12 Holocaust Remembrance Day Activities for Students
International Holocaust Remembrance Day takes place on January 27 each year. This is a day for us to reflect on the events of the Holocaust during World War II and remember those affected by this and other genocides that followed. You can bring the discussion about these events into your classroom with a collection of 14 Holocaust Remembrance Day activities for students:
Teach students about the history of the Holocaust and World War II in social studies
Help students build background knowledge about the events and figures of the Holocaust and World War II using social studies resources and activities:
Discover why Holocaust Remembrance Day matters
Teach students about the significance of Holocaust Remembrance Day and how we still remember and reflect on the atrocities of genocide and anti-Semitism decades after World War II.
Discover the creative ways Holocaust advocates use social media to share survivors’ stories with younger generations.
See how the University of Southern California’s Shoah Foundation is working to preserve the stories of Holocaust survivors interactively.
Learn about a more recent anti-Semitic attack on a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania synagogue in 2018.
Teach students about the events of the Holocaust
The Holocaust was a four-year genocide with many turning points during that time. Students can learn more about some of these events, like:
How Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party rose to power in Germany.
How the German invasions in Europe during World War II further spread an anti-Semitic message.
How the American government responded to the events of the Holocaust.
Learn more about Europe during World War II
The events that led up to the Holocaust may have seemed minor at the time, but looking back, they pointed to signs of what was to come. Discover what life was like in Europe before and during World War II with resources like:
An explainer article about the Nuremberg Laws designed by the Nazi Party to take away the rights of German Jews.
An explainer article about what the 1933 Reichstag Fire was and how it enabled Hitler to consolidate power.
A dataset that shows population decreases across Europe during the Holocaust.
Build background information about U.S. involvement in World War II
The United States didn’t enter World War II until December 1941, after the Holocaust had already started. Historians often question whether the outcome would have changed if America entered the war earlier. Students can ponder this question themselves while examining articles on topics like:
Why Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in New York was the U.S.’s only Jewish refugee camp during World War II.
Why the Allied forces didn’t bomb the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.
How today’s Syrian refugees seeking asylum in the United States share similar experiences to Anne Frank’s family during World War II.
Engage in inquiry about bystander responsibility during atrocities
Many students would agree that someone who commits a harmful act holds responsibility for its outcome. But do bystanders who don’t commit and act but don’t intervene also have responsibility for the outcome? Use this question to start an inquiry lesson focused on bystanders from the Holocaust. The lesson includes content and resources from units like:
Make past-to-present connections with the Holocaust and World War II
Though the Holocaust ended nearly 80 years ago, we still live with the aftermath of those events today. Help students make past-to-present connections by exploring articles on topics like:
How Poland enacted a law to make it illegal to falsely accuse its nation of crimes committed by Nazi Germany.
The impact of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s History Unfolded project, which asks volunteers to research old local newspapers for articles about the Holocaust.
How the discovery of a jacket worn by a prisoner at the Nazi Dachau concentration camp led to uncovering a survivor’s story.
Discover how ideals, words, and the media influenced the events of the Holocaust and World War II in ELA
Beyond the basic facts of the Holocaust events, it’s important to examine primary and secondary sources from those who experienced it and artistic representations to better understand what life was like during that time. Students can engage in these types of activities using ELA resources.
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Hear from Holocaust victims and survivors
Firsthand accounts of historical events are some of the most important information we can use to learn about them. Through the “Voices of Victims and Survivors” collection, students can:
Learn why it’s important to remember victims of atrocities
Though nearly 6 million people died during the Holocaust, the memory of their suffering and experiences lives on. Students can learn why it’s important to hear from and remember these lost voices by exploring content like:
An excerpt of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Peace Prize speech, “Hope, Despair and Memory.”
A video that looks at the aftermath of the Holocaust for survivors and other Jews in Europe and around the world.
A video that explores how the events and the aftermath of the Holocaust are still significant today.
Explore first-person accounts of Holocaust survivors
Those who survived the Holocaust were able to share their stories with future generations. Students can hear some of these accounts by exploring resources like:
An article about how survivor Lily Ebert used TikTok to tell the story of her time in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
A video about how Ebert survived COVID-19 during the pandemic and what it was like to experience two world-changing events in her lifetime.
A video about survivor Sam Solasz’s story of living through war trauma and losing family members during the Holocaust.
Discover the causes of the Holocaust
Living in the aftermath of a world-altering event like the Holocaust makes it difficult to remember that there was life before and how specific events led to that life-changing era. Students can explore what life was like before the Holocaust and the events that led to it with resources like:
A video about how Hitler’s dictatorship came to power in Germany.
A video that shares rare home movies of the life of a German Jewish family in the years before World War II.
An article that breaks down the history of how Jewish people arrived in Poland and lived their lives before World War II.
Teach students how propaganda affected World War II
Propaganda, or the manipulation of public opinion through information or media, played a key role in Hitler’s rise to power and the events of World War II. Students can explore more about how this style of communication works with resources like:
An explainer article about the techniques, mediums, and uses of propaganda.
An article examining how Germany’s frugal ideals may have affected the country’s culture and politics.
An explainer article that discussed what “Yellow Journalism” is and how it influenced public opinion and politics around the world.
Discover early responses to the Holocaust
Many different countries and ethnic groups became involved with the Holocaust in different ways. Teach students about some of these perspectives using articles on topics like:
The history and origins of anti-Semitism around the world.
The roots, ideology, and effects of the totalitarian National Socialism movement in Germany.
The history of the word “genocide” which earned its definition during World War II.
Explore how anti-semitism still exists today
Though the Holocaust ended with World War II, anti-Semitism didn’t. Students can explore how and why this ideology still exists and how it affects politics, culture, and religion.
Read about how U.S. presidents have responded to anti-Semitic views and religious freedom.
Discover how a 94-year-old former Auschwitz camp guard was convicted and sentenced in 2016 for accessory to the murder of 170,000 people during the Holocaust.
Learn more about the Israel-Jordan peace agreement and how politics in the Middle East continue to strain this treaty.
Use paired fiction and nonfiction texts to better explain the Holocaust
A paired text analysis activity can help students understand different perspectives and viewpoints on topics like the Holocaust. To use this activity in your classroom:
Assign the fictional story “Two Violins” by Darienne Oaks, inspired by the Violins of Hope project.
Have students read a nonfiction article about how the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust uses art to teach history.
Have students complete a paired text analysis worksheet to answer the focus question, “How are the ideas from the articles similar or different?”
Looking for something longer to read as a whole class novel or suggest for independent reading? Explore Newsela’s Holocaust and World War II novel and book studies.
Keep the conversation going with more Newsela content and activities
With multiple holidays throughout the year commemorating important events in United States History, there are plenty of opportunities to create lessons around them for your classroom using Newsela’s subject products.
If you’re not a Newsela customer yet, you can sign up for Newsela Lite to start your free 45-day trial of our premium products. Then, you’ll have access to all the engaging, differentiated content you need to teach your students about events from World War II and beyond.