Lesson Plans & Best Practices
Holocaust education is history, civics, social studies, literature, psychology, art, and so much more. Studying the Holocaust provides a scaffold for understanding how normalizing racism and exclusion in public discourse can result in normalizing racism and exclusion in public policy. By studying the Holocaust, students will learn the importance of actively seeking to build an equitable and inclusive society in which all people's rights and dignity are respected.
Explore the topics below to find classroom-ready lesson plans that align with Washington State's best practices for teaching about the Holocaust. If you are looking for step-by-step assistance, see our recommended unit outlines for ELA and Social Studies.
For questions, email Paul Regelbrugge, Director of Education, at
- 3. Rise of National Socialism and the Nazis (1933-1939)
- Path to Nazi Genocide Film (38 minutes)
- The Nazi Rise to Power Film (5 minute video from Facing History)
- Laws and the National Community (Reading and questions)
- Non-Jewish Victims of Nazi Persecution
- Black Americans and the Nazi Olympics
- Growing up Black in Nazi Germany
- Holocaust Timeline Activity
- Vienna Participatory Learning Lesson
- Analyzing Nazi Propaganda
- Laws and Propaganda: Analyzing How the Nazi Regime Isolated the Jews of Germany from 1933-1939
- Laws and Propaganda: Using Primary Sources to Analyze How the Nazi Regime Isolated the Jews of Germany from 1933-1939
- 4. Persecution to Murder: War and the Ghettos (1939-1941)
- Phases of the Holocaust 7 minute film (Handout)
- The War Against Poland: Speed and Brutality and The War on Jews in Poland (reading and questions)
- Establishment of the Ghettos and the Jewish Response
- The Jewish Ghettos: Separated from the World
- U.S. Immigration Policy and the Experiences of Jewish Refugees During the Holocaust
- Challenges of Escape, 1938-1941
- “Why Didn’t They Just Leave?”
- Holocaust Literature & Additional Resources
- Teaching about the Holocaust through English Language Arts Menu
- Holocaust Literature Recommendations
- Learning from Poetry of the Holocaust Lesson Plan
- More Than Any Child Should Know: A Kindertransport Story of the Holocaust
- The Pyramid of Hate and the Holocaust
- Introduction to the Holocaust (1 Day Lesson)
- Bearing Witness: Intro to the Holocaust (2 Day Lesson)
- HCH Created Overview Lessons
- USHMM Holocaust Encyclopedia
- Americans and the Holocaust Online Exhibit
- USC Shoah I-Witness
- Path to Nazi Genocide Film (38 minutes)
Video testimonies, teacher resources, and the work of the Holocaust Center for Humanity are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This license requires that reusers give credit to the Holocaust Center for Humanity. It allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form and for noncommercial purposes only.
