Museum Works to Preserve the Shoes of Auschwitz’s Youngest Victims
Ask students: What are the roles of the museum conservators working on the exhibit? Why did the museum focus on children's shoes to describe the atrocities of the Holocaust?
Trigger Warning: This story includes images and discussion of the Holocaust and should be previewed before showing to your students.
On the 80th anniversary of its liberation, survivors of the Holocaust gathered at the extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland. Of the more than six million Jews murdered by the Nazis, 1.1 million were killed at Auschwitz, nearly a quarter million children. Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports on a project to preserve the shoes of the war's smallest victims.
View the transcript of the story.
Discussion Questions
- When did the Holocaust take place?
- Where is the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp located?
- Who are the individuals and people featured in the segment?
- What are the roles of the museum conservators working on the exhibit?
- Why did the museum focus on children's shoes to describe the atrocities of the Holocaust?
Focus Questions
- How are children's shoes an important way to communicate the horrors of the Holocaust?
- Read the exchange between Malcolm Brabant and Marcin Noras:
Malcolm Brabant: Do you think it will be possible these days to eradicate six million people the way the Jews in — during the Second World War? Marcin Noras: It's a very difficult question, honestly. I need to think a little. Malcolm Brabant: With social media, with all the public pressure and everything? Marcin Noras: Yes, I think it would be very much possible to repeat the Holocaust, because I think propaganda is now more potent than it ever was. You mentioned social media as a factor of preventing propaganda, but I think the past 10 years, if they taught us anything, is that social media is also the perfect medium for propaganda.
Do you agree with Noras that something as horrific as the Holocaust including the murder of children could happen again? Explain why.
Media literacy: Why do you think News Hour's Malcolm Brabant decided to report on the anniversary by focusing on a museum exhibit?
Holocaust Education Resources
Teach the Holocaust with confidence. Explore free lesson plans and resources to raise awareness and analyze its lasting impact.
Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Classroom.
PBS News Hour Classroom helps teachers and students identify the who, what, where and why-it-matters of the major national and international news stories. The site combines the best of News Hour's reliable, trustworthy news program with lesson plans developed specifically for... See More
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