Lesson Plans

These lesson plans cover some of the central themes of the Holocaust, detailing how they can be approached in the classroom. This page will be updated from time to time, as the staff at the International School for Holocaust Studies prepares new material.

For Elementary School Students

“Until Then I Had Only Read about These Things in Books..”
The Story of Uri Orlev This lesson plan highlights the personal story of Uri Orlev, a Holocaust survivor, who became a writer and translator in Israel. The story, based on his book “The Sandgame,”  is told from Uri’s viewpoint as a child. His dreams, hopes and ambitions are described, along with his experiences in the ghettos, hiding, the death of his mother, etc.
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I Wanted to Fly Like a Butterfly
This lesson plan features the book of the same name, which presents the personal story of Hannah Gofrit. Naomi Morgenstern, the author of the book, has reworked the testimony of Mrs. Gofrit so as to make her story accessible to third- and fourth-grade students.
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For Middle School Students

“A Childhood Ensnared in Tears”
Creative Use of Holocaust Imagery in the Classroom The following lesson plan provides an avenue for teachers to use art in the classroom. Through a discussion of symbols and the artwork of Holocaust survivor Chava Wolf, students of varying ages can express themselves on this difficult subject.
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The Gambler and The Journey
A Comparison of Worlds in Two Short Stories. Joe Lumer has given readers a look into the rich tapestry of Jewish life in Poland between the two world wars. The tragedy of the Holocaust casts an overwhelming shadow over the preceding period, obscuring the vibrancy that pulsed through the Polish-Jewish world. This collection of short stories written by Joe Lumer helps to restore the fabric of Jewish communities living side-by-side with their Christian neighbors, focusing on life before rather than the ensuing catastrophe. Noah the Water Carrier and Other Stories is an age-apropriate anthology for middle and high school pupils. This lesson plan is based on two short stories in this collection which highlight the contrasting Jewish worlds in Poland.
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The Synagogue on Praska Street.
This lesson provides an opportunity for students to learn about Jewish life in Zagreb before the Holocaust. In this lesson, students will explore Jewish symbolism and Jewish tradition. They will hear about the community of Zagreb and its unique features within the context of the Jewish world. Learning about Jewish life before the Holocaust is essential for further studying of the Nazi era and the Holocaust. Only by realizing how much Jews were a part of Europe and European culture can one relate to the murder of Human beings during the Holocaust and not only to the a of numbers. Furthermore, exposing students to a vibrant Jewish community will help students perceive Jewish people not only as victims but also as active and involved citizens of Croatia.
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Compassion within the Ghetto Walls.
Trapped behind ghetto walls, the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto suffered from starvation and the Nazi decrees designed to dehumanize them. Jews, however, found many ways to help each other through these difficult times. This lesson plan will highlight some of the organizations that were established to coordinate social welfare activities.
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Liberation and Survival.
In this classroom activity, students explore different aspects of how survivors experienced liberation, through a close reading and discussion of selected testimonies.
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For High School Students

The Testimonies of Two Young Women in the Holocaust.
A Teaching Unit on Survival. Testimonies written by Holocaust survivors provide a window into the harsh reality of the Shoah for senior high-school pupils. The combination of historical information with the intimate details of how these two authors confront and finally overcome this history presents a powerful personal angle with which the teacher can engage pupils. This unit focuses on two personal accounts of young Jewish women featured in Stolen Youth, published by Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, in 2005.
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The Transport - “How was it humanly possible?”
is probably the key question lying at the bottom of every discussion regarding the mass extermination of the Jews in the Holocaust. This lesson is an expansion of one educational discussion included in the book “How was it humanly possible?” By Irena Steinfeldt. The main educational aim of the lesson is addressing this question while pointing at the issues of personal choice and responsibility as one of the most important moral themes that Holocaust raises.
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The Gambler and The Journey
A Comparison of Worlds in Two Short Stories. Joe Lumer has given readers a look into the rich tapestry of Jewish life in Poland between the two world wars. The tragedy of the Holocaust casts an overwhelming shadow over the preceding period, obscuring the vibrancy that pulsed through the Polish-Jewish world. This collection of short stories written by Joe Lumer helps to restore the fabric of Jewish communities living side-by-side with their Christian neighbors, focusing on life before rather than the ensuing catastrophe. Noah the Water Carrier and Other Stories is an age-apropriate anthology for middle and high school pupils. This lesson plan is based on two short stories in this collection which highlight the contrasting Jewish worlds in Poland.
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Seven Poems, Seven Paintings
A Teacher's Guide to Selected Holocaust Poetry This unique teacher's guide is intended for poetry, art and literature teachers interested in a more artistic approach to teaching the Holocaust. It includes seven Holocaust-related poems, accompanied by original artist's impressions of these poems. Each poem includes discussion points for the teacher.
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Five Poems by Dan Pagis
Dan Pagis, a Holocaust survivor, was one of modern Israel’s most vibrant poetic voices. His references to the Holocaust are sometimes oblique, filtered through his use of biblical or mystical images. In this new teacher’s guide, we explore five of his poems, along with points for discussion, analysis and classroom debate.
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Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara - Righteous Among the Nations.
Before being forced to leave Kovno, Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara rescued approximately 6,000 Jews, whose lives were threatened by the impending invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany.  By highlighting his self-sacrifice and actions this lesson plan demonstrates how the teacher can sensitize students to matters of emotional intelligence – social awareness to the plight of the other.  Students are invited to participate in the readings incorporated in the lesson plan, and at the conclusion of the lesson plan four questions are included for discussion.
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Learning and Remembering about Auschwitz-Birkenau.
is a lesson plan that features testimonies, photographs and other primary source materials. Students will learn about the history of this extermination center as well as about the daily existence of its Jewish prisoners until its liberation by Soviet forces January 27, 1945.
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Between the Worlds Social Circles in the Theresiendstadt Ghetto
This is the accompanying website to the similarly titled educational CD-ROM, which focuses on daily life in the Theresienstadt Ghetto, and on the social circles that existed within it. The website includes a lesson plan that introduces one of the chapters, which covers the world and the lives of children in the ghetto, as well as their relationship with the various social circles in the ghetto. The lesson plan demonstrates how the teacher can work with the CD-ROM and incorporate the materials and ideas it presents.
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Righteous among the Nations
Case Studies of Two Women:  Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl. On July 6, 1942, Anne Frank and her family moved into the empty annex of her father Otto’s office, where they remained in hiding for over two years. Four people knew of their hiding and assisted them, risking their own lives. This lesson plan focuses on two of them – Miep Gies and Bep Voskujl – who have since been recognized as Righteous among the Nations.
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What Did Oskar Schindler View from the Hill?
Righteous among the Nations: Oskar Schindler as a Study Case. Righteous among the Nations are non-Jews who had risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews in countries that had been under Nazi rule or had collaborated with the German regime. This lesson focuses on one of these Righteous individuals named Oskar Schindler. We will analyze the motivations of Oskar Schindler to help Jews survive and identify the process of change that Schindler underwent from being a Nazi businessman to a rescuer of Jews.
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Teaching the Holocaust Through Poetry
The Holocaust occurred 65 years ago and reams have been written about it. Different disciplines have applied their approaches to try and understand the transgressive nature of this period in human history. We have written a lesson-plan focusing on a poem written by W.H. Auden, one of England’s leading poets at the time of the 2nd World War. The poem was written about half a year before the outbreak of the war and as such, it deals more with the problems of refugees than with ghettos and concentration camps. With great prescience, Auden raises the specter of the German-Jewish refugees that had become a factor on the international agenda since the mid-1930’s, and whose fate he addresses even before the war erupts.
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Remembering the Holocaust and Combating Xenophobia
In our effort to promote awareness of the Holocaust and of the rise of antisemitism in Europe, this activity focuses on the racial, antisemitic discrimination of Jewish children during the Holocaust. By fighting contemporary antisemitism and other forms of xenophobia, we safeguard Holocaust memory.
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Children in the Holocaust
This lesson plan focuses on the Jewish child during the Holocaust. The Nazis considered all Jews, including Jewish children, to be their enemies. One-and-a-half million Jewish children were murdered by the Nazis. How did Jewish children grow up under Nazi rule? How did living in a hostile environment affect their perception of the world?
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The Iasi Pogrom
Students will learn about the Holocaust in Romania, and about relations between Jews and their non-Jewish neighbors in Iasi, Romania prior to WWII. By examining assistance efforts by non-Jewish rescuers, students will better understand that individuals have the power to make choices: to remain indifferent to murder or to respect others.
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Workshop on Antisemitism Using Statements
This lesson is based on ten statements, each relating to a different aspect of contemporary antisemitism. This activity provides an opportunity to stimulate discussion on various current issues.
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Teaching the Holocaust through Literature
This lesson and its activities highlight a short story, The Tenth Man, written by Holocaust survivor Ida Fink. The story was first published in Polish in 1983.
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Jewish Children in the Holocaust as Reflected in Their Diaries
This lesson plan contains selected excerpts from the diaries of five children who lived and perished in the Holocaust. Through these diary entries, we will highlight some central stages many Jewish European children experienced: their pre-war existence; initial Nazi occupation; anti-Jewish decrees – the “badge of shame”, economic policies and disruption of schools; closure into ghettos or forced into hiding; daily life in the ghetto.
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Destruction and Rebirth at Bergen Belsen.
This classroom activity explores the transformation of Bergen Belsen from concentration camp to Displaced Persons' camp, focusing on how survivors married and started families shortly after the Holocaust.
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