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Teaching the Holocaust and other Genocides

Armenia

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Activity Overview
​​​​​​After reading the narrative about the Armenian Genocide, students will complete a series of activities, including the examination of primary source documents, maps of the country, photographs and videos, and how the “genocide” matches the 10 stages of genocide, academic tool and a policy model which was created by Gregory Stanton.
Grade Level
9-12
Learning Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies
RH1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the time and place of publication, origin, authorship, etc.
RH2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop within a text.
RH3: Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
RH4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, economic, or geographic aspects of history/social studies.
RH5: Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally, visually, and graphically).
RH6: Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
RH7: Integrate and evaluate visual and technical information (e.g., in research data, charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
RH8: Analyze the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
RH9: Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
WHST5: Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question by the end of grade 8), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
WHST6: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source by applying discipline-specific criteria used in the social sciences or sciences; and quote or paraphrase the data/accounts and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
WHST7: Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Social Studies Framework 
10.5 UNRESOLVED GLOBAL CONFLICT (1914–1945): World War I and World War II led to geopolitical changes, human and environmental devastation, and attempts to bring stability and peace.
10.5e Human atrocities and mass murders occurred in this time period.
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.
10.10b Governments, groups, and individuals have responded in various ways to the human atrocities committed in the 20th and 21st centuries.
10.10c Historical and contemporary violations of human rights can be evaluated, using the principles and articles established within the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
SEL Benchmarks
2A. Recognize and build empathy for the feelings and perspectives of others.
2B. Recognize and affirm individual identities as well as individual and group similarities and differences, including those rooted in culture, ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ability, etc.
3A: Consider individual and collective social, emotional, and physical safety and well-being, as well as social context in making decisions.
Objectives
Students will be able to summarize the key events, actors, and timeline of the Armenian Genocide (1915‑1917) by analyzing documents and visual sources from the Armenian Genocide case study.
Students will be able to analyze the causes and effects of the Armenian genocide by examining evidence from primary and secondary sources.
Students will be able to apply the Ten Stages of Genocide model (Gregory Stanton) to the Armenian Genocide by identifying corresponding actions, policies, and events during a gallery walk activity.
Students will be able to evaluate arguments around denial of the Armenian Genocide through the analysis of primary source documents.

Essential Question
  • How does denial of the Armenian Genocide impact Armenia today? 
  • How did the internal politics of the Ottoman empire in the late 19th and early 20th century set the stage for the genocide of Armenians?
  • What role did extreme nationalism among Turkish members of the Ottoman government play in the bringing about the genocide?
  • What was the international response to the violence and persecution of Armenians at the end of the 19th century?
  • How did the end for World War I trigger the Armenian Genocide?
  • How has denial of the Armenian genocide in Turkey continued to influence current geo-political conflict in the region?
Materials

Worksheets 
Includes: T.A.C.O.S, Genocide Terminology, Hitler Quote, 3-2-1 Activity, Map Analysis, and Gallery Walk Worksheets

Activity

Warm-Up/Do Now: 

Using T.A.C.O.S, students will analyze the cartoon The Armenian Tragedy (2015) 

Transition:  

After discussing the political cartoon, students will read an excerpt from Raphael Lemkin coining the term Genocide: 

Document Analysis:

Provide students with a copy of Hitler’s quote about the Armenian Genocide: 

Our strength consists in our speed and in our brutality. Genghis Khan led millions of women and children to slaughter – with premeditation and a happy heart. History sees in him solely the founder of a state. It’s a matter of indifference to me what a weak western European civilization will say about me 

I have issued the command – and I’ll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing squad – that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have placed my death-head formations in readiness – for the present only in the East – with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space (lebensraum) which we need. Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?

Teachers use the quote to discuss the significance of genocide remembrance and the danger of denial. If time persists, teachers can also provide students with other references Hitler made to the Armenians. (See link 

Causes of the Armenian Genocide:

Provide students with a brief overview of the causes of the Armenian Genocide. (see resources below) and have them complete a 3-2-1 activity. 

The Armenian Genocide Overview (1915-1916) https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-armenian-genocide-1915-16-overview 

A Brief History of the Armenian Genocide https://genocideeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/A-Brief-History-of-the-Armenian-Genocide-1.pdf 

Armenian Genocide of 1915 (NY Times)   https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/ref/timestopics/topics_armeniangenocide.html?onwardjourney=584162_c1 

Map Analysis:

Map Analyis Worksheet

Ten Stages of Genocide:

Read and discuss The Ten Stages of Genocide

Gallery Walk: 

Students will be given a Gallery Walk Graphic Organizer that tasks them with analyzing the causes and effects of the Armenian Genocide. When possible, students are asked to determine which “Stage of Genocide” the source is depicting. 

Gallery Walk (All documents listed for this activity are available in this worksheets link.)

  1. Genocide Swept Under the Rug Cartoon (The Economist, 2019) 
  2. Eye Witness Account Bedros Bahadourian – Gurun 1903 (Genocide Education Project iWitness testimonies) https://genocideeducation.org/resources/survivor-accounts/ 
  3. Hunger Knows No Armistice 
  4. Deportation Photo Series (Armenia National Institute Iconic Images of the Armenian Genocide Online Exhibit, p. 2) 
  5. Philanthropy Relief Posters for International Response (Armenian National Institute Iconic Images of the Armenian Genocide Online Exhibit, p. 17)
  6. Early Days and Unrest Eyewitness Testimony Film Clips 
  7. Photograph: Soldiers from the Young Turk Ottoman escorting thousands of Armenians on lethal marches through the empire, circa 1915

Genocide Denial Activity: 

  • Even though there is ample evidence that a genocide was committed in Armenian in 1915, there is still a powerful denial movement led by the Turkish government and academics today. For this activity, students will compare the following primary sources: 
    • Joe Biden’s Acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide
    • Turkish Ministry of Cultural Affairs Response to Joe Biden

Closing Activity: Exit Ticket 

Using evidence from the lesson (photos, eye-witness accounts, etc.), write a minimum of one paragraph to answer the prompts on the worksheet.