The Holocaust in Kaunas, Lithuania | Simon Schama: The Holocaust, 80 Years On

This learning unit invites students to explore how the Holocaust changed over time through a focused investigation of events in Lithuania. Through an examination of primary sources, oral histories, eyewitness testimonies, photographs, and archaeological evidence, students analyze the role of non-Jewish Lithuanians in the persecution and murder of Jews in 1941 and consider the assertion that the Holocaust began in Kaunas.

By engaging with supporting questions and a structured series of activities before, during, and after viewing video excerpts, students develop historical thinking skills, including interpreting cause and effect, and analyzing primary sources.