The Holocaust: History and Memory

Virtual Tour

Suitable for classroom use or by families and individuals, this virtual tour, hosted on Google Arts & Culture, allows visitors to explore nine interactive galleries at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. The experience offers a chronological narrative of the Holocaust through encounters with historical artifacts and photographs. Visitors will also see one of the Museum’s conservation labs, allowing them to examine how staff preserve and present Holocaust history.

Lesson Plan

Lesson length: One to two class periods

In this lesson, students examine how the Museum uses artifacts and photographs from its collections to present the history of the Holocaust and memorialize its victims—including artifacts and photographs that illustrate important aspects of Holocaust history such as Torah scrolls rescued during Kristallnacht, a train car, prisoner barracks from Auschwitz, and a gas chamber model. Students also tour the Museum's architecture and discuss what makes the Museum a living memorial. Through their exploration of the Museum's exhibitions, students gain a greater understanding of key events and topics related to the Holocaust and are able to explain the systematic nature, scope, and consequences of the Holocaust.

• Lesson Plan (PDF)

• Worksheet (PDF)

This virtual field trip and lesson were adapted from an activity created in conjunction with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

A previous version of this virtual field trip hosted on Google Expeditions is no longer supported.