Holocaust Education Unit Plan | 5-Week Trauma-Informed Curriculum

Teaching the Holocaust requires extraordinary care, historical accuracy, and a deep commitment to student well-being. This comprehensive 5-Week Holocaust Education Unit is designed for Grades 7–12 using Facing History & Ourselves best practices and a deeply trauma-informed pedagogical framework.

Move beyond dates and statistics to explore the depth of pre-war Jewish life, the escalation of Nazi persecution, the power of survivor testimony, and the vital importance of upstanders and memorialization. This unit provides everything you need to teach this difficult history with sensitivity, academic rigor, and profound respect for the victims and survivors.

🛑 CRITICAL EDUCATOR NOTE: This resource includes extensive Trauma-Informed Teaching Guidelines, community agreements, grounding exercises, and content warnings to ensure psychological safety for your students.

✅ WHAT’S INCLUDED :

1. Unit Foundations

Unit Overview & Rationale Trauma-Informed Teaching Guidelines (Before, During, and After the unit) Community Agreements Template & Vocabulary Guidelines 6 Essential Questions & Differentiation by Grade Band (7-8, 9-10, 11-12) 2. 25 Detailed Lesson Plans (5 Weeks)

Week 1: Pre-War Jewish Life & the Rise of Nazism (Lessons 1–5) Week 2: Escalation of Persecution & the Ghettos (Lessons 6–10) Week 3: The Camp System & Deportation (Lessons 11–15) Week 4: Rescuers, Upstanders & Resistance (Lessons 16–20) Week 5: Liberation, Memory & Legacy (Lessons 21–25) 3. 10 Primary Source Analysis Packets

Packets 1–2: Memoirs of pre-war Warsaw, Nuremberg Laws excerpts Packets 3–4: Adam Czerniaków’s Warsaw Ghetto diary, Dawid Sierakowiak’s Łódź Ghetto diary, Pavel Friedman's "The Butterfly" Packets 5–6: Wannsee Protocol, Jäger Report, Deportation notices, Arrival/Selection testimonies Packets 7–8: Rescuers (Ho Feng-Shan, Corrie ten Boom), Resistance (Mordechai Anielewicz, Zivia Lubetkin, "Zog Nit Keyn Mol") Packets 9–10: Eisenhower’s cable, Liberation testimonies, Nuremberg Trial openings, UN Genocide Convention, Elie Wiesel's Nobel Speech Each packet includes a Historical Context box, primary source excerpts, a structured Analysis Framework (Sourcing, Contextualization, Close Reading, Corroboration, Significance), and Discussion Questions. 4. 5 Survivor Testimony Discussion Guides

Guide 1: Elie Wiesel (Bearing Witness) Guide 2: Gerda Weissmann Klein (Resilience & Hope) Guide 3: Primo Levi (The Gray Zone & Human Dignity) Guide 4: Rena Finder (Survival & The Power of One Person - Schindler's List) Guide 5: Roman Kent (Memory & The Eleventh Commandment) Each guide includes Background, Pre-Viewing, During Viewing, and Post-Viewing questions, plus Trauma-Informed Notes. 5. 8 Rescuer Case Study Cards

Profiles: Irena Sendler, Oskar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg, Chiune Sugihara, Miep Gies, Nicholas Winton, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Carl Lutz. Each card includes Actions, Risks, Discussion Prompts, and Reflection Questions. 6. Interactive Activities & Assessments

Timeline Activity: 35+ key events from 1933–1948 with student notes column. Upstander Definition Activity: 4-step activity exploring the spectrum of behavior (Perpetrator to Upstander) with personal application. 3 Memorial Project Options: Memorial Design, Testimony Archive, Upstander Action Plan. Grading Rubric: 4-criteria rubric for the Memorial Projects (Historical Accuracy, Depth of Analysis, Creativity, Ethical Engagement). Unit Reflection Assessment: 5 in-depth synthesis questions. 📚 SKILLS COVERED

Primary source analysis (Sourcing, Contextualization, Corroboration, Close Reading) Empathetic listening and ethical discourse Historical thinking and tracing causation/escalation Identifying the spectrum of human behavior (Bystander vs. Upstander) Constructing evidence-based arguments Trauma-informed self-regulation and community care Civic responsibility and character education 💡 HOW TO USE

This unit is designed to be taught sequentially over 5 weeks but can be adapted to fit your schedule. Every lesson begins with a grounding exercise and ends with a debrief to ensure student emotional safety. Use the Primary Source Packets in small groups, the Survivor Guides as whole-class viewing/discussion activities, and the Rescuer Cards for jigsaw research. The unit culminates in a Memorial Project that bridges historical learning with contemporary civic action.

🎓 GRADE SUITABILITY

Grades 7–8 (Foundational): Focus on personal narrative, empathy, identifying choices, and community membership. Grades 9–10 (Intermediate): Focus on historical analysis, document corroboration, moral reasoning, and systemic factors. Grades 11–12 (Advanced): Focus on historiography, ethical philosophy, policy analysis, and comparative studies.