The New England Holocaust Memorial (NEHM) Mobile Tour was developed in collaboration with Facing History and Ourselves, an international educational organization that helps students connect choices made in the past to those they will confront in their own lives. These resources provide a rich, deep, and comprehensive learning experience to educators who want to make their teaching about the Holocaust relevant and meaningful to students. Explore the connections to current antisemitism, bigotry, racism, and hate with Facing History and Ourselves.

The New England Holocaust Memorial (NEHM) Virtual Tour provides a rich, deep, and comprehensive learning experience to educators who want to make their teaching about the Holocaust relevant and meaningful to students. Explore the connections to current antisemitism, bigotry, racism, and hate.

If you are looking for resources to teach about the Holocaust, it is helpful to look at the lessons in Facing History and Ourselves’ Holocaust and Human Behavior, one week unit and one month unit for essential background. This video provides a concise summary of the phases of the Holocaust.

The following lesson plans and resources provide helpful supporting materials to specific Stops on the NEHM Virtual Tour:

Stop 1:

• Lesson Plans:

• • How Should We Remember?: How should we remember the past? What impact do memorials and monuments have on the way we think about history? What parts of the history of the Holocaust are most important for us to remember today? How can we ensure that this history is not forgotten?
  • Visual Essay: Holocaust Memorials and Monuments: How do we keep history alive in our communities? Which events and people are worth remembering, and why?
  • Using Testimony to Teach: What can we learn from the voices of survivors; first hand accounts of their unique experiences before, during and after  the Holocaust.  Use the video clips in the tour to listen to their voices and the lessons here to expand your exploration.

Stop 1 and Stop 7: 

• Lesson Plan:
  • Numbers, Names and the New England Holocaust Memorial
  • How are names and numbers used as symbols in this memorial? How does our understanding of numbers and names affect our understanding of the Holocaust? This is a general exploratory lesson for the memorial.
• More About:
  • Sonia Weitz

Stop 2: 

• Lesson Plan:
  • As the War Ended: Learn more about Leon Bass and consider other eyewitness accounts of liberation.
  • Justice and Judgment after the Holocaust: Use this lesson plan to think about the American search for justice.
• More About:
  • Stephan Ross

Stop 3:

• Lesson Plans:
  • The Power of Propaganda:  How did the Nazis use propaganda to influence individuals’ attitudes and actions and to cultivate public support for their idea of a “national community”? How do explicit and implicit messages in the media (including television, the internet, film, radio, etc.) influence people’s beliefs, feelings, and actions?
  • Kristallnacht:  What do the variety of responses to Kristallnacht teach us about the ways that people respond in times of fear and crisis?
  • Introducing Schindlers List to a New Generation: Rena Finder’s  survival because of Oskar Schindler. The story of  Schindler’s List. The guide to the  movie helps us understand  the complexity of Schindler as a rescuer.
  • A Conversation with Steven Spielberg: Using Schindler’s List in the Classroom:  On-demand webinar
• More About:
  • Rena Finder

Stop 4: 

• Lesson Plan:
  • The Holocaust: Bearing Witness: Consider the escalation of violence against the Jews and others, and learn how the final solution, a systematic extermination of Jews worldwide, happened.
  • The Holocaust: Range of Responses: There were a range of responses that we think of as bystanders, perpetrators, rescuers and victims, but it was more complex than choosing one thing to be.
• More About: 
  • Israel Arbeiter : A Promise to My Father film, The Izzy Arbeiter Story

Stop 5:

• Lesson Plan:
  • Teaching Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of the Holocaust: The lessons in this collection can be taught as a set, following the chronology of the Holocaust, or used individually. Each lesson uses core academic skills to engage learners in a careful study of the text as an entry point to an exploration of a key event or theme in the history of the Holocaust.
  • Forgetting Isn’t Healing: A companion guide to teaching Elie Wiesel’s Night
• Suggested Teaching Strategy:
  • Building a Silent Conversation
• More About:
  • David Greenfield

Stop 6: 

• Lesson Plans:
  • Teaching Night : Elie Wiesel lived and taught at Boston University where a Center is named after him. His memoir, Night, is read all over the world and is required reading in many schools in Massachusetts.
  • Holocaust Survivor Stories in the Classroom: On-demand webinar featuring documentarian, Rachel Cerrotti, and Holocaust survivor and educator, Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff
• More About: 
  • Rachael Cerrotti
  • Samuel Bak 

Stop 7: 

• More About:
  • Anna Ornstein: Hear how Anna Orenstein’s story has impacted teachers, students and family.

Stop 8:

• Lesson Plans:
  • After Charlottesville: Public Memory and the Contested Meaning of Monuments: What is the purpose of memorials and monuments? What impact do they have on us and the way we think about history? What can we learn from memorials and monuments about the beliefs and values of the people who created them? How can individuals and communities shape public memory and influence people’s beliefs and attitudes through the creation of memorials and monuments
  • After Charlottesville: Contested History and the Fight against Bigotry: Why do some symbols from the past provoke such strong feelings in individuals and communities? How do our beliefs about the past influence our choices in the present? Why does it matter how we understand the history of the Civil War and Reconstruction?
  • Teaching Current Events: Bigotry and Hate: These resources offer sensitive entry points to confront troubling violence and injustice, including terrorism, genocide, and attacks on human rights.
• More About: 
  • Janet Applefield

Stop 9:

• Lesson Plans: 
  • Do You Take the Oath? 
    • What factors influence our choices about whether to speak up or stay quiet in response to injustice?
  • Choosing to Participate 
    • How can we determine the most effective way to make a difference in our neighborhood, our nation, and the world? Which strategies are best for bringing about the changes we want to see?
  • Teaching Current Events: Democracy and Civic Engagement

Contemporary Issues, Civic Engagement, and Choosing to Participate 

• From Reflection to Action: A Choosing to Participate Toolkit
• Standing Up to Hatred and Intolerance

Visit Facing History’s Professional Development calendar to find in-person workshops and seminars, or explore their On-Demand Learning Center for professional learning experiences that fit your schedule. Some Holocaust-themed examples include

Getting Started with Holocaust and Human Behavior self-paced course

Those Who Were There: Using Podcasts and Survivor Testimony in the Classroom on-demand webinar

New Holocaust and Human Behavior Lessons for Experienced Educators in Jewish Settings on-demand webinar