Develop knowledge and understanding:
To deepen student knowledge and challenge common misunderstandings, in this chapter they will learn:
- How Jewish people responded to their persecution, fought back and resisted the Nazis and their collaborators.
Challenge myths and misconceptions:
Correct the misconception Jewish people did not fight back against their persecution.
Should you choose to share this with students it is very important to be clear that this is a misconception and it needs to be taught about with sensitivity and skill.
Support for in chapter activities:
Support for Activity p.68:
When working upon this activity some students may focus on the physical resistance of partisan groups, but it is important to ensure that other forms of resistance are given equal attention. You may find it useful to use the concept of Amidah with your students, a Hebrew term meaning “standing up against” to explore these other forms of resistance. Yehuda Bauer writes that “[Amidah] includes smuggling food into ghettos; mutual self-sacrifice within the family to avoid starvation or worse; cultural, educational, religious, and political activities taken to strengthen morale; the work of doctors, nurses, and educators to consciously maintain health and moral fiber to enable individual and group survival; and, of course, armed rebellion or the use of force (with bare hands or with “cold” weapons) against the Germans and their collaborators.”
Support for Activity p.69 / 70:
Students can access these websites to undertake further research into the armed revolts at the death camps of Treblinka, Sobibor and Auschwitz-Birkenau:
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jewish-uprisings-in-camps
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jewish-resistance
Support for Activity p.71:
Students can access these websites to undertake further research into the Bielski partisans and Anne Frank:
Bielski partisans: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-bielski-partisans
Anne Frank: https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/
Additional resources for students:
To find out more about Jewish resistance, students can undertake further research using these recommended websites:
https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/resistance-responses-collaboration/
Additional resources for teachers:
Online classroom materials: ‘Resistance and the Holocaust.’
These lessons are designed for self-study as part of KS3 History.
https://holocausteducation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Lesson-2-Fighting-Back.pdf
Online classroom materials: ‘The struggle to survive: resilience and resistance in the Warsaw ghetto.’
This self-directed lesson is for students in Year 9 and above, exploring survival, resilience and resistance in the Warsaw ghetto.
https://holocausteducation.org.uk/teacher-resources/post-it-online-courses/the-struggle-to-survive/
Online classroom materials: ‘The Warsaw ghetto uprising: exploring history, meaning and significance.’
This resource centres upon a specific event, the Warsaw ghetto uprising. The material is designed for use with students in KS3 and KS4.
Discover more about the Ringelblum archive here:
https://www.jhi.pl/en/ringelblum-archive
Further reading materials:
Tec, N. (2008) Defiance: Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tec, N. (2013) Resistance: How Jews and Christians Fought Back against the Nazis: Oxford: Oxford University Press.