The aim of these lessons is for students to consider the use of textiles during the Holocaust and after. It will ask students to explain the positives and negative aspects of textiles when considering identity and to judge how important the role of clothing and creativity was to the people who experienced the Holocaust.
The resources for this lesson are taken from survivor testimonies and their artefacts.
Lesson 1: How important were textiles before, during and after the Holocaust?
All: identify and describe the role of textiles before, during the Holocaust and after.
Most: explain the importance of textiles to identity during the Holocaust.
Some: judge how important textiles were to individuals during and after the Holocaust.
Starter: Use the picture of Zdenka and her mother (p. 115 Journeys book). Ask students to decide when this picture was taken. The students should be able to recognise the yellow Star of David and make a link to Nazi occupied Europe and the Holocaust. This should open up discussions about what they know about the Holocaust. Focus of the lesson to look at textiles during the Holocaust.
Discussion: Using pictures and quotes from survivors develop an understanding about how clothes and textiles were used during the Holocaust. Examples might include:
Striped uniform - used to identify and dehumanise
https://www.nationalholocaustcentre.net/striped-camp-cap
Nazi armband
https://www.nationalholocaustcentre.net/armband
Hitler Youth jacket
https://www.nationalholocaustcentre.net/hitler-youth-jacket
Bernard's blanket
https://www.nationalholocaustcentre.net/blanket
Discussion: Why were textiles important during the Holocaust?
Task:
Why were textiles important after the Holocaust?
https://www.nationalholocaustcentre.net/table-cloth
https://www.nationalholocaustcentre.net/doll-father
Plenary: How important was textiles during and after the Holocaust?
Lesson 2:
Starter: Use the picture of Zdenka and her mother (p. 115 Journeys book). Ask students to decide when this picture was taken. The students should be able to recognise the yellow Star of David and make a link to Nazi occupied Europe and the Holocaust. This should open up discussions about what they know about the Holocaust. Focus of the lesson to look at textiles during the Holocaust.
Information about Zdenka
https://www.nationalholocaustcentre.net/zdenka
Clip of Zdenka
http://www.nationalholocaustcentre.net/pages/category/zdenka-herssel
Task : After the Holocaust: tablecloth - Zdenka's artefact from her time in the Lingfield house. What does it show about Zdenka's life after the war?
Tablecloth - https://www.nationalholocaustcentre.net/tablecloth
Career in fashion: Show the clip about Zdenka's career at various fashion labels. Explain she was someone who helped make princess Alexandria's wedding dress.
https://www.nationalholocaustcentre.net/clothing-label-3
Lesson 3: How can we remember the Holocaust?
All: create a piece of work that commemorates the Holocaust.
Most: create a piece of work that commemorates a personal testimony.
Some: create a piece of work that commemorates the Holocaust that includes a range of personal testimonies.
Task: Create an embroidery commemorates the Holocaust. See ideas below.
Options for activities:
Class commemoration
Everyone has a square to embroider with the aim to commemorate and remember those who suffered during the Holocaust. This could be done by reading more testimonies and selecting one part of their story. For Zdenka, perhaps a chicken to show her time at Lingfield House. Individual names of survivors and victims could be embroidered or white roses could be sewn which are planted at the National Holocaust centre to remember the victims of the Holocaust.
Please note: we would advise that any work created focuses on remembering individuals and their lives rather than methods of dehumanisation and murder. Therefore images of barbed wire, concentration camps, starvation and death are to be discouraged. This is because the aim of this lesson is to remember the people who experienced the Holocaust rather than the methods used to persecute and murder them.
Anything that is produced can be entered into our Arts competition for the chance to win a prize and be displayed at the museum.