Teaching the Holocaust and Other Genocides

Welcome to Teaching the Holocaust and Other Genocides, created through a collaboration with the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center, the New York State Archives Partnership Trust, and the New York State Education Department,

Within this collection of resources, you will find learning activities, readings, case studies, and a variety of additional resources to support diverse learners. Learning activities provide detailed guidance on ways to engage students in the topics presented in this resource, including additional materials and essential questions, standards, and SEL benchmarks addressed in each activity. Readings provide an opportunity for students to engage in deep learning about a specific topic and explore aspects of the event through discussion questions to further critical thinking. Cases studies provide an opportunity for students to take a deeper dive into an individual or group experience, highlighting acts of courage and challenge during specific historical periods or events. Key vocabulary, notable individuals, and sources are also provided.

A Supplemental Materials and Pacing Guide has also been created to accompany use of the Teaching the Holocaust and Other Genocides resource guide. Suggestions for integrating key themes and social studies practices from the New York State K-12 Social Studies Framework are included in this guide. This resource offers suggested pacing guides for teaching the Holocaust in three, four, and five class periods.

Download a PDF of the Supplemental Materials and Pacing Guide

Why teach about the Holocaust and Other Genocides?

Learning about the Holocaust and other genocides gives students the chance to examine complex and controversial issues in world history. Activities like the ones provided in this resource guide encourage critical thinking by offering multiple perspectives as students analyze documents, explore essential questions, and draw informed conclusions. As educators support students in becoming reflective and future-focused, engaging in learning about important events in history including the Holocaust and other genocides can inspire thoughtful discussion about what it means to be human, what responsibilities we have to one another in society, and how we can act individually and collectively foster communities that affirm the dignity and worth of every human being.

This resource guide supports §801 of NYS Education Law that requires school districts to teach about the Holocaust and the inhumanity of genocide. The law supports instruction in these areas as noted below:
"In order to promote a spirit of patriotic and civic service and obligation and to foster in the children of the state moral and intellectual qualities which are essential in preparing to meet the obligations of citizenship …, the Regents of The University of the State of New York shall prescribe courses of instruction in patriotism, citizenship, and human rights issues, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of genocide, slavery (including the freedom trail and underground railroad), the Holocaust, and the mass starvation in Ireland from 1845 to 1850, to be maintained and followed in all the schools of the state. The boards of education and trustees of the several cities and school districts of the state shall require instruction to be given in such courses, by the teachers employed in the schools therein. All pupils attending such schools, over the age of eight years, shall attend upon such instruction."