Holocaust - Lest We Forget
Overview
This lesson is designed to give information and make real world connections to the Holocaust and Anne Frank, Miep Gies and concentration camps.
Engage:
According to a survey conducted by Statista, "two-thirds of young American adults do not know that six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust."
This unit is intended to grant students the opportunity to gather information and learn about the atrocities experienced during the Holocaust.
Activity One: Pick out several scenes from The Diary of Anne Frank. Break into groups and read through the script.
Activity Two: Read one or two stories from Allan Zullo's book Escape Children of the Holocaust.
Activity Three: Read Eve Bunting's book Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust. After reading Terrible Things, share First They Came... by Martin Niemoller.
Statista chart: https://www.statista.com/chart/22943/share-of-young-americans-unaware-six-million-jews-died-in-the-holocaust/
Explore:
Watch the videos and read through the following articles to learn more about survivors of the Holocaust and conditions in concentration camps.
Activity Four: Kids Meet a Holocaust Survivor
Activity Five: A Holocaust Survivor Recalls The Day He Was Liberated
Activity Six: Using the following link, research one concentration camp.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/list-of-major-nazi-concentration-camps
Miep Gies was an important person to the Frank family. Read through the following information and answer the questions in the apply section.
Scholastic's interview with Miep Gies
Apply:
Using technology similar but not limited to TicToc or FlipGrid, tell what you learned about the specific concentration camp you researched. You should include the following information:
- Name of the camp
- Country and/or city the camp was located
- Type of prisoners held there
- Activities at the camp
- Death toll
- Length of camp operation
- Present usage
- Any other important or interesting information
- Picture(s) of camp
Reflect:
Using a word document, write several paragraphs answering the following questions. When you are finished, share the document with your instructor.
How do you see hatred in the world around you? Think about: our school, community, our state, our country. What can/ needs to be done to help eliminate hatred and its impacts?
After reading about Miep Gies and parts of The Diary of Anne Frank, do you consider Miep to be a hero? Is Gies a hero or is she, as she suggests, just a "very common person?" Use examples from the Anne Frank story and from real life.
Extend:
Genocide
Genocide continues to be a problem in the world. Read through the following articles and learn more.
Rwanda: How the genocide happened
Questions you may want answers to:
What events led up to the holocaust?
What is anti-Semitism? What was its role in the holocaust? Do you see anti-Semitism as a problem today?
Do you feel that genocide can be prevented? Why or why not? If yes, how?