Grade: 7-10. In Nazi-occupied Poland during WWII, Irena Sendler, a 29-year-old Catholic social worker, risked her life to smuggle 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto. Working with a network of brave resistors and inspired by people like Dr. Janusz Korczak, she forged documents, coordinated secret escapes, and hid children with Polish families and in convents — preserving not just their lives, but their identities and future.

Grades 6-12. Students will learn about Hungary during WWII and how Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat, saved tens of thousands of Jewish people during the Holocaust. After reviewing a short historical timeline and the “10 Upstander Steps,” students watch videos about Wallenberg and survivor Agnes Adachi to identify how he acted with courage and moral leadership.

Grades 6-12. Students will learn about Lithuania during WWII and how Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat, saved thousands of Jewish refugees by issuing transit visas—defying the strict orders of his own government. After reviewing a brief historical timeline and the “10 Upstander Steps,” students watch a video about Sugihara’s life to identify how he acted with courage and moral responsibility.

Grades 8-12. This lesson begins with The Path to Nazi Genocide, a short introductory documentary that examines how the Nazis systematically excluded Jews from society and justified escalating violence. Students are given 10 criteria with which to measure a social movement in order to think critically about how ideology and propaganda can shape collective behavior. The second part of the lesson features The Wave, a dramatization of a real 1967 high school experiment in Califor

Grades 6-8. An exciting, endearing film about how a Catholic nun, Sister Gabrielle (played by Loretta Swit), and a group of Christian school children in France helped three Jewish children escape the Nazis. Due to antisemitic lies their parents told them, the Christian children are, at first, not very friendly to these unexpected Jewish strangers. In a short time, however, the children develop a strong bond.