Approaching the Holocaust in your classroom can be a difficult, often daunting task. This practical guide for English and social studies teachers features lessons learned from the author's 17 years of experience teaching the subject in public schools, as well as his work with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Using anecdotes and…

This lesson prompts students to explore the ways that individuals, groups, communities, and nations define who belongs and who does not. The outlined activities examine what it means to belong by introducing the idea of a "universe of obligation," the term sociologist Helen Fein coined to describe the circle of individuals and groups…

Facing History and Ourselves has developed "Teaching The Reckoning" to help classrooms explore essential questions about judgment by studying the creation of the International Criminal Court. Ever since the Nuremberg Trials, individuals around the world have imagined how an international judicial body could be used to prevent genocide,…

Addressing the topic of rescue efforts poses particular challenges for teachers planning Holocaust curricula. While the issue leads many students to develop an engaged empathy with rescuers, teachers must avoid overemphasizing what was a limited occurrence within the overall Holocaust. This article presents a plan for using music to teach about…

This study guide has been developed to accompany the film "Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh." The guide is organized in two sections: Preview and Postview. In the Preview, students are introduced to Hannah Senesh. They learn the historical context of her story, and they begin to consider some of the main themes…

Teaching and studying the Holocaust is a complex and sensitive undertaking. The dynamics of dealing with a modern, technologically advanced state's attempt to annihilate all members of a given group of people for racial reasons involves tortuous twists and turns that challenge the most sophisticated of thinkers, leading to a situation in which…

Issues regarding sexuality are often little discussed in high schools serving students from religiously conservative backgrounds. Frequently, parents and school administrators are uncomfortable with, and reluctant to discuss the topic, and as a result students have inadequate opportunities to engage in discussions about sex and relationships. This…

Advocates teaching about the Holocaust in European and Canadian history courses. Maintains that the study of the Holocaust should help students see that history provides grist for reflection on our past and how our past has shaped the world we live in today. (JDH)

To aid secondary-level students in understanding the Palestinian Arab-Israeli dispute, learning activities are suggested. (RM)

The recent Library of Congress exhibition, From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America, has sparked renewed interest in the history of Jews in the United States. The collection featured more than 200 documents, images, and artifacts that chronicle the Jewish American experience. In exhibit from September through December 2004, From…

Describes eight activity ideas designed to assist students in understanding the historical background of the dispute between the Palestinian Arabs and the Israeli Jews. (DH)

Argues that teachers must bring works of the Holocaust to the classroom and focus discussion around its revelations. (FL)

The literature of the Holocaust casts light into one of the darkest shadows in history--it is a literature worth teaching not only because of the lessons it teaches, but because of its reach into the depths of human experience. The teacher's job in teaching about the Holocaust is to explore and expose--to help students find their way through the…

How often do our students long for black and white rather than the shades of grey that history generally presents us with? Understanding the Arab-Israeli conflict is all about understanding diversity and complexity in all their shades of grey. Alison Stephen, teaching in an immensely diverse school herself, is determined not to over-simplify the…

This curriculum unit is designed to teach students how the Holocaust differed in Hungary, what conditions were like at the largest extermination camp (Auschwitz-Birkenau), and about people who risked their lives to save Hungarian and Polish Jews. The unit notes that students should already be acquainted with the rise of anti-Semitism in Germany…