History Unfolded offers free, adaptable lesson plans in English and Spanish, and additional supporting materials. Using them, you and your students will help the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum answer questions about what Americans knew about the Holocaust and how they reacted. In the process, students will learn critical thinking skills as they conduct real historical research using primary sources.
These lesson resources encourage students to:
- Engage in inquiry-based learning and historical thinking
- Perform research with primary sources
- Practice close reading and develop media literacy skills
- Explore Holocaust history as an American and local story within the broader context of the New Deal era and World War II
- Think critically about America’s responsibilities in the world today
The lesson plans below align with a variety of subject areas including Social Studies, US History, World History, English and Language Arts, and Journalism. They can be used to enrich middle school, high school, and college curricula.
Each lesson is also compatible with learning management systems or web browsers for students to complete individually or as a class.
Lesson Plans and Supporting Materials
Spanish Language Newspapers Coverage of the Holocaust
Cobertura del Holocausto en Periódicos en Español
Materials in English
Materiales en Español
Black Press Newspaper Coverage of the Holocaust
Youth Responses to the Holocaust
Teacher Support
For additional assistance using History Unfolded in your classroom, please contact David Klevan at dklevan@ushmm.org
History Unfolded is part of a larger Museum initiative on how Americans responded to Nazism, from the party’s rise in the 1930s through the Holocaust and World War II. The keystone of the initiative is an exhibition that opened in 2018. History Unfolded accepted research contributions from late 2015 through spring 2023.