Planning a Program for Yom Hashoah? Free Educator Materials

Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, is April 19. Many schools and community organizations create programs to observe the gravity of the loss of lives during the Holocaust and to educate and create awareness among future generations.

Creating compelling programming for schools can pose a challenge, especially for children in younger grades who have not yet learned about the magnitude of the Holocaust. Children's picture books can be important tools for teaching about the Holocaust. A book like Benno and the Night of Broken Glass tells about Kristallnacht, but follows a day in the life of a cat in Berlin to show the destruction and disappearance of people from the community. A picture book like this can provide a basis for thought-provoking discussion and real learning even among children in very early grades.

This free resource guide provides context, definitions for vocabulary and allusions, questions for pre- and post-reading, and suggested activities. Download it here.






Kar-Ben has free resource materials to accompany several Holocaust related books:

This resource guide for Janusz Korczak's Children provides context, definitions for vocabulary and allusions, questions for pre- and post-reading, and suggested activities. Download it here.




 
A Comprehensive Study Guide for Teachers prepared by Tolerance Minnesota©, a program of the Jewish Community Relations Council.

This study guide is designed to help students, teachers, and families prepare for and discuss Six Million Paper Clips: The Making of a Children's Holocaust Memorial. It contains background information, lessons and activities for students in grades 6-12. Download it here.

The Secret of Priests Grotto combines natural history and family history to tell the remarkable story of the Stermer family, an extended Jewish that survived the Holocaust by hiding in the labyrinth of Ukrainian caves known as Priests Grotto to escape Nazi persecution. Download a teacher's guide.