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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS- PATHWAYS
HOLOCAUST UNIT
BY
Rob Nelson, Nicole Wilson, Taylor Bruns,
Jessica Rice and Lauren Joyner
College of Education
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA
Book Backdrop Title:
Diary of a young girl Anne Frank
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
2
Lesson Module Day 1
Title: Hiding for your life: Through the eyes of Anne Frank
3
Lesson Module Day 2
Title: Life in a Concentration Camp
6
Lesson module Day 3
Title: Holocaust: The Aftermath
8
Lesson Module Day 4
Title: Remembering the Holocaust
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Appendix I: Library of Congress Resources
14
Appendix II: Bibliography and Webliography
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Introduction
Book Backdrop Title:
“Diary of a young girl Anne Frank”
Focus Book Citation:
Frank, Otto, and Susan Massotty. Anne Frank The Dairy of a Young Girl. Delhi, Peguin Books
India Pvt. Ltd.: n.p., 2001. Print.
Focus Book summary:
During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, Anne Frank received a diary as one of her
presents on her 13th birthday. She began to write in it on June 14, 1942, two days later, and
twenty two days before going into hiding with her father Otto, mother Edith, older sister Margot,
and another family, Hermann van Pels, his wife Auguste, and their teenage son Peter. The group
went into hiding in the sealed-off upper rooms of the annex of her father's office building in
Amsterdam.
Book Setting:
1942, Nazi occupied Amsterdam, Netherlands. Hiding in the annex of her father’s office
building.
NCSS Notable Tradebook Theme:
Biography
Historical Period:
Great Depression and WW II
Grade range:
Intermediate 6th-8th grade students
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LESSON MODULE
Day 1
Title: Hiding for your life: Through the eyes of Anne Frank
Learning Goals:
Knowledge
•
•
•
Students will develop an understanding what it was like hiding during the Holocaust.
Students will become familiar with Anne Frank and her diary.
Students will begin to understand what the Holocaust was and the reasons behind it
through exploration of primary sources from the Library of Congress.
Skills
•
Students will create a blog post entry conveying their feelings of what they would feel
like if they were in Anne Frank’s shoes and hiding for their lives.
Dispositions
•
•
Students will develop compassion and empathy for the experiences of individuals living
through the Holocaust.
Students will be able to evaluate historical events from multiple perspectives and think
about the past in a critical manner.
Links to National Standards:
http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands
Time, Continuity, & Change: Social studies programs should include experiences that
provide for the study of the past and its legacy.
Individual Development and Identity: Social studies programs should include experiences that
provide for the study of individual development and identity.
Individuals, Groups, and Institutions: Social studies programs should include experiences that
provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and institutions.
Power, Authority, and Governance: Social studies programs should include experiences that
provide for the study of how people create, interact with, and change structures of power,
authority, and governance.
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Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture
and cultural diversity.
General Instructional Materials:
•
•
•
•
•
Copy of The Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank
Access to a computer
Paper
Pencil
Masking Tape
LOC Primary Source Materials:
•
Appendix Image #1: Image: Anne Frank headshots; published in 1963
Lesson Procedures:
Introduction
1. Begin by showing the YouTube video A Brief Introduction to the Holocaust and
WWII: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VGU9gMoNSA
2. After showing the video have students jot down their initial thoughts or questions
they may have after watching the short clip.
3. Then have a short discussion having students share their questions or ideas.
4. Hand out copies of The Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank to the students. Explain
that Anne Frank and her family were Jewish and had to go into hiding when the Hitler
and the Nazi’s were in power.
Development
1. Read aloud the journal entry from July 9, 1942. This excerpt describes the Secret
Annex where Anne and her family lived for two years. Also show students the
diagram the Anne sketched out.
2. Some other excerpts for students to read: Saturday May 1, 1943 (talking about how
the stuff they have is becoming over used and worn out), Tuesday April 11, 1944
(Police in the house), October 20th 1942 (False alarm: the carpenter), November 19th
1942 (Talking about Jews that are less fortunate and being taken away), February 3rd
1944: (Anne talking about not caring if she lives or dies)
3. After reading those excerpts let students explore the book and try and find some other
diary entries that stick out to them.
4. Call on a few students to share the entries they found interesting.
5. Have students talk to their table partner about why they think Anne kept a diary.
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6. Also have them discuss why it is important that she did keep a diary.
7. Then have students/groups share ideas with the class.
Culmination:
1. After students have read some excerpts from the story. Tape off an area of the room
that would be equal to the size of the secret annex. (75 sq. meters)
2. Let students explore the area sit inside walk around, etc.
3. Have students imagine being in this space and not being able to go outside for two
years. Also living with 8 other people that you may not get along with.
4. Ask them what things would be hard to do in this little space and how they would feel
living in this small of an area for such a long time.
Assessment Strategies Linked to Lesson Goals
1. Students will create a blog entry conveying how they would feel if they had to be in
hiding. (Teacher Note: Students will be familiar with blog writing prior to this lesson)
2. Students will share their feeling and thoughts in the blog post regarding hiding for their
lives.
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LESSON MODULE
Day 2
Title: Living in the Camps
Learning Goals:
Knowledge:
-
Students will know the difference between Concentration Camps and Death Camps
during the Holocaust.
Skills:
-
Students will write from the perspective of someone in either a concentration camp or a
death camp during the Holocaust.
Dispositions
-
Students will develop a better understanding of the events that occurred during the
holocaust and evaluate the perspectives of many people during that time.
National Council for Social Studies Themes:
-
Culture: Cultures are dynamic and change over time
Time Continuity and Change: Studying the past makes it possible for us to understand the
human story across time. Knowledge and understanding of the past enable us to analyze
the causes and consequences of events and developments, and to place these in the
context of the institutions, values and beliefs of the periods in which they took place.
Materials:
-
Holocaust Survivor Testimonies
Anne Frank Diary
Pencil
Paper
Blog
Chart Paper
Introduction:
1. Start off the lesson by reading a section from Anne Frank’s Diary about her experience in the
concentration camp.
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2. Students will divide into two groups.
3. One group will read stories from the perspectives of Jews living in concentration camps and
the other group will read stories from the perspectives of Jews living in death camps during the
holocaust.
Development:
1. Students will discuss with other members of their group what it would have been like to be in
either the concentration camps or death camps from the holocaust. They will discuss questions
such as
- What would it have been like to be in the camp?
- What would it be like to live with all the other people in the camp? Do you think they
knew very many people?
- What types of things do they find important? What gives them comfort while living in
the camps?
2. After discussing and thinking about what it would have been like to live in the camps students
will create their own diary entry from the perspective of someone living in the camp about what
it was like.
3. Students will pair up with someone from the other group and read them there diary entry.
Culmination:
The students will then discuss with their partner and create a chart of the similarities and
differences of the camps.
Assessment:
Students will add to their blog they have already been using throughout the unit. They will write
what they have learned about the concentration camps and death camps. They will also include
part of their diary entry into their blog.
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LESSON MODULE
Day 3
Title: Holocaust: The Aftermath
Learning Goals:
Knowledge:
• Students will understand the impact that the Holocaust had on all sides of the war.
Skills:
• Students will use research skills to find information about historical figures.
Dispositions:
• Students will be able to connect the Holocaust to the importance of religious freedom in
the United States.
Links to National Standards:
http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands
Culture: Cultures are dynamic and change over time.
Time, Continuity, and Change: Knowledge and understanding of the past enable us to analyze
the causes and consequences of events and developments, and to place these in the context of the
institutions, values and beliefs of the periods in which they took place.
Power, Authority, and Governance: The development of civic competence requires an
understanding of the foundations of political thought, and the historical development of various
structures of power, authority, and governance. It also requires knowledge of the evolving
functions of these structures in contemporary U.S. society, as well as in other parts of the world.
General Instructional Materials:
Images of Haggadah, and Nuremburg Trials.
IPads/Computers.
LOC Primary Source Materials:
• Image of the Haggadah
• Nuremburg Trial Image
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Lesson Procedures:
Introduction :
1. After students have all finished the text, including the afterword, lead a class discussion
on what became of Anne and her family. This is to connect the reading to the content
students will be studying, but is not meant to be the only focus of this lesson.
2. Ask students to discuss in their small groups where they think the Nazi soldiers went and
what happened to them, and also what they think happened to the Holocaust survivors.
3. Explain that the Holocaust survivors were free to leave and go to their homes if they
wanted to, but many stayed behind. Either their homes were destroyed and they had
nothing to go back to, or they were too sad to go back without their families. Tell that
they stayed behind in “Displaced person” camps and celebrated the return of their
freedom to practice their religion. The first Passover that they celebrated, or Haggadah,
is pictured below, and focused on survival. They stayed in these camps until President
Truman requested that they be given special access into Palestine.
4. As for the Nazis, explain that the Nuremburg trials started shortly after the end of the
war, which is how Nazi soldiers were charged for the crimes they committed during the
war.
Development :
1. Allow students to break into small groups of three.
2. Each group will choose either a Nazi soldier or a Holocaust survivor to research and find
out as much as they can about them.
3. After each group decides whether they want to research a Nazi or a Survivor, give them
prompting questions that they are to share with the class, along with the website they can
go to find this information.
Nazis http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/verdicts.html:
a. What was the crime they were charged with in the Nuremburg Trials?
b. What was their defense for why they did what they did?
Survivors http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaustsurivors/:
a. Where did he/she go after the war ended?
b. Where are they today?
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Culmination:
1. Invite students back together as a group after they are finished.
2. Each group will present their historical figure and answer the questions that were
assigned.
3. Afterwards, have a group discussion about the Nazi soldiers, and why they said they did
what they did. Discuss how many were required to follow orders and did not necessarily
agree with what they were told to do.
4. Discuss the importance of religious freedom in our country, and how this protects us
from hate crimes such as the Holocaust.
5. Finally, assign each student to write a blog post from the point of view of the person they
researched describing what the day the war ended was like for them.
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Lesson Module
Day 4
Title: Remembering the Holocaust
Learning Goals:
Knowledge
− Students will understand the purpose of a memorial.
− Students will identify several types of memorials found in the United States.
Skills
− Students will participate in the memorial designing process.
− Students will create a memorial commemorating the Holocaust.
Dispositions
− Students will begin to develop an ability to evaluate multiple perspectives, think
critically about the past, and grapple with the complexity of historical issues.
National Council for the Social Studies Themes:
http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands
Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of
culture and cultural diversity.
Time, Continuity, & Change: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide
for the study of the past and its legacy.
People, Places, & Environments: Social studies programs should include experiences that
provide for the study of people, places, and environments.
Individuals, Groups, and Institutions: Social studies programs should include experiences that
provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and institutions.
Power, Authority, and Governance: Social studies programs should include experiences that
provide for the study of how people create, interact with, and change structures of power,
authority, and governance.
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Materials Needed:
Monument/Memorial images
Vietnam Plan
Projector
Craft Supplies (construction paper, glue, tape, markers, cardboard, popsicle sticks, etc)
Lesson Procedures:
Introduction
1. Show students photos of several monuments and memorials. Ask students if they can
identify each one.
2. After students identify the given photos, ask the class if anyone knows of any other
monuments or memorials. As students share their ideas, do a Google search and pull up
the images for students to see.
3. After all student ideas have been exhausted, ask students what the purpose of a
monument or memorial is. Listen for an answer about helping people remember people or
things.
Development
1. Tell students that today, they will be creating a memorial for the Holocaust. Give students
the option of creating their memorial individually or in small groups.
2. Show students the design of the Vietnam Memorial. Tell students they will be creating a
design of their own memorial. Their design does not have to look like the one shown, but
it will give them idea of what a real design looks like.
3. Instruct students to first draw a design of what they want their memorial to look like.
Encourage students to be as creative as they want, there are no wrong answers. As you
circulate the room and observe designs, ensure that all designs are respectful.
4. Once initial designs are complete, have students gather supplies and begin to build a
model of their memorial. Models should be big enough for observers to understand, but
small enough that it fits nicely on a desk or table.
5. After model building is complete, have each student or group write a one page narrative
about their memorial. This narrative should include their inspiration for the design and
the connections their design has to the Holocaust. Students should also share two or three
things they learned about the Holocaust.
Culmination
1. Once all models and paragraphs are finished, have students present their models to the
class and read their narrative. If there is time, invite other classes to come observe the
memorials and listen to students present.
2. Show students photos of actual Holocaust memorials that can be found in the United
States.
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Assessment
1. The assessment portion of this lesson is the narrative students write about their memorial
and what they have learned.
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APPENDIX I:
IMAGES AND GRAPHIC MATERIALS
FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Image 1:
Six head shots of Anne Frank. Published in 1963.
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Image 2:
Floor Plan of where the Frank’s lived from the book.
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Image 3:
Living conditions in many concentration camps found in the images of the library of congress.
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Image 4:
Image of what life could have looked like in a concentration camp. Found in the library of
congress.
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Image 5:
This haggadah, used to celebrate the first Passover after the fall of Nazi Germany, April
15–16, 1946, was issued under the auspices of the United States Third Army with the
guidance of its chaplain, Rabbi Abraham J. Klausner. It was used for Jewish survivors
living in Displaced Persons Camps in Germany. The text is in Hebrew and Yiddish,
surrounded by illustrated borders. It was prepared by Yosef Dov Sheinson, a survivor of
the Kovno Ghetto. The woodcut illustrations were made by Miklos Adler (“Ben
Benjamin”), a Hungarian survivor. While the Passover story retells the Exodus of the
Israelites from oppression in ancient Egypt, this haggadah uses images that retell the
parallel suffering and killing under the Nazis. For this reason, it is often called “The
Survivors Haggadah.” The cover of the haggadah is imprinted in red, white, and blue,
with the letter “A” inside the letter “O,” the insignia of the United States Third Army of
Occupation. (Description received from Library of Congress website)
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Image 6:
Photograph shows view of the prisoners' box at the war crimes trial at Nuremberg, Germany, as
Hermann Goering was making his final plea. (Description received from Library of Congress
website)
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Image 7:
A memorial to the Holocaust in Miami, Florida found at: https://mailattachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=413af1f9e7&view=att&th=1423892c7ad
36200&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_hnrn75bj0&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8S5F10xiA7poEkJvY4
M6AC&sadet=1384123328754&sads=OII9cjTR0uuRYNpxa79f6bO57lY
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Image 8:
An image of the Lincoln Memorial, taken in 1923.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/npcc/24400/24416v.jpg
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Image 9:
Names from the Holocaust written on glass in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/highsm/12500/12562v.jpg
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Image 10:
Visitors to the Vietnam Wall, remembering those who served.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/dc/dc0900/dc0934/photos/051161pv.jpg
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Image 11:
The plan for the Vietnam Wall, designed by Maya Ying Lin in 1983.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3c20000/3c26000/3c26300/3c26391v.jpg
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Image 12:
An image of the Washington Monument, taken on August 28, 1963.
http://blogs.loc.gov/picturethis/files/2013/08/MOWDavidson31151.jpg
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APPENDIX II:
Bibliography and Webliography
Webiography of Supporting Online Resources for Students:
Stories and interviews of holocaust survivors:
A search engine site with links to stories and interviews from survivors of the Holocaust. This
resource will be used to help students find a Holocaust survivor that they are interested in
researching.
http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaustsurivors/
Virtual Library for students:
A resource from the Jewish Virtual Library listing people that were convicted during the
Nuremberg Trials. This resource will be used to help students find a Nazi soldier that they are
interested in researching.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/verdicts.html
Anne Frank Center:
The Anne Frank Center Website has a lot of information about Anne and her life as well as
excerpts and quotes from her diary.
http://annefrank.com/about-anne-frank/diary-excerpts/
History website:
This history website has some famous quotes and excerpts from Anne Frank’s diary, as well as other
information about the Holocaust.
http://alphahistory.com/holocaust/anne-frank-diary-1942-44/
Holocaust Testimonies/Survivor Stories
These three websites have very unique stories and perspectives on the experiences of the tragic horrors
that took place during the holocaust.
http://www.library.yale.edu/testimonies/excerpts/index.html
http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/survivors.php
http://holocaustlearning.org/survivors
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