We are excited to announce our latest Holocaust Education Resources — new at Journeys in Film!
These Holocaust Education films and education resources can support you in mindfully teaching Holocaust education all year round. These materials are variously appropriate for elementary school, middle school and high school; they can also work well for higher education, adult education, public screenings and community group settings.
Holocaust Education Resources: New in 2025
Holocaust Education Resources: A Promise To My Father
This short documentary film follows Holocaust Survivor Izzy Arbeiter as he travels back to Poland and Germany to honor the vow he made to his father: to survive, remember, share their story, and maintain their traditions. It’s a great tool for teaching about Holocaust Education, Healing through Recollection, and Acts of Joy and Resistance.
Subjects: Anti-Bias Education, Genocide Education, History, Holocaust Education, Religious Literacy / Religious Studies / World Religions – Judaism, Social Studies, World History, World War II History.
Lesson Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12, College, Adult Learning (may be adaptable to other grades)
Learn more about teaching Holocaust Education with A Promise to my Father and get this Discussion Guide..
Holocaust Education Resources: The Fast Runner
In The Fast Runner, a young Polish girl comes of age in 1938 during the rise of the Nazi party and subsequently the Holocaust who faces a test of her beliefs. In addition to being a powerful way to introduce younger students to the Holocaust and its impact on Jewish communities, it is also a great tool for teaching about Human Rights, Media Literacy, and Resistance and Action.
Subjects: Anti-Bias Education, Civics, Community Service Learning, English Language Arts, Film Literacy, Genocide Education, History, Holocaust Education, Language Arts, Law, Media Literacy, Service Learning, Social Studies, World History, World War II History.
Lesson Grades: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, College, Adult Learning
Learn more about teaching with The Fast Runner and get the Fast Runner Learning Guide and Discussion Guide.
Holocaust Education Resources: Timeline of the Holocaust
This printable handout provides a brief overview of key events leading up to, during, and following the Holocaust, including details regarding the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. It starts at 1918 and ends in 1945. It also includes additional resources.
This timeline is featured in our new Learning Guide for The Fast Runner. It also works well with out other Holocaust Education films: Big Sonia, Defiant Requiem, and Schindler’s List. And it makes a great addition to any Holocaust Education or WWII History classes. For grades 6 and up.
Subjects: History, Holocaust Education, World History, World War II History
Lesson Grades: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, College, Adult Learning
Get the Timeline of the Holocaust as part of The Fast Runner Learning Guide or as a standalone download, both available on The Fast Runner film page in the Journeys in Film Resource Library.
These new teaching tools make a powerful addition to Journeys in Film’s existing collection of Holocaust Education Resources, detailed below.
Additional Holocaust Education Resources
First-Person Stories
To help your students understand the impact, consider using a film that focuses on an individual caught in the maelstrom of Nazism.
Big Sonia
Big Sonia is about Holocaust survivor Sonia Warshawski, who was a Jewish teenager living in Poland when the German army invaded in the 1930s. She’s a woman who speaks to students and prison inmates about her story of unimaginable suffering — and she’s also a beacon of hope and resilience For grades 7 and up.
Defiant Requiem
Defiant Requiem: The Film is about a unique chapter in Holocaust history when prisoners used music and the arts to sustain their spirits and resist oppression at Terezín concentration camp. This film can be difficult to find but it makes a powerful teaching tool when it is available. For grades 6 and up.
Schindler’s List
Schindler’s List includes our newly updated lesson about Antisemitism in the contemporary world. The Antisemitism Today lesson works as a standalone teaching resource and can also pair with other Holocaust and Genocide Education resources. You can download on its own from our Schindler’s List page and also from Share My Lesson. For grades nine and up.
Related Resources
Anti-Bias Education PD Webinar
Our webinar about Anti-Bias Education: Using Media to Foster Critical Thinking and Combat Antisemitism and Islamophobia sets you up for success with Holocaust Education and Genocide education. The session provides an overview of anti-bias teaching tools and as well as strategies for dealing with difficult classroom situations around these topics. This webinar is available free and on-demand through Share My Lesson. Participants can quality for one hour of PD-credit.
Learn more about our Anti-Bias Education Webinar.
Facilitation Guidelines
We also offer Facilitation Guidelines to create safe discussion spaces and lead productive explorations of difficult topics. These guidelines pair well with our film guides for classroom use. The guidelines apply to a wide range of settings and are free for everyone. For all ages.
Get the Facilitation Guidelines.
Navalny
Our Navalny Learning Guide includes a powerful lesson on online propaganda that pairs well with our Antisemitism Today lesson (above) for bringing Genocide- and Holocaust Education into the present moment. For grades 9 and up.
We hope these resources can support you in honoring those whose lives were lost in the Holocaust, honoring survivors and their families, and committing to education and remembrance.
Get the Navalny Learning Guide.
The Music of Strangers
Our guide for The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Project features an engaging lesson on cultural preservation that is relevant to Holocaust and Genocide discussions. For grades seven and up.
Get The Music of Strangers Lesson 6: Preserving Culture in a Globalized World.
Holocaust Education Toolkit
From award-winning documentaries to tools for fostering critical discussions, our step-by-step guide on how to Teach Holocaust Education with Film can help educators teach the Holocaust authentically, inspire empathy, and honor the lessons of history.
1. Getting Ready to Teach Holocaust Education: instructional foundations & teaching tools for teaching Holocaust Education with Film.
2. Teaching with Holocaust Education Films: Award-winning films about the Holocaust with classroom-ready lesson plans.
3. Wrapping Up Your Holocaust Education Class: Tools for helping students process big feelings when you teach Holocaust Education.
Get this comprehensive Holocaust Education Ttoolkit at Share My Lesson: Teaching Holocaust Education with Film.
Teach Holocaust Education with Film: Important Dates
Holocaust education remains timely and urgent. These educational resources are designed to help you teach Holocaust Education all year round. Teachers, especially history and social studies teachers, may want to teach with holocaust education films on important dates in Holocaust history, such as Kristallnacht (Nov. 9-10) when the Holocaust began. Educators may also want to teach with Holocaust education resources on the following occasions:
- Jan. 27—International Holocaust Remembrance Day
- Feb. 1-7—World Interfaith Harmony Week
- March 1—Zero Discrimination Day
- April—Genocide Awareness Month (U.S.) and Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month (Canada)
- April 23-24, 2025—Holocaust Remembrance Day or Yom Hashoah. (The date varies each year.)
- May 8—Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives During the Second World War
- June 18—International Day for Countering Hate Speech
- Aug. 11-12—Anniversary of the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. (This event is referenced in the Journeys in Film Antisemitism Today lesson.)
- Aug. 22—The International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
- Aug. 23—European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism
- Oct. 27—Anniversary of the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue Shooting. (This event is referenced in the Journeys in Film Antisemitism Today lesson.)
- Nov. 9—International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism
- Dec. 9—International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime
- Dec. 10—Anniversary of the 2019 Jersey City, N.J., shooting at a kosher grocery store (This event is referenced in the Journeys in Film Antisemitism Today lesson.)
Get Updates
Don’t miss out! Get notifications about launches of new Holocaust Education resources and other new materials. Sign up for our newsletter.
