Holocaust Memorial Day: 27 January 2005<

Resources for use in schools

Survivors, liberation and rebuilding lives

Holocaust Memorial Day is an event that can be included in the school's timetable, as an assembly and in a variety of subjects. It was established 'so that horrendous crimes against humanity, during the Nazi persecution and the ethnic cleansing and killing that has taken place in Europe in more recent years, are never forgotten'. (Tony Blair, Prime Minister, 11 June 1999)

27 January was chosen as the day for remembrance because it is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

You may wish to use the Holocaust Memorial Day assembly outline for key stage 2 and 3, provided by a reader of the National Society web site.

The following list of resources may also help you if you are intending to cover Holocaust Memorial Day in assemblies or lessons.

Web sites

www.holocaustmemorialday.gov.uk
www.bethshalom.com
www.jewishmuseum.org.uk
www.het.org.uk (Holocaust Educational Trust)

A range of resources are available through these sites, covering primary and secondary ages, with material suitable for assemblies and lessons. The Education section ofthe Holocaust Memorial Day web site provides some useful guidelines for teachers and educators.

There are also a number of resources available from previous years. These cover the period of Nazism, genocide in Rwanda, Bosnian refugees and Holocaust survivor stories. They can be found on the Holocaust Memorial Day web site or by telephoning Hamilton House on 01536 399010.

Recommended resources

• Video: Wasted Lives (suitable for secondary schools)
• The Last Goodbye (Kindertransport): A primary resource, available from the Jewish Museum, Finchley.
• I have not seen a butterfly around here? ISBN 8085608189.
• E. Ayer, Parallel Journeys, ISBN 0 689 83236 2.
• A. Meyer Meinback & M. Kassenoff, Memories of the Night, ISBN 0 86734 777 5.
• C. H. Bishop, Twenty and Ten, ISBN 0 14 031076 2.
• Eve Bunting, Terrible Things, ISBN 0 8276 0325 8.

Further resources reviewed

Patricia Polacco, The Butterfly, ISBN 0 399 23170 6. A beautifully illustrated story about children in France during the Second World War. The 'ghost' at the bottom of Monique's bed turns out to be a young Jewish girl named Sevrine, who has been hiding in the basement. Playing secretly, the two girls become friends, until they are discovered. Suitable for primary ages and above, a passionate and true tale of friendship from the French Resistance.

Ken Mochizuki, Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story, ISBN 1 880000 49 0. In 1940, five year old Hiroki Sugihara, the eldest son of the Consul to Lithuania, saw hundreds of Jewish refugees from Poland standing outside the Consulate window. They had come to ask Hiroki's father if he could write visas for them to escape the Nazi threat. Based on Hiroki's own words, this is the story of one man's remarkable courage and the respect that was built between father and son because the welfare of others was placed so highly. Suitable for key stage 2 and above

Shulamith Levey Oppenheim, The Lily Cupboard, ISBN 0 06 443393 5. Set in the Netherlands, Miriam is sent away from the city to live with non-Jews in the country. She hides in the lily cupboard. A lovely story, suitable for ages 6 to 8.

Anne L. Fox and Eva Abraham-Podietz, Ten Thousand Children, ISBN 0 874 4168 5. True stories told by children who were in Germany and escaped the Holocaust on the kindertransport. An excellent teacher resource with background information and updates on what happened to each of the children after the war.

Miriam Nerlove, Flowers on the Wall, ISBN 0 689 50614 7. Rachel dreams of becoming an artist in Paris but because she is Jewish and living in Warsaw, Poland, during the Second World War, she finds the only painting she can do is inside, on the apartment walls. Rachel's dreams vanish when she and her family are sent to Treblinka, a Nazi concentration camp. This is a moving story, inspired by a photograph taken in 1939 of a child in a flower-painted basement in Warsaw.

C. Gallaz and Roberto Innocenti, Rose Blanche, ISBN 0 15 200917 5. A beautifully illustrated story for all ages about a girl in Germany who finds a concentration camp in the woods. Unforgettable and full of realism.

Rabbi Alex J. Goldman, I am a Holocaust Torah, ISBN 965229236 2. The story of the saving of 1,564 Torah scrolls stolen by the Nazis. An excellent teacher resource, to be used in assemblies and lessons.

Harriet Steinhorn, Shadows of the Holocaust, Plays, Readings and Program Resources, 1983, ISBN 0 930 494 494 25 3. A useful resource for secondary students.

Posted: 10/12/2004