Educational workshops for middle and high school students
These workshops are primarily intended for groups who have already had the opportunity to address or deepen the subject in class in different subjects.
They include a visit of about 45 minutes, followed by two hours of workshop in the teaching room.
FATES IN TIMES OF WAR
SIMONE VEIL AND HIS FAMILY: JACOB’S FAMILY ITINERARIES
For students from 9th grade to 12th grade
Originally from Nice, the Jacob family is a French Jewish family, perfectly assimilated and deeply attached to republican values. With the Second World War, the life of Simone and her loved ones changes. Based on archival documents and testimonies, this workshop proposes to trace the journey of Simone Veil and her family during these years of turmoil. The anti-Jewish measures of Vichy, the repression of the German occupier, the acts of the Resistance and the world of concentration camps are addressed by drawing on several activities. A last part aims to understand how Simone Veil became a major figure of the 20th century, by addressing her multiple post-war struggles.
Themes: Jacob family, deportations, Just, women’s rights, commitments, memoirs.
Historical periods: World War II, history of the present time.
Media: Photographs, administrative documents, legal texts, testimonies, commemorative plaques, video extracts.
Main activities: Working in a group on archival documents, support with an educational booklet.
SIMONE VEIL, A FRENCH STORY
For students in 6th and 5th grade
Through the journey of Simone Veil, née Jacob, the children discover a French-Jewish family strongly attached to republican values, whose destiny changes during the Second World War. With the help of archival documents from the Jacob family, they address the history of the exclusion of Jews from France and then highlight the commitment of Simone Veil in the work of memory and the presence of the Righteous in the collective memory.
Themes: Occupation, exclusion, antisemitism, deportation, The Righteous of France, European construction, memories.
Historical periods: World War II, history of the present time.
Supports: Archival documents, videos.
Main activity: Creation of a chronological frieze.
Charlotte Salomon, Ceija Stojka: two painters facing Nazism
This workshop takes place entirely in the German language
For 9th grade students, and LV2 high school students (beginner-intermediate level in German)
Themes: Deportation, art, music, literature, painting, the rise of Nazism, repressive policies of the French state (Indésirables), persecution of Gypsies.
Historical periods: 1930s, World War II.
Media: Reproduction of paintings, poetry, music, video excerpts, archival documents, booklet, German vocabulary.
Main activities: Group work on pictorial works, musical discovery and video excerpts in German, artistic reproduction, support with an educational booklet.
Dates:
- Thursday, December 4, 2025 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Thursday, February 5, 2026 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Friday, March 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
A SLAP FOR HISTORY
This workshop takes place entirely in the German language
For students in 1st and 12th grade with a good level in German
This workshop evokes the militant struggle of Beate and Serge Klarsfeld to bring to justice those responsible for Nazi crimes. Also following the journey of the Klarsfeld family, students approach the story of the persecution of the Jews of France. The activity is entirely conducted in German: it allows students to deepen their language skills.
Themes: Klarsfeld family, deportation, commitment, justice, memories, post-war Germany.
Historical periods: World War II, history of the present time.
Media: Booklet, comic book extracts, video excerpts, archival documents.
Main activities: Group work on archival documents, support with an educational booklet, debate, listening to video excerpts in German.
Dates:
- Monday, December 1, 2025 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Tuesday, February 3, 2026 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Thursday, March 26, 2026 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
RESCUE AND RESISTANCE
WOMEN IN RESISTANCE: THE FIRST ENGAGED – CNRD
For students from 3rd to Terminale
Liaison officer, summoner of escapees or Jewish children, doctor... women played an essential role in the Resistance. Yet, in Memory and History, their actions were long neglected, as the image of the resistant-fighter was first imposed. By endeavouring to describe the itineraries and actions of five figures of resistance fighters, the students also initiate themselves into historical research, by reconstituting the journeys of heroic women, engaged in one way or another from 1940-1941.
Themes: Female resistance, deportation, hidden children, engagement, memories.
Historical periods: World War II, history of the present time.
Media: Photographs, administrative documents, legal texts, testimonies, commemorative plaques, video extracts.
Main activities: Working in groups on archival documents, production of a leaflet about the Resistance.
JEWISH RESISTANCES – CNRD
For students from 3rd to Terminale
Collecting documents, making a fake identity card, transmitting valuable information or even taking up arms attest to the diversity of acts of resistance during the war. Thanks to the study of archives and individual reconstruction, the students highlight the different forms of commitment of these Jewish women and men in the face of the Holocaust.
Themes: Jews in the Resistance, maquis, hidden children, engagement, memoirs.
Historical periods: World War II, history of the present time.
Media: Photographs, administrative documents, legal texts, testimonies, commemorative plaques.
Main activities: Group work on archival documents, restitution in the museum
THE FIGHTING STAR
For students from 6th to 5th grade
The workshop traces the journey of a Jewish resistance fighter. The children observe the various forms of engagement, from rescue to armed struggle. Songs, objects and archival documents help to better understand the challenges of this plural resistance.
Themes: Occupation, exclusion, anti-Semitism, resistance, rescue.
Historical period: World War II.
Supports: Archival documents.
Main activity Individual plastic realization.
Joseph, Jean-Claude and the others
For the students of 6th and 5th grade
This workshop is based on the analysis of film excerpts about the lives of Jewish children in France under the Occupation.
While analyzing the choices of staging and discovering the notions of cinematic language, students learn the story of hidden children.
Themes: Occupation, exclusion, antisemitism, rescue, hidden child, cinematic language.
Historical period: World War II.
Media: Film clips.
Main activity: Making a storyboard.
The genocides of the 20th century
BD FOR MEMORY
For students from 9th grade to 12th grade
Through the discovery of comic strips, this workshop proposes to study the genocides of Armenians, Jews and Tutsis. Students are invited to reflect and work on several albums, The Armenian Ghost, Maus and The Fantasy of the Gods, as well as to understand the unique approach of each author. Thanks to an original narrative and a particular graphic design, they address the representation of the genocidal process and the questions raised by the transmission of memory.
Themes: Comics, genocides of the 20th century, memoirs.
Historical period: 20th century.
Materials: Comic strips, photographs, propaganda posters, video excerpts.
Main activities: Work by group on archival documents, production of a comic strip.
IMAGES of AUSCHWITZ – CNRD
For students from 9th grade to 12th grade
The photographs taken by the Allies during the discovery of the concentration camps largely contributed to creating a false representation of the Shoah. But the analysis of the photographs taken by the SS at Auschwitz in 1944 allows us to grasp, provided we question them, the history and the representations of this place which has become central in the history of the genocide of the Jews. During the workshop, students will be led to work on various visual and textual archives, to reflect on the relationship with images and to exercise their critical thinking.
Themes: Auschwitz complex, deportation, dehumanization, trials, testimonies, memoirs.
Historical periods: World War II, history of the present time.
Media: Photographs, testimonies, video extracts.
Main activity: Work in groups from photographic corpora.
JUSTICE IN THE FACE OF GENOCIDE
For the students of Terminale
Since 1945, the Justice system has strived to answer the questions raised by crimes of genocide: what are the crimes that can be qualified as genocide? Who are responsible for these crimes? How to punish those who participated in them? From sound and visual archives of 20th century trials (notably Nuremberg in 1945-1946, Eichmann in 1961, Klaus Barbie in 1987 and the Gacaca of Rwanda in the 2000s), this workshop aims to initiate a reflection on the way in which a society is recovering from a genocide and allows survivors to consider once again a common life.
Themes: 20th century genocides, trials, testimonies, memoirs.
Historical periods: First and Second World Wars, history of the present time.
Media: Photographs, legal and administrative documents, testimonies, video extracts.
Main activity: Group work on archival documents, accompanied by an educational booklet.
HISTORY AND CITIZENSHIP
Those who said no – novelty
From January 2026
For students from 9th grade to 12th grade
Themes: Nazism, antisemitism, Just, racial segregation, sexism.
Historical periods: From the 1930s to the present day.
Materials: Photographs, articles, videos.
Main activities: Group work on documents, debate settled.
PREJUDICES: IN DAILY LIFE AND IN HISTORY
For students from 4th to 12th grade
How are prejudices formed? How do they become rooted in a society? How can they sometimes lead to institutionalized racism, or genocide? Students address these questions by analyzing the prejudices transmitted through language or propaganda images. They also try to put into perspective the role of certain racist prejudices in the history of the 20th century.
Themes: Racism, antisemitism, colonization, discrimination.
Historical periods: From the Middle Ages to the present day.
Media: Photographs, illustrated press, advertisements, propaganda posters, social networks, video clips.
Main activities: Group work on archival documents, settled debate (middle school), analysis of scenarios (high school).
THE CONSPIRACY FACTORY: YESTERDAY AND TODAY
For students from 9th grade to 12th grade
Plot or conspiracy theory? The history of the Shoah is a revealing example of the manipulation of public opinion. Structured by anti-Semitism, the Nazi ideology is based on a conspiratorial vision of the world. By establishing relevant links between history and the very contemporary period, the workshop aims to provide tools to better analyze images and speeches that circulate on the Internet and social networks.
Themes: Scientific approach, «Jewish plot», contemporary conspiracy narratives.
Historical periods: From the Middle Ages to the present day.
Media: Photographs, letters, administrative documents, press articles, social networks.
Main activities: Group work on archival documents, card game.
INFORMATION, INFORMATION AND PROPAGANDA
For students from 4th to 12th grade
At a time when traditional media are being questioned and social networks occupy a considerable place in the daily lives of students, unraveling truth from falsehood becomes increasingly difficult and yet indispensable. In the context of a historical perspective and the study of different media (texts, photographs, videos), students learn to stimulate their critical thinking, to identify the sources of information and to verify them. This workshop, flexible according to the school programs of each of the classes concerned, aims at the appropriation of useful tools and reflexes to better cope with a continuous flow of information.
Themes: Dreyfus Affair (4th), antisemitic propaganda (3rd and high school), editorial line, rumors on the internet.
Historical periods: Late 19th – early 20th century (4th), Second World War (3rd and high school), history of the present time.
Media: Photographs, testimonies, articles, press headlines, social networks.
Main activities: Working in groups on archival documents, creating an Instagram post.
Antisemitism: history and mutations
For students from 9th grade to 12th grade
Themes: Anti-Judaism, anti-Semitism, Jewish worlds.
Historical periods: From the Middle Ages to the present day.
Supports: Illustrations, engravings, propaganda posters, articles, social networks.
Main activities: Group work on archival documents, discovery in the form of a guided discussion concerning the diversity of the Jewish worlds.
FROM THE BERLIN OLYMPICS TO TODAY: SPORT, A MIRROR OF OUR SOCIETIES?
For students from 4th to 12th grade
Used by the Nazi power as a real propaganda tool (cinema, press, radio, posters), the competition is put to use to make the 1936 Olympics the symbol of the greatness of the Third Reich. Sport was thus regularly instrumentalized by political regimes that provoked resistance from civil societies. This workshop gives a large place to the destinies of athletes who are victims of persecution, to solidarity between athletes and to the media coverage of their fights.
Themes: Olympic Games, anti-Semitism, racial segregation, sexism, homophobia, discrimination.
Historical periods: From 1936 to the present day.
Supports: Photographs, administrative documents, articles, testimonies.
Main activities: Group work on archival documents, analysis of photographs, settled debate.
By the way, what does it mean to be Jewish?
For students from 6th to 3rd grade
Themes: Monotheisms, Jewish cultures, identities, diaspora.
Historical periods: Antiquity, Middle Ages, contemporary history.
Media: Cards, objects, music, games.
Main activities: Individual activity booklet (6th, 5th), visit of the Marais district (4th, 3rd)
Philosophy to deconstruct prejudices
For students in 6th and 5th grade
Themes: Monotheisms, Jewish cultures, identities, diaspora.
Historical periods Antiquity, Middle Ages, contemporary history.
Media: Cards, objects, music, games.
Main activity: Individual activity booklet.
Us and them: what is racism?
For students in 6th and 5th grade
Themes: Prejudice, racism, anti-Semitism, exclusion, segregation.
Historical periods: Triangular trade, World War II.
Supports: Archival documents, photographs, testimonies.
Main activity: Small group production of a poster.
HISTORY OF ARTS
THE STORY IS DISPLAYED
For students from 9th grade to 12th grade
What do the images tell us? How to analyze them and place them in a precise historical context? This workshop is a "laboratory of image creation": it makes a connection with History, the propaganda images of the past and those of the present (media, social networks). Students experiment with various graphic games around the concepts of robot portraits, caricature and dehumanization. These exercises allow them, then, to decrypt a propaganda poster.
Themes: Censorship, propaganda, caricature.
Historical period Second World War.
Supports: Propaganda posters.
Main activities: Individual plastic creation.
THE WANDERING MEMORY
For students from 6th to 5th grade
What is the point of remembering? How does memory work? Who remembers and why? Christian Boltanski, Jiro Taniguchi, Muriel Bloch and many other artists have addressed these questions. From the discovery of very varied works (installation, comic book, music, tale...), children will try to understand the main mechanisms of memory and its major functions. They will then examine the use and role of commemorative plaques.
Themes: Memories, transmission, forgetting, memories.
Historical periods: World War II, history of the present time.
Media: Music, film excerpts, memorial plates, book excerpts.
Main activity: Creation of a notebook.
CYCLE OF SPECIFIC EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE CITY OF PARIS
PARIS UNDER THE OCCUPATION
This cycle consists of three activities: The workshop Joseph, Jean, Claude and the others... at the Shoah Memorial, the visit Le Marais sous l'Occupation, as well as the workshop La vie quotidienne dans le Paris de l'Occupation at the National Archives.
THE GENOCIDES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
This cycle consists of several activities: a visit to the Shoah Memorial and three workshops:
BD for Memory, Gypsy destinies, Justice in the face of genocide.
DECONSTRUCT RACIST PREJUDICES
This cycle consists of several activities: two workshops at the Memorial Daily prejudices in history and History is displayed, then an inter-museum at the National Museum of the History of Immigration
PROPAGANDA AND HATE SPEECH IN HISTORY
This cycle consists of several activities: a thematic visit to the Memorial focusing on antisemitic discourse and propaganda, and three workshops: History on display, From the Berlin Olympics to the present day: sport, mirror of our societies? , The factory of the plot: yesterday and today.
