Virtual: Otto Weidt Workshop for the Blind: Resistance and Rescue in Nazi Berlin

For Educators in Grades 7-12   

Otto Weidt’s Workshop for the Blind was a small workshop that produced brushes and brooms in Nazi Berlin. Under the guise of making products essential to the war effort, Weidt, who was blind himself, employed Jewish workers who were mainly blind, visually impaired, and hearing impaired. The workshop not only provided a source of income and protection from deadly forced labor assignments, but once deportations began Weidt secured false papers, food, and hiding places for those selected for deportation – including a hidden room in the workshop itself. Weidt was not able to save everyone from deportation, but never stopped trying to save lives, including an attempt to secure the release of one of his employees from a concentration camp. The experience of blind people under Nazism is an important though often overlooked part of Holocaust history, and Weidt’s story highlights the profound contribution of resistance and upstanderism that a member of the blind community made. As teachers prepare for Blindness Awareness Month in October, this training provides the history, primary resources, and tools to introduce Weidt’s inspirational story into the classroom. 

Workshop includes:

• Classroom Resources
• 1.5 Clock Hours