Aron’s Story: A Virtual Museum of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe

Organization: Avenues for Change: Holocaust & Genocide Education
Common Core Domain: English Language Arts, English Language Arts/Literacy, History-Social Science, Reading, Reading: Literacy in History and Social Studies, Speaking and Listening, Writing: Literacy in History and Social Studies
Grade Level: Grades 6-8. Extension activities for 9 - 12
Duration: 30-60 Minutes
7 lessons 30-60 minutes each
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1, 2, 4, 6, 7, and 9 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.1, 4, 2, and 9 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1 and 4 HSS.7.9 HSS.8.12

Survivor: Aron’s Story is an award-winning hardcover illustrated graphic novel and history book based on the first hand Holocaust testimony of Aron, a young Jewish-Soviet boy from 1940s Odessa, Ukraine, and extensive historical research by its creator, Alex Teplish, Aron Rabinovich’s grandson. The book captures one of the least documented chapters of the Holocaust, detailing Aron’s struggle for survival during the Nazi and Romanian occupation, the betrayal of his own neighbors, and the deep-rooted antisemitism within the Soviet regime. It also provides a comprehensive historical context, covering the Jewish Diaspora, Pale of Settlement, pogroms, Soviet oppression, Nazi propaganda, eugenics, WWII, and the Holocaust across Europe and its aftermath. The interactive, virtual museum and these lessons were developed as a supplement to Survivor: Aron’s Story.

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