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.

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 asking your students, What was Auschwitz? What does it symbolize? What happened there? You may want to show the class a map of the Auschwitz camp by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Ask your students if anyone has visited the site? If someone has, ask them if they would share this experience.
Explain to students that today Auschwitz is a museum and a memorial, therefore when one enters the site today, one will not see the place as it was 60 years ago. Some buildings were preserved and others are gone; there is grass, and so on.

Direct students to the resource by Yad Vashem. Take some time to introduce your class to the site. The numbers in the left sidebar will take you to primary sources accompanying the major phases people went through while in Auschwitz. Click through pages 2-6 to show students what to expect on each page.

Divide the class into groups of three to five and assign each group a number 2-6 (number 1 is the Introduction page) and the resource page that corresponds with that number.

Provide groups with the questions corresponding to their group and give them the instructions below:
Read through the testimonies and look at the photographs for your designated section.
Prepare a presentation answering the questions that accompany your topic.
If possible, project the page for each group as they present so the entire class can see the images and testimonies that are being discussed. Present in order, having the group for Arrivals start off.

If time permits, end the class by showing students this drone footage of Auschwitz 70 years after it was liberated.