Materials drawn from Ben Helfgott's Case Study
Ben Helfgott
Each time Ben Helfgott revisits Piotrkow, a town in Poland 26 miles away from Lodz, where he grew up, he notices how little the physical features of the town have changed even though the community he lived in was cruelly and systematically destroyed. As he walks through familiar streets he carries with him memories of special people – his parents, youngest sister, other members of his extended family and childhood playmates, all murdered by the Nazis. In Piotrkow, he feels especially close to those unjustly robbed of life. Today he works hard to ensure that the Holocaust is never forgotten and its lessons learned.
The educational materials listed on this page are organised by School Levels. If you cannot find the materials that you're looking for, please drop us an email at enquiries@hmd.org.uk.
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For Primary Levels
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Suggestions for Creative and Cross-curricular Activities
A collection of ideas which may be adapted for use with all age ranges at Primary, Secondary and Post 16. The starting point is The Legacy of Hope theme and subject area teachers are encouraged to work together to create and share their own Legacy of Hope.
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Stolen Childhoods - Citizenship Lesson (Primary and Secondary)
This lesson is based on Denise Affonço’s story, with an extension project on Ben Helfgott’s experience. It has been produced in partnershop with EveryChild and can be adapted for Primary or Secondary students. It also works in Humanities (Geography) classes.
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Reading Activities for English (Primary)
Suggestions for Teachers who wish to introduce Holocaust narratives through the eyes of fictional characters. All the books in this section can be found on the main HMD website
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ICT and Maths Task (Primary)
This is a research and report task using the Ben Helfgott case study. It links with the Primary Assembly.
The class leasing the assembly could carry out the research and display their findings using ICT.
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HMD 2010 Short Film - Educational Materials
Questions and tasks to support educational activities linked with the HMD film for 2010 Legacy of Hope. The questions are cross curricular and may also be suitable for youth groups. You are advised to view the film and read through the tasks before working through them with your students.
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Dance Activities (Primary)
The complete outline of a movement and dance workshop for primary students linked with the Legacy of Hope. It contains ideas to help your students to explore related themes of “Loss” (of freedom), “Hope”, “Equality” and “Strength and Survival”.
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A challenge for students in Food Technology (Primary)
Students are asked to think about a healthy diet before hearing about rations and food shortage in ghettos, working out a simple sum based on the number of calories in a portion of food and attempting to create a meal with limited ingredients. The task could be linked with the Ben Helfgott or Oneg Shabbat case studies.
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For Secondary Levels
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Suggestions for Creative and Cross-curricular Activities
A collection of ideas which may be adapted for use with all age ranges at Primary, Secondary and Post 16. The starting point is The Legacy of Hope theme and subject area teachers are encouraged to work together to create and share their own Legacy of Hope.
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Stolen Childhoods - Citizenship Lesson (Primary and Secondary)
This lesson is based on Denise Affonço’s story, with an extension project on Ben Helfgott’s experience. It has been produced in partnershop with EveryChild and can be adapted for Primary or Secondary students. It also works in Humanities (Geography) classes.
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Religious Education Lesson (Secondary)
In this lesson, students read a message from Ben Helfgott and link this with teachings of religions they have studied. They think about human nature and create a message about justice and equality. The final message could also be performed as an assembly.
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Lesson plan for Citizenship/Humanities (upper secondary/post 16)
This lesson links with the case study on Ben Helfgott. It encourages students to think about Ben’s achievements and his contribution to society. It shows how Ben rebuilt his life and asks students to reflect on his Legacy of Hope.
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HMD 2010 Short Film - Educational Materials
Questions and tasks to support educational activities linked with the HMD film for 2010 Legacy of Hope. The questions are cross curricular and may also be suitable for youth groups. You are advised to view the film and read through the tasks before working through them with your students.
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Design Technology - Resistant Materials (Secondary)
Students and Teachers are challenged to design and plan a sustainable memorial for a Legacy of Hope.
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An Historical Enquiry for History Students (Secondary)
A set of enquiry questions and work cards linked with Denise Affonço’s story and additional questions for a Holocaust based enquiry. This enquiry can also link with activities in Citizenship/PSE and may be used with Post 16 groups as part of a research task.
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An activity for Maths/Science (Secondary)
An activity for secondary and post 16 students which encourages them to use their skills in interpreting evidence to help others recognise and understand the human stories behind often quoted statistics. The results of the task could be shared in an assembly.
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For Post-16 Levels
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Suggestions for Creative and Cross-curricular Activities
A collection of ideas which may be adapted for use with all age ranges at Primary, Secondary and Post 16. The starting point is The Legacy of Hope theme and subject area teachers are encouraged to work together to create and share their own Legacy of Hope.
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Questions for use with the Case Studies (Post 16)
A series of questions linked with the individual case studies and the HMD 2010 theme The Legacy of Hope. The questions provide scope for collective and individual reflection and are suitable for Post 16 students in formal and informal education settings.
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Lesson plan for Citizenship/Humanities (upper secondary/post 16)
This lesson links with the case study on Ben Helfgott. It encourages students to think about Ben’s achievements and his contribution to society. It shows how Ben rebuilt his life and asks students to reflect on his Legacy of Hope.
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HMD 2010 Short Film - Educational Materials
Questions and tasks to support educational activities linked with the HMD film for 2010 Legacy of Hope. The questions are cross curricular and may also be suitable for youth groups. You are advised to view the film and read through the tasks before working through them with your students.
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An Historical Enquiry for History Students (Secondary)
A set of enquiry questions and work cards linked with Denise Affonço’s story and additional questions for a Holocaust based enquiry. This enquiry can also link with activities in Citizenship/PSE and may be used with Post 16 groups as part of a research task.
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An activity for Maths/Science (Secondary)
An activity for secondary and post 16 students which encourages them to use their skills in interpreting evidence to help others recognise and understand the human stories behind often quoted statistics. The results of the task could be shared in an assembly.
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For assemblies
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Special people and a special day; an art based assembly (Primary)
This is an interactive assembly for primary students which uses pictures from the Ben Uri art collection to encourage everyone to think about special people in their lives today and to remember those who were separated from people they loved. Students are asked to join the Legacy of Hope by creating a postcard portrait of a person they love and to linking it with a message of hope and friendship.
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Secondary Assembly
An Assembly for Secondary and Post 16 students based on the Ben Helfgott and Hugo Gryn case studies in which everyone is encouraged to use modern methods of communication to share The Legacy of Hope.
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Primary Assembly
An Assembly for Primary Students, sharing the story of how Ben Helfgott’s father set a good example of kindness and understanding which saved Ben’s life. Students will also hear Ben’s Legacy of Hope for the future.
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An assembly of promises for a Legacy of Hope (upper primary/lower secondary)
An assembly for 9 to 14 year old students which explores the meaning of the Legacy of Hope and links it with the stories of three survivors and the hopes which students have for a fair and inclusive society. A script is provided for 4 students and a teacher plus a power-point presentation which contains pictures of the survivors. At the end of the assembly students create a display of promises to remind them of their own reflections on the Legacy of Hope.
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