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A Guide to Primary Resources for U.S. History
World War II Back to History Unit

(e) analyzing the Holocaust (Hitler's "final solution"), its impact on Jews and other groups, and postwar trials of war criminals.

Personal Histories of the Holocaust
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Description: This excellent project website contains the following segments: "Children, Ghettos, Camps, Refugees, Resistance, Hiding, Survival, Deportations, Aid and Escape, Liberation, Aftermath, Individuals." It is particularly interesting to link to "Hiding" and compare the stories there with The Diary of Anne Frank; but all the segments are fascinating and offer much valuable material for student exploration. Some of the stories are further personalized by a RealAudio component which presents short interview clips. (Primary source material - oral history).



Teaching Tips:

"Do Now" Suggestion
  • There are a number of links to video clips of the people telling their personal histories. The teacher can show a clip and have students respond in a journal entry or create metaphors to describe the experience.
Suggestion for Using this Resource as Part of a Lesson
  • Students can investigate a question and come up with a research question, regarding the personal histories of the people on the site. First, they should fill out an I-Chart Organizer for their question. The teacher might then expand the research into a paper assignment. The students can investigate this site at the same time that they are reading The Diary of Anne Frank. They can compare Anne's experience to the experiences described in the website's personal histories, especially in the "Hiding" section.

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