As your students if they have ever heard of a conspiracy theory. What is a conspiracy theory? What are the ones that fascinate them the most?
Provide the definition of conspiracy theory: “a belief that some covert but influential organization is responsible for a circumstance or event.”

Provide your students with insights from Dr. Deborah Lipstadt (available in full here), who suggests that antisemitism “is rooted in a conspiracy theory. As such, the Jew is not just to be loathed but is to be feared.” Ask your students, “Why do conspiracy theories evoke fear?”

Furthermore, Dr. Lipstadt suggests that the conspiracy theory of antisemitism “has a structure. It is not just a haphazard conglomeration of sentiments. It generally has three to four essential elements: wealth, cunning (smarts used nefariously), and power beyond their ‘legitimate number’ (punching above their weight).”

Their task of this lesson is to identify these essential elements within specific examples and then report their findings to the whole class.
Split students into five groups.
Each group will examine one of the five examples of antisemitism shown in Antisemitism Over Time from Echoes and Reflections. Distribute one example per group.

Then, provide the following instructions:

1. Read the description of the antisemitic incident or artifact carefully.
2. Examine the artifact or direct quotes from the incident.
3. Record which elements of the conspiracy theory emerge in this example.
   1. Are there implied elements that are not displayed directly? Explain.
   2. Does “fear of the Jew” enter into the equation here? How so?
4. Generate a brief presentation for the class that summarizes the context (time, place, participants, etc.) and your findings about the themes that are most significantly expressed in the artifacts or quotations.

Ask your students if they have heard the term antisemitism before. If they have, how do they understand it? Guide discussion toward the definition from the Anti-Defamation League to set the stage for the rest of the lesson.

Turn toward the reading about Contemporary Antisemitism from Echoes & Reflections. Begin by reading the first section aloud as a class, answering any questions or defining words about which the students require clarification.

Then, divide the class into two groups.

• Members of group 1 should read the section on Post-Holocaust Antisemitism.
• Members of group 2 should read the section on Antisemitism Today.

Have every student read their section individually. Then pair with another member of their group to clarify the main points, questions, and challenges.

Finally, ask group 1 pairs to partner with group 2 pairs.
Have each pair share their summary of the section they read. What were the most important parts, what questions do they have, what is their understanding of the historical era being addressed?

Then, ask the quartet to answer the following set of questions:

1. What ties these two eras of hatred together? How are they similar?
2. What distinguishes the two eras of hatred?
3. Antisemitism has been called a conspiracy theory: what parts strike you in this way?
4. If Antisemitism was foundational to the Holocaust and remains prevalent today, should we be concerned about the possibility of a repeated catastrophe?

At the opening of the video, Samatha Power says, “it would be a grave mistake to view antisemitism as something that merely affects the Jewish people.” Provide this short quote to your students before viewing the video and prompt them to pre-write about it. What do they think it means? How can this be so? Give them 5 minutes to compose some thoughts and then ask them to share.

Watch Antisemitism Today by the USHMM. The video is complex and might be broken down for clarity by pausing between the following sections.

At the conclusion of each section, ask students to reflect on what they understood, what confused them, and what questions they have about the subject. Give space to address these insights.

Beginning to 1:35: What is antisemitism and why it is a problem for democracy
1:35 – 3:00: Two non-governmental manifestations, Islamic & Right Wing extremism
3:00 – 4:35: Antisemitism and its relationship to anti-Zionism and Holocaust denial
4:35 – End: The threat to society created by antisemitism

After the discussion of the video is over and students are feeling comfortable with the information, return to the quote highlighted by Samatha Powers:

“It would be a grave mistake to view antisemitism as something that merely affects the Jewish people.”

Ask your students to expand on their initial writing by answering the following questions:

1. What do they take from this statement now?
2. What can be done to respond to this truth?
3. How might they participate in resisting antisemitism?

Give students 10 minutes to reflect on these questions.
If time permits, have students share their reflections in small groups or full class discussion.

Ask students to reflect on what they think contributes to their opinion on something? Who are the influencers in their world? Do all influences carry equal weight? How do they balance the difference of opinions that they hear and that they may agree with?

Cycle through the opinion polls that run the length of the Holocaust, presented via the US Holocaust Memorial Museum exhibit on Americans and the Holocaust.

As you cycle through, prompt students to quickly jot down answers to the following questions that pair with each slide:

1. What do you make of the disparity between disapproval of persecution and willingness to allow more refugees into the country in 1938?
2. Why do you think Americans were uncomfortable entering a war with Germany in 1940?
3. Americans were widely opposed to information they heard about Nazi concentration camps, what do you suppose puts them in favor of Japanese Internment?
4. The United States and our allies won the war – in both Europe and the Far East. Why do you suppose we weren’t more welcoming to immigrants at that time? Who did we welcome?

Students will explore the writings and primary sources about various influential people from the 1930s and 40s. Groups should be created, each assigned to a different person of influence. Begin at the bottom of this page from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum with the public voices and extend into the political voices if need be.

Groups should prepare a brief presentation about the person to which they are assigned. Each group should answer at least the following questions:

1. What was this person’s role in US society? How influential were they, based on examples?
   Did they influence policy, public opinion or both? In what ways?
2. What were the main actions they took during this time?
3. How were they able to influence public opinion – especially the publics’ opinion on war, immigration, concentration camps, Internment camps? Why do you think their perspectives were so pertinent to this subject?
4. How do you judge them in light of our current situation? What lessons can they teach us?

Ask students whether they can identify how their opinions about the world are shaped. What are the things that influence their perception of what is going on?

Then, set the stage for what Americans would have been experiencing in 1938. Ask your students, what do they know about the US in 1938? Its economy? Sports? Life? How did people at that time get their information- newspapers, movies, radio? How might their views of the world have been shaped?

Have students watch the video American Newsreel from USHMM’s Americans and the Holocaust exhibit website. Begin by watching the first 2:15, through the Silver Shirts newspaper campaign.

Prompt students to consider the content of the first two minutes in large discussion or via pair-and-share.

1. What kind of messaging is being promoted by Senator Dies, Father Caughlin and the Silver Shirts?
2. If you believe these messages, what kind of opinion might you form about refugees, Jews, etc. ?

Continue watching the video through 4:45, with the meeting of Mussolini and Hitler and then stop to ask questions about the information being distributed in America:

1. Were Americans informed about the rise of fascism in Europe?
2. Was the American Government interested in responding to conflict or aggression around the world? Why not?
3. How do you see these two first sections interacting with one another? Given the tone of the first section and the information from the second, what kind of opinion might someone form about America’s role in the world?

Finally, watch the last two minutes of the video, which is an excerpt from March of Time which gave Americans a glimpse into life in Nazi Germany. After the video, ask students to draft short answers to these questions and either generate discussion from them or collect as an assignment:

1. What is the message of March of Time?
2. Knowing what we know about America in 1938, how might a citizen have responded to this information? Would they have been inspired to act or to stay out of it?
3. Looking back from the present day, what parts of March of Time seem like red flags for what is to come in the next 7 years?

Briefly, ask students if they believe that the US was heroic in their effort to stop the Holocaust. Why do they believe what they do? What evidence do they have to support their position? Then, review the Holocaust Timeline at Echoes & Reflections to take a look at 1941 and 1942. Note some key dates, including the deployment of the Einsatzgruppen in 1941 and the Wannsee Conference in 1942.

Then introduce the Ringer Telegram, by way of the USHMM Americans and the Holocaust online exhibit, (can be found under the section titled “Cold-Blooded Extermination”) which found its way to US officials in August 1942. Begin by showing the full image of the telegram and asking students to read it. What do they understand of the messages that is being conveyed? What is the warning in these words?

After they have investigated the primary source document, read together the description of “cold-blooded extermination” on that same page for context.

Ask students to reflect on this historical monument. What would they have done if they were in a position of power and heard of these acts of violence?

Then, introduce students to the State Department cover up. Read the first part of this section together and ask students what questions emerge in their minds. Ask them to record for themselves, what would they still like to know and what confuses them about this response.

Ask the students to pair up and read the biography of Breckenridge Long via the USHMM Americans and the Holocaust site. Before they begin, prompt them to say their questions aloud to their partner. As they read, they should be attempting to answer these questions by writing down information that pertains to them.

Finally, if time permits, groups can share what they discovered and what remains unknown about this cover-up story.

Ask students to discuss the term “refugee” and share what they think it means. Have students identify the distinction between a refugee (one who is compelled to emigrate from their home country due to an existential threat) and an immigrant (one who immigrates to a foreign country voluntarily, with the intention of settling there permanently). Also, ask your students what perceptions of refugees seem to be held by our world today.

Distribute this handout from Echoes & Reflections to each student and ask them to consider the following questions individually by writing down answers on a piece of paper.

1. Given when the ship left Germany, did these refugees have a reason to be scared for their lives?
2. What were the reasons that the passengers were not allowed to depart in Cuba? How do you feel about these reasons for refusal?
3. How are the men and women in the photograph dressed? Do you notice anything in particular about the photo that strikes you as distinct?
4. What more would you like to know about this story?

Share individual responses in a group discussion. Then distribute this reading from Facing History and Ourselves. Have students read this and look for additional insight about the story of the St. Louis.

Have students pair with one another after they finish reading to reflect on their understanding. Each group should prepare to report to the class what they think is the most important lesson we can learn from the story of the St. Louis. Prompt them with the question, if the St. Louis came to our shores today, would we be more accepting of refugees? Would we have learned from the tragedy? What gives you confidence in your answer?

Ask your students to reflectively write on one of the following prompts: Would you form an alliance with a bully if that bully promised to protect you from other people picking on you?

Or, is your protection enough of a reason to ally yourself with someone who you don’t trust and you don’t think is a good person? Why or why not?

After giving the students 5 minutes to write, ask them to share their thoughts about this subject.

Have your students read An Agreement with the Catholic Church from Facing History and Ourselves.

Have them read with the 3Ps method: They should take notes on what they find to be the most a) Powerful b) Puzzling and c) Propelling.

In order to familiarize yourself, and your class with this model, please look over this guide: 3Ps: A Critical Reading Guide.

Give them 15 minutes to read and record their responses.

Ask students to share their reflections. Help clarify any of the puzzling sections and point (if possible) toward further exploration when students are propelled toward another subject or thought that was sparked by the reading. Spend 15 minutes on the 3Ps.

Then ask them who they think got the better end of the deal. Ask them to clearly state why they feel the Catholic Church or the Nazi party benefitted most from the concordat.

Review the timeline from Echoes & Reflections between 1933 and 1938 to get a better picture of the context in which the Evian Conference occurred. What was the Evian Conference? Where was it? Who attended?

Highlight some of the major moments of persecution that Jews already witnessed at the hands of Nazis, like the boycott of Jewish businesses, the Nuremberg Laws or the expulsion of Jews from professional services.

If need be, review the basic concept of the Evian conference. If time permits, students can read this short summary from Facing History and Ourselves. Then, divide the class into five groups, assigning each group to one of the countries represented in the reading here.

Ask the groups to read their quotes very carefully. It will seem to be accomplished easily, they should read these quotes with great acuity and attention to detail.

Ask all the groups to consider the following set of questions and record their group answers:

1. What do you know about the country you are assigned and the role that country ultimately played in WWII?
2. What is the message that your country is telling the refugees?
3. What kind of language (specific words and phrases) is being used by the country’s leaders to talk about their decision?
4. Did your country own up to the decision or did they hide behind a sense of disempowerment or ‘policy’?
5. Why do you think the leaders of your country made the decision that they did?

Each group should then present what they found in closely reading the quotations from their country. Take note of the themes that emerge–words like ‘impossible’ or ‘incapable’ will continue to come up. Ask how it is that countries like the USA are ‘incapable’ of something?

Then prompt the final question:

1. Do you think the decision of your country’s leaders is justified or defensible? Why or why not?

This could be answered immediately, or, if time permits, groups could reconvene and come up with specific arguments about why the decision was defensible or justifiable. Possibly leave the class with a question about what motivated these countries to act to participate in WWII? If it wasn’t the plight of Jews, what was the reason these countries entered the war?

Prompt students to do a bit of pre-writing about the subject. Ask them to reflect briefly on the motivations of the Allied forces of World War II. Specifically, prompt them to see if the likes of Great Britain, the USA and France were focused on stopping the Holocaust. After a few minutes, ask students to voice their answers and orient them to the predominantly political nature of the conflict.

Before showing the video, anticipate some of its content by asking students to pay close attention to the following questions:

1. When was the information about the Holocaust revealed?
2. Who received this information?
3. What did the recipients of this information do with it?
4. Did nations change their approach to war, in light of evidence about the Holocaust?
5. What groups were responsible for initiating action?

Then, show the first 8:20 of the video, Did the world remain silent? produced by Tel Aviv University.

After the video, see if your students can answer the five questions listed above.

After establishing the facts around these international responses, split the class into three groups, each of whom will respond to a different troubling fact discussed in the video. Ask each group to tackle these questions in depth, thinking about the context of the situation as much as they can.

Group 1: At 1:42, the speaker suggests that the Russians saw evidence of the Holocaust in early 1942, but concealed the fact that murders were taking place specifically against Jews. Why?

Group 2: At 5:08 the speaker mentions that even at the end of 1942, ‘no concrete action’ to stop the Holocaust was mentioned by the Allies, despite mounting evidence of the murders. Why would the Allies not develop a plan to stop the atrocities?

Group 3: At 5:28, the speaker mentions that the War Refugee Board, which helped save the lives of thousands of Jews, was created as a result of public pressure. What does this say about your role as a citizen?