Lesson Plans
Both of these lesson plans provide a starting point for high school teachers to encourage
their students to engage the experiences of Jewish people during the Holocaust.
These sources, which are made available for public use by the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum, can be used to provide insight into the lives of individuals affected
by the Holocaust across Europe. Teachers can use the included questions to start
student discussions, as the basis for lectures, or in assignment prompts. Through
asking and discussing these questions, students will gain the experience of engaging
with primary sources in the manner of professional historians, and instructors
can tailor the themes of the activity according to their preference. More information
about all of these primary sources is available on the Experiencing History webpage
of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and links to this website are provided
in both lesson options.
Below is a preview of the individual lessons.
Download the Complete Lesson Plan (GDOC)
This lesson plan encourages students to engage with primary sources that shed light on the lives of Jewish Eastern Europeans during the Nazi regime.
View Lesson 1
This lesson plan encourages students to read and respond to translated diaries of children who were refugees during the Holocaust.
View Lesson 2