Teaching the Holocaust Using Art

In the video, "Teaching the Holocaust using Art", ISHS staff member Liz Elsby discusses various approaches to utilizing Holocaust art in teaching the Holocaust to your students. As she stresses, a teacher does not have to be an expert in the field to broach this topic. Focusing on three individual artworks, Elsby demonstrates how exploring the artistic aspects of each painting, together with the context in which they were created and the questions they raise, combine to deepen our understanding of the Holocaust as a human event.

Liz Elsby is an artist, graphic designer, and guide at Yad Vashem.

• Part 1: Teaching the Holocaust Using Art - Introduction
• Part 2: Felix Nussbaum - Le Réfugié (The Refugee)
• Part 3: Halina Olomucki - The Armband Peddler
• Part 4: Carol Deutsch – “In Her Mouth Was an Olive Leaf”
• Part 5: Artwork & Credits

Further pedagogical considerations

• Artworks should be chosen in keeping with our educational philosophy, in an age-appropriate manner.
• Art occupies a space where words don’t suffice; it is often a form of expression compelled by a combination of circumstances and of the artist him- or herself.
• The idea in a painting is often layered and multifaceted. Consider it from various angles.
• Consider the artwork also as a historical source. As it is inevitably impacted by circumstance at least to some degree, consider what it says about the reality in which it was made.

Teaching aids