Liberation and Return to Life

Teaching about survivors after liberation is an oft overlook facet in Holocaust liberation. In keeping with our principle of appraoching the Holocaust as a human story, just as we should teach about Jewish life before the Holocaust in order to understand what was lost, so we must teach about survivors, as liberation was by no means complete. As for the former, the Holocaust would rupture a continuity of life in Europe, for the latter the struggle for continuity was imbued by the rupture that had just occured. In this environment, we offer a variety of entry points into this fascinating and moving chapter, following survivors from their first steps of liberation, the dawning realization of the extent of the tragedy that had befallen them and, for some, the first steps towards buidling a new life, often beginning in Dispaced Persons' Camps in Europe.

This unit is part of a series of online educational units on select topics within Holocaust education. In these unique educational environments, we present a variety of teaching aids and auxiliary materials to assist the educator in teaching the subject, offering educators not only the historical information they need, but also the pedagogical tools to facilitate the lesson. The format allows educators to choose from the range of materials offered: instructional videos, lesson plans, presentations, archival materials, filmed testimonies, historical background information, and primary source materials (documents, photographs, diaries, maps, etc.).