On-site and virtual field trips help students understand the impact of the Holocaust, genocide, human rights violations, and standing up for others. Pre and post-visit activities aid educators in extending students’ learning and fostering meaningful learning experiences.
Choose from a variety of on-site or virtual learning experiences to engage your students with subject matter related to the Holocaust, genocide, universal human and civil rights, and other important topics.
All field trips listed below support Common Core State Standards in English/Language Arts and Literacy in History Social Studies, Illinois Social Science Standards, and the C2 Framework for Social Studies Standards.
In Our Voices: Field Trip for Grades 7-12
In Our Voices transforms history into lessons for today, inviting students to consider the power of choice, responsibility, citizenship, and human rights, with the goal of discovering what influences our decisions to act as bystanders or Upstanders. Through guided exploration, students investigate the history of the Holocaust as told through the personal belongings, photographs, historical records, and stories of Chicagoland Survivors and eyewitnesses. Students are encouraged to use this knowledge to make connections to their world today. The field trip includes suggested pre and post-visit activities.
On-site field trips include:
- Docent-led tour of Zev & Shifra Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition
- Tour of the Act of Art gallery or special exhibition
- Presentation of a Survivor story by a member of the Museum’s Speakers’ Bureau or other comparable content.
On-site Group Size: 10 students minimum, 160 students maximum
On-site Times Offered: Monday – Friday | 9:30 AM, 10:30 AM, 11:30 AM, 2:00 PM; Saturday – Sunday | 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM
On-site Tour Length: 3 hours
Virtual field trips include:
- Pre-recorded exploration of the history of the Holocaust through artifacts and stories in the Zev & Shifra Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition
- Tour divided into four segments, each with discussion prompts, reflection questions, and supplemental activities
- Flexibility for use within in-person, remote, and hybrid learning environments
- Optional virtual presentation by a member of the Speakers’ Bureau and/or a Q&A session with a Museum docent
Children of the Holocaust – Thematic Tour
Virtual Field Trip for Grades 7-12
When World War II began, approximately 1.6 million Jewish children lived in Nazi-occupied Europe and the Soviet Union. By war’s end, few had survived. Through the personal belongings, photographs, diaries, and eyewitness account of Survivors, explore the lives of Jewish children and adolescents – from the years leading up to the war, to the roundups and deportations, to hidden life and death in ghettos and concentration camps, and to liberation and coping following the war.
These live virtual tours, facilitated by a Museum docent, engage students in a particular topic within the history of the Holocaust. Thematic tours are recommended for upper-level classes and students with substantial prior knowledge of the subject.
Ghettoization During the Holocaust – Thematic Tour
Virtual Field Trip for Grades 7-12
Through the personal belongings, photographs, historical records, and stories of local Survivors and eyewitnesses, explore life behind ghetto walls in occupied-Europe and the Soviet Union. Students will discover how even in the darkness of the ghettos, with the most limited resources, many Jewish people maintained their dignity, education, culture, and hope in humanity.
These live virtual tours, facilitated by a Museum docent, engage students in a particular topic within the history of the Holocaust. Thematic tours are recommended for upper-level classes and students with substantial prior knowledge of the subject.
Nazi Propaganda: Fueling Hate and Genocide – Thematic Tour
Virtual Field Trip for Grades 7-12
This tour introduces students to the basic tools and techniques propagandists used in shaping their message. Through the historical lens of the Holocaust, viewed through primary sources, the tour illuminates how Nazi propaganda molded public opinion and indoctrinated German society with an ideology that fueled racism and hate; leading to the creation of government-sanctioned violence, and ultimately to the murder of an estimated 6 million Jews.
These live virtual tours, facilitated by a Museum docent, engage students in a particular topic within the history of the Holocaust. Thematic tours are recommended for upper-level classes and students with substantial prior knowledge of the subject.
Spiritual Resistance: Thematic Tour
Virtual Field Trip for Grades 7 – Undergraduate
Join us as we explore the ways Jewish people maintained their humanity and dignity by using their spirituality to lift themselves above the dehumanization of the Holocaust.
This virtual thematic tour is a docent-facilitated presentation that highlights artifacts and stories from the Museum’s Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition through the lens of Jewish spiritual resistance. Hear the stories of those who found strength from their faith or drew resilience from within, to resist and combat their dire situation, risking their lives to maintain traditions, educate their children, celebrate sabbath and holidays, and sustain their inner beliefs and soul by transcending the physical in the face of Nazi tyranny.
“Spiritual Resistance During the Holocaust” tour is a project of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center and YU Torah Mitzion Kollel of Chicago. Created by Laurie Hasten and Miki Jona Schreiber.
Take a Stand: Field Trip for Grades 7-12
Empower students to connect with human and civil rights history and challenges today, gathering tools for civic engagement and positive action in their community and world. Explore Upstanders working to champion areas of economic opportunity, equal rights, safe communities, education and health, and the environment. Students will learn how to take action on issues that matter to them while exploring art as a form of activism, and will come away with tools and strategies to create positive change.
On-site field trips include a tour of the Abe & Ida Cooper Survivor Stories Experience. Virtual field trips include flexibility for use within in-person, remote, and hybrid learning environments.
This field trip supports the Illinois Civics Mandates for Middle and High Schools.
On-site Group Size: 10 students minimum, 100 students maximum
On-site Times Offered: Monday – Friday | 9:45 AM, 11:45 AM, 1:45 PM
On-site Tour Length: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Be An Upstander
Available on-site only for grades 6-12. Recommended for grade 6, or grade 7-8 with limited background knowledge.
Students develop skills to use their voices to speak out for themselves and on behalf of others, and are empowered to take positive action in their schools and communities. Be an Upstander field trips are on-site only and include tours of the Abe & Ida Cooper Survivor Stories Experience and the Act of Art gallery, or a special exhibition (when age-appropriate). Through experiential and interactive activities exploring the compelling stories of Holocaust Survivors and contemporary Upstanders, students will gain a deeper understanding of:
- Universal human rights
- Civil rights
- Empowering and creating community
- Social justice
- Social-emotional learning
- Age-appropriate introductory Holocaust education
This field trip supports Illinois Priority Learning Standards for Social/Emotional Learning and the Illinois Civics Mandate for Middle School.
On-site Group Size: 10 students minimum, 80 students maximum
On-site Times Offered: Monday – Friday | 9:45 AM, 1:45 PM
On-site Tour Length: 2 hours, 40 minutes
(On-Site) Make A Difference!
Available on-site only for grades 5-12. Recommended for grade 5, or grade 6-7 with limited background knowledge.
Students will be inspired by contemporary and historic Upstanders who have taken action on issues that matter to them.
Through experiential and interactive activities, students will develop skills to speak out and get involved in their local and global communities while gaining a deeper understanding of:
- Universal human rights
- Civil rights
- Empowering and creating community
- Social justice
- Social-emotional learning
- Age-appropriate introductory Holocaust education
Make a Difference field trips include tours of the Act of Art gallery or a special exhibition (when age-appropriate).
This field trip supports Illinois Priority Learning Standards.
On-site Group Size: 10 students minimum, 80 students maximum
On-site Times Offered: Monday – Friday | 9:45 AM, 11:45 AM, 1:45 PM
On-site Tour Length: 2 hours, 20 minutes
(Virtual) Make A Difference!
Available virtually only for grades 5-12. Recommended for grades 5-6.
Experiential technology, online interactives, and compelling stories of Holocaust Survivors encourage students to explore their role in empowering and creating community through the lens of universal human and civil rights. Online activities may be completed individually, as a class, or a combination of the two. Options available within the field trip allow educators to focus on essential themes, including:
- Social justice
- Social/emotional learning
- Contemporary Upstanders
- Age-appropriate introductory Holocaust education
This field trip supports Illinois Priority Learning Standards for social/emotional learning and the Illinois Civics Mandate for middle schools.
(Onsite) The Girl and the Diary: Searching for Rywka from the Łódz Ghetto
Available onsite for grades 7+ May 18th, 2023 through September 24, 2023
In 1945, a diary was found in the ashes of a destroyed crematorium in the liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau Camp. It was written by a 14-year-old Jewish girl named Rywka Lipszyc and documented her life in the Łódz Ghetto between October 1943 and April 1944. Rywka’s diary told stories of a young girl who lost her siblings and parents, but never lost hope or her faith. More than 60 years after its discovery, the diary traveled to the United States, where it was translated to English and published.
Created by the Galicia Jewish Museum in Kraków, Poland, the exhibition features selected passages from Rwyka’s diary, supplemented by expert commentary from historians, doctors, psychologists, and rabbis. Blended with historical artifacts and documents, interactive touch screens, documentary videos, and exceptionally rare photographs, The Girl in the Diary explores the story of a young girl’s fight for survival in the Łódz Ghetto and reconstructs what might have happened to Rywka after her deportation to Auschwitz and beyond.
On-site tour also includes portions of the Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition.
This field trip supports the Common Core State Standards in English/Language Arts and Literacy in History Social Studies, Illinois Social Science Standards, and the C2 Framework for Social Studies Standards.
On-site Group Size: 10 students minimum, 80 students maximum
On-site Times Offered: Monday, Wednesday – Sunday | 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM; Tuesdays: 10:00 AM
On-site Tour Length: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Photo credits: CMHR: Aaron Cohen; Scott Edwards; Emily Mohney