Governor Phil Murphy • Lt. Governor Tahesha Way

NJ Holocaust Grades 5-8 Curriculum: Unit 2

Unit Topic: The World Changes - From Prejudice to Policy
Grade(s): 5-8

Unit Goal: Students will develop an understanding of the nature of a totalitarian regime, the strategies and tactics it uses to control and influence people, and the devastating impact it has on the people and groups targeted for persecution.

Objectives:

  1. Offer an overview of the circumstances surrounding the rise of the Nazi party and Hitler coming to power in Germany in 1933. 
  2. Describe trends and challenges in the prewar Jewish world.
  3. Analyze what propaganda is and how it works. Explore the widespread influence of propaganda in Nazi Germany to inculcate the population. 
  4. Explain the tenets of the Nuremberg Laws and the escalation of anti-Semitic rhetoric and policies in 1930s Germany. 
  5. Examine various aspects of Nazi policies and their impact on individuals and groups deemed inferior. 
  6. Study Kristallnacht and its widespread significance and impact. 
  7. Define scapegoat, anti-Semitism, immigration, emigration, and refugee. 
  8. Explore the world’s responses to the plight of the German Jews and the onset of World War II. 
  9. Reflect on visual and written testimony from Jewish survivors and others who witnessed the Holocaust.

  1. What factors in Germany lead to the demise of the Weimar Republic, a democracy, and the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party?
  2. How did the Nazi party inculcate the German population in 1930s Germany? 
  3. What role did propaganda play?
  4. What were the Nuremberg Laws, and how do they reflect the build-up of anti-Jewish policies and decrees in 1930s Germany?
  5. Why was it so difficult for Jews to leave Germany? 
  6. What is the meaning and significance of Kristallnacht?
  7. What lessons can we learn from studying the Holocaust?

  1. World War I had devastating effects on Germany. 
  2. Our choices are shaped by the world around us and influence our identity and behavior.
  3. Genocide is a possible consequence of prejudice and discrimination
  4. The decisions people make about who belongs & who is excluded shapes our interactions
  5. Propaganda is a powerful weapon.

Non-fiction:

  1. Who Was Anne Frank? By Anne Abramson (2007) Anne Frank Introductory Lesson
  2. Anne Frank’s Diary - Graphic Adaptation by Folman Ari (2018) Exploring Anne Frank's Diary
  3. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (2006)
  4. Behind the Bedroom Wall by Laura E. Williams (2005)
  5. We Had to Be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport by Deborah Hopkinson (2022)
  6. Salvaged Pages edited by Alexandra Zapruder (2005)  Salvaged Pages Lesson Finding Aid

Fiction:

  1. White Bird: A Wonder Story by  R.J. Palacio (2019)
  2. Daniel’s Story by Carol Matas (1993) Learning from Daniel’s Story: Understanding Prejudice, Racism and Discrimination
  3. Refugee by Alan Gratz (2017) Scholastic Discussion Guide
  4. Emil and Karl by Yankev Glatshteyn (2006)
  5. Friedrich by Hans Peter Richter (1993) Friedrich Teacher’s Guide
  6. Benno and the Night of Broken Glass by Meg Wiviott (2010) Benno Teaching Guide

  1. USHMM Video The Path to Nazi Genocide with accompanying lesson plan 
  2. “Holocaust Timeline Activity” A USHMM lesson adaptable for grades 7-8 analyzes a multi-layered timeline that encourages critical thinking about the relationship between Nazi policy, World War II, historical events, and individual experiences during the Holocaust.
  3. What Rights Are Most Important to Me? An Echoes and Reflections lesson asking students to rank personal rights choices in order of importance. Students are encouraged to think about the interdependence of rights and their own inner conflict in having to create a hierarchy of rights.
  4. “Holocaust Narrative through Historical Photos” an adaptable lesson from USHMM that focuses on pre-war Jewish life through the analysis of images and videos. 
  5. The Power of Propadanda - A Facing History and Ourselves lesson that analyzes several examples of Nazi propaganda and considers how the Nazis used media to influence the thoughts, feelings, and actions of individual Germans.
  6. “The Rise of Nazism in Germany” adaptable lesson from the Museum of Jewish Heritage, which examines the rise of Nazism in Germany, with a focus on examining anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic propaganda by analyzing propaganda images to explore false stereotypes used to spread prejudice against Jews.
  7. “Youth and the National Community” an adaptable lesson from Facing History and Ourselves evaluating the experiences of people in Nazi Germany through a variety of firsthand accounts and identify the range of choices that they faced.
  8. “Antisemitism” - An adaptable unit from Echoes and Reflections looking at the origins of antisemitism and how this hatred was exploited by the Nazis during the 1920s and 1930s as part of their racist ideology. 
  9. “Nazi Germany” An adaptable unit from Echoes and Reflections looking at historical events that allowed for the complete breakdown of democracy in Germany between 1933 and 1939, which led to the unfolding of anti-Jewish policies. 
  10. “No Time to Think” an adaptable reading from Facing History and Ourselves exploring bystander behavior, conformity, and obedience in a German college professor’s account of how he responded to Nazi policies and ideology.
  11. “Jewish Responses to Discrimination in Nazi Germany: Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht” adaptable lesson from the Museum of Jewish Heritage which explores the Jewish response to these acts of discrimination through the study of artifacts, photographs, and primary source texts.
  12. “Some Were Neighbors: Collaboration & Complicity in the Holocaust” - adaptable lesson from iWitness focusing on the actions of ordinary people during Kristallnacht.

  1. Word Wall - to define key terms related to understanding prejudice and discrimination
  2. Create a found poem - a strategy best used with diaries or memoirs
  3. Create an identity chart - a strategy to analyze the characteristics of individuals by creating an identity chart
  4. Analyze Images - Use images in the text to provide deeper understanding and encourage meaningful conversation
  5. KWL Charts - helps students identify previous knowledge and create inquiry based questions
  6. Identity Charts - a graphic tool that can help students consider the many factors that shape who we are as individuals
  7. Investigate artifacts through use of the United States Holocaust Museum Curators Corner video series
    1. Fragments of Childhood: The de Groot Family Home Movies
    2. Peter Feigl’s Diary
    3. I Am Going to Be a Witness: Maria Madi’s Diary
    4. Accidental Witnesses to History: The Baker Collection
    5. From Image to Rescue: The Gavra Mandil Collection
  8. USHMM Holocaust Encylopedia entry on Kristallnacht
  9. Confessions of a Hitler Youth - A Facing History and Ourselves testimonial looking at the importance of peer pressure and propaganda to Hitler's ability to recruit eight million German children to participate in the "war effort."
  10. “The Hangman” this activity analyzed the Maurice Odgen poem exploring bystander behavior and the challenges of speaking up. 
  11. USHMM Visual Testimonial by Fritz Gluckstein describing the impact the Nuremberg Race Laws had on life in Germany.  on the Nuremberg Race Laws
  12. Lesson Plans on the Kindertransport from the Zekelman Holocaust Center
  13. “What did Refugees Need to Obtain a US Visa in the 1930s?” USHMM Interactive

  1. USHMM Exhibit Remember the Children: Daniel’s Story
  2. USHMM Teaching Materials on Propaganda 
  3. Yad Vashem Holocaust Education Video Toolbox 
  4. USHMM Holocaust Encyclopedia
  5. Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Student Friendly Version
  6. The Holocaust: History and Memory Take A Virtual Field Trip through the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  7. Teaching Salvaged Pages: Young Writers' Diaries of the Holocaust teaching guide from Facing History and Ourselves
  8. iWitness - provides access to more than 1,500 full life histories, testimonies of survivors and witnesses to the Holocaust and other genocides for guided exploration 
  9. Zachor Holocaust Commission -a free resource and interactive teaching tool that focuses on the Eastern European section of World War II. The unique curriculum includes stimulating lesson plans, videos, and historical interactive timeline that will provide a lasting impact on participants
  10. History Unfolded - USHMM project that looks at what was possible for Americans to have known about the Holocaust as it was happening and how Americans responded.

Correlating New Jersey Student Learning Standards:

  • English Language Arts
  • Social Studies
  • Comprehensive Health & Physical Education
  • Career Readiness, Life Literacies and Key Skills

Supporting Legislative Mandates:

English Language Arts

RH.6-8.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources. 

RH.6-8.2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

RH.6-8.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies. 

RH.6-8.5. Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally). 

RH.6-8.6. Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).

RH.6-8.7. Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts. 

RH.6-8.8. Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text. 

RH.6-8.9. Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

RH.6-8.10. By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Social Studies

6.1.5.CivicsCM.1: Use a variety of sources to describe the characteristics exhibited by real and fictional people that contribute(d) to the well-being of their community and country.

6.1.5.CivicsDP.2: Compare and contrast responses of individuals and groups, past and present, to violations of fundamental rights (e.g., fairness, civil rights, human rights).

6.1.5.CivicsPD.3: Explain how and why it is important that people from diverse cultures collaborate to find solutions to community, state, national, and global challenges.

6.1.5.HistoryUP.6: Evaluate the impact of different interpretations of experiences and events by people with different cultural or individual perspectives.

6.1.5.HistoryUP.7: Describe why it is important to understand the perspectives of other cultures in an interconnected world.

6.1.12.CivicsHR.11.a*: Assess the responses of the United States and other nations to the violation of human rights that occurred during the Holocaust and other genocides. 

6.1.12.HistoryUP.11.b*: Compare the varying perspectives of victims, survivors, bystanders, rescuers, and perpetrators during the Holocaust.

6.2.12.CivicsPI.4.b*: Assess government responses to incidents of ethnic cleansing and genocide.

6.2.12.CivicsHR.4.a*: Analyze the motivations, causes, and consequences of the genocides of Armenians, Ukrainians, Jews in the Holocaust and assess the responses by individuals, groups, and governments and analyze large-scale atrocities including 20th century massacres in China.

6.2.12.HistoryCC.4.b*: Assess the short- and long-term demographic, social, economic, and environmental consequences of the violence and destruction of the two World Wars. 

6.2.12.HistoryCC.4.c*: Analyze the extent to which the legacy of World War I, the global depression, ethnic and ideological conflicts, imperialism, and traditional political or economic rivalries caused World War II.

6.2.12.HistoryCC.4.g*: Use a variety of resources from different perspectives to analyze the role of racial bias, nationalism, and propaganda in mobilizing civilian populations in support of “total war.” 

6.2.12.HistoryUP.4.c*: Compare and contrast the actions of individuals as perpetrators, bystanders, and rescuers during events of persecution or genocide, and describe the long-term consequences of genocide for all involved.

6.2.12.CivicsHR.6.a*: Evaluate the effectiveness of responses by governments and international organizations to tensions resulting from ethnic, territorial, religious, and/or nationalist differences.

*By the end of grade 12 performance expectations may be taught in the middle grades.

Career Readiness, Life Literacies and Key Skills

9.4.5.GCA.1: Analyze how culture shapes individual and community perspectives and points of view.