Facing History & Ourselves Civic Knowledge Research Project
This guide provides prompts and strategies for the written Research Project component of New York State’s Seal of Civic Readiness.
![High school students writing in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-08/_O5A1295_0.jpg?h=b69e0e0e&itok=FK45gLAF)
“A Jewish Adolescent Ponders her Identity (1939)” by Marie Abravanel
A teenage girl in Libya named Marie Abravanel reflects on her Jewish identity.
![Family portrait of the Beretvas family in Tunis. Three people sit on a couch and two people stand behind the couch.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-06/07654_JPeg.jpg?h=bdec65d7&itok=3XOYanDg)
Jewish Resistance in Algeria
This reading provides historical context about the Jews in Algeria and their resistance to antisemitic attacks.
![A large group of people walk through an alley in North Africa.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-06/p198-In-the-maze-of-reeking-alleys.jpg?h=ff14878d&itok=f58MJbXs)
L’identité, le soi-miroir et le « costume Autre » - John Amaechi
L’ancien joueur de basket et psychologue John Amaechi parle de l’identité dans toute sa complexité (et de concepts comme le « soi-miroir » et le « costume Autre »).
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Joining the Partisans
Former Jewish partisan Sonia Orbuch recalls the moment she and her family joined a group of Russian partisans.
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Joining the Resistance
Holocaust survivor Vera Laska describes her teenage experience as part of the resistance against the Nazis in Czechoslovakia.
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Killed as a Fighter, Not Because I Am a Jew
Former Jewish partisan Sonia Orbuch describes how she approached the dangers of life as a partisan.
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Life on the Front Lines
Former Jewish partisan Sonia Orbuch describes providing medical care to sick and wounded partisans.
![](/sites/default/files/brightcove/videos/images/posters/image_1364.jpg)
Life or Death in the Netherlands
Marion Pritchard, a member of the Dutch resistance who hid a Jewish family during the Nazi occupation of Holland, describes what happened when a Dutch Nazi policeman investigated her house.
![](/sites/default/files/brightcove/videos/images/posters/image_523.jpg)
Life in the Forest
Former Jewish partisan Frank Blaichman discusses how partisans persevered in the face of challenging weather, hunger, and suffering.
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Partisan Life
Former Jewish partisan Sonia Orbuch explains how she perceived life among the partisans as a "good life."
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