Scattered Seeds-Hidden Children of the Holocaust
Please prepare yourself by watching the entire program before showing it to your
students.
Overview:
Grade Level: 5 to 12
Time Allotment: Activities may be used as a complete unit or select and utilize
individual lessons.
Featured National Standards (History):
Grades 5-12:
Historical Thinking Standards
2. Historical Comprehension
B. Reconstruct the literal meaning of a historical passage by identifying who was
involved, what happened, where it happened, what events led to these developments, and
what consequences or outcomes followed.
C. Identify the central question(s) the historical narrative addresses and the
purpose, perspective, or point of view from which it has been constructed.
F. Appreciate historical perspectives--(a) describing the past on its own terms,
through the eyes and experiences of those who were there, as revealed through their
literature, diaries, letters, debates, arts, artifacts, and the like; (b) considering the
historical context in which the event unfolded--the values, outlook, options, and
contingencies of that time and place; and (c) avoiding “present-mindedness,” judging the
past solely in terms of present-day norms and values.
4. Historical Research Capabilities
A. Formulate historical questions from encounters with historical documents,
eyewitness accounts, letters, diaries, artifacts, photos, historical sites, art, architecture,
and other records from the past.
B. Obtain historical data from a variety of sources, including: library and museum
collections, historic sites, historical photos, journals, diaries, eyewitness accounts,
newspapers, and the like; documentary films, oral testimony from living witnesses,
censuses, tax records, city directories, statistical compilations, and economic indicators.
5. Historical Issues—Analysis and Decision-Making
A. Identify issues and problems in the past and analyze the interests, values,
perspectives, and points of view of those involved in the situation.
Featured State Standards (Missouri):
Show Me Performance Standards:
Goal 1 – 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9
Goal 2 - 1, 2, 4, 7
Goal 3 - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Goal 4 - 1, 5, 6
Social Studies Knowledge Standards - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Communication Knowledge Standards - 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Mathematics Knowledge Standards – 1, 3
Learning Objectives:
Students:
1. Will gain a greater understanding of what it meant to live during the Holocaust
2. Will interact with individuals providing primary source accounts of recent world
events
3. Become familiar with the era of World War II and the Jewish experiences
4. Learn about the Holocaust, hidden children, and what it meant to live during the
Holocaust
5. Develop an understanding of the choices, risks, and hardships faced by children in
hiding during the Holocaust
6. Will meet people and hear stories from diverse perspectives
Prep for Teachers:
• Study and select activities for your students
• Prepare to tape the documentary so that the students may recheck information
• Copy necessary materials from this curriculum. If necessary, print website
information cited for research
Introductory Activity: Air the documentary, Scattered Seeds-Hidden Children of
the Holocaust, for your students.
Lesson Taught:
Six million Jewish men, women, and children died during the Holocaust. Although the
United States of America entered the war in December 1941, this was not the start of the
War or the Holocaust. The first camp in Germany was Dachau and it was established in
March 1933. By 1942 there were many camps. The first camps were concentration
camps, intended to house enemies of the state. Extermination camps came later and were
established for the systematic murder of Jews, political prisoners, criminals,
homosexuals, gypsies, the mentally ill and others. After the invasion of Poland in
September 1939, concentration camps became places where millions of ordinary people
were enslaved as part of the war effort. Many of the prisoners died in the concentration
camps through deliberate maltreatment, disease, starvation, and overwork, or were
executed as unfit for labor. Most prisoners were transported by rail freight cars, often
with little or no food and water, and standing room only. Conditions were so atrocious
that many people died before reaching the camps.
Since entire families were sent to concentration and death camps, it is obvious that many
children died also. Although the actual number who died will never be known, estimates
range as high as 1.2 million Jewish children did not survive. All Jews were targeted for
death, but the mortality rate for children was especially high. Only 6 to 11% of Europe’s
prewar Jewish population of children survived as compared with 33% of the adults. The
chances for survival for adolescents between 13 and18 years of age were greater, as they
could be deployed at forced labor. Pre-adolescents were too young to be of use for
forced labor and so were often killed when they arrived at a death camp. Starvation and
exposure killed many other children.
But thousands of Jewish children did survive. Some left their homes to seek refuge in
other countries, sometimes with their families, sometimes without. Others survived
because their parents chose to hide their children in order to save them. Some children
passed as non-Jewish while others had to hide in attics, cellars, or barns. Whether hidden
in plain site or in actuality, both were dangerous. An accent, a mistake in customs, or
noise could expose the children and the caretaker’s family to danger.
Finding a caretaker was not easy, especially one who could keep a child safe for what
might turn into years. Desperate parents turned to all personal contacts, religious
organizations, and people who were driven to help by their own morals. Organized
rescue groups often found it necessary to move children from one caretaker to another,
for the safety of both parties.
The decision to hide a child was heart wrenching for the families. There was the obvious
very real risk of the parents not surviving to ever come back for their children. And if
they did survive, how would they find the child after several moves and the chaos of war?
Then there was the worry that the children would lose their Jewish identities. By
necessity they had to practice the religion of their caretakers, often had to be renamed,
and had no one to teach them Jewish rites and theology.
Once the war ended, Jewish organizations attempted to reunite families. Some children
had been with their caretakers so long, their biological family was completely foreign to
them. The children didn’t want to go with the parents, and the caretakers didn’t want to
give up children they had become attached to. All too often though, there were no
surviving family members to reclaim a child.
Learning Activity: Language Arts
Activity Set One: Group Discussion
Materials Needed: Scattered Seeds-Hidden Children of the Holocaust for the
children to view, whiteboard, chalkboard, or poster paper to record feelings.
Lead your class in a group discussion by asking some or all of the following
questions:
How did watching this personal story make you feel?
How do you think the little girls felt during this experience?
Can you imagine doing what the parents did in leaving their children? Explain
your thinking.
 Discuss some of ways in which the two survivors share that their own identities
were affected by this experience. What impact do you feel this may have had on
them and the choices they made as adults
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Learning Activity: Language Arts
Activity Set Two: Group Feelings
Materials Needed: whiteboard, chalkboard, or poster paper to record feelings.
While the numbers involved in the Holocaust are vast, students often do not see
the actual people behind the numbers. Divide your students into five groups. Each group
will represent one type of person; Nazi soldiers, Jewish parents, Jewish children,
caretakers, and the children of caretakers. Have each group brainstorm about how their
type of person would act and feel about hidden children. Have them present about their
type of person through poetry, a short play, or short story.
Learning Activities: Social Studies and Math
Activity Set Three: Holocaust Map
Materials Needed: maps of Europe from pre and post World War II, blank maps
of Europe, computers, internet access
Have your students research pre and post War World II geography and color in
countries on their maps accordingly. Now, have them research the pre and post Jewish
population of each country and enter the numbers on the respective maps. Now, have
them calculate the percentage of the Jewish population that survived.
Here are some questions to pose to your class:
 Consider the number of students who are in your class right now. If you and your
classmates had all been Jews living in Poland during WWII, how many students
would still be in your class at the end of the war?
 If you and your classmates had been Jews living in Denmark during WWII, how
many students would still be in your class at the end of the war?
 What factors helped to determine the number of survivors from country to
country?
Learning Activities:
Activity Set Four: Character Education
Materials Needed: computers, internet access
As your class noted from the above activity, some countries had much higher
rates of Jewish survivors than did others. Sometimes it was because of government
policy, other times it was because of individuals who chose to help their friends and
neighbors. One of the most well known inviduals is Miep Gies, who hid Anne Frank, her
family and four other Jews in an attic. But there were many others. The Holocaust
Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, organized by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust
memorial in Israel, has been charged with the duty of awarding non-Jews who rescued
Jews the honorary title of Righteous among the Nations. Since 1963 24,355 people have
been awarded this title. Have your students research people from the countries with the
most and least survivors to see what characteristics of the people caused them to save
Jews at risk of their own lives. These may be listed on paper, white boards, or notepaper.
Lead a discussion on what qualities they see within themselves or others that are similar.
Ave your students reflect about what they think they might have done, based on the
qualities they identified. Reflections may be presented in the form of a journal entry,
poem, short story, or artwork.
Useful Links to Websites
Liquid Light: Scattered Seeds – Hidden Children of the Holocaust, http://www.hmlc.org/
Holocaust Museum and Learning Center, http://www.hmlc.org/
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, http://www.ushmm.org/
Yad Vashem, http://www.yadvashem.org/
A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust, http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/activity/activity.htm
Education World, Teaching the Holocaust Lesson Plan,
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson187.shtml