Transition Year Module in Holocaust Studies
This module seeks to deepen student understanding and empathy, promoting reflection and moral consciousness, while building on civic values and awareness of human rights.
Meeting the learning requirements of the Transition Year
This comprehensive learning programme offers an ideal fulfilment of the wider objectives of the Transition Year, which are to promote the personal, social, educational and vocational development of students, preparing them to be confident and autonomous members of society.
Fully flexible
It is designed for maximum flexibility within your Transition Year curriculum. it can be delivered in 40-minute lesson periods, spanning as few as 20 to as many as 60 lessons. It can be timetabled as a standalone module or delivered as part of a wider History or Citizenship course.
Shabbtai Sonenson takes one of the shtetl's Hebrew teachers for a ride on his new motorcycle, 1941.
Source: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of The Shtetl Foundation
The rise of antisemitism
This course explores how antisemitism was nurtured in Europe and became normalised over time. In doing so, it is careful to focus on the humanity of the victims, since a vital part of understanding the Holocaust is to understand what was lost. These portraits of everyday lives cut short serve as an essential contrast to Nazi tropes and antisemitic stereotypes.
Guidance for teachers
Our Module Outline provides detailed pedagogical guidance, covering the reasons why it is so essential to teach the Holocaust, as well as addressing some of the challenges of teaching this disturbing history.
You can download the document in full or get it section by section.
Full Module Outline
Section by section
Module Outline
Why Teach the Holocaust?
Teaching Emotive History
Principles to Consider
Pedagogical Approaches
Key Skills
Research Projects
Accessing Resources
An anti-semitic cartoon from the Nazi newspaper Der Strumer.
Lesson materials
Materials for all ten lessons are available to download below.
+ Topic 1 - Pre-war Jewish life and the impact of Nazi antisemitism
Enables students to develop the key skills to
- Develop the key skills of senior cyle through their learning and assessment tasks. (LO1)
- Develop an understanding of the vocabulary and terminaology associated with the Holocaust. (LO2)
- Investigate aspects of Jewish life before the Holocaust and develop a contextualised chronology of pre-War Nazi actions against Jewish peole and other 'enemies'. (LO7)
–
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Get the complete document for this lesson.
+ Topic 2 - Ghettos
Enables students to develop the key skills to
- Develop the key skills of senior cyle through their learning and assessment tasks. (LO1)
- Develop an understanding of the vocabulary and terminaology associated with the Holocaust. (LO2)
- Investigate aspects of Jewish life before the Holocaust and develop a contextualised chronology of pre-War Nazi actions against Jewish peole and other 'enemies'. (LO7)
–
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Get the complete document for this lesson.
+ Topic 3 - Nazi camps
Enables students to develop the key skills to
- Develop the key skills of senior cyle through their learning and assessment tasks. (LO1)
- Develop an understanding of the vocabulary and terminaology associated with the Holocaust. (LO2)
- Investigate aspects of Jewish life before the Holocaust and develop a contextualised chronology of pre-War Nazi actions against Jewish peole and other 'enemies'. (LO7)
–
Download the materials
Get the complete document for this lesson.
+ Topic 4 - Killing squads (Einsatzgruppen)
Enables students to develop the key skills to
- Develop the key skills of senior cyle through their learning and assessment tasks. (LO1)
- Develop an understanding of the vocabulary and terminaology associated with the Holocaust. (LO2)
- Investigate aspects of Jewish life before the Holocaust and develop a contextualised chronology of pre-War Nazi actions against Jewish peole and other 'enemies'. (LO7)
–
Download the materials
Get the complete document for this lesson.
+ Topic 5 - Jewish resistance during the Holocaust
Enables students to develop the key skills to
- Develop the key skills of senior cyle through their learning and assessment tasks. (LO1)
- Develop an understanding of the vocabulary and terminaology associated with the Holocaust. (LO2)
- Investigate aspects of Jewish life before the Holocaust and develop a contextualised chronology of pre-War Nazi actions against Jewish peole and other 'enemies'. (LO7)
–
Download the materials
Get the complete document for this lesson.
+ Topic 6 - Rescue and righteous
Enables students to develop the key skills to
- Develop the key skills of senior cyle through their learning and assessment tasks. (LO1)
- Develop an understanding of the vocabulary and terminaology associated with the Holocaust. (LO2)
- Investigate aspects of Jewish life before the Holocaust and develop a contextualised chronology of pre-War Nazi actions against Jewish peole and other 'enemies'. (LO7)
–
Download the materials
Get the complete document for this lesson.
+ Topic 7 - After the Holocaust
Enables students to develop the key skills to
- Develop the key skills of senior cyle through their learning and assessment tasks. (LO1)
- Develop an understanding of the vocabulary and terminaology associated with the Holocaust. (LO2)
- Investigate aspects of Jewish life before the Holocaust and develop a contextualised chronology of pre-War Nazi actions against Jewish peole and other 'enemies'. (LO7)
–
Download the materials
Get the complete document for this lesson.
+ Topic 8 - Non-Jewish victims
Enables students to develop the key skills to
- Develop the key skills of senior cyle through their learning and assessment tasks. (LO1)
- Develop an understanding of the vocabulary and terminaology associated with the Holocaust. (LO2)
- Investigate aspects of Jewish life before the Holocaust and develop a contextualised chronology of pre-War Nazi actions against Jewish peole and other 'enemies'. (LO7)
–
Download the materials
Get the complete document for this lesson.
+ Topic 9 - The Holocaust and other genocides
Enables students to develop the key skills to
- Develop the key skills of senior cyle through their learning and assessment tasks. (LO1)
- Develop an understanding of the vocabulary and terminaology associated with the Holocaust. (LO2)
- Investigate aspects of Jewish life before the Holocaust and develop a contextualised chronology of pre-War Nazi actions against Jewish peole and other 'enemies'. (LO7)
–
Download the materials
Get the complete document for this lesson.
+ Topic 10 - Ireland and the Holocaust
Enables students to develop the key skills to
- Develop the key skills of senior cyle through their learning and assessment tasks. (LO1)
- Develop an understanding of the vocabulary and terminaology associated with the Holocaust. (LO2)
- Investigate aspects of Jewish life before the Holocaust and develop a contextualised chronology of pre-War Nazi actions against Jewish peole and other 'enemies'. (LO7)
–
Download the materials
Get the complete document for this lesson.
How can I make the most of this module?
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1.
Read the summary
Detailed pedagolgical guidance to help you make the most of this challenging topic.
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2.
Get the lesson materials
Detailed lesson plans with supporting information.
See the listings higher up this page.
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3.
Sign up for CPD
We provide a range of courses to support teachers’ professional development.
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4.
Share
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Additional resources
Holocaust Education Ireland has produced a rich set of complementary resources called Holocaust Studies for Senior Students, which provide an ideal companion to the Transition Year module.
They are available to download here.
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