The Holocaust Through Primary Sources Books
Altman, Linda Jacobs. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: Striking a Blow Against the Nazis. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2012. Print.
In The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Striking a Blow Against the Nazis, the author Linda Jacobs Altman, tells the stories of a couple hundred Jews who were preparing to fight the Germans. They knew that they would not win this fight, but they did not care; they needed to defend their people to the best of their abilities.
Byers, Ann. Saving Children from the Holocaust: The Kindertransport. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2012. Print.
In Saving Children from the Holocaust: The Kindertransport, different people have their stories told by Ann Byers, who writes about how children all over Europe were transported to Jewish concentration camps in Germany. These children were located all across Europe: Austria, England, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, as well as other places.
Byers, Ann, and Margaret Shannon. Courageous Teen Resisters: Primary Sources from the Holocaust. Library ed. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2010. Print.
“As the Warsaw ghetto in Poland went up in flames in April 1943, Jewish fighters fought bravely for twenty-seven days against Nazi soldiers. With deportation to a death camp all but certain, young Jews in the ghetto decided not to go quietly. Although the Nazis defeated the Jewish resistance group, the spirit of the uprising lived on. For Jews living in Europe during the Holocaust, survival was often the only form of resistance. But Jews in ghettos, concentration camps, and partisan groups did fight back. Some non-Jews came to their aid as well. Told through the words of teen resisters, author Ann Byers details the stories of courageous young people who fought back against Nazi Germany.”
Byers, Ann. Rescuing the Danish Jews: A Heroic Story from the Holocaust. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2011. Print.
“Bent Melchior, a fourteen-year-old Danish Jew, was crammed into the hold of a fishing boat. But this was not a normal fishing trip. Surviving the crowded, filthy conditions on this trip meant reaching freedom. After many hours at sea, Melchior had reached safety in Sweden. The remarkable story of rescuing Danish Jews has many heroic tales. In the midst of World War II and the slaughter of millions in the Holocaust, the Danes resisted Naz brutality and saved thousands of people from certain death.”
Deem, James M. Auschwitz: Voices from the Death Camp. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2012. Print.
In Auschwitz, Voices From the Death Camp, the author James M. Dean, describes the account of several Jews that were involved in the death camps at Auschwitz. Each person’s story is told by Deem, in relation to the Holocaust and genocides that had occurred. The people detailed in this book were survivors of the treacherous camps at Auschwitz.
Deem, James M. Kristallnacht: The Nazi Terror That Began the Holocaust. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2012. Print.
In Kristallnacht: The Nazi Terror That Began the Holocaust, many stories of how the events transpired are recounted by author James M. Deem. Some range from a young Jewish who shot and killed an important German leader, to Nazi political leader Joseph Goebells. These stories help us better understand both sides of how and why the events transpired.
Hoffman, Betty N. Liberation: Stories of Survival from the Holocaust. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2012. Print.
Liberation: Stories of Survival from the Holocaust, author Betty Hoffman, has the stories of survivors of the Holocaust told. These survivors speak about how the Holocaust started for their respective families, and how they were finally released from Nazi control, unlike many of their friends and family.
Armenian Genocide
Crimes against Humanity and Civilization: The Genocide of the Armenians. Brookline, MA: Facing History and Ourselves, 2004. Print.
An essential and innovative exploration of the Armenian Genocide, (the book) brings together the historical, social, psychological and ethical dimensions of the history and the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide. Critical issues relating to identity, attitude, behavior, choices, consequences and contemporary concerns are addressed in this important work.
General Antisemitic Information
Goldstein, Phyllis, and Harold Evans. A Convenient Hatred: The History of Antisemitism. Brookline, MA: Facing History and Ourselves, 2012. Print.
A Convenient Hatred chronicles a very particular hatred through powerful stories that allow readers to see themselves in the tarnished mirror of history. It raises important questions about the consequences of our assumptions and beliefs and the ways we, as individuals and as members of a society, make distinctions between “us” and “them”, right and wrong, good and evil. These questions are both universal and particular.
Stein, Gertrude. Race and Membership in American History: The Eugenics Movement. Brookline, MA: Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation, 2002. Print.
A book that not only delves into serious questions about race and membership but also invites moral and political reflection and analysis… Provides students both a critical vocabulary and ample opportunity to reflect upon and challenge those racial propositions that too easily pass as truths.
New Jersey Holocaust Education
Flaim, Richard F. The Hitler Legacy: A Dilemma of Hate Speech and Hate Crime in a Post-Holocaust World. Trenton, N.J.: New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, 2008. Print.
The Hitler Legacy’s goal is “To develop an understanding of the nature of hate speech, hate crimes, the fascination of some young people with Hitler and Nazism and the challenges of responding to hate in a democratic society.”
Hadzima, Barbara. Caring Makes a Difference: A Curriculum Guide for Grades K-4 : Lessons on Friendship, Respect, Tolerance, Holocaust/genocide. Trenton, N.J.: Center for Holocaust Studies, Brookdale Community College, 2003. Print.
This educational book meant for children from Kindergarten through 4th grade is a learning tool so that young children can understand lessons that can relate to the Holocaust. These lessons are all age appropriate for each group and have poems, passages and other curriculums for each group to better understand why the destruction, prejudice and racism of any group of people is wrong, and should not be tolerated.
Hadzima, Barbara. To Honor All Children: From Prejudice to Discrimination to Hatred– to Holocaust: New Jersey State Holocaust Curriculum Guide for Grades 5-8. Trenton, N.J.: New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, 2003. Print.
In To Honor All Children: From Prejudice to Discrimination to Hatred– to Holocaust, there are many lessons using a wide range of books, poetry, artwork, music, photographs, and audio-visual productions. In addition to the materials and lessons on the Holocaust, there are also lessons addressing other incidents of prejudice, discrimination and genocide.
Huberman, Rob. Words for All Time: Students’ Letters to Holocaust Survivors. Margate, NJ: ComteQ, 2008. Print.
This book represents only a fraction of the many letters received by Holocaust survivors after speaking to students in elementary, middle and high school classrooms. But these few letters do express the breadth of emotions and depth of understanding felt by students after listening to a survivor tell his or her story.
Resistance during the Holocaust. Washington, D.C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1997. Print.
This pamphlet explores examples of armed and unarmed resistance by Jews and other Holocaust victims. Many courageous acts of resistance were carried out in Nazi ghettos and camps and by partisan members of national and political resistance movements across German-occupied Europe. Many individuals and groups in ghettos and camps also engaged in acts of spiritual resistance such as the continuance of religious traditions and the preservation of cultural institutions. Although resistance activities in Nazi Germany were largely ineffective and lacked broad support, some political and religious opposition did emerge.
Winkler, Paul B., and Maryann McLoughlin. Teaching the Unspeakable: The New Jersey Story of Holocaust & Genocide Education. Margate, N.J: ComteQ Pub., 2012. Print.
This book presents the thirty-year history of the State of New Jersey’s involvement in Holocaust and Genocide education with the establishment of a Council/Commission by Governor Tom Kean and the passage of the legislative “Mandate” in 1994 that students in all grades must learn about the Holocaust and genocide.
Winkler, Dr. Paul B. Stalin And His Repressive Regime 1922-1953 High School Curriculum. New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, 2012. Print.
This cooperatively developed curriculum is designed to assist educators in supplementing instructions about Stalin and the Soviet Union. The guide highlights the life of Stalin and the evil perpetrated by him on hi sown people and compares them to “genocide”, The curriculum presents an introduction to each unit, readings for the students and activities related to the readings.
Soviet Union
Winkler, Dr. Paul B. Stalin And His Repressive Regime 1922-1953 High School Curriculum. New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, 2012. Print.
This cooperatively developed curriculum is designed to assist educators in supplementing instructions about Stalin and the Soviet Union. The guide highlights the life of Stalin and the evil perpetrated by him on hi sown people and compares them to “genocide”, The curriculum presents an introduction to each unit, readings for the students, and activities related to the readings.
German Holocaust
Berke, Jacqueline. Moments in Time: A Collage of Holocaust Memories. Madison, N.J.: Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study, 2005. Print.
In these pages, survivors of man’s most heinous crime against man share their stories. Stories of humiliation, torture, degradation and pain. But these stories also contain an unshakable hope, an overriding faith, and an unyielding determination. These Holocaust survivors, who have chosen to access their most painful memories, do so with a purpose – to ensure that you and I and generations of students to follow will remember the atrocities of the Holocaust and the amazing strength of those who survived.
Buff, Fred, and Maryann Donnell. Riding the Storm Waves: The St. Louis Diary of Fritz Buff: May 13, 1939 to June 17, 1939. Margate, N.J.: ComteQ Pub., 2009. Print.
‘”The Voyage of the Damned!” The “Double Crossing”!’ This is how the 1939 journey of the MS St Louis from Hamburg, Germany, to Havana, Cuba, is described. Fritz (Fred) Buff was one of the 937 passengers on the infamous ship carrying refugees fleeing Nazi-dominated Germany. During this “voyage of the damned,” Fred, seventeen years old, and the other passengers were under considerable stress. Refused refuge in Cuba, they waited for the international community to decide their fate. With Fred’s diary, we have a teenager’s eyewitness account of life aboard the St. Louis.
Feldman, Margit, and Bernard Weinstein. Margit: A Teenager’s Journey through the Holocaust and beyond. Scottsdale, Ariz.: Princeton Editorial Associates, 2003. Print.
When Margit Buchhalter (now Feldman) was fifteen years old, the serene, secure, and happy life she had known in rural Hungary was shattered by the horrors of the Holocaust. During her family’s Passover celebration of 1944, they were forced from their home to a crowded and oppressive ghetto, then transported to Auschwitz, where Margit lost her parents and nearly seventy other family members. Subsequently, she suffered starvation, brutality, physical punishment, and the constant terror of instant annihilation. She endured five incarcerations in concentration camps and a death march. After being liberated from Bergen-Belsen, Margit was taken to Sweden to recover from illness and abuse. There she was given the love she needed to gradually renew her faith in humanity, and she created a new life for herself. That new life brought her to America and to a branch of her family she had never met before. Love, marriage, and the eventual establishment of her own family brought a renewal of spirit, and ultimately the discovery of her life’s mission: to teach others what she had experienced and witnessed during the terrible days of 1944-45. This mission, which has led her to teach thousands of students and hundreds of teachers, is the force that has motivated her to this day. By an uncanny coincidence, Margit was born on the same day and in the same year as Anne Frank and was very likely in Bergen-Belsen when Anne died there. She feels, in a real sense, a special connection to Anne Frank, but she also feels linked to many others who did not live to tell their own stories. Her aim in this book is to speak for those who did not survive
Flaim, Richard F. The Hitler Legacy: A Dilemma of Hate Speech and Hate Crime in a Post-Holocaust World. Trenton, N.J.: New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, 2008. Print.
The Hitler Legacy’s goal is “To develop an understanding of the nature of hate speech, hate crimes, the fascination of some young people with Hitler and Nazism and the challenges of responding to hate in a democratic society.”
Goodkin, Vera H., and Maryann McLoughlin O’Donnell. In Sunshine and in Shadow: We Remember Them. Margate, New Jersey: ComteQ, 2006. Print.
“In Sunshine and in Shadow: We Remember Them” is a perfect title for this outstanding book, for it vividly portrays the beautiful life of a young girl, Vera and her family – her grandparents, aunts, uncles and parents – prior to 1939 and the darkness of the years during the Holocaust and then once again the sunshine after 1945. All readers will learn much from the autobiography about family, perpetrators, heroes – especially Raoul Wallenberg, and about the consequences of the evils of bias, bigotry, and prejudice. Teachers using the memoir and photographs will be able to assist students to learn about the Holocaust and specifically in New Jersey to meet the legislative educational mandate to teach about the Holocaust and genocide.
Hoffman, Betty N. Liberation: Stories of Survival from the Holocaust. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2012. Print.
Liberation: Stories of Survival from the Holocaust, author Betty Hoffman, has the stories of survivors of the Holocaust told. These survivors speak about how the Holocaust started for their respective families, and how they were finally released from Nazi control, unlike many of their friends and family.
Huberman, Rob. Words for All Time: Students’ Letters to Holocaust Survivors. Margate, NJ: ComteQ, 2008. Print.
This book represents only a fraction of the many letters received by Holocaust survivors after speaking to students in elementary, middle and high school classrooms. But these few letters do express the breadth of emotions and depth of understanding felt by students after listening to a survivor tell his or her story.
Kaufman, Luna. Luna’s Life: A Journey of Forgiveness and Triumph. Margate, NJ: ComteQ Pub., 2009. Print.
Luna Kaufman was one of only two family members to survive the Holocaust. She and her mother lost her father, sister and other relatives in the death camps. – Luna’s Life is more than a memoir – far more. Reflecting upon the people and events of her life, Luna Kaufman teaches the truest and most profound meaning of forgiveness and reconciliation under circumstances unimaginable to most people. She has been sharing this spiritual message with youngsters for many years, even as she raised her own family and remained active in her Jewish faith tradition and many philanthropic activities.
Nieuwsma, Milton J. Surviving Auschwitz: Children of the Shoah. New York: I :, 2005. Print.
Surviving Auschwitz tells the moving and inspirational story of three young girls who survived Auschwitz – Adolph Hitler’s most notorious death camp. Using their own words, combined with dramatic photographs, Tova Friedman, Freida Tenenbaum and Rachel Hyams document their story in Surviving Auschwitz. They describe their lives before the war in the small town of Tomaszow Mazowiecki in central Poland, their arrival at the camp, and their eventual liberation by the Soviet Army in January 1945. Surviving Auschwitz is a haunting first-person memoir of these three girls – a story filled with horror and unspeakable tragedy – but also one of remarkable courage and hope.
Strom, Margot Stern. Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior Resource Book. Brookline: Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation, 1994. Print.
A large resource book about human behavior and the Holocaust, author Margot Stern gives a big overview of many similar things that relate to each of the topics.
Yates, Adeline. Remember the Children: Daniel’s Story. Washington, D.C.: [U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council], 1992. Print.
Remember the Children, Daniel’s Story, organized by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, is an exhibition designed for young people ages eight and older. The exhibition tells the story of one family’s experiences during the Holocaust from the perspective of a young boy growing up in Nazi Germany.
Danish Holocaust
Byers, Ann. Rescuing the Danish Jews: A Heroic Story from the Holocaust. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2011. Print.
“Bent Melchior, a fourteen-year-old Danish Jew, was crammed into the hold of a fishing boat. But this was not a normal fishing trip. Surviving the crowded, filthy conditions on this trip meant reaching freedom. After many hours at sea, Melchior had reached safety in Sweden. The remarkable story of rescuing Danish Jews has many heroic tales. In the midst of World War II and the slaughter of millions in the Holocaust, the Danes resisted Naz brutality and saved thousands of people from certain death.”
Photo Books/Paintings About the Holocaust
Aizenberg, Isidoro. From the Star of Shame to the Star of Courage: The Story of the Yellow Star. New York: Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center and Archives, Queensborough Community College, 2008. Print.
This small magazine like-book has several photos, drawings and political cartoons pertaining to the infamous yellow star of the Holocaust. Each picture, drawing, poster and such has a description and/or story to go along with it.
Galles, Arie Alexander, and Jerome Rothenberg. Fourteen Stations: A Suite of Fifteen Charcoal Drawings and Poem Drawings = Hey Yud Dalet = [H.y.d.]. Morristown, NJ: Morris Museum, 2002. Print.
Aries Galles, a painter of insight and perspective, has created his personal memorial to the Holocaust in a suite of powerful black and white pictures titled Fourteen Stations/Hey Yud Dalet. Arie is Jewish and survived the Second World in Europe to grow up in Communist Poland… Arie had a vision of what is now Fourteen Stations/Hey Yud Dalet. His pictures are large, meticulously-crafted drawings on paper… Distinguished poet Jerome Rothenberg has written poems to accompany each image.
Harran, Marilyn J. The Holocaust Chronicle. Lincolnwood, Ill.: Publications International, 2000. Print.
The Holocaust Chronicle, written and fact-checked by top scholars, recounts the long, complex, anguishing story of the most terrible crime of the 20th century. A massive, oversized hardcover of more than 750 pages, The Holocaust Chronicle: A History in Words and Pictures is an excitingly unique, not-for-profit endeavor that is a personal project of the publisher, Louis Weber, C.E.O. of Chicago-based Publications International, Ltd. The mission of The Holocaust Chronicle is to report the facts, clearly and free of bias or agenda. Featured are more than 2,000 photographs selected after intensive research in the collections of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, as well as other archives and private collections located around the world.
Teaching Curriculums About Genocide
Choices in Little Rock: A Facing History and Ourselves Teaching Guide. Brookline, Mass.: Facing History and Ourselves, 2005. Print.
Choices in Little Rock is a teaching unit that focuses on efforts to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 — efforts that resulted in a crisis that historian Taylor Branch once described as “the most severe test of the Constitution since the Civil War.” The unit explores civic choices — the decisions people make as citizens in a democracy. Those decisions, both then and now, reveal that democracy is not a product but a work in progress, a work that is shaped in every generation by the choices that we make about ourselves and others. Although those choices may not seem important at the time, little by little, they define an individual, delineate a community, and ultimately distinguish a nation. Those choices build on the work of earlier generations and leave legacies for those to come.
Dougherty, Dr. John M. Genocide/Slavery Curriculum Guide. New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education. Print.
The New Jersey Commissions on Amistad and the Holocaust/Genocide are pleased and proud to present this curriculum of lesson plans for use in middle and high school (8 – 12) classrooms in New Jersey. Please note that this curriculum is not a complete study of slavery or genocide. It is the belief of both organizations that there is a strong connection between genocide and slavery. This guide provides instructional materials and procedures for the teachers toward making that connection. Both Commissions have as a basic mission to root out all evils of bias, prejudice and bigotry that may lead to a genocide and that the evil period of slavery exhibited a number of components seen in genocides throughout the centuries. We prepared this guide so that it may be used separately or integrated with other academic subjects for it meets a number of graduation standards. It is recommended that not all activities must be presented in the classroom, but some activities in each unit should be introduced.
Hadzima, Barbara. Caring Makes a Difference: A Curriculum Guide for Grades K-4: Lessons on Friendship, Respect, Tolerance, Holocaust/genocide. Trenton, N.J.: Center for Holocaust Studies, Brookdale Community College, 2003. Print.
This educational book meant for children from Kindergarten through 4th grade is a learning tool so that young children can understand lessons that can relate to the Holocaust. These lessons are all age appropriate for each group and have poems, passages and other curriculums for each group to better understand why the destruction, prejudice and racism of any group of people is wrong, and should not be tolerated.
Teaching about the Holocaust: A Resource Book for Educators. Washington, D.C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1995. Print.
Teaching about the Holocaust: A Resource Book for Educators provides guidelines for teaching about the Holocaust, a historical summary and chronology, and an annotated bibliography and videography on Holocaust-related topics. It also describes information about programs offered by The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum educators and additional resources for teachers.
The Holocaust and Genocide: The Betrayal of Humanity: A Curriculum Guide for Grades 9-12. [2nd ed. Vol. II. Trenton, N.J.: New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, 2003. Print.
A large guide, study plan, and schedule for teaching and learning of students in grades 9 – 12 about the Holocaust and genocide. This guide is age appropriate for this level of students and will teach students about the evils of prejudice and racism, through examples and stories about the genocide.
Japanese Genocide
Cervi, Douglas. The Nanking Massacre and Other Japanese Military Atrocities: The Asia-Pacific War, 1931 – 1945: A Curriculum Guide for Secondary Teachers. 2nd ed. Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, 2010. Print.
This curriculum was created as a resource for secondary teachers so that they can educate their students about the Pacific War not only from a U.S. perspective but also from a world perspective.
Darfurian Genocide
Darfurian Voices: Documenting Darfurian Refugees’ Views on Issues of Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation. New York, NY: 24 Hours for Darfur, 2010. Print.
Darfurian Voices is a project to systematically document the views held by Darfurian refugees in Chad on issues of peace, justice and reconciliation. The project is structured to serve as a mechanism through which these views can be accurately transmitted to policymakers, mediators, negotiating parties and other key stakeholders. The project consists of two components: (1) a random-sample survey representative of the entire Darfurian refugee population living in the refugee camps in eastern Chad, and (2) in-depth interviews with tribal, civil society and rebel leaders also living in Chad. In May and June 2008, pilot research was conducted in N’Djamena, Abeche, and the Gaga refugee camp. Primary research was carried out in each of the 12 Darfurian refugee camps in eastern Chad from April to July 2009. A total of 2,152 refugees were interviewed. This report details their views.
Byers, Ann. Saving Children from the Holocaust: The Kindertransport. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2012. Print.
In Saving Children from the Holocaust: The Kindertransport, different people have their stories told by Ann Byers, who writes about how children all over Europe were transported to Jewish concentration camps in Germany. These children were located all across Europe: Austria, England, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, as well as other places.
Winkler, Dr. Paul B. Genocide, In Darfur, Sudan: International Guide, A Road Map to Awareness and Action. New Jersey Darfur Coalition, 2009. Print.
The New Jersey Coalition for Darfur has developed this curriculum material so that your students may understand perspectives of the genocide that is occurring in Darfur, Sudan, — the history, the current issues and what they (as students) could do to help the victims.
The atrocities began in 2004, and over 400,000 Darfurians have died, approximately two-and-one-half million people have fled their burning homes and vicious attacks in order to reach refugee camps miles away. Thousands have been killed, especially the men, innumerable women have been raped and multiple children kidnapped. The violence has escalated and has now spilled over into Chad, a neighboring country and the location of a dozen refugee camps. It is imperative that young people learn about Darfur — one of the world’s most critical humanitarian issues of today. We appeal to you as educators to utilize the guide and add this subject matter to your classroom curriculum. We have suggested some grade levels for the instruction, but mostly leave it to your expertise.
North American Genocide
Horse, Roy. The North American Genocide. Rancocas, NJ: Powhatan, 2002. Print.
Throughout history. there are all too many examples of inhuman treatment of one group of people by another. The most horrific example of the 20th century happened in the Holocaust of Jewish people in Germany. Students in North America are accustomed to thinking such events always take place “somewhere else,” by “other people.” The curriculum tends to focus on brave “explorers.” coming to uninhabited lands, where they become “first residents” and establish “civilization.” Here in the “New World” they escape tyranny and in their freedom, establish democracy and the highest human values, always pushing toward a “frontier” of -civilization.” But it did happen here. North America had its own genocide against the First Peoples – violent, devastating, effective. It was driven by a sense of racial and religious superiority, and the prize was land and resources. How could it be that a people so dedicated to democracy and freedom could have been so cruel to another people? What attitudes, beliefs, myths, misunderstandings give rise to and fuel this kind of conduct? This curriculum resource. The North American Genocide, is an effort to get to the root of that question. It is an attempt to set out the facts as a foundation for understanding rather than as an effort to condemn or embarrass. While it is intended for high school students, teachers at other levels will see opportunities to adapt portions of it so their students will be better prepared for the lessons of history which await them.
Irish
Mullin, James. The Great Irish Famine. Moorestown: Irish Famine Curriculum Committee, 1996. Print.
Between 1845 and 1850, more than a million Irish people starved to death while massive quantities of food were being exported from their country. A half million were evicted from their homes during the potato blight, and a million and a half emigrated to America, Britain and Australia, often on board rotting, overcrowded “coffin ships”. This is the story of how that immense tragedy came to pass.
The necessary historical and political context for a study of the Irish Famine is provided to you in the Teacher’s Synopsis, immediately following the Table of Contents.
Following the Synopsis is a Student Summary, covering much the same material as the Teacher’s Synopsis, but without footnotes or bibliography. It would be very difficult for the student to understand any of the six study units that follow without first reading the Summary. If time constraints only permit the study of one or two sections of this curriculum, the Student Summary should be used first.
DVDs
Defying Hitler. WGVU Productions, 2005. DVD.
- 1 disc. Running Time: 30 minutes (4 copies)
In 2004, WGVU traveled with Joseph Stevens and his son to revisit some of the places of Joseph’s past. Joseph was part of the Polish underground. He was a hero. In the days of WWII, he was a shadow. During the course of their trip, Joseph was reunited with his old friend, Tolek. Even as a friend, Tolek had not known that Joseph was Jewish until years after the war. Within the resistance, to reveal his secret would have meant persecution. In the face of Nazi occupation, it would have meant death. WGVU also took Joseph to revisit his childhood home – only the second time he would return there since fleeing before the war. Time cannot heal all wounds. Fortunately, time also cannot erase the heroics of those who refused to be persecuted, and who refuse to give up.
The Hidden Child. NJN, 2006. DVD.
- 1 disc. Running Time: 60 minutes
“Of the 1,600,000 Jewish children who lived in Europe before World War II, only 100,000 survived the Holocaust. Most were hidden children, shuttered away in attics, cellars, convents or in villages or farms. Maud Dahme, a New Jersey resident and former president of the NJ Board of Education, was among those who were hidden and survived. The Hidden Child, a one-hour high-definition documentary, is Dahme’s own story of courage, hope and bravery in the face of evil and death. Dahme was one of the estimated 3,000 to 8,000 Jewish children in the Netherlands who were hidden and saved from the Nazi death camps by courageous Christians. Today, Dahme devotes her life to the Holocaust and genocide education. Issues such as tolerance, mutual respect and understanding are explored in depth in the documentary as well as in an accompanying Teacher Guide developed by New Jersey educators for classroom use.”
Life after the Holocaust: A Legacy of Survival, Memories and Resilience. Next Generations Multimedia, 2000. DVD.
- 4 discs
Life After The Holocaust: A Legacy of Survival, Memories and Resilience, is a remarkable award winning compilation of oral testimonies by Holocaust survivors and families. (2 DVD’s). Accompanying educational resources on the endurance of the Holocaust survivors and families (two CDs).
Memory After Belsen: The Future of Holocaust Memory. Stores To Remember, 2015. DVD.
- 1 disc. Running Time: 76 minutes
The film tells the story of thirty-year-old Robyn Thaler Hickey, who travels to Bergen-Belsen where she learns details about her grandmother’s experiences during and after World War II. As Robyn learns about her grandmother’s history, viewers confront issues central to Holocaust memory. Memory After Belsen does not attempt to explain the historic Holocaust. Rather, the film is about themes and tensions in Holocaust memory—the challenges and often conflicting perspectives on how the Holocaust is taught and remembered. Robyn, who is representative of the third generation, is looking for historical clues and guidance to her grandmother’s experience. The film examines ways in which memory is conveyed by different agents—survivors, their children and grandchildren, artists, educators, museum directors and others—and asks how these agents of Holocaust memory approach their task, and for what purpose. Do they seek historic accuracy? Emotional impact? Con-temporary relevance? Where does personal memory find its place in this web of associations? Memory After Belsen investigates changes occurring within Holocaust memory, now that the survivor generation is rapidly diminishing.
Only a Number. AriJoe Productions, 2011. DVD.
- 1 disc. Running Time: 64 minutes
Aranka is a Holocaust survivor who has dementia. Many years before this insidious disease began to eat away at her memory, she documented her experiences and the horrors she endured at the hands of the Nazis. Aranka met her husband Josef in a concentration camp, separated by a barbed wire fence, and without the aids of a common language. They fell in love and gave each other the strength and will to survive. Their story is told through a journey of rediscovery by their son, Steven, taking the viewer to the ghettos, concentration camps and slave labor factories as they are today, unearthing the horrendous occurrences long since buried there. What lies within the tangles of Aranka’s memory, lies beneath the surface of these places that time may have changed, but never erase. Aranka’s words serve as a testament to the horrific circumstances of her personal experience and tell a true story of the struggle to survive, to love and to remember.
Surviving Auschwitz. WGVU Productions, 2005. DVD.
- 2 discs. Running Time: 90 minutes (2 copies)
Sixty years ago, in the waning months of World War II, two young girls from a Jewish ghetto in the heart of Poland were liberated from Adolf Hitler’s most notorious death camp: Auschwitz. At 6 and 10, Tova Friedman and Frieda Tenenbaum were among the youngest of 7,000 prisoners found alive by a regiment of the Soviet army. In the summer of 2004, they journeyed to Auschwitz, accompanied by their own children and a WGVU film crew. Together, they faced the sorrow and tragedy of their past and sought to heal the wounds felt through two generations. Surviving Auschwitz: Children of the Shoah includes photographs and film footage of the girls and other children like them held at Auschwitz, as well as interviews with the two women and their children as they walk the grounds of the infamous death camp.
Sister Rose’s Passion. Docurama, 2006. DVD.
- 1 disc. Running Time: 88 minutes
Profiling the efforts of a courageous nun to change the way her faith discussed a crucial issue, Sister Rose’s Passion was produced at least in part as a response to the then-upcoming Mel Gibson film The Passion of The Christ. That’s because Sister Rose Thering has been associated with the conflict between the story of Christ’s crucifixion and the relationship between Christians and Jews since she wrote her dissertation in 1961.
While researching the treatment of Jews in Catholic textbooks she discovered a lot of hateful generalization and historically unfounded anti-Semitism. Her dissertation received a lot of publicity in the Catholic community and, despite some pretty heavy reactions, eventually found its way into Vatican doctrine, spurring the 1965 papal reforms that officially refuted the practice of blaming all Jews for Christ’s death.