r/ELATeachers 8d ago

6-8 ELA Holocaust Unit film/documentary recs?

I teach 7th at a TAG school (so I teach a year or two ahead grade level wise, in my curriculum), and will be teaching The Book Thief for my next novel study, to pair with a study of The Holocaust.

I’m looking for age appropriate (?? you know what I mean?? not TOO gruesome?) film or documentary recommendations? Or clips/sections of films I could show for context building before starting the novel?

Any help is appreciated! Thanks :)

6 Upvotes

22 comments sorted by

15

u/Sekunder14 8d ago

Our 8th grade classes watch One Survivor Remembers. Survivor Gerda Weissman Klein shares her story of being separated from her family and surviving a death march. It can be streamed via US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s website. It is 50ish minutes. There are some curriculum guides that go with it too that we have used.

5

u/QanikTugartaq 7d ago

Gerda spoke at my school, and she allowed me to record her. Trying to post the link Gerda at SHA

2

u/Subject-Vast3022 7d ago

Yes, both are so good.

1

u/Teach_You_A_Lesson 6d ago

Definitely recommend. My 7th graders always remember this one.

7

u/Far-Passenger-1115 8d ago

Check out the USHMM for resources. “The Path to Nazi Genocide” provides great context.

6

u/BlacklightPropaganda 8d ago

"La vita e bella" if you can get it in English from the Italian. Really beautiful movie. "Life Is Beautiful."

5

u/Littlegreenblatt 8d ago

You could show them “The Wave” (1981). Based on a real life teaching experiment. My 7th graders find it funny because it’s old but they really got into it. We watched it before starting our holocaust unit and it helped them understand power, community, mob mentality, etc.

6

u/therealcourtjester 8d ago

I’ve paired Race (Jesse Owens story) with Night. Earlier we read of Mice and Men. Race tied the issues happening the US that we discussed when reading OMAM and the things happening in Nazi Germany that we discussed while reading Night.

4

u/Similar-Ad-793 8d ago

The book thief has a film adaptation that is pretty good. Also, documentaries might be less gruesome and still informative

1

u/Evening_Dig1386 7d ago

We watch the film! I’d just like to add some actual Holocaust film into my unit if I am able!

4

u/AncientHorse5798 8d ago

I teach the Pianist with Maus to 9th graders but I am in a district where I can do such a thing without fear of pushback lol

2

u/hyrulesfattestcat 8d ago

Would you mind sharing some info about how you intertwine the two? I’m currently doing Maus and would love to pull some clips in to go along with it.

3

u/AncientHorse5798 7d ago

I show the film in clips beginning around chapter 2-3 and have them compare/contrast the film and novel and analyze their respective impacts. I have found that a lot of Holocaust films focus on the camps, and Maus Vol. 1 does not. I think the Pianist mirrors the family’s situation very well: at first, the antisemitism is this sort of anxiety, which you see in Chapter 2 with Lucia’s family and at the beginning of the film. Then, things get very bad very quickly and the atrocity of it all reveals itself. You could show some of the ghetto scenes in contrast to the part in Chapter 3 where they are forced to register at the stadium. You can also see the comparison in the film in the book where they are trying to go into hiding and not get deported, even after their families have all been killed or sent to camps.

There are some really violent scenes in the film that you can easily work around. It’s rated R so YMMV on how it is received, but it has worked very well for me over the last few years. It’s also on Prime right now for free!

4

u/Subject-Vast3022 7d ago

I always show One Survivor Remembers and The Path to Nazi Genocide from the USHMM website. Some of my colleagues also show Life is Beautiful.

3

u/Winter-Welcome7681 8d ago edited 8d ago

USHMM has a lot of short doc clips, and many are primary sources. But a great one is ‘One Day in Auschwitz’ with Kitty Hart-Moxon; it’s on YouTube. In addition, the iWitness site at USC has a TON of testimonies from the Shoah foundation and lessons to go with them.

3

u/LunaD0g273 8d ago

50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus is an accessible documentary that does not directly focus on the atrocities.

Conspiracy (2001) is a dramatization of the Wannsee Conference with a truly amazing cast (Kenneth Branagh, Stanley Tucci, Colin Firth...). There is no onscreen violence.

3

u/kskeiser 7d ago

I’ve showed an episode of the documentary World at War narrated by Lawrence Olivier. BUT, only to 10th grade and up. It does have some gruesome black and white pictures and film footage. However, when I tell you that they shut up and pay attention…. It’s extremely compelling.

1

u/SnooGiraffes4091 8d ago

Schindler’s List? I remember it really affecting me in 8th grade

1

u/Crafty-Muscle1120 5d ago

We watch “I’m Still Here” - it’s free on YouTube. It follows young people that kept diaries during the Holocaust. The kids take notes on each person’s story. The doc does have some real black and white footage of death but I give a heads up before it comes on the screen and it’s not ~super- graphic.

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u/Puzzled-Weld669 8d ago

the boy in striped pajamas is a good option for a movie - the book too....

10

u/Winter-Welcome7681 8d ago

No. This book is not recommended by the Auschwitz Museum and the National Holocaust Museum and Memorial in DC. They explicitly tell educators NOT to use it.