Teaching the Holocaust and Other Genocides is an online resource guide created to help Social Studies, English Language Arts, and Humanities teachers plan instruction focused on the critical events leading up to and during the Holocaust and other genocides, and the significant impact of events on a range of individuals. In addition, this resource guide supports teachers in meeting New York State’s original 1994 mandate to teach about the Holocaust and other genocides. While the majority of the materials on this site are intended for students in grades 8-12, there are also materials and suggested resources for additional grade levels; furthermore, many of these resources can be adapted for younger grades.
Because there is so much research and information on these topics, it can be overwhelming—even for experienced teachers. The writers of this guide carefully selected readings and activities from the many available resources. These decisions were based on several key factors:
- The appropriateness of materials for the selected student audience
- The focus on including a variety of readings and activities to support diverse learning styles and interests
- The need to ensure that all content of the Holocaust and other genocides is historically accurate
- The desire to ensure that the actions of people who resisted or helped others during times of genocide are highlighted
Before using these resources, teachers should review the online platform and select those readings and activities which best fit their courses or programs. This guide is not a curriculum or textbook—it is a collection of resources that can be used in diverse ways. Some teachers might use it for a short unit, while others might create a longer, interdisciplinary course. It can even be used to design a semester-long course on the Holocaust and human rights. This resource guide offers teachers a broad range of primary source documents, reading passages with questions, case studies, worksheets, literary resources, and individual and group projects. In addition, a “Key Terms” section is provided which offers more in-depth exploration of the key words/concepts, people, and camps and ghettos that are included in this resource. There are also short videos included in this guide, with some provided on personal YouTube pages. Inclusion of these links does not in any way indicate endorsement or promotion of an individual’s viewpoints or comments expressed on these pages; rather, these videos were chosen for their educational content and application to the topics being explored. Teachers can design lessons by using those activities and materials most appropriate for their students in their school or district.
The guiding principles behind this resource guide extend beyond mandates, standards, and state assessments. It aims to help students connect history with civic responsibility and human rights, and to encourage students to be "upstanders"—people who take action for others—rather than bystanders. Studying the Holocaust and other genocides encourages students to explore critical questions such as:
- What does the Holocaust reveal about human behavior and morality?
- How do we deal with the difficult ethical questions it raises?
- What can we do individually and collectively to stop human rights violations in the future?
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum advises educators to “translate statistics into real people.” It is difficult to understand the deaths of six million Jews and five million others during the Holocaust unless we look at individual stories. Therefore, one aim of this resource guide is to provide case studies of “real” people, some well-known, but most are ordinary people whose lives were disrupted by the Nazi "war machine." Some became victims of the genocide, others were involved in rescue or resistance efforts, and others survived the most horrific situations. In addition, we have included numerous excerpts from memoirs and hyperlinks to first-person testimonies from survivors. It should be noted that the case studies provided are not exhaustive of all individuals impacted by the Holocaust, but they provide insights into several of the noteworthy people during this critical time in history.
Studying the Holocaust and other genocides supports students in thinking like historians and seeing history as a subject that involves ongoing discovery and debate. Because of the sensitivity of the materials, teachers should select resources with great care and attention to age-appropriateness and the developmental levels of their students. Teachers are encouraged to review the Social-Emotional Considerations to Support Students that are provided in this resource guide. Furthermore, reflecting on the ways in which this resource guide aligns with the Culturally Responsive-Sustaining (CR-S) Education Framework will support educators in understanding how engaging students in learning about this topic can develop students’ abilities to connect across lines of difference, engage in critical thinking, and empower them as agents of social change.
