These two educational resources were developed for students in the 6th and 10th grades studying the Holocaust. Through work with primary sources (testimonies, documents, photos), students assume the role of historians. This will encourage intellectual curiosity and the development of critical thinking skills, and lead eventually to a deeper understanding of historical events. Students are introduced to the complexity of the Holocaust by studying a variety of historical aspects and perspectives. Ultimately, by working with a survivor story, students will focus first and foremost on the Jewish victim's wartime experience.
Entry Denied, Dignity Restored: The Story of the St. Louis
Ages: 11+
Duration: 1.5 - 2 hours
The teaching unit, Entry Denied, Dignity Restored depicts a variety of key events from the time of the Holocaust and World War II. It also bundles a multitude of different perspectives: In addition to the Jewish protagonists, there is a non-Jewish captain who is confronted with almost irresolvable dilemmas and situations. Built upon the foundation of collaborative learning, this unit incorporates group work, peer learning and class discussion. Through various classroom activities, students discover and reconstruct the personal story of a Holocaust survivor, Ana Maria Gordon.
In order to ensure that young students learn about the Holocaust without being exposed to emotional harmful images and information, a set of educational principles has been established by Yad Vashem.
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What Does This Story Mean to Me? The Story of the St. Louis
Ages: 15+
Duration: 1.5 - 3 hours
The teaching unit, What Does this Story Mean to Me? aims to show ways, connected to the present of our students, into the history and stories of the past. The materials, framed in a clear historical location of the topic, provide for heterogeneous learning groups, recognizing the diverse experiences and perspectives that shape the view of today's generations of schoolchildren on the history of the Holocaust. Through four main themes: The ship and its captain, and the biographies of Hannelore Klein, Peter Gay, and Wilhelm Bornstein, pedagogical considerations are primarily intended to dissolve any feeling of distance, open up the history of the Holocaust in its complex diversity, and enable new approaches for young generations.
This teaching unit is available online for self-printing (see below) or a printed hard copy can be purchased from Yad Vashem's online store.
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