Holocaust Photographs and Drawings

Introduction:

There is an old saying that "a picture can tell a thousand words." In other words, looking at pictures can be a good way to learn about something. You will look at some photographs and drawings of what it was like right before and during the Holocaust, and you will write about what you see in the pictures. Then you will draw your own picture of the Holocaust.

Part A: Photographs

1. Go to this Web site:

Holocaust Pictures Exhibition
http://www.fmv.ulg.ac.be/schmitz/holocaust/classrm.html

Here, you will see a photograph taken before the Holocaust began. It is of two Jewish boys being teased and humiliated (embarrassed) by their classmates.

Imagine that you are one of these boys, and write a paragraph telling how you feel as you stand in front of your classmates. You might try to recall an incident from your own life in which you were teased or humiliated. What was racing through your mind?

2. Look at the photograph of German soldiers and an elderly Jewish man at this Web site:

Holocaust Pictures Exhibition
http://www.fmv.ulg.ac.be/schmitz/holocaust/poljew2.html

What are the German soldiers doing (read the caption)?

3. How does this make the man feel?

4. Imagine that you can jump into this picture and talk to the German soldiers. What would you say to them?

Part B: Drawings

1. At the Web site listed below, you will see pictures drawn by children like yourself who have studied the Holocaust. You can visit four galleries: Imagine 1, Imagine 2, Imagine 3, and Imagine 4.

Cybrary of the Holocaust’s Imagine Art Gallery
http://www.remember.org/imagine/index.html

2. Look at the pictures in these galleries. Choose one picture and write one sentence telling what you think the picture is about.

3. How does the picture make you feel?

4. On your own paper, write either a poem or a short story that goes along with this picture. If there is a person in the picture, you can write about that person’s thoughts or feelings or about what is happening to them. If there is no person, write about the other things that you see in the picture.

Part C: Draw Your Own Picture

Draw your own picture of something that you have learned about the Holocaust. (Use a separate piece of paper). Make sure that you give your picture a title. Write a description of your drawing next to it.

Part D: Discussion

Share your drawings, poems, and stories with the class.