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INFUSING
THE STUDY OF THE HOLOCAUST IN GRADES K-12
HIGH SCHOOL -
GRADE 11
TOPIC/SUBJECT:
American History
CONNECTIONS
TO MANDATE/MISSION:
To create an understanding
of the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping; an examination
of what it means to be a responsible and respectful person.
CORE CONCEPTS:
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Change:
relationships of groups in a democratic and pluralistic society.
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Conflict:
cultural, personal, political, and socioeconomic conflicts resulting from
remaining silent.
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Culture: discrimination,
prejudice, anti-Semitism.
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Interdependence:
economic, social, political, and/or personal ramifications of being a responsible,
respectful person in society.
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Perspective:
ramifications of being a moral and ethical human being.
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Responsibility:
how roles of individuals and analysis of events that threaten men have
affected the quality of life and democracy.
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Scarcity:
the impact of limited resources on political and social decisions.
ENGAGING
BEHAVIORS:
During
this unit, lesson, or activity, students, individually or in groups:
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Examine current
news articles illustrating the personal, social, or political consequences
of remaining silent and/or of speaking out.(i.e. Supreme Court decisions,
discrimination)
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Examine American
political parties and the assimilation of minorities into democratic systems.
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Examine political
cartoons, which have examined political, societal, and personal responses
to United
States policies.
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Research and
compare instances when an individual, community, state, or nation should
have advocated a change, but remained silent.
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Analyze the
involvement of the United
States and Allies in WWII.
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Discuss the
political questions faced by American foreign policy in WWII and the Holocaust.
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Evaluate the
prejudices, myths and misinformation of American political policies of
the WWII era.
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Assess the
limitations and extent of civil rights in American society.
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Understand
that there were Christians who risked their lives to save Jews.
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Learn about
those who helped rescue Jews during the Holocaust and why they helped.
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Read and study
about the life of Sempo Sugihara, as a way to understand the motivations
of rescuers.
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Evaluate the
process by which the "Righteous
Among the Nations"
is selected.
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Analyze the
reasons why diverse people, such as atheists, government officials, German
soldiers, anti-Semites, devout Christians, and those who collaborated with
the Germans could be rescuers of Jews.
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Discuss the
meaning of the terms "rescuer"
and "rescued".
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Discuss and
respond in writing to the prompt: "Would
I Have Been
a Rescuer During the Holocaust?"
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Compare and
contrast the activities of a rescuer and perpetrator who operated in the
same community. Discuss motives, activities, and the implications
of their decisions.
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Interview
someone who has a story to tell about how he, or she, was rescued by a
non-Jew during the Holocaust.
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Conduct research
into the controversy over whether the Vatican,
under the leadership of Pope Pious VI, could have done more to help rescue
Jews during the Holocaust.
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Examine America's
response to other genocides in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
WEB
RESOURCES:
CLASSROOM
VIGNETTE:
In
an American History classroom several students are analyzing and discussing
a map from Martin Gilbert'sAtlas
of the Holocaust that shows the territorial expansion of Nazi Germany
in 1939. Another group is reading Eleanor Roosevelt's
column "My
Day", August
13, 1943. They are discussing the implications and meaning of her
column. In another area of the classroom, students are discussing
and preparing to write a journal response to The Last Words of Samuel
Zygielbojm (New York Times June 4, 1943), expressing their feelings
in response to the article. Another group is working on Cornelius
Ryan'sThe
Longest Day: June 6, 1944, reading, discussing, analyzing and deciding
how to respond. Discussion begins as students who have finished "The
First Meetings of Camp
Survivors and Liberators",
an Excerpt of Interviews with American
Soldiers, attempt to deal with their own personal feelings. The teacher
reminds students that the following day the movie, Judgement at Nuremberg
will begin. As they exit the classroom, they stop to read a poster
that has an excerpt from a letter General Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote to
General George Marshall. It begins.
"The things I saw beggar description.
"LEARNING
ASSESSMENTS:
At
the conclusion of units, lessons, or activities students might
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write a research
paper on American War aims during WWII.
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create a portfolio
of newspaper articles and synopses from newspaper article copies taken
from the New York Times
and local papers that dealt with the liberation of the camps.
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document position
papers on American Foreign Policy and the Politics of Rescue of Holocaust
Victims.
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write essays
and analyses of the American Nazi Party Silver Shirt members in Nazi Germany
and in the United
States today.
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debate on
the Roosevelt Administration and its response to the Holocaust.
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create expository
writing on the American response to the St.
Louis.
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choose and
respond to a novel from selected literature, discussing its relevance to
current issues regarding empathy and tolerance.
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study multi
or inter cultural relations within a school community, and present recommendations
to solve problems.
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develop poetry,
writing, art, and music presentations that illustrate themes and their
connections to present issues and concerns.
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develop a
group report on treatment of a minority group in America.
SUNSHINESTATE
STANDARDS CORELATIONS:
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SSA
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SSB
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SSC
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SSD
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1.4.1
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1.4.4
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1.4.2
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2.4.2
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1.4.3
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1.4.4
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5.4.4
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5.4.5
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5.4.6
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5.4.7
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5.4.8
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