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Created by Laura Patton, January 2025.Midwest Center for Holocaust Education Grade Level6th-8th grade SubjectSocial StudiesLanguage Arts/Reading Time Needed2 class period(s) IntroductionIn this lesson, learners will compare and contrast the characteristics of long-standing and popular American youth organizations - 4-H, Scouting America, Girl Scouts, and FFA - with the characteristics of the Hitler Youth. Learners will have an opportunity to read, write, discuss, think critically, and form conclusions about the purpose and value of these organizations and the positive or negative effects they have on young people. This lesson was developed in cooperation with Lynette Wescott, a 6th grade teacher in…

One Survivor Remembers is a short documentary film (39:04 minutes) based on Gerda Weissmann Klein’s autobiography, All But My Life. The film and book tell of Gerda’s gradual separation from the members of her loving family, her years spent working in slave labor camps, the death march she endured, the tight-knit group of friends who helped her survive, and the American soldier who rescued her. The film won an Academy Award in 1995. It was produced by HBO and USHMM. Recommended for 7th grade and older with parent or teacher guidance.

Short film. 28:42 minutes. This film profiles both Jews who were rescued during the Holocaust and individuals who rescued Jews in France, Holland, and Poland, and raises questions about the moral and ethical dilemmas that rescuers confronted. It is narrated by Elie Wiesel. A transcript in English is available. Available via Facing History.

Heil Hitler: Confessions of a Hitler Youth. Short film. 30:24 minutes. This film is the testimony of Alfons Heck, who participated in the Hitler Youth as a boy. Heck's testimony is supported by historical films and photographs. Heck unflinchingly describes the effects of Nazi propaganda and makes an assessment of what happened to him from an adult point-of-view. This film works well in contrast with memoirs such as Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps by Andrea Warren or One Survivor Remembers about Gerda Weissman Klein. Warning: There are some brief graphic scenes of dead bodies late in…

Video. 18:53 minutes. Photographer Catherine Hanf Noren tells the story of her family, before, during, and after the Holocaust, through old photographs. Available via Facing History. English transcript available. (Note: The video quality is not superb. This short film was originally released on VHS. Nevertheless, this is an excellent short film about the impact of the Holocaust on the descendants of the survivors.)

The media and teaching strategies on this webpage accompany the lesson plans described in the guide Teaching Night from Facing History.

This teaching guide for Elie Wiesel's Night contains detailed lesson plans for the memoir. A print version of the guide is available for purchase, or the PDF version may be downloaded for free. Facing History has created a webpage called Media and Strategies for Teaching Night to support the guide. Look for the link to it on the MCHE website as well as on the Facing History website.