We thank our master educators, Colleen Tambuscio and Heather Lutz, for their fantastic work designing and leading our workshop on December 6. They referenced the following resources in their discussions. We hope you will make good use of them.

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History Unfolded (via USHMM)

Find out what Americans read about the Holocaust in their local newspapers from 1933 to 1946. Explore newspaper articles that were published across the US to find out what was reported, when, and where. Find articles by keyword, topic, location, and more.

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Guidelines for Teaching about the Holocaust (via USHMM)

Teaching Holocaust history requires a high level of sensitivity and keen awareness of the complexity of the subject matter. The following guidelines reflect approaches appropriate for effective teaching in general and are particularly relevant to Holocaust education.

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Holocaust Timeline Activity (via USHMM)

This lesson is structured around a multi-layered wall timeline that encourages critical thinking about the relationship between Nazi policy, World War II, historical events, and individual experiences during the Holocaust. Extension timeline card packs are available. The activity allows students to make inferences about the interrelatedness of time and geographic location to historical events and promotes critical thinking about the impact on groups targeted for persecution and the experience of individuals within those groups.

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The Path to Nazi Genocide (Film) (via USHMM)

This 38-minute film examines the Nazis’ rise and consolidation of power in Germany. Using rare footage, the film explores their ideology, propaganda, and persecution of Jews and other victims. It also outlines the path by which the Nazis and their collaborators led a state to war and to the murder of millions of people. By providing a concise overview of the Holocaust and those involved, this resource is intended to provoke reflection and discussion about the role of ordinary people, institutions, and nations between 1918 and 1945.

No Time to Think (via Facing History)

Explore bystander behavior, conformity, and obedience in a German college professor’s account of how he responded to Nazi policies and ideology.

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Eli Saslow on Antisemitism and White Nationalism (via Facing History)

“Rising Out of Hatred” author, Eli Saslow, talks about the rise of antisemitism and white nationalism in the United States.

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Sister Rose’s Passion (Film) (via Storyville Films)

Directed by Oren Jacoby (2004). A celebration of the extraordinary life and work of Sister Rose Thering and a look at the divisive issue of anti-Semitism fostered for centuries by teachings of the Catholic Church. Rose was a young nun in the Dominican order, determined to stop the Catholic Church from teaching hate, and prove that the doctrine blaming Jews for the death of Jesus was irreconcilable with her notion of a loving God.  Rose’s efforts paved the way for the historic Vatican II Council and the papal encyclical that reformed the Church’s teachings about Jews. Then she stood up to Mel Gibson and his antisemitic interpretation of the gospels in his film, The Passion of the Christ.

Additional Links

Watch Sister Rose’s Passion online

14th Annual Literary Arts & Video Competition (Seton Hall)
Submission instructions / Deadline: Feb. 2, 2024

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NJ Commission on Holocaust Education

The core mission of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education is to promote Holocaust education in the State of New Jersey. On a continual basis, the Commission shall survey the status of Holocaust Education; design, encourage and promote the implementation of Holocaust and genocide education and awareness; provide programs in New Jersey; and coordinate designated events that will provide appropriate memorialization of the Holocaust on a regular basis throughout the state. The Commission will provide assistance and advice to the public and private schools and will meet with county and local school officials, and other interested public and private organizations, to assist with planning courses of study on the Holocaust. The core mission will be accomplished through implementing and evaluating the committees.

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Council of Holocaust Educators’ Workshop (1/26/2024)

“Personal Histories and Archives: Effective Classroom Practices”

Friday, January 26 from 8:30 am  – 3:00 pm
Center for Holocaust, Human Rights & Genocide Education
Brookdale Community College Student Life Center, Lincroft, NJ

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Night at the Garden (Film)

In 1939, 20,000 Americans held a pro-Nazi rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden — an event largely forgotten from American history. A NIGHT AT THE GARDEN, made entirely from archival fragments filmed that night, transports audiences into this disturbing gathering and shines a light on the enduring power of demagoguery and antisemitism. Directed and edited by Marshall Curry and produced by Field of Vision, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. It screened at the Sundance Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and was released theatrically around the country.

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My Sister’s Eyes by Joan Halpern (Book)

It’s May of 1935, when Hala Kaplan, the pampered daughter of a prominent family of Lodz, Poland, receives a phone call from her best friend inviting her to meet an eligible bachelor who resides in Belgium. Ignas Krakowiak has come home to find a bride. Soon after, Hala and Ignas marry. In My Sister’s Eyes, told through the voice of Hala and Ignas’s daughter, Joan Arnay Halperin, we learn how the grand illusion of the Krakowiak family’s charmed life is catapulted into the harsh reality of World War II. Their ‘exodus’ across half the world following their rescue by the “Angel of Bordeaux,” Aristides de Sousa Mendes, and their evacuation to an island ‘paradise’ leading to personal tragedy, is a Holocaust tale quite unlike any other.

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Dear Teacher Letter 

In his book Teacher and Child, noted psychologist Haim Ginott includes a copy of a letter that a principal sent to his teachers at the beginning of each new school year.

“Dear Teacher,

I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness:

• Gas chambers built by learned engineers.
• Children poisoned by educated physicians.
• Infants killed by trained nurses.
• Women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates.

So I am suspicious of education. My request is: Help your students become human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmanns.

Reading, writing, arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more humane.”

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Your Responses: “Why Teach the Holocaust” Posters

As part of the workshop, Colleen Tambuscio and Heather Lutz asked participants to discuss, at their tables, why they teach the Holocaust. Table by table, educators wrote their answers down on posters and hung them on the wall for all to peruse—and as an opening prompt for our day’s discussions. They are transcribed here.

Poster 1

Direct connection to today
Learn about propaganda (1930s-2023 vs 1940)
Connecting past injustices to present injustices
Understand how people could have helped
Recognize that it was not just Jewish population who were killed
State-mandated, so if we are going to teach it, we’d like to teach it well
Kids taught in other countries equivalent to Nazi youth programs
It wasn’t stopped – threat to democracy

Poster 2

Comprehend and evaluate complex human behaviors/motivations
The 5 W’s and H about the Holocaust; background about event
Emphasize tolerance, diversity, respect, empathy and to reinforce humanizing individuals
Counteract Holocaust denial and revisionism
Advocate for human rights –> bring awareness and move away egocentric thinking

Poster 3

We teach the Holocaust to engage students of different levels and populations through use of various perspectives, stories, and examinations of choices in order to help them become more aware of the topic’s relevance but also to increase their empathy and compassion.

Poster 4

To create tolerance and awareness
To be advocates for social justice
To understand the fear of the “other”, and to create empathy towards others
To understand socio political reasons for discriminations and genocides
To understand the definition of genocide, as opposed to ethnic cleansing

Poster 5

Importance/value of teaching hard history
Empathy and perspective (through a historical lens): people have experiences in their lives and carry their history
History does not happen in isolation: the Holocaust was not the start/end of antisemitism
Connecting the past to human experience and people’s stories
Holocaust is about all genocides and discrimination / Seeing and understanding patterns

Poster 6

Respect
Empathy
Making connections to other historical events/today
Battling propaganda and misinformation
Accepting others and cultural differences

Poster 7

History
Relevance/connections to today
Resilience
Remembrance
Respect

Poster 8

If we don’t learn the lessons from the Holocaust, we will be doomed to repeat it
It’s the right thing to do
Personal history with family/friends
Promote tolerance and diversity which fosters an understanding of history
It teaches the consequences of prejudice, discrimination, and hatred

Poster 9

Connections to past and present
Better understand people
Build empathy
Impact of words and ideas
Stereotypes
Dangers of propaganda