These are some additional Holocaust teaching resources for middle schoolers that I consider to be extremely valuable. I’ve read all of the memoirs listed below, some of them when I was a middle school student. Each story had a profound impact on me and I believe they are a powerful way to help middle school students learn about the Holocaust.

All But My Life

Gerda Weissman Klein’s book All But My Life: A Memoir and the accompanying HBO documentary One Survivor Remembers are essential resources for Holocaust education. Both the book and the documentary are appropriate for older middle school and high school students. They share Gerda’s story in her own words, which makes them all the more poignant.

Gerda was born in 1924 in Bielitz, Poland and lived a comfortable life with her parents and brother, Arthur. After the Nazi invasion in 1939, Gerda and her family had to move to the basement of their home and were later separated and sent to labor camps. During the war, Gerda loses everything: her home, her family, possessions, and her friends.

She is eventually forced on a death march in the winter of 1945, and incredibly she survives the horrible journey. Gerda later married an American soldier named Kurt Klein, relocated to the United States, and had a family. She is the author of five books, has shared her story with audiences for forty-five years, and has earned many awards and accolades.

US Holocaust Memorial Museum Survivor Testimonies

The US Holocaust Memorial Museum Survivor Testimonies page houses an extensive collection of survivor stories. The Personal Histories section features videotaped survivor testimonies, while the Behind Every Name a Story web project has essays written by survivors. There are also diaries, podcasts featuring Holocaust survivors, and much more.

The fact that these testimonies are in the survivors’ own words makes them that much more powerful. If your students can’t meet a survivor, these resources are the next best thing for bringing the Holocaust to life. With all the testimonies available, you should certainly be able to find some to use in your classroom.

Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend

The poignant book Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend by Alison Leslie Gold tells the story of Hannah Goslar, a friend of Anne Frank’s. The two girls bonded as young children when they were new immigrants in the Netherlands. Anne mentions Hannah several times in her diary, though she calls her by the pseudonym Lies Goosen.

Some of the most heartbreaking passages in the diary took place after Anne dreamt of her friend in the winter of 1943. In her dream, Hannah appeared, emaciated, dressed in rags and in despair. She asks why Anne has abandoned her, and the question haunts Anne. She feels guilty that she wasn’t a better friend to Hannah, and wonders why she was chosen to live and Hannah to die.

The terrible irony is that Anne died, while Hannah survived the war in Bergen-Belsen, along with her little sister, Gaby. Hannah and Anne had a brief, emotional reunion in Bergen-Belsen. Sadly, they were unable to see each other over the tall fence that divided them. Anne told Hannah of the desperate conditions she was living in. Later, Hannah managed to toss a package of food over the fence for Anne. Soon after, Hannah lost track of Anne, and only after the war did she learn from Otto Frank of Anne’s death.

She and her sister Gaby later emigrated to Israel, where they began a new life. Hannah married, had three children and many grandchildren, and still lives in Israel today.

Holocaust Memoirs of a Bergen-Belsen Survivor and Classmate of Anne Frank

In Holocaust Memoirs of a Bergen-Belsen Survivor & Classmate of Anne Frank, Nanette Blitz Konig shares her harrowing story of how she survived the Holocaust. Nanette grew up in Amsterdam and was a classmate of Anne Frank at the Jewish Lyceum. She attended Anne’s thirteenth birthday party and witnessed Anne receiving her famous diary.

Nanette, her parents, and her brother were deported from Amsterdam and sent to the transit camp Westerbork. From there, they were sent to Bergen-Belsen in February 1944. A year later, Nanette was left orphaned and alone in the camp. Around this time she had a remarkable, emotional reunion with Anne Frank.

During their encounters, the girls shared their sorrows and suffering. Incredibly, they also managed to speak about their dreams for the future. Anne told Nanette about her diary and said she still hoped to publish it after the war. Tragically, Anne died in the typhus epidemic at Bergen-Belsen soon after their reunion. Nanette found herself alone again.

Nanette managed to survive the war in Bergen-Belsen. After liberation, she stayed in hospitals and sanatoriums for three years while she recovered from starvation, typhus, and tuberculosis. She then moved to England where her mother’s family lived and gradually began a new life for herself. She married and moved to Brazil with her new husband and had three children. Nanette lives in São Paulo, Brazil, and she wrote her story to help us and future generations remember the Holocaust.

Children of Terror 

Children of Terror by Inge Auerbacher and Bozenna Urbanowicz shares the harrowing experiences of two young girls during World War II. Inge is a young Jewish girl from Kippenheim, Germany, and Bozenna is a Roman Catholic from the small Polish village of Leonowka.

During the Holocaust, Inge and her parents were sent to Terezin. There they endured horrific conditions and the constant threat of deportation. Bozenna’s family fled their home when their village was burned and later ended up in a German labor camp. Both girls survived unimaginable terror, constant hunger, unspeakable living conditions, and the loss of family members. Both also contracted serious illnesses, including tuberculosis, during their time in the camps.

Incredibly, these young girls survived, and after the war, they emigrated to the United States with their families. They thrived in America and ultimately collaborated on this book to share their incredible stories with the world.