Holocaust Survivors and Liberators

Echoes & Reflections is a leading provider of free Holocaust education resources and professional development for the middle and high school classroom. We help educators to teach about the Holocaust accurately and with confidence. Our goal is to enhance students' historical knowledge, critical thinking, and personal understanding of this history.

GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School

COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening

The purpose of this unit is to provide students with an understanding of the political, legal, social, and emotional status of the Jewish survivors. This unit also examines the role of the liberators following the defeat of the Nazis at the end of World War II.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the complex emotional ramifications of liberation for Jews at the end of World War II.
• Describe the complex emotional ramifications of liberation for the Allied soldiers who liberated the camps following the defeat of the Nazis.
• Name the serious difficulties and immediate needs that survivors faced after liberation, including efforts to reunite broken families, provide care to children, and reclaim homes and communities.
• Summarize the purpose of displaced persons’ camps and what life was like for people living in these camps.
• Analyze the choices made by survivors as they reentered society and began to rebuild their lives.
• Discuss both the content and the messages in written and visual history testimony.