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)