Guidelines for Teaching the Holocaust

What are the challenges of teaching and learning about the Holocaust? Brainstorm with the participants for three or four challenges of teaching the Holocaust. Usual responses are: Limited time to teach Apathy of students Graphic subject matter Fatigue on the part of students and parents in teaching such a difficult subject Resistance from the community Relevance

Before playing this video, ask teachers to be thinking about the challenges of teaching this resource in the classroom. Play the video of the teenagers in Poland being humiliated for having a relationship. The video is 3:55 minutes long. Afterwards, ask for reactions from the participants. Some questions to consider asking are: What was the focal point of what was happening in the video? Who was involved in humiliating the teenagers? Who didn’t you see in the video? –no Nazis in uniform—so who organized it? What surprised or shocked you about the video?

What would you need to do/know to be able to use this historical film footage in the classroom? Ask teachers to share what they think that they would need to do in preparation and in providing context for this video in the classroom. Have them share some ideas, and then lead them into rationale and the guidelines.

Rationale Why? Your students (background knowledge, geographic settings, culture, etc.) The Holocaust/Genocide In this unit/course Now (at this age, at this time in history, etc.) With this resource (book, film, handout, website, etc.) You only have so much time to teach, choose wisely based on your rationale and your students. This is a sound pedagogical process to engage in, no matter the subject or unit you are teaching.

Guidelines for teaching the Holocaust (http://www.ushmm.org) Define the Holocaust. Do not teach or imply that the Holocaust was inevitable. Avoid simple answers to complex questions. Strive for precision of language. Strive for balance in establishing whose perspective informs your study of the Holocaust. 6. Avoid comparisons of pain. 7. Do not romanticize history. 8. Contextualize the history. 9. Translate statistics into people. 10. Make responsible methodological choices These are the ten guidelines and we will be hitting about eight of them as we look at how to teach this film in the classroom.

Define the Holocaust. The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities also targeted other groups because of their perceived “racial inferiority”: Roma (Gypsies), the disabled, and some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and homosexuals. Point out that by making sure that we define the Holocaust at the beginning of a study of the Holocaust, students will be familiar with the scope, at least in some small way. There is the Prezi that we have used in past years that they can use—the teacher resources are on the Belfer website for this. Point out that one of the groups targeted during this era was the Poles, represented by one of the teenagers in the video. Due to the German’s belief that they were racially inferior, an ethnic German having a relationship with a Polish girl would be offensive, thus the reason for the actions in the video.

Contextualize the history.. When teaching this video, it is also important to provide historical context for the video, including that the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, quickly defeating the Polish forces and establishing new restrictions for Jews and Poles. The video was taken in 1941, which means that the citizens of the town had been living under German rule for two years and the ban on relationships between ethnic Germans and Poles was not new. German troops parade through Warsaw after the invasion of Poland. Warsaw, Poland, September 28-30, 1939. — National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.

Define the Holocaust. The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities also targeted other groups because of their perceived “racial inferiority”: Roma (Gypsies), the disabled, and some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and homosexuals. It is also important to give context for the students so that they know that the Poles were not the primary victims of the Holocaust, though they were targeted and persecuted. The primary victims of the Holocaust were the Jews, so it is important to give multiple perspectives of what happened when the Nazis came into Polish towns and established a new way of life.

Avoid comparisons of pain. Translate statistics into people. It is also important that we make sure to translate statistics into people, not focusing all of the time on the number of six million Jews, but rather the individual stories of the Jews. This story is one recorded in the First Person podcasts on the USHMM website. David Bayer talks about what it was like for him and his family when the Nazis first came into his town. The recording is 7:12 minutes long. Also, before moving on to the next slide, point out that we should never compare the pain of the victims when studying the Holocaust (the heading will change when you click to remind you talk about this guideline), so it would not be a good idea to compare what happened to the teenagers in the video to what happened with David Bayer and other Jews. David Bayer discusses life in his hometown of Kozienice after the German invasion of Poland in September, 1939 in a podcast.

Strive for precision of language. What are “ethnic Germans”? The video is less than one minute on the right and shows ethnic Germans welcoming in German troops in a Polish town right after the beginning of World War II. Ethnic Germans are Germans living outside of Germany proper, and were often assimilated into the cultures where they were living. Some ethnic Germans did welcome German troops, though they did not all agree with the ideology of the occupying troops. This helps provide context for the video, with the ethnic German teenager, whom the Nazis would have held to the racial laws, even though he was living in Poland. Ethnic Germans of the city of Tarnow, Poland welcome the German troops. Sept. 3, 1939. -From the Mit dem Führer album of pictures taken by Heinrich Hoffman

Avoid simple answers to complex questions. Why didn’t they just leave? Why didn’t they resist? Why didn’t anyone help? While we will address many of these questions on the slide during the conference, we can acknowledge here that these are some of the questions that students ask about the Holocaust that sometimes teachers do not know how to answer. Apply these questions to the video specifically.

Complexity What about this still shot of the movie complicates your thinking about what happened? What do you see happening in this picture that shows complicity?

HOW DID NEIGHBORS RESPOND? Strive for balance in establishing whose perspective informs your study of the Holocaust. HOW DID NEIGHBORS RESPOND? Neighbors denounce Jews hiding under false identities, while others offer shelter. Lilly Appelbaum Malnik was born in 1928 in Antwerp, Belgium. Germany invaded Belgium in May 1940. Lily Appelbaum Malnik tells her story of those who chose to hide her and those who chose to inform on her and her family because they were Jewish. Remind participants that while we do know that people chose to help and rescue during the Holocaust, only a relatively few did that, while many more informed or collaborated. Play the video (It is 3:44 minutes long). Bring up the guideline of Do not romanticize history, too, as we could tend to just focus on the family that helped and let that image dominate the reason why they had to help. Lily’s story continues to bring complexity to the history and to the video of the Polish teenagers, as we can see that there were neighbors who did help others, even though the ones in the video of the Polish teenagers did not.

Make responsible methodological choices. Content Context Complexity Critical Thinking Talk about the guidelines in the light of the four C’s: Content, Context, Complexity, and Critical Thinking and how using the guidelines will lead lessons to complicate their students’ thinking. If time permits, play the video of the teenagers again (which is what is on this page—remember it is 3:55 minutes long) and ask participants to see if they see it differently now that the contextual pieces we covered are in their minds. What do they notice differently this time? How does it change their perspective of what is happening in the video? Did it complicate their thinking? Is this a video that they would use in their classroom?

large amounts of graphic images Refrain from using.. Simulations gimmicky exercises (word searches, counting objects, crossword puzzles, etc.) large amounts of graphic images texts that exploit students’ emotional vulnerability, are historically inaccurate, or that are disrespectful to the victims themselves One of the primary concerns of educators teaching the history of the Holocaust is how to present horrific, historical images in a sensitive and appropriate manner. Graphic material should be used judiciously and only to the extent necessary to achieve the objective of the lesson. Try to select images and texts that do not exploit the students' emotional vulnerability or that might be construed as disrespectful of the victims themselves. Do not skip any of the suggested topics for study of the Holocaust because the visual images are too graphic. Use other approaches to address the material. In studying complex human behavior, many teachers rely upon simulation exercises meant to help students "experience" unfamiliar situations. Even when great care is taken to prepare a class for such an activity, simulating experiences from the Holocaust remains pedagogically unsound. The activity may engage students, but they often forget the purpose of the lesson and, even worse, they are left with the impression that they now know what it was like to suffer or even to participate during the Holocaust. It is best to draw upon numerous primary sources, provide survivor testimony, and refrain from simulation games that lead to a trivialization of the subject matter. Furthermore, word scrambles, crossword puzzles, counting objects, model building, and other gimmicky exercises tend not to encourage critical analysis but lead instead to low-level types of thinking and, in the case of Holocaust curricula, trivialization of the history. If the effects of a particular activity, even when popular with you and your students, run counter to the rationale for studying the history, then that activity should not be used.

Instead, use… Survivor testimony Primary sources, including maps, documents, photographs, and articles Historically accurate texts, literature, and films Media literacy skills to help students deconstruct and critically analyze text, photos, and film One of the primary concerns of educators teaching the history of the Holocaust is how to present horrific, historical images in a sensitive and appropriate manner. Graphic material should be used judiciously and only to the extent necessary to achieve the objective of the lesson. Try to select images and texts that do not exploit the students' emotional vulnerability or that might be construed as disrespectful of the victims themselves. Do not skip any of the suggested topics for study of the Holocaust because the visual images are too graphic. Use other approaches to address the material. In studying complex human behavior, many teachers rely upon simulation exercises meant to help students "experience" unfamiliar situations. Even when great care is taken to prepare a class for such an activity, simulating experiences from the Holocaust remains pedagogically unsound. The activity may engage students, but they often forget the purpose of the lesson and, even worse, they are left with the impression that they now know what it was like to suffer or even to participate during the Holocaust. It is best to draw upon numerous primary sources, provide survivor testimony, and refrain from simulation games that lead to a trivialization of the subject matter. Furthermore, word scrambles, crossword puzzles, counting objects, model building, and other gimmicky exercises tend not to encourage critical analysis but lead instead to low-level types of thinking and, in the case of Holocaust curricula, trivialization of the history. If the effects of a particular activity, even when popular with you and your students, run counter to the rationale for studying the history, then that activity should not be used.

Images transfix. Images anesthetize.” ― Susan Sontag, On Photography “To suffer is one thing; another thing is living with the photographed images of suffering, which does not necessarily strengthen conscience and the ability to be compassionate. It can also corrupt them. Once one has seen such images, one has started down the road of seeing more – and more. Images transfix. Images anesthetize.”  ― Susan Sontag, On Photography

One of the primary concerns of educators teaching the history of the Holocaust is how to present horrific, historical images in a sensitive and appropriate manner. Graphic material should be used judiciously and only to the extent necessary to achieve the objective of the lesson. Try to select images and texts that do not exploit the students' emotional vulnerability or that might be construed as disrespectful of the victims themselves. Do not skip any of the suggested topics for study of the Holocaust because the visual images are too graphic. Use other approaches to address the material. In studying complex human behavior, many teachers rely upon simulation exercises meant to help students "experience" unfamiliar situations. Even when great care is taken to prepare a class for such an activity, simulating experiences from the Holocaust remains pedagogically unsound. The activity may engage students, but they often forget the purpose of the lesson and, even worse, they are left with the impression that they now know what it was like to suffer or even to participate during the Holocaust. It is best to draw upon numerous primary sources, provide survivor testimony, and refrain from simulation games that lead to a trivialization of the subject matter. Furthermore, word scrambles, crossword puzzles, counting objects, model building, and other gimmicky exercises tend not to encourage critical analysis but lead instead to low-level types of thinking and, in the case of Holocaust curricula, trivialization of the history. If the effects of a particular activity, even when popular with you and your students, run counter to the rationale for studying the history, then that activity should not be used. A pile of clothing stripped off of corpses found on the death train, May 1945.

This is the Wordle Cameron made from the Belfer registrations for this summer. A number of things to point out: Night is still the number one text taught, followed closely by The Diary of Anne Frank. However, each of these texts has some limitations, as Night begins in 1944 and Anne Frank is mostly about hiding and not largely about the Holocaust. If you studied only one of these texts in the classroom, much context is needed so that students walk away with a broader, more accurate picture of what happened during the Holocaust. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is still the number one film used by teachers. Perhaps talk about why it is so popular, even though it is not historically accurate and even leaves the audience with sympathy for the Nazi family at the end. This is often the only film that students see about the Holocaust…is that what we want them to think happened? Is there a rationale for using this film in the classroom?