I found a nice website that has a collection of short essays about people’s core values. The “This I Believe” site https://thisibelieve.org/ allows you to choose from thousands of personal essays, many in audio format (most under 5 minutes) in addition to being presented in text. If you click on the Explore menu, you can search by theme (many social studies topics are represented including the Holocaust), browse the featured essays, or even access essays and recordings from the 50’s including an audio recording of Helen Keller reading her own essay.

The Educator’s link at the top of the page will provide access to curriculum resources and a framework you can use to have students write their own essays. Here’s a delightful example: https://thisibelieve.org/essay/101469/