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February 4, 2026
Holocaust education does more than teach history—it builds empathy, critical thinking, and courage. Learn how using high-quality films and primary sources can help educators counter bias, strengthen SEL, and foster inclusive school communities.
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Teaching Holocaust education with film can drive home the enormity of the genocide that took place during World War II, and it can also equip students with skills to navigate the present. Holocaust education underscores the value and importance of critical thinking, empathy and understanding. Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered 6 million European Jews in the Holocaust, along with 5 million additional victims, including members of other marginalized communities.
While the enormity and significance of the Holocaust is reason enough to teach and learn about it as a historical event, its lessons also speak to challenges that teachers and students are facing today, like responding constructively to bias, discrimination and divided communities. Holocaust education can work hand in hand with social emotional learning (SEL) and anti-bias education to motivate students to combat antisemitism, Holocaust denialism and distortion, along with broader forms of bias and discrimination, and empower them with the skills and agency to succeed.
Teaching the facts of the Holocaust honors the past and protects the future. Learning the facts of the Holocaust empowers students to confront wider trends of disinformation and to counter contemporary forms of antisemitism and other forms of hate targeted at groups and individuals.
While it is important to teach about the specific nature of the Holocaust as a unique event in history, it also contains lessons that speak to students’ and teachers’ lives today. Studying antisemitism in the context of Naziism sheds light on the consequences of prejudice. Holocaust education can help students develop critical thinking about historical narratives, identify the language of discrimination and dehumanization, and learn how to be effective upstanders (versus bystanders). These skills can help students deal with forms of prejudice like antisemitism, ableism, Islamophobia, homophobia/queerphobia/transphobia, misogyny and gender bias, racism, and discrimination against refugees and immigrants. Learning about the Holocaust can promote connection and community, counter bullying, build belonging, and help create inclusive school environments.
By fostering critical thinking, promoting accurate historical knowledge and cultivating safe spaces for student engagement, we can educate young people about the Holocaust so that they can better spot, address and counter Holocaust distortion, dehumanization and discrimination.
Holocaust education can help students develop critical thinking about historical narratives, identify the language of discrimination and dehumanization, and learn how to be effective upstanders (versus bystanders).
By fostering critical thinking, promoting accurate historical knowledge and cultivating safe spaces for student engagement, we can educate young people about the Holocaust so that they can better spot, address and counter Holocaust distortion, dehumanization and discrimination.
Holocaust scholars agree that the best way to teach Holocaust education is with high-quality primary sources, such as archival materials, survivor testimonies, and accurate documentary films. Teaching with primary sources is also the most effective way to counter Holocaust denialism. More broadly, teaching with primary sources equips students with media literacy skills to uncover the stories that shape our collective history, ensuring that more voices are heard, remembered, and respected in both classroom and community spaces.
In contrast, teachers are advised to exercise caution when teaching with fictional resources such as novels and narrative films. Fictional resources must accurately depict the actual events, facts and conditions of the Holocaust, without a historical misrepresentation. High-quality fictional resources can provide learners with emotional connection and insight, as long as they do not distort the historical record. For example, although the book and film versions used to be popular in classrooms, many Holocaust scholars have strongly criticized The Boy in the Striped Pajamas for misrepresenting Holocaust history. We encourage teachers to make sure you are teaching with materials that represent the Holocaust authentically and accurately.
I did not create UnBroken to make a political statement or a religious one. I made it to build empathy. To remind us that caring is an action. That standing up for one another is a choice. That the way we treat others is the truest measure of who we are.
The award-winning documentary UnBroken presents the miraculous true story of the seven Weber siblings, ages 6-18, who evaded certain capture and death and ultimately escaped Nazi Germany following their mother’s incarceration and murder at Auschwitz, relying solely on their youthful bravado and the kindness of strangers.
Journeys in Film offers a Learning Guide for UnBroken. The film is rated PG-13 and is appropriate for grades 6-12, as well as higher education and adult education. The learning guide is wonderfully rich in additional primary sources. It also provides powerful SEL lessons about the everyday courage and impact of upstanders, and the possibilities of empathy as a learnable skill. Upstander training equips students to counter verbal harassment, harmful stereotypes, and exclusionary behavior they encounter in their own lives. Empathy is a core thread running through UnBroken, and the guide explicitly connects empathy with civic engagement and action. The guide includes a printable graphic organizer handout to help students create an empathy map. Teaching with UnBroken can empower students to develop empathy, to be more active community members and upstanders, and to contribute to a school culture of courage and inclusion.
Journeys in Film is pleased to offer our full Holocaust Education Resource Collection through Share My Lesson. These educational materials for award-winning films are appropriate for middle school and high school; they can also work well for higher education, adult education, public screenings and community group settings. The Middle School Holocaust Education Lessons can help educators to fill new teaching mandates with classroom-ready teaching resources.
All of these resources are appropriate for teaching holocaust education, anti-bias education, genocide education, and World War II history. Many cover additional subject areas, which open up powerful opportunities for integrated studies.
Learn more about the Holocaust Education Resource Collection.
Holocaust education remains urgent and timely. We are grateful to the educators who include Holocaust education in your classrooms to honor those whose lives were lost in the Holocaust, to honor survivors and their families, and to foster remembrance and prevention. Thank you for teaching your students about the past to help them create an inclusive present and a better future.
Teach the Holocaust with confidence. Explore free lesson plans and resources to raise awareness and analyze its lasting impact.
Explore classroom-ready lessons that help students understand antisemitism, examine current events, and build respectful, inclusive communities.
