This is a marvelous unit to introduce the youngest students (Kindergarten and 1st grade) to the idea of the ghetto.

Tommy is an album of pictures drawn by the Czech artist Bedřich Fritta as a present for his son on his third birthday. He wanted to teach his son about all the things in a normal world, such as trees, parks, birds, and flowers – for the day in the future when he hoped Tommy would face a better life.

Lesson plan for Tommy (PDF)

You can purchase Tommy from Yad Vashem or from us as part of a kit.

My Doll is the memoir of Yael Rosner, adapted especially for younger children (grades 1-2). The book focuses on the subjects of struggle, survival, and revival. This story particularly emphasizes the significance of imagination and creativity inherent in the process of hiding and coping as a child during the Holocaust.

The story shows students the everyday experiences of a girl who is confined to a cellar hiding from the German soldiers. She copes with the situation with the help of improvised toys, her imagination, and the warmth and love of her mother.

You can get these materials from the Yad Vashem website:

• An online version of My Doll
• An in-depth teacher’s guide
• Our lesson plan for My Doll (PDF)

One Candle, by Eve Bunting, is the story of a young girl who, with her sister, sneaks a potato out of the concentration camp kitchen to make a single Hanukkah candle. Every year since the war, she and her sister make a single candle from a potato to put in the window next to their menorah and tell the story to their grandchildren. It is a marvelous way to gently introduce young children to the ideas of the Holocaust.

Lesson plan for One Candle (PDF)

You can purchase One Candle from Amazon.

I am a Holocaust Torah tells the story of 1,564 Torahs stolen by Nazis from synagogues in Czechoslovakia. The Torah scrolls were rescued twenty years later and placed in the hands of people who love them. This Holocaust account is uniquely told from the point of view of a personified Torah. Using a Torah to narrate the story enables Rabbi Goodman to present the emotive content of the Holocaust in a profound way to children of all ages.

You can find more information about the project at the Memorial Scrolls Trust or the Czech Torah Network, and purchase I am a Holocaust Torah from Amazon.