Skip to content
Teaching the Holocaust and other Genocides

Social Studies Practices

Browse Modules

Home

The New York State K-12 Social Studies Framework identifies six Social Studes Practices that represent social science and historical thinking skills that students should develop throughout their education in order to be prepared for civic participation, college, and career. Through inquiry-based learning, critical analysis, and civic reflection students can engage deeply with the historical events, ethical dilemmas, and long-term consequences of the Holocaust. By applying the Social Studies Practices to the study of the Holocaust, students will move beyond memorization and engage in deep, critical inquiry. This approach fosters historical thinking, ethical reasoning, and civic responsibility, ensuring that the lessons of the Holocaust remain relevant today.

Gathering, Interpreting, and Using Evidence
  • Analyze primary sources such as:
    • Nuremberg Laws (1935) – Legalized Jewish persecution
    • Diaries, letters e.g. Elie Wiesel’s Night, Rutka’s Notebook
    • Survivor testimonies (written or oral)
    • Wannsee Conference Protocol (1942) – Nazi plan for the "Final Solution"
  • Compare propaganda materials (Der Stürmer, Nazi posters, photograph, etc.) to identify bias and misinformation
  • Evaluate the reliability of sources, distinguishing between survivor accounts, Nazi records, and historical interpretations
  • Cite evidence-based arguments in essays or discussions about bystanders, resistance, and complicity

Student Task:
Source Analysis Activity – Compare Nazi propaganda with
first-person accounts from Holocaust survivors

Student Task:
Cause-and-Effect Activity –
Create a graphic organizer tracing key events leading to the
Holocaust

Chronological Reasoning and Causation
  • Identify the long-term causes (Treaty of Versailles, economic depression, antisemitism in Europe, etc.)
  • Examine the short-term causes (Hitler’s rise to power, Kristallnacht,
  • etc.)
  • Understand the timeline of events:
    • 1933: Hitler becomes Chancellor
    • 1935: Nuremberg Laws
    • 1938: Kristallnacht/November pogroms
    • 1942-1945: The "Final Solution"
    • 1945: Liberation of concentration and deathcamps
  • Analyze the effects of the Holocaust (displacement of survivors, human rights movements, etc.)
Comparison & Contextualization
  • Compare Jewish experiences in different Nazi-occupied countries (France vs. the Netherlands vs. Poland, etc.)
  • Contextualize the Holocaust within other genocides (Armenian Genocide, Rwandan Genocide, Cambodian Genocide, etc.)
  • Analyze the different responses of nations:
    • United States – Limited Jewish refugee acceptance
    • Denmark – Resistance and rescue of Jews
    • Italy – Limited rescue by individuals and clergy

Student Task:
Debate or Socratic Seminar–
How did international
responses shape the outcome of the Holocaust?

Student Task:
Interactive Mapping
Project –
Plot locations of key Holocaust events and analyze the role of geography in Nazi strategy

Geographic Reasoning
  • Use maps to analyze:
    • Expansion of Nazi-controlled territories (1939–1945) (the Netherlands, Poland, etc.)
    • Locations of ghettos, concentration camps, and death camps (Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor, etc.)
    • Escape routes and resistance movements (Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, partisan fighters in forests, etc
  • Investigate how geography influenced survival rates (isolated rural communities vs. urban centers, etc.)
  • Examine the role of railroads in the mass deportation of Jews and other victims
Economic and Financial Literacy
  • Examine Nazi economic policies that targeted Jews (confiscation of
  • Jewish businesses, Aryanization, etc.)
  • Discuss forced labor in concentration camps and its role in the Nazi war economy
  • Investigate how financial institutions and corporations (IG Farben, IBM, etc.) were complicit in the Holocaust
  • Analyze the post-war economic effects on Holocaust survivors (reparations, displacement, etc.)

Student Task:
Research Project–
How did Nazi
economic policies
exploit Jewish
communities and other persecuted groups?

Student Task:
Action Project –
Develop a campaign
promoting Holocaust
education and combating hate speech

Civic Participation and Engagement
  • Explore the role of bystanders, upstanders, and perpetrators in Nazi Germany and occupied territories
  • Examine how ordinary citizens were complicit or resisted (White Rose Movement, Schindler’s List, etc.)
  • Investigate diplomatic rescuers (Wallenberg, Sousa Mendes, Sugihara, etc.)
  • Connect the Holocaust to contemporary human rights issues (refugee crises, antisemitism, hate crimes, etc.)
  • Discuss modern-day implications:
    • How does Holocaust education prevent genocide?
    • What responsibilities do we have to combat hate and discrimination today?