Inquiry Design Model (IDM)

Survivor Art
Can art reflect the pain of the Holocaust? This is the compelling question that is asked and examined in this collection of five focused inquiries using Holocaust survivor art.

Teaching Perspectives Using Artifacts
This inquiry focuses on examining various artifacts from the Holocaust Memorial Center’s collection to explore how different perspectives of the Holocaust can be told through artifacts.
Unit Plans / Lesson Plans

Inside the Glass Case
An on-demand museum experience that offers educational videos, survivor testimony, photos, lesson plans, and other resources.

Standing Up to Bias & Discrimination (Unit Plan)
This Understanding by Design structured unit plan examines how to prevent acts of genocide in four lesson plans, one for each level of the Pyramid of Hate.
Document-based Questions (DBQ) and Primary Source Companion Guides

"You Onlookers"
By: Nelly Sachs | A poem that examines a Jewish refugee’s feelings about bystanders.

"I Am a Jew"
By: Franta Bass | A poem from a child in the Theresienstadt “camp-ghetto” that expresses resistance and resilience.

Hanukkah Menorah
A photograph showing a simple but powerful expression of resistance during the early rise of Nazi Germany.

"The Brick Factory"
An excerpt from Agi Rubin’s memoir Reflections which is an example of dehumanization through forced labor.

"To the Little Polish Boy..."
By: Peter Fischl | A poem that describes one of the most well-known photographs of the Warsaw Ghetto, the largest of the ghettos.

The Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau
By: Paula Lebovics | A Holocaust survivor’s video testimony describing the emotions of being liberated.

Children After Liberation
Photograph: Children after Liberation | Liberated by the Red Army, January 1945