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Judy Abrams

  • English
  • 11 +
  • 2 class periods

Judy Abrams was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1937. She survived the Holocaust by hiding first in convents and then in the apartment of a non-Jewish family friend in Budapest. She immigrated to Canada in 1949 and now lives in Montreal.

The educational materials below can be used to create a lesson around Judy Abrams’s survival story.

Learning Objectives

  • engage with survivor testimony
  • develop media skills by researching a survivor’s story on the digital resource Re:Collection
  • use historical-thinking and critical-thinking skills to complete a timeline

How to use these materials in class

Step 1: The Background Reading is a short introduction to a survivor’s story that provides historical and biographical context. Distribute the Background Reading to your students to prepare them to delve deeper into Judy Abrams’s survival story.

Step 2: The Re:Collection Instructions show students how to navigate the digital resource Re:Collection. Distribute the instructions before your students use the digital resource.

Step 3: The Author Biography Activity asks students to answer ten chronological questions about a survivor’s life before, during and after the Holocaust. Assign this activity to your students to guide them through an exploration of Judy Abrams’s page on Re:Collection.

Step 4: The Timeline Activity asks students to create a timeline of significant events from a survivor’s life alongside significant events in the history of the Holocaust. Assign this activity to your students to apply what they learned about Judy Abrams’s experiences during the Holocaust to the broader historical context.