Miriam - thelastones.education

About Course

Miriam was born in Kosice, Czechoslovakia. Miriam’s father at the time was studying to become a rabbi to follow in his father’s footsteps. But everything changed one evening, when the police came to her house and arrested him. He was sent to a labor camp in Hungary, where he managed to escape from. Back at his house, he managed to convince her wife that the whole family needed to flee as soon as possible. In 1941 the long journey through Slovakia then to Portugal began. After waiting several months in Lisbon, they finally boarded a ship to New York.

In this course you will learn to:

Define the Holocaust as the planned and systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945.
Define antisemitism as prejudice against or hatred of Jewish people.
Recognize the Holocaust as history’s most extreme example of antisemitism.
Understand the roles of rescuers, bystanders, and upstanders during the Holocaust.

Before You Begin Teaching about the Holocaust:

Please refer to this guide from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for important pedagogical information for all teachers of Holocaust education:

Guidelines for Teaching About the Holocaust — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (ushmm.org):

https://www.ushmm.org/teach/fundamentals/age-appropriateness
Horrors of Auschwitz: The Numbers Behind WWII’s Deadliest Concentration Camp:
https://www.history.com/news/auschwitz-concentration-camp-numbers
Timeline of major events that occurred before, during, and immediately after the Holocaust:
https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/resource-center/timeline.html
Horrors of Auschwitz: The Numbers Behind WWII’s Deadliest Concentration Camp:
https://www.history.com/news/auschwitz-concentration-camp-numbers

 BY THE END OF THIS LESSON, STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO:
• Define the Holocaust as the planned and systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945.
• Define antisemitism as prejudice against or hatred of Jewish people.
• Recognize the Holocaust as history’s most extreme example of antisemitism.
• Draw parallels between the past and the present to understand why we must study history.
• Learn the history of affected Jewish communities before, during, and after the Holocaust.
• Arm themselves with facts so that when they are confronted with Holocaust denial, they can speak out.

Course Content

Miriam’s Interview
Watch Miriam Klein Kassenoff's interview.

Watch the Video

12:48

About Miriam Klein Kassenoff

Video Key Terms
Use the following terms referred to in the film and/or this guide to help your students better understand Miriam's story.

Essential Quotes for Classroom Use (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

15 Notable Facts from Miriam’s Testimony (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

1. Laszlo was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1937.
2. Hungary was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1944.
3. Laszlo was a Jewish child during the Holocaust.
4. His parents chose to hide him and his twin brother to protect them.
5. They moved frequently to avoid being found.
6. People were rewarded for reporting hidden Jews.
7. His mother sewed yellow stars onto their clothes.
8. Laszlo was warned never to use his real name.
9. He was called “Selly” instead of his birth name “Schwartz.”
10. He remembers hearing people being executed by the river.
11. He says his life was saved by people who helped at great risk.
12. Laszlo experienced fear and exclusion as a young child.
13. He and his brother could not play with non-Jewish friends.
14. He believes he survived partly because of luck.
15. He shares his story so it will not be forgotten.

Historical Facts (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

Connecting Past to Present (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

Discussion Questions (Missing – Same as Laszlo)
Here’s a streamlined set of discussion prompts—each question covers a distinct theme without overlap:

What would you do? (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

Resources (Same as Laszlo)

Closing Thought for Teachers (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

Student Ratings & Reviews

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About Course

What Will You Learn?

Course Content

Miriam’s Interview Watch Miriam Klein Kassenoff's interview.

Watch the Video

About Miriam Klein Kassenoff

Miriam Klein Kassenoff’s Story

Video Key Terms Use the following terms referred to in the film and/or this guide to help your students better understand Miriam's story.

Video Key Terms

Essential Quotes for Classroom Use (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

“I was very little at the time, but I recall my mother sitting in the living room and sewing yellow stars on our clothes.” (00:02:00)

“That was, I think, the first time that I realized as a kid that there are people out there that wanted to hurt me.” (00:03:18)

“My name was not always Selly. When I was born, my name was Schwartz… we were warned never, ever to tell anybody our real name.” (00:06:08)

“I heard the screams and the cries of the people as they realized what was about to happen… and then we heard the machine gun fire.” (00:08:28)

“If they had been one day late, I wouldn’t be here.” (00:10:05)

“My voice is fading, and pretty soon, we will be silenced.” (00:14:02)

15 Notable Facts from Miriam’s Testimony (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

1. Laszlo was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1937.

2. Hungary was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1944.

3. Laszlo was a Jewish child during the Holocaust.

4. His parents chose to hide him and his twin brother to protect them.

5. They moved frequently to avoid being found.

6. People were rewarded for reporting hidden Jews.

7. His mother sewed yellow stars onto their clothes.

8. Laszlo was warned never to use his real name.

9. He was called “Selly” instead of his birth name “Schwartz.”

10. He remembers hearing people being executed by the river.

11. He says his life was saved by people who helped at great risk.

12. Laszlo experienced fear and exclusion as a young child.

13. He and his brother could not play with non-Jewish friends.

14. He believes he survived partly because of luck.

15. He shares his story so it will not be forgotten.

Historical Facts (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

Facts about Hungary and the Holocaust (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

Connecting Past to Present (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

Today’s World View (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

Student Reflection & Creative Work (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

Discussion Questions (Missing – Same as Laszlo) Here’s a streamlined set of discussion prompts—each question covers a distinct theme without overlap:

Forced Identification

Social Isolation

Experiencing Fear

Hiding Identity

Impossible Choices

Power of Storytelling

Dr. Josef Mengele

What would you do?

What would you do? (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

Possible Class Activities (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

Resources (Same as Laszlo)

Guidelines for Teaching About the Holocaust — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (ushmm.org)

Timeline of major events that occurred before, during, and immediately after the Holocaust.

Horrors of Auschwitz: The Numbers Behind WWII’s Deadliest Concentration Camp

Closing Thought for Teachers (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

Thoughts on Miriam’s Story (Missing – Same as Laszlo)

Student Ratings & Reviews

Miriam’s Interview
Watch Miriam Klein Kassenoff's interview.

Video Key Terms
Use the following terms referred to in the film and/or this guide to help your students better understand Miriam's story.

Discussion Questions (Missing – Same as Laszlo)
Here’s a streamlined set of discussion prompts—each question covers a distinct theme without overlap: