1. Ettie Abraham, Katzenelson High School, Israel 2017.
Genocide – Are We Human???
Ettie Abraham,
Katzenelson High School, Israel 2017.

2. This lesson can be used in the English lesson,
Civics and in the home room.
Grade level:
High School students grades 11-12

3. What do we need?
Sources: Centropa films: Survival in Sarajevo El Otro Camino Photographs from the exhibition –survival in Sarajevo Internet,

4. 1. The students will have acquired skills of finding
relevant information on the Internet.
2. The students will practice summarizing.
3. The students will present their group ideas in
English to an audience.
4. The students way of thinking and judging
others may hopefully change.

5. Theme: What is Genocide?
Can be used on January 27th – International Holocaust Memorial Day (a double lesson)
Opening: A video of a 7 year old girl from Syria. 1:50 min
Pre-watching questions as food for thought and to be discussed later.
 How is this little girl and her mother coping with the horrors they face? What is happening in Syria? Is it a genocide? What is possible to do in the face of a genocide? Has the world changed? 

6. Activity min.
a. In groups, using the Internet, the students will
come up with the definition of Genocide.
Genocide is an intentional action to destroy a people (usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group) in whole or in part. The hybrid word "genocide" is a combination of the Greek word génos ("race, people") and the Latin suffix -cide ("act of killing").
b. They will search the Genocides that took
place in the 20th century.
Write one paragraph about 3 different Genocides you did not know about.

7. Activity 2- 30 min Each group will report to class.
Next lesson we will focus on one city from what we have heard: Sarajevo

8. (a double lesson) "Survival in Sarajevo"
If possible, have a history teacher collaborate with you in this lesson to have all the details accurate. Background about the Balkans is provided in the Centropa film: El Otro Camino: 1492

9. Let us get to know some of the characters from the city of Sarajevo –
El Otro Camino: 1492
show only from min 1:15 -4:02 for the students to understand the complexity of
the citizens of Sarajevo.
Let us get to know some of the characters from the city of Sarajevo –
10 min
In pairs: Choose 5 pictures of people participating in the film from the Centropa exhibition section. Students will try to guess their religion, occupation..
How did they make those choices? (stereotypes, misconceptions etc)
Put the words on the board.
While watching the film think about those people whose photographs we have just seen.
Show the film Survival in Sarajevo

10. Class Discussion:
What is the religious and cultural background of the people in the film?
How did they behave during the war?
How would you have expected them to behave?
What lead them to their behavior?
Can you implement any of the behaviors in the film in your surrounding?
Are you inspired by to film to act in a different manner?

11. Optional
Use from the Centropa site the exhibition about the Bosnian war for further study and students’ investigation . I would recommend to collaborate with the history teacher.

12. Home Assignment:
Discuss the topic of genocide with your parents. Tell them about the film "Survival in Sarajevo".
Do they think this idea can be implemented in our region?
Do you think there is anything you can do to prevent genocides from happening?
Write a letter to Bana El Abed from Syria , telling her your thoughts about what she has done.

13. Next….
After students report about their parents’ reactions and ideas ,end the lesson with the following quote from the book Survival in Sarajevo: “Just after 10:30 on Sunday morning the doors of the bus opened in front of the Biokovko Hotel in Makarska [Croatia]. Radoslav, Natalia, and Denis dragged their bags up to the Jewish Agency desk. An Israeli representative listened to their story, rolled his eyes and took them to Tuvya Raviv, the tireless traveler who was helping everyone he could come to Israel. Raviv scanned the papers and said to [Edward Serotta],“Am I to understand that this boy has no adoption papers from Mrs. Bozovich? And she wants to bring him to Israel unattended by his parents?” He scratched his head and shook it from side to side. “And Denis, you’re Muslim, right?” ‘I’m nothing,’ Denis said. ‘I’m a human.’