New
New
Year 9

Jewish resistance to the Holocaust

I can explain different types of Jewish resistance and the obstacles resistance faced during the Holocaust.

New
New
Year 9

Jewish resistance to the Holocaust

I can explain different types of Jewish resistance and the obstacles resistance faced during the Holocaust.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Violent and nonviolent methods were used by Jews to resist the Holocaust.
  2. Jews from a wide range of backgrounds were engaged in resistance.
  3. Violent resistance included uprisings and partisan actions.
  4. Nonviolent resistance included acts like smuggling.
  5. Many obstacles discouraged or limited the effectiveness of Jewish resistance.

Keywords

  • Partisan - a member of a group that secretly fights against soldiers who are controlling their country

  • Spontaneous - happening naturally and suddenly and without being planned

  • Kashariyot - young Jewish women involved in smuggling and carrying messages between Jewish communities

  • Smuggling - to take something into or out of a place in an illegal or secret way

Common misconception

Resistance always involves the use of violence.

Jews adopted many nonviolent forms of resistance. Actions like smuggling resisted Nazi attempts to starve Jews and continuing education secretly resisted Nazi attempts to destroy Jewish culture.

Task B could be extended with the use of another picture source for students to analyse. The image shown on slide 24 relating to the kashariyot represents an appropriate increase in challenge that could be used for this purpose.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of serious crime
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which word best describe someone who was aware of Jewish persecution but did nothing to help?
Correct Answer: bystander, bystanders
Q2.
In which of the following countries were Jews murdered as part of the Holocaust?
Britain
Correct answer: Denmark
Correct answer: Germany
Correct answer: Hungary
Correct answer: USSR
Q3.
Who conducted the Vel' d'Hiv Raid?
Correct answer: French police
Jewish fighters
German soldiers
Q4.
Who was Rudolf Höss?
Correct answer: Commandant of Auschwitz
French policeman
German businessman
Q5.
Where did the majority of Holocaust victims come from?
Correct answer: Eastern and Central Europe
Southern and Northern Europe
Western and Central Europe
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Nazis rose to power.
2 - Nazi Germany invaded Poland.
3 - First ghettos were established.
4 - France was defeated and partially occupied.
5 - Nazi Germany invaded the USSR.
6 - 'Final Solution' developed.
7 - Vel' d'Hiv raid happened in France.

6 Questions

Q1.
Write the missing word. involves taking something into or out of a place in an illegal or secret way.
Correct Answer: smuggling
Q2.
What type of areas did partisans usually operate in?
open fields
Correct answer: forests
cities
Correct answer: mountains
Q3.
How many escapees from Sobibor extermination camp in 1943 were murdered afterwards by Poles?
Correct Answer: 22, twenty two
Q4.
Uprisings in Jewish ghettos are an example of what type of response to the Holocaust?
collaboration
nonviolent resistance
perpetration
Correct answer: violent resistance
Q5.
Smuggling in Jewish ghettos are an example of what type of response to the Holocaust?
collaboration
Correct answer: nonviolent resistance
perpetration
violent resistance
Q6.
How did concerns about family affect resistance to the Holocaust in Gad Beck's experience?
encouraged him to participate in an uprising
Correct answer: discouraged his boyfriend from attempting to escape with Gad
led Gad to avoid challenging the persecution he faced

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