Investigating the Holocaust: What Happened and Why

Why did we choose the theme, "Investigating the Holocaust: What Happened and Why?"

A study of the Holocaust teaches not only critical lessons in history, but leads to an investigation of human behavior, moral courage, and social responsibility. Studying the Holocaust helps to illustrate what can happen when people hate - something that unfortunately is not limited to one time or place.

Through teaching and studying the Holocaust, we encourage teachers and students alike to examine the historical context of the Holocaust as well as its importance in our society. This subject, raising questions of justice, individual identity, group identity, peer pressure, conformity, indifference, citizenship, and power, challenges students to confront these same issues often present in their daily lives.

BOOKS (qty)

1900 – 2000: A Genocidal Century. Dr. William Shulman. NY: Queensborough Community College. (1)
A concise booklet summarizing: the Armenian Genocide, the Ukrainian Genocide, the Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, the Bosnian Genocide, and the Rwandan Genocide. Also outlines the eight stages of Genocide. (Nonfiction)

Anatomy of a Ghetto. Holocaust Resource Center and Archives, Queensborough Community College. New York: The City University of New York. (1)
Includes concise description of the “Rationale,” “Construction,” “Operation,” “Jewish Life,” and “Destruction.” Descriptions are complimented by maps, quotes from documents and memoirs, and information on specific ghettos. (Nonfiction)

Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl. Anne Frank. Eds. Otto H Frank. and Mirjam Pressler. New York: Bantam Books, 1991. (6)
In her diary Anne documents her two years in hiding, her first love, and her secrets. (Nonfiction)

Courage to Care. Eds. Carol Rittner and Sondra Myers. New York: New York University Press, 1986. (1)
Profiles of individuals who risked their lives and the lives of their families to save Jewish people during the Holocaust. (Nonfiction)

Devil’s Arithmetic. Jane Yolen. New York: Puffin Books, 1988. (6)
Hannah, a 12 year old girl, is transported to a 1940’s Polish village during a Passover seder. She experiences the very horrors that had embarrassed and annoyed her when her elders related their Holocaust stories. (Fiction)

Friedrich. Hans Peter Richter. New York: Puffin Books, 1961. (6)
Friedrich and his best friend were growing up in Germany in the early thirties. At first, Friedrich seemed to be more fortunate. His father was well respected and prosperous, while his friend’s father had no job. Then Hitler came to power and things began to change. Friedrich’s world was turned upside down – all because he was Jewish. (Fiction)

Hana’s Suitcase. Karen Levine. Illionois: Albert Whitman & Co., 2003. (6)
Concerned that Japanese children would never learn about the Holocaust, Fumiko Ishioka, the director of the Tokyo Holocaust Education Center in Japan, wanted tangible evidence. She appealed to the Auschwitz Museum in Poland to loan her a few artifacts, and she received a battered suitcase with the name “Hana Brady” written on it. Hana’s Suitcase alternates between Fumiko’s and her students’ quest to find clues to Hana’s life, and Hana’s own story. (Nonfiction)

Holocaust: A History of Courage and Resistance. Bea Stadtler. NJ: Behrman House Publishers, 1994. (1)
Telling the story of the Holocaust in simple words, the book begins in the 1930’s describing the conditions in Germany that led to Hitler’s rise to power and the Nazi policy of destruction. At the heart of the book are acts of courage and resistance. (Nonfiction)

Island on Bird Street. Uri Orlev. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1984. (1)
A Jewish boy is left on his own for months in a ruined house in the Warsaw Ghetto, where he must learn all the tricks of survival under constantly threatening conditions. (Historical Fiction)

Light from the Yellow Star: A Lesson of Love from the Holocaust. Robert O. Fisch. Minneapolis: Frederick Weisman Art Museum of the University of Minnesota, 1994. (1)
A brief memoir by the Holocaust survivor, Minnesota pediatrician, and visual artist, Robert Fisch. The art that accompanies the narrative is both challenging and inspiring. Praised by teachers looking for more innovative ways to bring the lessons of the Holocaust to their students. (Nonfiction, Art)

Milkweed. Jerry Spinelli. NY: Scholastic Inc, 2004. (6)
He has no name, no home, no family and no background. He steals food, sleeps in the street and survives by not getting caught. He is called a Jew, a filthy son of Abraham, a Gypsy, and Stop Thief. He sleeps in a cellar with a band of boys who are just like him, who steal to stay alive and do their best to go unnoticed by the Jackboots. (Fiction)

Night. Elie Wiesel. New York: Bantam Books, 1960. (6)
Night traces the life of the author at the age of 15 through his year spent in four concentration camps. A pious teenager racked with guilt at having survived while his family did not. There are no easy answers to the many questions posed in this insightful book. Most suitable for 8th grade students. (Nonfiction)

Other Victims: First-Person Stories of Non-Jews Persecuted by the Nazis. Ina R. Friedman. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1990. (1)
Friedman has compiled first person narratives of survival and heroism, each of which is set into historical context by a short preface. The passages show how the war machine singled out for persecution black, Jehovah’s witnesses, and others. (Nonfiction)

Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story. Ken Mochizuki. New York: Lee and Low Books, Inc., 1997. (1)
Five years old at the time, Hiroki Sugihara tells the poignant story of how his father saved the lives of 10,000 Jews while he was serving as a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania in 1940. For his acts of kindness Sugihara received the “Righteous Among Nations” Award and in Japan the Hill of Humanity is named in his honor. A 1998 Parents' Choice® Gold Award. (Nonfiction, Local Author)

Remembering Georgy: Letters from the House of Izieu. Serge Klarsfeld. NY: Aperture. (1)
Georg Halpern (1935-1944) was separated from his parents in 1943 and spent his final year at the French children’s home in Izieu, France. While at Izieu, Georgy regularly wrote letters and drew pictures which he sent to his parents, describing life at the children’s home, his dreams, and his sorrow. (Non-fiction)

Sharing is Healing: A Holocaust Survivor’s Story. Noemi Ban & Dr. Ray Wolpow. Bellingham: Holocaust Educational Pub., 2003. (2)
Noemi Ban survived the Holocaust. She survived the ghetto, the cattle cars and Auschwitz. Many members of her family were killed in the camps. She suffered there. But Noemi did not write this book to teach you the facts of the Holocaust. It is her story of hope. It is a Holocaust survivor’s gift of love and understanding. Written with short sentences. “Noemi is an award-winning 6th grade teacher…Noemi wrote this book thinking of the many students that she has taught." (Nonfiction, Local Author)

Tell Them We Remember: The Story of the Holocaust. Susan D. Bachrach and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. NY: Little, Brown and Company, 1994. (1)
Putting faces to the words, this book shows how the lives of innocent people were affected by the Holocaust. Photographs of young people and their stories make them come to life. (Nonfiction)

Ten Thousand Children. Anne L. Fox and Eva Abraham-Podietz. NJ: Behrman House Inc., 1999. (1)
True stories told by children who escaped the Holocaust on the Kindertransport. First person accounts. (Nonfiction)

Upon the Head of the Goat. Aranka Siegal. New York: Puffin Books, 1981. (1)
The experiences of a 14 year old Hungarian girl and her family during the Holocaust and their deportation to the Auschwitz camp. (Nonfiction)

Victims of the Nazi Era 1933-1945. Set of 5 Booklets. USHMM. (1 set)
A five pamphlet series with accompanying information. Pamphlets are: Jehovah’s Witnesses, handicapped, homosexuals, Polish, and Roma and Sinti (Gypsies). (Nonfiction)

The Wave. Todd Strasser. New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc. 1981. (1)
A classroom experiment is dramatized in this novel about a high school teacher who creates his own “Reich” to show how the German people willingly embraced Nazism. A lesson in individualism vs. conformity. (Nonfiction)

TEACHER RESOURCES

Activity/Guide Binder
A collection of resources, activities, lesson plans, and guides that correspond with the books, videos, and materials in the trunk.

Replicas of Documents. By William Phillips. NY: Jackdaw Publications, 1992.
(Selected documents.) Replicas of real documents and correspondence, including: Letter from Goering to Heydrich, July 1941; Reich Citizenship Law; Hitler Bans Reference to the “Jewish Question”; Zyklon B invoice and canister; Aerial photograph of Auschwitz-Birkenau; Newspaper coverage of the Holocaust.

Resistance during the Holocaust. USHMM. (1)
This booklet explores examples of armed and unarmed resistance by Jews and other Holocaust victims.

Routledge Atlas of the Holocaust. Martin Gilbert, Martin. Great Britain: J.M. Dent Ltd., 2002.(1)
Presented in chronological order, the 320 highly detailed maps show the history of the Nazi attempt to annihilate the Jews of Europe. This atlas traces each phase, beginning with anti-Semitic violence to the German conquest of countries. Also shown are more than 200 acts of revolt, partisan activity, escape, and rescue.

Teaching About the Holocaust: A Resource Guide. USHMM. 2001. (1)
A complete resource guide for educators who want to teach and learn about the Holocaust. Includes teaching guidelines, chronology, suggested resources, and glossary.

The World Must Know. Michael Berenbaum. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1993. (1)
This book tells the history of the Holocaust using photos and documents obtained from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Voices and Views: A History of the Holocaust. Deborah Dwork, Ed. NY: Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, 2002.
A collection of powerful and valuable essays by notable scholars. Essay topics include antisemitism, Jewish life between the wars, the history of the concentration camps, Nazi policy against the Jews, refugee policy, gentile life under German occupation, rescue and resistance, and life after the Holocaust.

VIDEOS

"America and the Holocaust: Deceit and Indifference." 1994. 90 mins.
Paints a troubling picture of the United States during a period beset by anti-Semitism and a government that, due to complex social and political factors, not only delayed action but suppressed information and blocked efforts that could have resulted in the rescue of hundreds of thousands of people.

"Courage to Care." 1986. 29 mins.
A documentary about non-Jews who risked their lives to rescue Jews from Nazi persecution.

"Devil’s Arithmetic." 1999. 97 mins.
A contemporary film based on the book Devil’s Arithmetic. Heil Hitler:

"Confessions of a Hitler Youth." 1992. 30 mins.
A true story based on the book by Alfons Heck, recalling how he became a high-ranking member of the Hitler Youth during World War II.

"Never Again I Hope." 1993. 37 mins.
9 local (Washington) Holocaust survivors share their experiences.

"One Survivor Remembers." 1995. 39 mins.
Gerda Weissman Klein eloquently describes her life before and during the Holocaust.

POSTERS

Anne Frank Timeline
The chart displays pictures from Anne’s life, pages of her diary, photos of Hitler with soldiers, Kristallnacht, and Holocaust images. A timeline runs across the base of the chart.

Everyday Objects: Artifacts from Washington State Holocaust Survivors
A poster series of artifacts, documents and stories of Washington State Holocaust survivors and World War II liberators. Eight 8 ½ x 11 posters. Discussion questions can be found in this notebook.

Holocaust Timeline
Horizontal panels set against a red background show seven photographs and describe 44 events from Hitler’s rise through VE Day.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Small Poster Set 
Five 8 ½ x 11 posters: Danish fishing boat, badges, shoes of the victims, train car, milk can, Hollerith machine.

Wall Map of Europe. Yad Vashem.
Showing the extent of Europe plus parts of North Africa and the Middle East. The map locates more than 100 sites established under Nazi rule.