HOLOCAUST LESSON PLANS

Why Teaching the Holocaust Will Always Be Important -M.Streich

Michael Berenbaum, in the Foreword to the book Why Should I Care, [1] refers to the need “of translating a historical event into value terms that are applicable to students.” Holocaust lesson plans should begin with the historical record. Studying and analyzing history, however, should also lead to further inquiry as well as connecting past events with on-going issues. As Professor Berenbaum states, “We study this intolerance to teach tolerance.”

 

Holocaust Lesson Plans Begin with the Historical Record

 

All history texts that cover 20^th Century European history or World War II have specific chapters on the rise of Hitler, the desensitization of Germans, the isolation of Jews, the building of the concentration camp system, death camps, and survivor stories. Teaching the Holocaust begins with an examination of the historical record, not only from secondary sources, but from original documents and movies made by the Nazis themselves.

 

From the historical record, students can connect to the themes of on-going genocide, intolerance, ethnic cleansing, and racism. Holocaust lesson plans must allow for these connections if the phrase “never again” is to have meaning. Why Should I Care? Lessons From The Holocaust by Jeanette Friedman and David Gold does exactly that. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. also provides educators with resource books such as Teaching about the Holocaust.

 

New Information Adds to the Historical Record

 

Within the past decade, new information on the Holocaust has focused to a greater degree on the negligence of the United States in not doing more to prevent the genocide. Articles and books have explored the role of Pope Pius XII in terms of his silence. A newly released French film, La Rafle, explores that country’s role. Reviewer Alexander Goldberg writes that, “France is coming to terms with its own role in the Holocaust.” (Guardian, March 15, 2010)

 

Holocaust lesson plans should utilize the new research in order to develop new questions for students, promote research project ideas, and see old truths through a new prism. Professor Thomas Porter, a Russian Historian at North Carolina A & T State University, for example, is researching the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Russia during World War II, a relatively under-reported story. Much of earlier Holocaust research focused on a “western front” mentality that frequently ignored what was commonly called “The East.”

 

Holocaust Lesson Plans that Focus on Particular Themes

 

Although many colleges have entire semester courses devoted to studying the Holocaust, this is simply not possible in survey courses. Focusing on a particular theme or series of themes allows for greater student analysis and discussion. Themes can include:

 

Approved Nazi art versus “degenerate” art

Using propaganda to stir up Anti-Semitism

Jews fleeing Germany – like the passengers on the St. Louis

Life in a concentration camp

Hiding Jews during the Holocaust

Survivor stories

What constitutes crimes against humanity?

Who defended the Jews?

 

Each of these themes can be connected to current global studies; genocide did not end in the world with the closing of the Nazi camps.

 

Following Up Holocaust Lesson Plans

 

Many larger cities may have exhibits dedicated to the Holocaust. In a number of schools systems, a trip to Washington, D.C. is part of the curriculum. Such field trips reinforce Holocaust lesson plans or can prepare students before the unit is taught.

 

Some schools sponsor summer trips abroad, most of which include parts of Europe that still have concentration camps as a reminder of the terrible past. Most of these are open to the public. Students fortunate enough to participate in overseas trips can be encouraged to develop classroom presentations

The Goals of Holocaust Lesson Plans

 

Ultimately, the Holocaust is studied because it represented the worst aspects of the dark side of men and women. It becomes too horrific to contemplate. As Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter said when told about what was happening in Europe, “I know that what you have to say is true, but I don’t believe it.” Professor Robert H. Abzug writes that there is a difference between knowing and believing in terms of assimilating the facts. [2] A Holocaust lesson plan goal must start with knowing and believing.

 

[1] (New York, Gihon River Press, 2009)

[2] America Views the Holocaust 1933 – 1945: A Brief Documentary History (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999)

 

When I first taught a Russian History elective in the early 1990's my students were exuberant that the United States had "won the Cold War." My response was always: the Cold War has taken a hiatus. Once we finished studying Russian History, they would better understand. I quoted Mikhail Suslov, one of the Soviet era's most prominent ideologues, stating that the triumph of the Communist state might mean taking steps backward in order to move forward.

Attending an educator conference that began in St Petersburg, our local guide, a highly educated and erudite critic of the "West," matter-of-factly told us that Gobachev had sold out to the West and was not highly regarded. Things would eventually be corrected and the old Soviet Union would rise again. 

Today, Mr. Putin's desire to invade and annex all of Ukraine is another important step in restoring the old system, the old strategic plan. Russia would never be surrounded again by hostile powers. Europe and the United States have never fully understood that. In the U.S., we - today, know very little about Russia. When I was attending a public high school, the Russian language was offered (as well as Chinese). But that was shortly after the Sputnik years and the Iron Curtain mentality. 

We have forgotten all of that and now the world is more dangerous. That is why history is so damned important. 

 Stolen Art: Should it be Returned? - M. Streich

The New Acropolis Museum opened in Athens in 2009, showcasing approximately 4,000 artifacts. One of the most prized items, however, is missing. In the early 1800s, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, removed the famous marbles associated with his name and they have been in Britain ever since, displayed today in the British Museum.

 

In Egypt, Zahi Hawass heads the Council of Antiquities. Among the artifacts he zealously attempts to recover is the bust of Queen Nefertiti at the New Museum in Berlin. Although the Times (May 4, 2010) stated that, “Worldwide the trend has been towards returning looted artifacts to their country of origin,” museum directors, universities, and private galleries have been loathe to discuss the issue.

 

The Looting of Greek History

 

Before the 2009 opening of the New Acropolis Museum, Helen Skopis, writing in the Athens News, commented that “…the new museum becomes the centerpiece of Greece’s campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum.” This effort was strongly pursued by then Culture Minister Antonis Samaras. The new climate-controlled museum represents a fitting home for the marbles, with over 14,000 square meters of exhibition space.

 

The British Museum, however, believes it’s ownership of the Elgin Marbles to be legal, despite the fact that the document was issued by the Ottomans before Greece became independent. This does not affect Museum Director Neil MacGregor’s perspective. The Times quotes MacGregor as stating that, “It is only by comparing things from different places that you can understand them.”

 

Evaggelos Valliantos, writing in the Hellenic News of America, quotes former Culture Minister Melina Merkouri identifying the Parthenon Marbles as the “soul of Greece” and hopes that when the 1012 Olympics are in London, Britain, as a gesture, will return the sculptures.

 

Legal and Illegal Artifacts – The Case of Nefertiti

 

Recovering the bust of Nefertiti, according to Matthias Schulz in Spiegel Online (Ma8 28, 2010) ranks high on Zahi Hawass’ list. Hawass has managed to recover thousands of artifacts over the years, many of them taken out of Egypt illegally. But, as Schulz writes, in December 2009, the museum provided documentation to prove that the sale of the bust in 1913 was legal. Such contracts do not assuage culture ministries in many countries that claim such artifacts as part of their heritage. As Newsweek’s Cathleen McGuigan wrote (March 12, 2007), “…the pursuit of such artworks has ignited a complex debate over cultural patrimony.”

 

Many of the most impressive artifacts, like the Rosetta Stone or King Priam’s gold from Troy, were spirited to the West during the 19^th Century at a time the great ancient empires were dominated by imperialist European powers or through their surrogates. The fascination with Egypt, for example, is centuries old. Romans – even Emperors like Hadrian, were drawn to the monuments along the Nile River, some taking parts of history, others content to leave graffiti. In most countries today the removal of artifacts is treated as a criminal offense.

 

World Events Hinder Honest Dialogue over Disputed Artifacts

 

The New Acropolis Museum in Athens cost 130 million Euro. But since its opening, the Greek Debt Bubble has burst and critics question whether the government, under new austerity measures, can guarantee adequate security and preservation of artifacts. During the U.S. invasion of Iraq, media headlines noted that during the occupation of Baghdad, the National Museum was looted.

 

Although it was later confirmed that museum employees had carried to safety many of the most priceless artifacts, the event caused critics to bemoan the security of vulnerable museums. (Guardian, June 10, 2003, David Aaronovitch)

 

Museums, by their definition, are repositories of art. Art, however, is also history. An Etruscan sarcophagus in the Vatican Museum tells a definite story. Is the value of that story determined by the number of people viewing the artifact? Is it more beneficial, in terms of understanding the past, to display the bust of Queen Nefertiti in Berlin rather than Cairo, where fewer people can see it? These are some of the questions that should be addressed by those attempting to reconcile heritage with the recovery of artifacts.