ACTIVITIES, ASSESSMENTS AND LESSON PLANS

Antisemitism Lesson Plan

This comprehensive lesson plan is designed to guide educators in teaching the history of antisemitism from ancient times to the present day. With a range of engaging activities, insightful examples, and an accompanying PowerPoint presentation, this resource aims to foster understanding, critical thinking, and empathy. Whether you're introducing the topic or deepening students’ knowledge, our materials are here to help create meaningful discussions about this important issue.

ANTISEMITISM LESSON PLAN

Antisemitism Explained PPT

HCNZ Online Programme Activities

After visiting the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, students can further deepen their understanding of these pivotal events through two dedicated online programs: Understanding the Holocaust and Liberation to Migration. These interactive activities are designed to reinforce the knowledge gained during the visit while encouraging critical reflection and engagement.

Understanding the Holocaust

Liberation and Migration to Aotearoa

Classroom Activities

Post-Viewing Activity – One Life

This activity is designed to deepen students’ understanding of the themes presented in One Life, a film that tells the powerful true story of Sir Nicholas Winton and his efforts to rescue Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Through guided discussion and reflective tasks, students will analyze the ethical dilemmas, personal choices, and historical significance of Winton’s actions. This activity encourages critical thinking and personal connections to history, helping students explore the impact of individual responsibility in times of crisis.

One Life Activity

Zikaron BaSalon - Memory in the Living Room

Bring meaningful Holocaust remembrance into your classroom with our Zikaron BaSalon host kits. Designed for teachers, these kits provide everything you need to create an intimate and reflective space where students can engage with survivor testimonies, discuss the impact of the Holocaust, and explore its relevance today. With five unique kits available, each offering guided activities and discussion prompts, students can connect to history in a powerful and personal way.
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SOPHIA GALLER

Zofia "Sophia" Galler was born in Katowice, Poland, in 1929 to her father, Hilary Minc, and her mother, Cecilia Kronenblum.

When the war began in 1939, Sophia was only ten years old, and the Minc family was forced out of Katowice as it was being declared "Judenfrei", "Free of Jews."

In 1941, Sophia and her parents were interred in the Sosnowiec ghetto. In 1942, Sophia and her mother were forced to watch the execution of her father, who had been caught trying to arrange an escape for his wife and daughter. By the end of 1942, Sophia and her mother had been deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, where they met Dr Josef Mengele himself. When Mengele chose them to work, Cecilia told Sophia, "remember, you have to be strong because I will never come out of here." It was a prophetic statement, as her mother did not survive Auschwitz.

While on a death march from Auschwitz, Sophia and another prisoner managed to escape, hiding from the Nazis and their collaborators until a black American soldier found them. After liberation and being taken care of by the Americans, she returned to Katowice to find that her family home had been taken by a Polish family who slammed the door in her face. She moved to New Zealand in 1952 with her new husband, Anton Galler, whom she met in Israel.  ​She had two sons, both of whom live in New Zealand. 

The Sophia Galler kit is recommended for Senior students only. Please watch the testimony before showing to your students.

HAN KLISSER

Johan "Han" Klisser was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1927 to parents Leentje Kok and Elkan Klisser. His mother was a homemaker while his father was a travelling salesman, and he had a younger brother Leo Klisser born in 1936.

World War II began when Han was 12 years old, with restrictions on Jews coming into place immediately after the Nazis took over The Netherlands: curfews, expulsions from public schools, compulsory wearing of the yellow star, and more. Soon after his bar mitzvah in 1940, Johan and his family were arrested by the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the Security Service of the Nazis. Hans' father was able to get the family released before deportation by paying someone to release them and change their papers. The family would be split for the next few years and sent to different hiding places. The last tie that Hans saw his parents was on his 16th birthday,  but after the end of the war, he learned that the Nazis had murdered his parents, brother, and most of his extended family.

In 1951, Hans moved to New Zealand with only $20 in his pocket, where he met his future wife, Janna Dettingmeijer. They married in 1956 and had four children, three girls and a boy.

Han is known throughout New Zealand as the founder of Vogel's Bread, having started the brand alongside fellow refugee Dr Max Reizenstein, delivering the bread to purchasers on a bicycle. After buying out Dr Reizenstein, Han and Janna established Klisser's Farmhouse Bakery and the line of the now-famous bread in New Zealand.
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HANKA PRESSBURG

Hanka Pressburg was born in Rakovnik, Czechoslovakia in 1920 to Josef and Ruzena Švarc. She lived with her parents and brother above her father's shop until she went to Prague for school, where she learned German and French. While not a religious family, the Švarc's kept major Jewish holidays and had excellent relations with their Christian neighbours.

When the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia, Hanka and her family were subjected to increasingly harsh restrictions against Jews. She married her first husband, Fricek Weil, in 1941 and soon after, in 1942, Hanka, her husband, and her family were deported to the ghetto-transit camp Terezin (Theresienstadt).

She lived there until Dec 1943, when Hanka and Fricek were deported to Auschwitz. Hanka would survive Auschwitz, but unfortunately, Fricek would be murdered there. When she was liberated by the British in 1945 from Bergen-Belsen, Hanka survived six camps and multiple death marches.

She married her second husband, George (Jiří) Pressburg in 1947 and moved to New Zealand in 1950, where she had two daughters, Carol and Susie.

Hanka and George are considered the founders of Holocaust education in New Zealand and were instrumental in setting up the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand.

FRED SILBERSTEIN

Alfred "Fred" Silberstein was born in Berlin in 1927. His father owned a haberdashery business that the Nazis eventually destroyed during the Kristallnacht pogrom on 9 - 10 Nov 1938. During that pogrom, Fred's father was deported to Sachsenhausen, and when he was eventually released back to the family, he was a "broken man."

Fred was forced to work at the infamous Wannsee Conference when the SS picked him up to be a servant. Because he was blonde-haired and blue-eyed, he was often mistaken for being an Aryan.  When he was found out to be a Jew at Wannsee, he was given the chance to renounce his Judaism but Fred refused. In February 1943, at almost 16 years old, Fred was deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. His survival at selection was down to his lying about his age and being chosen as a candidate for hard labour. During his time in Auschwitz, Fred met the notorious Dr Josef Mengele, who selected him in 1944, for experimentation and torture. He was operated on without anaesthetics, injected with chemicals, and sewn back up, all for the Nazis to learn how to improve healing for Nazis soldiers injured on the battlefield. When the Nazis emptied Auschwitz, Fred was taken on an infamous death march to Nordhausen, where the Americans liberated him in 1945 at 19 years old. 

Due to his experiences in the concentration camps and what he witnessed at Wannsee, Fred was a witness for the American prosecutors at the Nuremberg Trials from November 1945 to October 1946.

Before moving to New Zealand in the late 1940s, Fred discovered that his sister, Hansi Keating, had survived and was living in Frankfurt. They moved to Auckland, where Fred had his own restaurant and would speak to school and adult groups about his Holocaust experiences.

The Fred Silberstein kit is recommended for Senior students only. Please watch the testimony before showing to your students.

CLAIRE GALAMBOS-WINTER

Klara "Clare" Galambos-Winter was born in Szombathely, Hungary, into a family of musicians. Clare was an incredibly talented player, moving to Budapest at 16 to attend a music conservatory.

During World War II, her family was forced from their home and into a ghetto, then deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Clare's mother, brother, and father were murdered there, but Clare and her aunt Rosie, were sent on to Kassell to work as slave labour in a munitions factory until the war ended.

The sold survivors of their family, except for one other cousin, Clare and Rosie were liberated by the Americans in Buchenwald after surviving a death march to the camp.

They came to New Zealand as refugees in 1949, joining relatives who had settled here 40 years earlier. Clare played in the 2YA radio orchestra until being appointed to the National Orchestra in 1951, retiring in 1983 after 33 years in the first violin section.

She maintained an active musical life after retirement, playing in chamber music ensembles and teaching music appreciation classes.

SOPHIA GALLER KIT

HAN KLISSER KIT

HANKA PRESSBURG KIT

FRED SILBERSTEIN KIT

CLAIRE GALAMBOS-WINTER KIT

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Assessments
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LEVEL 1 NCEA ASSESSMENT - STANDARD 92024 - ENGAGE WITH A VARIETY OF PRIMARY SOURCES IN A HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Our assessment for NCEA Level 1 History (Standard 92024) supports student learning on causes and consequences of Kristallnacht. Allowing student choice of focus question, this task enables students to select a variety of primary sources from a Resource Pack, identify the main ideas in the evidence, reflect on the strengths and limitations within and across the collection of sources.

History 1.1 causes or consequences of Kristallnacht: Resource Pack

History 1.1 Answers Document

History 1.1 Student Instructions

History 1.1 assessment sheet

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LEVEL 1 NCEA ASSESSMENT - STANDARD 92025 - DEMONSTRATE UNDERSTANDING OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF A HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Our assessment for NCEA Level 1 History (Standard 92025) supports student learning on the significance of the Holocaust and its significance to New Zealand, and New Zealanders in particular. By using the primary and secondary sources in the Resource Booklet, students are able to examine the significance through the significance framework of the 5 R's (Christine Counsell) or to use aspects of significance such as impact, the lens of whakapapa, the lens of tuakiri, or the lens of collective maumaharatanga.

HISTORY 1.2 Holocaust significance to Aotearoa: Resource Booklet

HISTORY 1.2 EVIDENCE COLLECTION TEMPLATE

HISTORY 1.2 STUDENT ACTIVITY

HISTORY 1.2 ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE

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LEVEL 2 NCEA ASSESSMENT - STANDARD 91229 - CARRY OUT AN INQUIRY OF AN HISTORICAL EVENT OR PLACE THAT IS OF SIGNIFICANCE TO NEW ZEALANDERS

​Our assessment for NCEA Level 2 History (Standard 91229) supports student learning on an aspect of their choice within the historical context of Nazi Germany and/or the Holocaust. Ideally, this task would follow an in-class programme of learning on the Holocaust. Students identify a topic of interest, develop a focussing question(s) using the examples provided, gather and organise sources, make perceptive annotations on the evidence, and evaluate their inquiry process. This assessment can be used on its own or combined with the History 2.2 standard.

History 2.1 Student Instructions (with 2025 RAMP changes)

History 2.1 Assessment Schedule (combined with 2.2)

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LEVEL 2 NCEA ASSESSMENT - STANDARD 91230 - EXAMINE A HISTORICAL EVENT OR PLACE THAT IS OF SIGNIFICANCE TO NEW ZEALANDERS

Our assessment for NCEA Level 2 History (Standard 91230) supports student learning on an aspect of their choice within the historical context of Nazi Germany and/or the Holocaust. Ideally, this task would follow an in-class programme of learning on the Holocaust. This task is specifically designed to use along with the 2.1 Inquiry. Students communicate key historical ideas through a convincing explanation of their chosen aspect, use supporting evidence and explain the significance of the Holocaust to New Zealanders. ​

History 2.2 Student Instructions

History 2.2 Assessment Schedule (combined with 2.1)