Women and the Holocaust: Courage and Compassion
The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme, in partnership with the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education and Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, has produced a study guide and DVD for high school students to better understand how the Holocaust affected women. Women were forced to adapt and find strategies that would help to keep their families alive under impossible conditions. This pedagogical tool features the testimony of six survivors and highlights ways in which women experienced the Holocaust differently.
Study Guide
Each chapter of the study guide explores different situations and ways in which these courageous and caring women struggled to survive. Through their determination, leadership, compassion, dedication, courage and willpower, they fed their families, helped to maintain a sense of community and religious traditions and faced Nazi persecution with dignity and strength.
Download the Study Guide "Women and the Holocaust" Courage and Compassion" [PDF Document 5059 KB]
DVD - Videos
The companion DVD features six Holocaust survivors from several countries who share their personal stories: Esther Bem, Anna Heilman, Agnes Kun, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, Julia Lentini and Vladka Meed (see videos below). The transcripts of these survivor testimonies, along with the biographies, are included in the study guide.
Introduction Clip
Testimony from Esther Bem
Testimony from Anna Heilman
Testimony from Agnes Kun
Testimony from Anita Lasker-Wallfisch
Testimony from Julia Lentini
Testimony from Vladka Meed