Introductory Materials
Why teach about the Holocaust?
§801 of NYS Education Law that requires school districts to teach about the Holocaust.
"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."
New York State Social Studies Framework Connections
The K-12 Social Studies Framework guides local curriculum development in social studies. It fuses the New York State Learning Standards with social studies practices, key ideas, conceptual understandings, and content specifications. Teachers use the K-12 Social Studies Framework to incorporate content into their lesson plans to ensure students meet the standards. It helps teachers across the state identify the course content for each grade level and make connections to the broader standards. The content in the K-12 Social Studies Framework is also the basis for two social studies Regents examinations typically administered at the end of 10th and 11th grades. All students in New York State are expected to study the Holocaust at multiple points in social studies. The Holocaust is explicitly referenced in the K-12 Social Studies Framework for courses in 8th, 10th, and 11th grades.
GRADE 8 - KEY IDEA 8.6: WORLD WAR II
The nature and consequences of warfare during World War II transformed the United States and the global community. The damage from total warfare and human atrocities, including the Holocaust, led to a call for an international
- Students will investigate the Holocaust and explain the historical significance of the Nuremberg trials.
GRADE 10 - KEY IDEA 10.5: UNRESOLVED GLOBAL CONFLICT (1914–1945)
Nationalism and ideology played a significant role in shaping the period between the world wars.
- Students will examine the role of nationalism and the development of the National Socialist state under Hitler in Germany.
Human atrocities and mass murders occurred in this time period.
- Students will examine the atrocities against the Armenians; examine the Ukrainian Holodomor, and examine the Holocaust.
GRADE 10 - KEY IDEA 10.10: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Since the Holocaust, human rights violations have generated worldwide attention and concern. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights has provided a set of principles to guide efforts to protect threatened groups and has served as a lens through which historical occurrences of oppression can be evaluated
- Students will investigate and analyze the historical context of the Holocaust, Nuremberg Trials, … and their impacts on the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Historical and contemporary violations of human rights can be evaluated, using the principles and articles established within the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- Students will examine and analyze the roles of perpetrators and bystanders in human rights violations in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Darfur in light of the principles and articles within the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
GRADE 11 - KEY IDEA 11.8: WORLD WAR II (1935 – 1945)
In response to World War II and the Holocaust, the United States played a major role in efforts to prevent such human suffering in the future.
- Students will investigate American officials' knowledge of the Holocaust, evaluating the degree to which intervention may have been possible.
- Students will examine the contributions of Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson and his arguments made as Chief Prosecutor for the United States at the Nuremberg War Crimes trials.
- Students will investigate the role of Eleanor Roosevelt in creating the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.