Holocaust Timeline Activity

This lesson is structured around a multi-layered wall timeline that encourages critical thinking about the relationship between Nazi policy, World War II, historical events, and individual experiences during the Holocaust. Extension timeline card packs are available. The activity allows students to make inferences about the interrelatedness of time and geographic location to historical events and promotes critical thinking about the impact on groups targeted for persecution and the experience of individuals within those groups.

Grade level: Adaptable for grades 7–12 Subject: Multidisciplinary Time required: This activity is highly adaptable and can be completed in 60 minutes or multiple class sessions, used as a point of reference throughout an entire unity of study, or provide a base for thematic extension activities that can be added. Languages: English, Spanish

Select Your Timeline Activity Cards

Timeline activity cards are provided in a variety of formats to support your use in the classroom.

Downloadable PDFs

Timeline cards can be downloaded off the Museum’s website and accessed as PDFs below.

Foundational activity cards:

• Years, 1933–1945 (PDF)

• Individual Profiles (PDF)

• Laws and Decrees (PDF)

• Historical Events (PDF)

Extension activity cards:

• Exploring Night as Literature, Bearing Witness to History (PDF)

• Exploring Anne Frank’s Diary (PDF)

• Racial Science and Law in Nazi Germany and the United States (PDF)

Online Interactive Activities For Learning Management Systems

This timeline card lesson plan is compatible with learning management systems or web browsers. To use with your LMS, download the files below and follow your system’s instructions for importing files.

• Online lesson link (for web browsers)

• SCORM 1.2 (ZIP)

• SCORM 2004 (ZIP)

• xAPI (Tin Can) (ZIP)

Printed Copies

Free, printed copies of timeline activity cards will be shipped to educators within a few weeks, based on availability. Request a printed version.

Plan Your Timeline Activity Lesson

• Lesson Plan (PDF)

• Optional Worksheet (PDF)

• Lesson Plan Extension: Non-Jewish Victim Groups (PDF)

• Lesson Plan Extension: Connecting to the Path to Nazi Genocide film (PDF)

Use Timeline Activity Cards with Your Students

Watch this short video to learn how to use the timeline activity to contextualize Holocaust history in your classroom.

Guidelines for Teaching about the Holocaust

Teaching Holocaust history requires a high level of sensitivity and keen awareness of the complexity of the subject matter. These guidelines reflect approaches appropriate for effective teaching in general and are particularly relevant to Holocaust education.

This lesson is also available in Spanish.