Lesson Plan 1:
Music in Auschwitz
In this lesson, students will watch a two-minute clip of an ensemble play Eine Kleine Nachtmusik outside the gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp memorial site. They will also learn about several Holocaust survivors who discuss their complex and conflicting feelings about being greeted by music in a place like Auschwitz.
Grades: 8-12
This lesson plan is designed for teachers and students working at an introductory level. If your students are just beginning their study of the Holocaust, we suggest taking a look at the following pre-teaching resources:
Holocaust Encyclopedia from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)
Yad Vashem Teaching Materials
Starting in October 2025, you will be able to stream the full-length documentary, The Last Musician of Auschwitz, for free via BBC Select to prepare your classes.
For definitions of Holocaust terms, you can visit the USHMM Glossary or the Museum of Jewish Heritage Curriculum Glossary. All the specific terms mentioned in this lesson plan are also explained at the end.
You can also explore further resources about the Holocaust and Antisemitism on the Center for Jewish History website.
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (also known as Serenade No. 13) is one of the most famous pieces of music by the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German title Eine Kleine Nachtmusik literally translates to “a little night music.” Composed in 1787, the serenade was written for an ensemble of two violins, a viola, a cello and a double bass.
The Nazi regime attempted to co-opt Mozart as a symbol of German culture, despite the fact that his music contained elements that contradicted Nazi ideology (for example, Mozart was a freemason and he used librettos written by Jews). In 1941, the Nazis marked the 150th anniversary of Mozart's death by organizing a major propaganda campaign that culminated in a "Mozart Week of the German Reich."
Introduce your students to some basic information about Auschwitz and the Nazi camp system. If your students are new to studying the Holocaust, you can provide additional historical context by sharing some information from the USHMM’s Introduction to the Holocaust.
Quick-Write Prompt: Give students 3 minutes to jot down what comes to mind when they hear the title of the documentary, The Last Musician of Auschwitz.
Background: The title refers to Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, a cellist, and – as of 2025 – the only living member of the Auschwitz Women’s Orchestra. She is not mentioned in the clip, but you can see Lesson Plan 3 to learn more about her. Generally speaking, the film is about music in Auschwitz, and this is what your students might allude to in their answers.
Prepare your students by setting the context. They are going to watch a clip of an ensemble playing Eine Kleine Nachtmusik on the grounds of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp memorial site. Stress that this is not historical footage, but a contemporary ensemble playing today. Then explain that in the clip, they will also see interview snippets with Auschwitz survivors. These interviews were conducted in the 1990s.
Tell students that you are going to play the clips two times with discussion and written activities after each viewing. In the first viewing, they should focus on the music and their own emotions.
Class discussion:
Divide the students into pairs or groups.
Hand out a different worksheet to each group. (There are seven worksheets for the seven survivors shown in the clip. If you think seven group presentations will need more time than you have, you can select which of the seven worksheets you want to use.) Allow the groups at least 15 minutes to examine the materials and discuss their findings.
Tell students that they should read the quotes and biographical information carefully and to highlight key events and anything that surprises them with a marker.
Then have students discuss the following questions (also printed on the worksheets):
Show the clip a second time before having the students present their results in the classroom. Tell them to focus on “their” survivor this time, and to pay attention to tone of voice and facial expressions (distant, happy, shocked, sad, etc.).
Give them a minute to reflect if their previous answers changed based on watching the clip again.
Have each pair/group present their answers. Write down main themes on the blackboard.
If students are interested in learning more about the specific survivors, there are links to additional resources printed on each worksheet.
Auschwitz – complex of three Nazi camps established between 1940 and 1942. Originally a concentration camp for Polish political prisoners, it grew into the largest site of mass murder in the Holocaust.
Auschwitz-Birkenau – the second camp in the Auschwitz complex (also called Auschwitz II), opened October 1941.
Concentration Camp – place where large groups of people, often political prisoners or minorities, were imprisoned without trial, usually under harsh conditions. Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its allies established more than 44,000 camps and other incarceration sites (including ghettos).
Death Camp – see Killing Center
Death March – forced marches of prisoners over long distances under brutal conditions, usually near the end of World War II as the Nazis evacuated camps to hide evidence of mass murder. Thousands died from exhaustion, starvation, cold, or were shot if they couldn’t keep up.
Deportation – forced removal and transportation of populations (primarily Jews and also Roma and political opponents) by the Nazis to ghettos, concentration camps, or killing centers, often in overcrowded freight or cattle cars under brutal conditions.
Forced Labor – when people are made to work against their will, often under threat of punishment or violence. During the Holocaust, millions of Jews and other prisoners were forced to work in Nazi camps and factories under inhumane conditions, with little food, rest, or medical care.
Gas chambers – specially constructed rooms in the Nazi Killing Centers (or death camps) designed to carry out the murder of European Jewry.
Ghetto – a ghetto was a part of a city where Jewish people were forced to live, separated from the rest of the population. These areas were often overcrowded, had poor living conditions, and were controlled by Nazi authorities.
Holocaust - a word of Greek origin meaning complete destruction, especially by fire. The word is used to describe the state-sponsored systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945.
Josef Mengele – a Nazi doctor at Auschwitz known for performing cruel and deadly medical experiments on prisoners, especially twins and children.
Killing Center – specialized Nazi camps designed solely for mass killing during the Holocaust. Victims, mainly Jews, were transported to camps like Auschwitz and Treblinka, where they were murdered, often in gas chambers.
Nazi – a member of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party that took political control of Germany under Adolf Hitler in 1933, after gaining mass popular support. The Nazi Party was violently antisemitic. In addition to Jews, Nazi persecution was directed toward Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, and political enemies of the Nazi Party.
Orchestra – an ensemble of musicians playing together.
Propaganda – information or media designed to influence public opinion, often by presenting biased or misleading content. The Nazis effectively used propaganda to win the support of millions of Germans to facilitate persecution, war, and ultimately genocide.
SS (Schutzstaffel, or Protection Squads) – originally established as Adolf Hitler’s personal bodyguard unit. It would later become both the elite guard of the Nazi Party and Hitler’s executive force prepared to carry out all security-related duties, without regard for legal restraint. The SS was responsible for enforcing racial policies and running concentration camps.