Share the definition of antisemitism with your students. You may choose to print out this page from Echoes & Reflections for students to have with them during the lesson.

Read through the definition together, breaking it down sentence by sentence if necessary. If you printed out the sheet for students, you could have them write notes or underline as you go through the definition.

Ask students if they have ever heard or seen antisemitism in their lives, whether it be online or in person. Ask if there are any volunteers willing to share their experiences.

Play this video (4-minutes) from CBS Morning News, taken from a lesson from Echoes & Reflections about Jewish teens talking about antisemitism.

Next, open up the class into a discussion with the following questions:

1. Did anything surprise you about what the teens said in the video?
2. Have any of you seen or heard anything similar to what is described in the video? What happened? How did you respond?
3. At the end of the video, the students talk about why other people should care about antisemitism. What did you think about what they said?

How might you respond if you see antisemitism or someone you know is being harassed? As a group, come up with some ideas of how to respond safely. Some examples could include:

• Say “that wasn’t funny” if someone makes a joke at their expense.
• Tell a trusted adult.
• Care for those that were targeted.

How might you encourage others to stand up to antisemitism? Draft a letter, a poster, or a slogan to encourage people to stand up to antisemitism and hate.

Begin by asking your students what words come to mind when they think of the word ‘Genocide.’ Write down their responses on the whiteboard. If they are having trouble coming up with words, have them think of the Holocaust and the words they might use to describe that.

Next, provide students with the United Nations definition for genocide:

Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group as such:

• Killing members of the group;
• Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
• Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
• Imposing measurers intended to prevent births within the group;
• Forcibly transferring children of the groups to another group.

Ask your students if they have any questions after seeing the legal definition. If they do, have them write these down. Explain that the following resources will aim to expand their understanding of genocide. They will have the opportunity to return to these questions if they have not answered through the upcoming resources.

Play the video, What is Genocide? by the USC Shoah Foundation. As they watch, have them take notes about the different experiences mentioned and major themes to explore.

When the video is over, ask students to share that they wrote down.

Next, bring up Ben Ferencz through Dimensions in Testimony. Explain that Ben Ferencz was an American lawyer known for his work as an investigator of Nazi war crimes. You now have the opportunity to ask Ben some questions. Below are examples of questions that you may want to ask as a class, but you can ask other questions as they come up.

• What is genocide?
• Describe to me the scene you saw when you arrived at the concentration camp.
• How do you respond to the criticism that there was no need for the Nuremberg Trials?
• Are trials important?
• What is the role of international law in preventing genocide?

Ask students if their questions from the beginning have been answered. If not, have them read their questions to the class and try to answer them as a group. If you need additional resources, try the Holocaust Encyclopedia from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

As a group, go through some of the things they learned. If necessary, return to the list from the beginning and have them add to it with what they know.

Ask the class if they know who Adolf Eichmann is.

Explain to students that Eichmann was named chief executioner of the Final Solution. In this role he was responsible for organizing the identification, assembly, and transportation of Jews from all over Europe to Auschwitz and other extermination camps.

Play the video The Eichmann Trial by Emory University (3 min) then ask the questions below in an open discussion. (Note: Some of the comments on the video on YouTube may be inappropriate.)

1. What do you think of Eichmann being kidnapped and taken to Israel for trial? Do you think this was fair or unjust? Why do you think it was done?
2. Deborah Lipstadt calls the Eichmann trial “A trial by the victims of one of the perpetrators.” What significance did this have on the proceedings?
3. What do you think of what she said about the nature of evil? Why was it so important to put a face to the perpetrator?

Direct students to the resource ‘Eichmann Trial‘ by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Have students pair up to read through the resource and answer the critical thinking questions.

Eichmann, as well as other Nazi perpetrators put on trial, gave a similar defense. What do you think of Eichmann’s defense that he was “merely a little cog in the machinery” of destruction? Do you think there is any case where this defense could be valid?

Ask the class how they would define the terms “justice” and “accountability.” Write the words or phrases they come with on the board, then ask them the following questions:

• What role does justice and accountability play in the healing process for victims of crimes?
• What does it say to the people responsible for those crimes?
• In what ways can courts of justice and accountability fail victims of crimes?

Familiarize students with the resource, Justice and Accountability by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Show students that there are three sections of images and texts followed by a quote; Documenting the Crimes, The Trials, and Lasting Legacies.

Divide the class into three groups and assign them one of the three categories: Documenting the Crimes, The Trials, and Lasting Legacies and one of the quotes. These groups can end up being quite large depending on class size. Allow groups to divide up the images to go over in subgroups, as long as they all get together to discuss.
Provide the following instructions while they get into their groups:

1. Prepare a brief presentation in order to share your section with the class. Presentations can be done orally, preferably sharing the image being discussed with the rest of the class. Use the guidelines below to structure your presentation:
   1. Describe the images and tell their significance.
   2. Share what you thought of your group’s quote. What do you think it means? What relevance does it have in today’s society?

Ask students if they have heard of the Nuremberg Trials. If so, what do they know about them?

Direct students to the resource, War Crimes Trials by Echoes & Reflections. If not all students have access to a computer, print copies of the resource for your students so they can fill in the Discussion Questions worksheet on the last page.

Read through the resource as a class before having the students answer the questions on their own.

Go over the questions as a class. Did everyone come up with the same answers?

Did anything stand out to them when they read through the charges against the perpetrators?

*Hint* The term “genocide” was coined by Raphael Lemkin in 1943-44 but the crime against genocide was not put into effect until 1948.

One at a time, have students read three names from this list from Yad Vashem. As they go through, have them read out the person’s family name, first name, as well as where they were killed.

Watch this video on Remembrance by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM).

1. What is commemoration? Why is it important?
2. Why is name reading used in commemoration?
3. How long would it take a single person to read the first and last names of 6 million victims? Can you guess?

The answer: It would take a single person over 1,538 hours, or 64 days straight.

When else are name readings used? Do they serve the same purpose?

Writing activity: Have students write a letter to a Holocaust survivor. Share the resource, Meet Holocaust Survivors by the USHMM and provide them with the instructions below:

1. Look through the list of survivors and choose one you would like to write to.
2. Read through their bio to learn more about their story.
3. Write a letter for this person. Themes you can consider as you write: bravery, strength, and how their memory will not be forgotten.

Ask the class, how does reading a survivor’s story commemorate their memory and the memories of those that lost their lives?

Ask students, what is commemoration? Then ask, what purpose do monuments and memorials serve?

As a class, read through the Visual Essay: Holocaust Memorials and Monuments by Facing History and Ourselves and look through the pictures of the memorials featured.

After you go through the reading, go over the Connection Questions found at the bottom of the page. You may choose to do these as a class or have the students discuss them in small groups of three to five people.

Distribute the Creating a Memorial worksheet to each of your students. As this last activity asks students to reflect in depth, you may consider giving students the opportunity to work on their memorial at home. You may also want to give students the option to create their memorials in pairs, allowing them an opportunity to share ideas and concepts. Some teachers will ask students to create a physical model of the memorial they have conceptualized. If able, provide materials such as construction paper, clay, or paint to work on their memorials.

Collect memorials created by your class as a class project. These memorials can then be used as examples when carrying out this lesson for future classes. If doing physical models, you may consider taking a photo of the model to collect instead of holding onto the physical ones.

Start off by reading this story to the class:

When Rebbe Israel Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, saw the Jewish people were threatened by tragedy, he would go to a particular place in the forest where he lit a fire, recited a particular prayer, and the miracle was accomplished, averting the tragedy.

Later, when the Baal Shem Tov’s disciple the Maggid of Mezrich had to intervene with heaven for the same reason, he went to the same place in the forest, where he told the Master of the Universe that while he did not know how to light the fire, he could still recite the prayer, and again, the miracle was accomplished.

Later still, Rebbe Leib of Sasov, in turn, a disciple of the Maggid of Mezrich, went into the forest to save his people. “I do not know how to light the fire,” he said to God, “and I do not know the prayer, but I can find the place and that must be sufficient.” Once again, the miracle was accomplished.

When it was the turn of Rebbe Israel of Rizhyn, the great-grandson of the Maggid of Mezrich who was named after the Baal Shem Tov, to avert the threat, he sat in his armchair, holding his head in his hands, and said to God: “I am unable to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, and I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is tell the story. That must be enough.” And it was enough.

Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, author, and professor, used this story to explain how someone who has little to no connection with the past, can still be a custodian of memory. Wiesel said that, “Like the Rebbe of Rizhyn, we may not know how to light the fire, we may not know the prayer, and we may not know the place in the forest. Our connection to the past is weak; it may be distant, at a remove. All we can do is tell the story, and we must. But in order to tell the story, we must first hear the story.”

Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom by Ariel Burger (Pg. 31-32)

Direct students to the resource, Elie Wiesel: Days of Remembrance Excerpts, from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Divide the class into groups of three. Assign each group an excerpt from one of the years: 2001, 2002, 2003, or 2004. It is fine that groups will have repeat excerpts.

As students get together with their groups, provide them with the instructions below. Give students 15-20 minutes for this.

1. Read through the excerpt you have been assigned with your group.
2. Rewrite the passage in your own words.
3. Choose one line that resonates with you the most. Why is it so powerful?

Reconvene as a class and open the class to a discussion with the questions below:

1. Why is it important to remember the Holocaust?
2. Think back to the story from the beginning of the class. What does it mean to be a custodian of memory?

Note that denial is part of the process of genocide. Ask your students what they make of this fact: how is denial part of genocide?

Think-Pair-Share

Think: Give students 5 minutes to think and write about how they understand denial to be part of the process of genocide.

Pair: Then provide 5 more minutes to pair with another student to articulate their perspective.

Share: Finally, ask them to report out to the larger group: how do they understand this concept?

Provide students with the Anti-Defamation League Resource on Holocaust Denial and ask them to read the ‘Know It’ section. 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.

Given them 15 minutes to read and record their responses. Then ask students to pair and share with a classmate for 5 minutes

You may want to collect the 3Ps and the final paired work for your records or additional work.

Finally, ask each group to consolidate an answer to the initial question about denial as a stage of genocide. How do they understand Holocaust denial as a continuation of the Holocaust itself. Give 5 minutes for the group to compose an answer before prompting them to share with everyone.

Prompt your students with the following questions to respond to with a short discussion or writing exercise: Have you heard of someone who does not believe that the Holocaust happened? What would you say to a Holocaust denier if you met one today?

The following video might give every student a few more things to say if ever they hear denial again.

Preview the video by noting that it moves quickly and lots of information is provided. Ask your students to take notes about the things they feel are most important. Then, watch Holocaust Denial, Explained from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

After the video concludes, ask the group to share what they thought were the most important points within the video. Using a collective workspace, make notes of these points for everyone’s benefit. Ask the student who shares each point why they felt it was important. Ask the students if they have any questions about the video. Note those in the collective workspace as well.

Watch the video again, prompting students before you begin to keep these points and questions in mind as they search for more pertinent information.

After viewing the video a second time, ask your students to write a response to a Holocaust denier. What arguments would they use? What would be the main message they would want to convey to someone who refuses to accept the facts of history?

Give them 10 minutes to begin crafting a letter before asking them to share their thoughts with the class.