Teaching the Holocaust
Tips and Ideas for Engaging Students Studying the Genocide
Teaching the Holocaust should not be limited to a one-day lesson plan. The Holocaust is far too important to relegate to one or two days. Holocaust studies can be incorporated into History, English, Religion, and Philosophy-based classes. In many cases, this means that high school students may study this event in both World History or World Cultures classes, American History classes, and English classes. There are many ways teachers can make the Holocaust meaningful in terms of eliciting student understanding and response.
Resources and Ideas to Help Teach the Holocaust
Many organizations provide teachers with exceptional materials to teach the Holocaust. Teaching Tolerance and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC offer free materials including downloadable materials, lesson plans, and video or DVD. Additionally, teachers can utilize many of the following tips:
- Asking Holocaust survivors to come as guest speakers and share their experiences
- Assigning short books like Elie Wiesel’s Night [Bantam, 1982] or The Girl in the Red Coat [Delta, 2002] by Roma Ligocka
- Using Art Spiegelman’s Maus series [Pantheon, 1986]
- Showing Holocaust videos like Auschwitz: If You Cried, You Died, available on VHS or DVD free from Teaching Tolerance
- Visiting Holocaust museums and exhibitions if such venues are local, such as the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC
- Projecting virtual tours of Concentration Camps from on-line sites
Serious teachers can search the internet for organizations and university research projects that provide informational handouts and sample lesson plans.
Having Students do the Research
Given the hundreds of books on the Holocaust, teachers can assign a book report or book review that allows students to pick their own books on the Holocaust to read and develop into a response essay and class presentation. Alternately or in addition to the book project, students can be assigned to watch a movie on the Holocaust and write a reflection as well as present to the class. Teachers that decide to do this can compile a list of good movies, like Schindler’s List or Sophie’s Choice. There are dozens of good films, some documentary based like The Wannsee Conference.
The story of the St. Louis voyage of May 1939 has been recounted in the book, Voyage of the Damned by Gordon Thomas [Amereon Ltd., 1986], as well as a Hollywood movie of the same name. A&E videos offer a documentary on the event called Doomed Voyage of the St. Louis. Although out of print, this video presents students with a powerful story of the plight of German Jews in 1939. Using the many materials available about this event by separating classes into cooperative groups can yield successful results. Additionally, students learn to research through a variety of media.
Poetry, Art, and Memoirs
The poem "Babii Yar" by Yevgeny Yevtushenko recalls the terrible massacre of Ukranian Jews in the Kiev area. There are many other poems as well as works of art that can be brought into a classroom discussion of the Holocaust. Students might find children’s art of the Holocaust from Theresienstadt Concentration Camp very poignant and thought provoking. An entire class period can be constructed around children’s art.
How Much Time Should Be Spent on the Unit?
To teach the Holocaust properly, it is recommended that an entire week be devoted to the endeavor. Teaching the Holocaust can be chronological in terms of the historical record, but each day can focus on specific aspects of the terrible event. The final day of the unit must be devoted to reflection and resolution. Students should be encouraged to discuss freely the lessons of the Holocaust and, most importantly, the need to keep the history alive and in the forefront. To honor the victims means that humanity must strive at all costs to never again allow genocide.
Dachau Concentration Camp
|
What do you think about this article?
Comments
More in Education & Career
Latest Articles