of their roles were.

Divide the class into groups of three or five. Ask groups to sit together to discuss the questions below. Tell students that they don’t have to come to an agreement with the members of their group, that they should be actively trying to see both sides of the argument. If time permits, reconvene as a class and ask groups to share what they were able to come with.

1. How do bystanders, or witnesses, contribute to the possibility of mass atrocity?
2. How can indifference to, insensitivity to, or tolerance of hurtful acts be combated?
3. How do meanings of words change over time? What connotations do the words “bystander” and “witness” have? Are they the same?
4. Do you think someone could be reprimanded (fined, tried in court, etc) for being a bystander? Should they?
5. Are bystanders guilty?

Distribute the Range of Human Behavior Vocabulary Terms worksheet by Facing History and Ourselves. Go over the actual meaning for each of the terms with the class. Tell students to keep these worksheets as they could be useful in later lessons/discussions about perpetrators, victims, and upstanders.

Perpetrator: a person who carries out a harmful, illegal, or immoral act.
Victim: a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action.
Bystander: a person who is present at an event or incident but does not take part.
Upstander: a person who speaks or acts in support of an individual or cause, particularly someone who intervenes on behalf of a person being attacked or bullied.

Direct students to the resource, No Time to Think by Facing History and Ourselves. There is an audio version of the testimony that you can play if you would like to have your students listen as they follow the written testimony. Alternatively, you can just read it without listening to the audio.

Before breaking students off in groups to complete the Output section, click on the identity chart link from the second question at the bottom of the page and show the students what it is supposed to look like.

In groups of three to five, have students go over the Connection Questions found at the bottom of the page. If time permits, open up into a group discussion going over some (or all) of the questions. Have groups share their identity chart.

Ask the class if they know who Adolf Eichmann is.

Explain to students that Eichmann was named chief executioner of the Final Solution. In this role he was responsible for organizing the identification, assembly, and transportation of Jews from all over Europe to Auschwitz and other extermination camps.

Play the video The Eichmann Trial by Emory University (3 min) then ask the questions below in an open discussion. (Note: Some of the comments on the video on YouTube may be inappropriate.)

1. What do you think of Eichmann being kidnapped and taken to Israel for trial? Do you think this was fair or unjust? Why do you think it was done?
2. Deborah Lipstadt calls the Eichmann trial “A trial by the victims of one of the perpetrators.” What significance did this have on the proceedings?
3. What do you think of what she said about the nature of evil? Why was it so important to put a face to the perpetrator?

Direct students to the resource ‘Eichmann Trial‘ by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Have students pair up to read through the resource and answer the critical thinking questions.

Eichmann, as well as other Nazi perpetrators put on trial, gave a similar defense. What do you think of Eichmann’s defense that he was “merely a little cog in the machinery” of destruction? Do you think there is any case where this defense could be valid?

One at a time, have students read three names from this list from Yad Vashem. As they go through, have them read out the person’s family name, first name, as well as where they were killed.

Watch this video on Remembrance by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM).

1. What is commemoration? Why is it important?
2. Why is name reading used in commemoration?
3. How long would it take a single person to read the first and last names of 6 million victims? Can you guess?

The answer: It would take a single person over 1,538 hours, or 64 days straight.

When else are name readings used? Do they serve the same purpose?

Writing activity: Have students write a letter to a Holocaust survivor. Share the resource, Meet Holocaust Survivors by the USHMM and provide them with the instructions below:

1. Look through the list of survivors and choose one you would like to write to.
2. Read through their bio to learn more about their story.
3. Write a letter for this person. Themes you can consider as you write: bravery, strength, and how their memory will not be forgotten.

Ask the class, how does reading a survivor’s story commemorate their memory and the memories of those that lost their lives?