Cause
Students will hear the story of one survivor, Raye David, and discuss topics surrounding the concept of home, how survivors rebuilt their lives after the war, the kinds of things that they deemed most important in rebuilding their lives, and why they chose not to return to the countries where they were born.
Often, Jewish survivors made the decision to settle in countries besides their native ones after the war because their families, communities, and lives back home had been destroyed and they faced continued violence and antisemitism there.
Explain to the students that after WWII ended and liberation from the camps a very difficult period of recovery began for around 6 million refugees and displaced persons. Jewish refugees in particular faced much discrimination from authorities, and had a difficult time re-building their lives. Discuss how complex the process was for emigrating, but even though it took years, many Jewish survivors were determined to do it.
Watch the source video with the class (suggested start time at 23:30). Tell students that the woman is named Raye David, a Holocaust survivor that ended up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin after the war.
As a class, lead a discussion based around the following questions:
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Students will learn the history of antisemitism and how it was transformed into Nazi racial antisemitism through the years.
Antisemitism was not invented with the rise of the Nazi party. It had deep roots that were transformed to fit the racist ideology of the time.
Begin by prompting your students to think about forms of intolerance. What kind of ‘isms’ can they think of that separate one group from another in a detrimental way?
Do they believe that certain ‘isms’ are more powerful than others? Why might this be?
This lesson can be found in an expanded form here.
Divide students into groups or pairs.
Distribute the first definition card within this three page bundle, which defines the terms ideology, racists and ethnicity.
In groups, pairs, or individually students work to define the yellow highlighted words. After the group defines the word, they use dictionaries to check their definitions.
After 5 minutes come together and have students briefly share:
Pivot toward the question of pseudoscience: Now that we have definitions of racists and race, let’s examine the pseudo science behind beliefs that human behavior is biologically determined. See if they know what pseudo means.
Distribute and read definition cards two and three which defines pseudo, science and racial antisemitism.
–> Students can repeat the definitional activity used with the first definition cards for the second and third cards as well..
Check for understanding of the concept of pseudoscience and racial antisemitism.
Answer questions or clear misconceptions before proceeding.
Watch this short clip from USHMM about racism in the Nazi party. Then ask students to respond to the following questions either in writing or small groups before opening up for a large group discussion. You may also assign certain questions to groups or individuals to reduce the time for responses.
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Students will learn the history of anti-Judaism and its relevance when studying the Holocaust. Open up into a discussion about prejudices in history and how rumors and hatred get carried through generations.
Stereotypes and misinformation of the Jewish people has persisted and changed through the years, with much of it still visible in present day.
Ask students how they define religion. Then, how might they define ‘religious differences’?
Furthermore, can they consider how religious differences have been handled throughout history? Is this a peaceful history or a bloody one?
Divide the class into a maximum of six groups. Have each group elect one person as their recorder. Note that everyone else must read and all members should contribute to the answers.
Direct student to the resource, Anti-Judaism before the Enlightenment by Facing History and Ourselves. Ask students to read through the resource and go over the Connection Questions found at the bottom of the page in their small group. Have groups write down their answers. Give 25 minutes for this exercise.
Come back together as a class and go over the answers to the connection questions. Ask each group to answer one question, selecting them randomly. Tell students they should be adding to their answers with thoughts discussed by the class and answers from other groups.
If time permits, ask students the questions below in an open discussion.
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Students will watch a documentary on the Stanford Prison Experiment. Open the class into a discussion on the psychology of violence and group behavior.
Dehumanization of victims fosters a culture of perceived power and cruelty from perpetrators.
Prepare students by telling them the preface of the Stanford Prison Experiment; that it was a social psychology experiment to investigate the psychological effect of perceived power and dehumanization of the “other.” While this study was put into the context of a standard prison, it has often been used to help explain the psychology of perpetrators during the Holocaust.
Explain that many perpetrators signed up to work at a concentration camp or killing center and that there are countless stories of unnecessary brutality from many of the SS guards.
Play the BBC Documentary about the Stanford Prison Experiment (29 minutes). Explain to students that while this was a real study that took place, the ethics of it were questioned and regulations for social experiments have since been put into place. Some question the validity of this study as some students may have been playing up their roles to give the researcher “something to work with.” However, even if some actions were played up, it can still help to stir a conversation about the effects of dehumanization and authority.
After the video, open up a class discussion about what they saw. Many students will have strong opinions about this video, so the discussion may be led in different directions. The questions below are meant to guide you, but you can also let the conversation flow naturally. It is most important that the conversation is brought back to the context of the Holocaust.
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Explore the preparations made by Hitler as he geared up for war. Read through a secondary source, with excerpts from some primary sources, in order to get an understanding of how these actions were viewed. Explained as defensive measures, Hitler began increasing the military, reconstructing the German air force, and taking back the Rhineland.
Hitler openly defied restrictions set forth in the Treaty of Versailles with seemingly no repercussions.
Ask students who the initial aggressor was in WWII?
Given that it was Germany, and given that Germany was not supposed to be capable of war, how did they become the aggressor?
Tell students that they will be reading about the initial actions taken by Hitler that would ultimately drive Germany toward war. Note that they will also be exploring how these illegal actions were perceived by people at the time.
Direct students to the source, Battle for Work, which is an excerpt from Facing History and Ourselves. Have them read through the document individually first, taking note of sections, words or ideas that they didn’t understand clearly. Give students about 10 minutes to read this text.
Then, divide the class into five groups. Start them on the path toward understanding by having them attempt to answer one another’s questions about the text.
Ask the large group whether they think Hitler’s jobs program might have been attractive to Germans, amidst a depression and in the wake of the defeat of WWI. Then, ask each person to read, Rearming Germany by Facing History and Ourselves.
In the same small groups, have students discuss the questions available on the ‘Rearming Germany’ page. For the first fifteen minutes, ask each group to talk through each question and discuss what they think about each. Then, assign one question to each group and ask them to quickly prepare a short response to their question to kick off the broader, full class discussion about that question.
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Students will learn the devastation caused by World War I and its equally devastating aftermath. Enter Hitler, a fresh face with the charisma to work his way into a position of power; the perfect platform to spew his extreme views.
World War I was a devastating blow to Germany’s economy, politics, and ego. The result was a struggling society desperate for stability.
Tell students that they will be watching a video on the aftermath of World War I. Ask students why they think it is important to study World War I when setting the groundwork for Holocaust education.
Watch the video, Chapter 1: Aftermath of World War I and the Rise of Nazism, 1918-1933 by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
While the students watch, have them answer the following questions:
Go over the questions as a class, clearing up any points of confusion any of the students may have.
Open up a class discussion with the questions below using pre-writing or pair-and-share if appropriate for your students.
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Learn about the complex and trying time that Germany experienced during the Weimar Republic (1919-1933).
The Weimar Republic was Germany’s first democracy; meaning leaders were tasked with a complete makeover of institutions, political culture, education, and judiciary systems.
Ask students how they might go about solving a problem under difficult circumstances. (Maybe they want money for a game system that their parents do not want to pay for. Perhaps their parents do not approve of them spending time with a new friend.) How does being faced with a difficult problem help inspire creativity?
Watch the video, Facing History Scholar Reflections: The Weimar Republic by Facing History and Ourselves once through as a class. Watch it a second time pausing after the following sections to discuss. Ask students what questions they have about the clips. Go through the questions that accompany each clip.
Beginning – 1:11 Intro to Weimar and the end of WWI
1:20-2:32 Politics and the arts
2:32-4:08 Outsiders and Insiders
4:09-End Growing popularity with the Nazi party
Open up a discussion about how the Nazi party aimed to solve the problems prevalent during the Weimar years.
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Navigate the complex and trying time of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) by exploring readings and testimonies from the era.
The Weimar Republic was Germany’s first democracy; meaning leaders were tasked with a complete makeover of institutions, political culture, education, and judiciary systems.
Ask students what they think Germany was like following the end of World War I. What might they expect it to have been like, after a war that saw them lose a great deal of power? Would they expect that the initial response would be radical democracy? Would they expect that democracy could lead to Nazism?
Pull up the resource, ‘The Weimar Republic: The Fragility of Democracy‘ by Facing History and Ourselves. Scroll to the bottom where all of the readings are located. Point out the different titles of resources that represent all that was happening during this brief period in German history.
Click on the reading titled, ‘Virtual Essay: Free Expression in the Weimar Republic‘ Read through the first paragraph and click through some of the images with the class. They will be assigned different readings from this page.
Divide the class into groups of three to five. Assign each group a reading. You may choose others, but recommendations include ‘Rumors of Betrayal’, ‘When Money Had No Value’, ‘Women in the Weimar Republic’, ‘A New Economic Crisis’ and ‘Voices in the Dark.’
Have students read through their article in groups and prepare to share what they learned from it with the class. Students should be able to answer what contribution it played into the fragile democracy.
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Examine opinion polls throughout the era of war and investigate key figures in American politics who helped shape the landscape of public opinion and action in this time period.
Public opinion is shaped by multiple factors and does not guarantee that action will be taken on behalf of that opinion.
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:
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:
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.
Contextualize the experience of Americans in the late 1930s by highlighting the social and economic facts of the day and examining news artifacts from the era.
Americans were aware of the rise of Fascism in Europe during the years prior to the Holocaust and many supported this movement.
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.
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:
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:
This lesson meets the following Academic Standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Before you teach, use our teacher primer to freshen up on your content knowledge.