Night
Thank you for participating in Echoes & Reflections Mini Course “Never Shall I Forget”: Creating Context for Teaching Night. We hope you found the experience enriching and useful to your teaching needs.
To further support your classroom instruction on this thematic approach, you now have access to the plethora of resources referenced throughout the course. The materials below are listed by the section in which they were introduced in the course.
We hope you will find these resources helpful in informing your teaching of Elie Wiesel’s Night.
Introduction to Echoes & Reflections Pedagogy
In this section, you were introduced to pedagogical principles for effective teaching as well as the first visual history survivor testimony.
- Pedagogical Principles for Effective Holocaust Instruction
- Testimony Reflection Guide
- Visual History Testimony: Roman Kent
- Biographical Profile: Roman Kent
Prewar Jewish Life
To understand the tragedy of the Holocaust, we must first understand what was lost. These classroom lessons and video help to convey to students the diversity and pluralism that existed in Jewish communities before the war.
Where did this hatred come from? The roots of antisemitism
Antisemitism is a complicated term to deconstruct, but essential for students to understand how the Holocaust happened. These resources support students’ deep understanding of the term, its history and how it informed Nazi ideology.
- Handout: Definition of Antisemitism
- Handout: Summary of Antisemitism
- Nazi Ideology
- Echoes & Reflections Unit II: Antisemitism
- Echoes & Reflections Unit III: Nazi Germany
Stages of Genocide and the Timeline of the Holocaust
How did the Holocaust unfold? In order to understand what Elie Wiesel and his family went through in Night, students need an understanding of the events of the 1930’s and 1940’s including legislative, civil, societal, and national events. The resources and testimonies provide opportunities for students to build contextual understanding of key events during this time, and the impact on individuals.
- Timeline of the Holocaust
- Examining the Stages of Genocide
- Stages of Genocide Graphic Organizer
- Visual History Testimony: William Good
- Biographical Profile: William Good
- Visual History Testimony: Ivan Deutsch
- Biographical Profile: Ivan Deutsch
- Handout: The Ghettos
- USHMM’s Map of the Ghettos
The Ghettos: Control, Isolate, Weaken
The following survivors testimonies help to expand students understanding of survival in the ghettos, and through primary sources and testimonies, learn about Nazi’s efforts to control, isolate, and weaken imprisoned Jews.
- Visual History Testimony: Ellis Lewin
- Biographical Profile: Ellis Lewin
- Visual History Testimony: Joseph Morton
- Biographical Profile: Joseph Morton
- Photograph: Jews Crossing the Bridge in the Lodz Ghetto
- Diary Entry: Excerpts from the Diary of Dawid Sierakowiak
Pedagogical Considerations and Teaching about the Final Solution
Moving with great care into this section, the following resources (art, videos, and poems) help support learning about the Final Solution, again emphasizing individual experiences to help maintain the human story in the face of monumental devastation and loss.
- Video Toolbox: The Final Solution
- Handout: Poems from a Camp Survivor
- Handout: Excerpts from Night
- Handout: How do we Study the Final Solution?
- Activity: The One
- Visual History Testimony: Itka Zygmontowicz
- Biographical Profile: Itka Zygmontowicz
- See-Think-Wonder on the Auschwitz Album
Liberation and the Aftermath of the Holocaust
These resources help to convey the complexity of experiences and emotions for survivors and liberators.
- Video Toolbox: Liberation
- Visual History Testimony: Anton Mason
- Biographical Profile: Anton Mason
- Visual History Testimony: Barbara Fischman Traub
- Biographical Profile: Barbara Fischman Traub
Extended Learning
Additional resources from Echoes & Reflections Partners to extend learning