Holocaust OTB Supplement for the Classroom
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The following supplementary materials comprise an abridged version of the One Soul Holocaust Educational Curriculum Toolbox that was created to accompany the mega-multimedia One Soul Holocaust Traveling Exhibit, created in conjunction with the U.S. Army Center of Military History. To acquire the complete Toolbox, contact miriam@afikimfoundation.org.
The following supplementary materials include:
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Brief Overview of the Holocaust
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Glossary of Terms
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4 Heroism cards
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3 Identity Cards
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2 Moral Dilemma trigger films and discussion materials
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Takeaway - Self-evaluation, Reflection and Responsibilities
All items in RED can be clicked on to download
OVERVIEW
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What Was THE HOLOCAUST?
The Holocaust was the state-sponsored, methodical persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime. The Nazis rose to power in Germany in January 1933. They believed that Germans were "racially superior", and they deemed the Jews to be "inferior" and a threat to the self-styled German racial community.
In the early years of the Nazi regime, the National Socialist government set up concentration camps to detain political and ideological opponents. Before the outbreak of war, SS and police officials incarcerated Jews and other victims of ethnic or racial hatred in these camps.
To concentrate and monitor the Jewish population and to facilitate later deportation of the Jews, the Germans and their collaborators created ghettos, transit camps, and forced-labor camps. Following the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) and later, armed battalions of Order Police officials (Orpo), carried out mass-murder operations, killing more than a million Jewish men, women, and children, and hundreds of thousands of others.
Between 1941 and 1944, Nazi German authorities deported millions of Jews from Germany and occupied territories, and from the countries of many of its Axis allies, to ghettos and killing centers, called ‘extermination camps’ or ‘death camps’, where they were murdered in specially-designed gassing facilities. In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe stood at over 9 million. By 1945, the Germans had murdered two out of every three European Jews as part of their "Final Solution".
In the final months of the war, SS guards moved large numbers of camp inmates by train or on “death marches,” in an attempt to prevent the Allies from liberating them. As the Allied forces moved across Europe in a series of offensives against Germany, they discovered and liberated concentration camp prisoners and others, who were on death marches. The marches continued until May 7, 1945, when the German armed forces surrendered unconditionally to the Allies.
The Holocaust devastated most European Jewish communities and entirely wiped out hundreds of Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. After the Holocaust, many survivors found shelter in displaced persons (DP) camps, overseen by the Allies. Between 1948 and 1951, nearly 700,000 Jews emigrated to Israel. Other Jewish DPs emigrated to the United States and other nations. In 1957, the last DP camp was closed.
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1. GLOSSARY OF TERMS
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2. HEROISM CARDS
The following four samples represent the multitude of heroic acts and responses during and immediately following the Holocaust:
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Fortitude - Caretakers to the End
Endurance - of Mind and of Body to Outlast the Unimaginable
Mission - Beyond Army Tactics
Faith - Belief in Spite of Darkness
Other types of Heroism, included in the complete Toolbox:
Preservation - Dedication to Family, Community, History
Rebellion - Few Against Many, Weak Against Strong
Bravery - Beyond Expectation
Defiance - Against the Law and Against the Trends
Valor - Fighting for A Cause
Selfless Sacrifice - Giving by Letting Go
Imagination - Freedom Through Thought and Fantasy
Determination - Continuity Of Culture and Education
Commitment - A Life for A Life
Perseverance - Living to See the Day
Resilience - Reclaiming One’s Self
Rebuilding - New Beginnings
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3. IDENTITY CARDS
Three sample biographies of individuals living in the time period from 1933-1945:
(The complete Toolbox has 27 biographies):
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4. MORAL DILEMMAS
Two Films and Discussion,
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5. TAKEAWAY
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TAKEAWAY: Self-Evaluation, Reflection, Responsibilities
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