Holocaust

The Topic:

Holocaust

Special Note: This site is intended to be educational. Some of the images included in this Holocaust project may be disturbing, especially for younger learners. While we encourage children to learn, we hope that parents and teachers will be there to help explain events and guide young learners through the complexities behind what they may read and see. Adults should preview sites before providing access to younger children.

Easier - The Holocaust was the killing of millions of European Jews and other people by Nazis during World War II.

Harder - The word holocaust means a sacrificial offering that is completely burned. The Holocaust was the systematic murder of Jews and others by the Nazis during World War II (1939-1945). Nazis led by dictator Adolf Hitler wanted to eliminate all people regarded as racially inferior or politically dangerous. In addition to Jews, the Nazis systematically killed other people including Germans who were physically handicapped or mentally retarded, Gypsies, Slavs--particularly Poles and Soviet prisoners of war, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, priests and ministers, members of labor unions, and Communists and other political opponents. By the end of the war, the Nazis had killed millions of Jewish men, women, and children, more than two-thirds of the Jews in Europe, and as many as 6 million or more people in all. Many of the Holocaust victims were killed in specially constructed gas chambers, and their bodies were then burned.

Cybrary of the Holocaust

http://www.remember.org/

This is a comprehensive website dedicated to remembering and discussing the Holocaust.

The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/

Organized by theme, this site uses text, historical photographs, maps, images of artifacts, and audio clips to provide an overview of the Holocaust.

Other Museum/Memorial Websites:

2) CANDLES Holocaust Museum http://www.candlesholocaustmuseum.org/

3) Holocaust Memorial Center http://www.holocaustcenter.com/

4) Non-Jewish Holocaust - The Forgotten Holocaust http://www.holocaustforgotten.com/
5) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum http://www.ushmm.org/

6) Yad Vashem http://www.yad-vashem.org.il/

Holocaust - Understanding & Prevention by Alexander Kimel, Holocaust Survivor

http://www.kimel.net/

Remembering the victims or recording all the details of this enormous tragedy is not enough. Are we contented to report history in all its details, or should we strive to understand the historical forces, man's limitations to overcome his instinctual drives, the herd instinct, his inability to withstand the pressures of a totalitarian state?

Women and the Holocaust from New Jersey Council for the Humanities

http://www.njch.org/holocaust/

The prominent analysts of the Holocaust may have erased or ignored gender, but the Holocaust did not. This site is aimed at correcting the image.
Related Website:
2) Women and the Holocaust http://www3.sympatico.ca/mighty1/
3) Women and the Holocaust
http://www.chgs.umn.edu/Visual___Artistic_Resources/Women_of_Ravensbruck...holocaust.html

After visiting several of the website links below, complete one or more of the following projects or activities:

Complete a Holocaust WebQuest. Follow or adapt the directions found at one of the following webQuest sites:

1) Anne Frank and the Children of the Holocaust

http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/WebQuests/Anne%20Frank/index.html
2) Children of the Holocaust by A. Sauer (Grade 6) http://www.iss.k12.nc.us/schools/wms/asauer/asholocaust.htm

3) The Devil's Arithmetic by L. Trybuch

http://www.cesjds.org/html/devil.htm

4) The Diary of Anne Frank

http://www.spa3.k12.sc.us/WebQuests/Diary%20of%20Anne%20 Frank/Index.html

5) Holocaust: A WebQuest (Grade 7)

http://www.greenepa.net/~wgsd/computerlab/Holocaust/Holocaust.html

6) The Holocaust: A Time We Need To Remember http://tsc.k12.in.us/stucurr/webquests/holocaust/peters.htm

7) Holocaust WebQuest by L. Eggers (Grade 10) http://www.burke.k12.nc.us/Instructionaltech/webquests/holocaust/

8) The Holocaust WebQuest by R.L. Lawson

http://home.sullivan.k12.il.us/teachers/lawson/webholocaust1.htm

9) Voices of the Holocaust by W. Pelkey & M. Smith
http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/education/projects/webquests/holocaust/

Write a Holocaust Survivor or Rescuer Story. Pretend that you are either a survivor or a rescuer. Be sure to visit some of the sites like (1) Holocaust Survivors, (2) Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimony, (3) Shoah Foundation Insititute for Visual History and Education, (4) Survivor, (5) Survivors and Rescuers, and (6) Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive to gather background information. Then write your own historical fiction story.

Native American Treatment Genocide? Some harsh critics have labeled the treatment of Native Americans by European immigrants as a form of genocide. Debate the issue. Compare and contrast their treatment to the Holocaust.

How Would You Respond to Someone Who Denied the Holocaust Occurred? What type of argument would you make? Put together your response to a Holocaust denial.

Websites By Kids For Kids

An End to Intolerance

http://www.iearn.org/hgp/student-magazine.html

This student-produced magazine is created annually by students 12-18 years of age as part of the Holocaust/Genocide Project.

Ash Rain - The World War II Death Camps (1999 ThinkQuest Project)

http://library.thinkquest.org/28260/

'Ash rain' is an attempt to describe and explain all the cruelties, which took place in the World War II death camps.

Holocaust (1997 ThinkQuest Project)

http://library.thinkquest.org/13915/gather/frame.htm

This site forces visitors to confront the horrors of the Jewish ghettos, the mass killing centers, and concentration camps through text and graphic photos, and to search for answers about how the world could have allowed this inhuman chapter in history to have occurred.

The Holocaust: A Tragic Legacy (1997 ThinkQuest Project)

http://library.thinkquest.org/12663/

This site provides in-depth and accurate information about the people, events, and social effects of this sad chapter in history.

Horrors of the Holocaust (1999 ThinkQuest USA)

http://library.thinkquest.org/5026/

This project informs of one of the most tragic events in modern history.

Justice at Last! The Holocaust Reparation Story (2001 ThinkQuest Internet Challenge)

http://library.thinkquest.org/C0120164/

Since the end of the tyrannical Nazi-regime, the term "Holocaust" is well known and generally associated with the suffering of innocent people under the Nazis. Often enough, the association of this particular suffering is limited to concentration camps. Little is known about the suffering connected to slave labor.

Voices from the Past: The Holocaust (2003 ThinkQuest USA)

http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312712/

We come from the past to educate you about the Holocaust. There are seven of us, seven fictional voices calling out to you to remember

Zichronam l'Vracha: A Guide to the Holocaust (1997 ThinkQuest Project)

http://library.thinkquest.org/12307/

The website gives a thorough picture of the rise of Nazism during World War II, the Holocaust, and its aftermath. The most striking and useful feature is the inclusion of primary source documents and illustrations.

More Holocaust Websites

Anne Frank House

http://www.annefrank.nl/

This detailed and informative site tells of Anne's life and her diary.

Related Websites:

2) Anne Frank Center http://www.annefrank.com/
3) The Anne Frank House http://www.channels.nl/amsterdam/annefran.html
4) Anne Frank Internet Guide (Awesome Links-Site )

http://www.klab.caltech.edu/~ma/annefrank.html

4) Studying the Diary http://www.msnbc.com/onair/nbc/dateline/miepgies/diary.asp?cp1=1

Children of the Holocaust

http://www.adl.org/children_holocaust/children_main1.asp

Here you find the stories of three survivors.

Related Websites:

2) Children of the Holocaust http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/children.html
3) Life in Shadows: Children and the Holocaust http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/hiddenchildren/index/

Holocaust History Project

http://www.holocaust-history.org/

This project is an archive of documents, photographs, recordings, and essays regarding the Holocaust, including direct refutation of Holocaust-denial.

The Holocaust \ Shoah Page by Ben S. Austin

http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/holo.html

This website includes sections on the Nuremberg Laws, the Final Solution, homosexuals, the Nuremberg Trials, and much more.

The Holocaust

http://members.aol.com/TeacherNet/Holocaust.html

This links-site covers the rise of the Nazis, their extermination of the Jew's, Roma's, Jehovah's Witnesses and other "undesirables." It is an exploration into how ordinary people can be led into committing the ultimate horror - genocide. Warning: Some sites contain explicit graphic materials. There are also several links to lesson plan sites.

Other Holocaust Links-Sites:

2) Holocaust, The http://members.aol.com/TeacherNet/Holocaust.html#Sach
3) Holocaust Homepage from Shamash: The Jewish Internet Consortium http://www.shamash.org/holocaust/
4) Holocaust Links http://web.macam98.ac.il/~ochayo//linke.htm

5) Holocaust Ring http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=shoah;list
6) Meyer's Holocaust Links http://pw1.netcom.com/~jdmeyer/shoah.htm

Holocaust Timeline from the History Place

http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/timeline.html

This site features textual information and over 150 photographs.

Literature of the Holocaust maintained by A. Filreis

http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Holocaust/holhome.html

This site connects to online literature related to the Holocaust.

Louisiana Holocaust Survivors

http://www.southerninstitute.info/holocaust_education/holocaust_survivor_testimony.html

Ten Holocaust survivors fare interviewed about their lives before World War II, the changes they experienced as the war neared, and their memories of the Holocaust.

Other Survivor Stories:

2) Holocaust Survivor Oral Histories http://holocaust.umd.umich.edu/

3) Holocaust Survivors http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/
4) Survivors and Rescuers http://ddickerson.igc.org/survivors.html
5) Survivors at Teachers' Guide to the Holocaust http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/Holocaust/people/survivor.htm
6) Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive http://holocaust.umd.umich.edu/

Nizkor Project

http://nizkor.org/

This website counters arguments that deny the Holocaust. It contains an invaluable collection of Holocaust-related documents.

Switzerland and the Holocaust Assets edited by Bruno Giussani

http://www.giussani.com/holocaust-assets/

Switzerland was in the center of an international dispute regarding the recovery and redistribution of assets which were stolen or have disappeared during and following World War II. This page [about] is a one-stop independent resource monitoring the controversy.

Related Website:

2) Nazi Gold (PBS Frontline) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/nazis/

Whosoever Saves a Single Life... (Rescuers During the Holocaust)

http://www.hearthasreasons.com/bibliography.php

There were acts of courage and kindness during the Holocaust which can offer us some hope for our past and for our future. This bibliography lists works (some available online) which discuss the lives and actions of rescuers during the Holocaust.

Similar Website:

2) To Save a Life: Stories of Holocaust Rescue http://www.humboldt.edu/~rescuers/

Other Genocide Websites

Armenian National Institute

http://www.armenian-genocide.org/
The Armenian Genocide was thoroughly documented and universally condemned as it was occurring in 1915. Yet the world soon forgot about the atrocities. The recurrence of genocide since 1915 now stands as a warning to humankind about the need to prevent mass violence by confronting the past.
Related Website:
2) Genocide 1915 http://www.genocide1915.info/

Cambodian Genocide

http://www.cybercambodia.com/dachs/

At this site, you learn about Cambodia's darkest hour, the bondage of Cambodian people to the Khmer Rouge.

Related Websites:

2) Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale University http://www.yale.edu/cgp/
3) From Sideshow To Genocide: Stories of the Cambodian Holocaust http://edwebproject.org/sideshow/index.html

Darfur: A Genocide We Can Stop

http://www.darfurgenocide.org/

The Sudanese Government, using "Janjaweed" militias, its air force, and organized starvation, is systematically killing the black Sudanese of Darfur.

Genocide Watch

http://www.genocidewatch.org/

This organiztion exists to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocide and other forms of mass murder.
Related Websites:
2) Prevent Genocide Interantional http://www.preventgenocide.org/
3) Web Genocide Documentation Centre http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide.htm

Human Rights Archives on the Genocide in Bosnia (and the attempted genocide in Kosovo)

http://www.haverford.edu/relg/sells/reports.html

This site reports of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.

Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights by L.M. Woolf at Webster University

http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/holocaust.html

This links-site connects to information on genocide in Armenia, the Balkans and Bosnia, Burma, Cambodia, Croatia, East Timor, Bangladesh, Rwanda and Burunda, Sudan, and the Ukraine.
Related Website:

2) Genocide in the 20th Century from The History Place http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/

Valentina's Nightmare: A Journey into the Rwanda Genocide

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/rwanda/

This PBS website provides history of events on how genocide in Rwanda was ignored. Question - How can genocide, holocausts, be avoided in the future?

Related Website:

2) Genocide in Rwanda by Rakiya Omaar and Alex de Waal

http://MediaFilter.org/MFF/CAQ/CAQ52Rwanda.html

3) Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda (Human Rights Watch Report) http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/
4) The Triumph of Evil from PBS Frontline http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/evil/

Websites for Teachers

The Beast Within: An Interdisciplinary Unit (Grade 9)

http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/nhhs/html/beast.htm

This unit involves a study of the darker side of human nature as explored by the literature and history of 20th century man. The unit involves activities in social studies, English, science and mathematics.

Education Resources for Teachers and Learners (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

http://www.ushmm.org/education/

This online pamphlet is intended to assist educators who are preparing to teach Holocaust studies and related subjects.

Not-To-Be-Missed Section:

2) Teaching about the Holocaust (U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum)
http://www.holocaust-trc.org/uhmmmguides.htm

History of the Holocaust from a Personal Perspective (Grade 8-12) by G. Cassutto

http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/nhhs/html/hololp.htm

This lesson involves the integration of basic historical research, oral history, creative writing, and analysis of primary and secondary documentation.

The Holocaust--A Guide for Teachers by Linda Hurwitz, Director, The Holocaust Center of Greater Pittsburgh

http://remember.org/guide/index.html

This Holocaust Resource Guide is designed so that the teacher does not have to pursue original source material in order to feel comfortable with the complexity and diversity of Holocaust history and the range of the subject matter. This includes understanding the history or anti-Semitism and the history of the Jewish people as well as the events occurring in Europe which led to the rise of Nazism and the machinery of technology and bureaucracy which the Nazis implemented in order to fulfill its second front, which was a "War Against the Jews."

Holocaust Teacher Resource Center (TRC)

http://www.holocaust-trc.org/

Educators, (kindergarten through college) will find at this site materials which can be brought into the classroom and studied. Whenever possible entire documents are included and may be downloaded for direct use in the classroom.

Holocaust Unit Plan by Kurt Wasser (Grade 9-12)

http://www.coe.ufl.edu/courses/edtech/vault/SS/holocaust/Holocau.html

The six lessons cover the causes, different types of discrimination and persecution, and effects of the Holocaust.

Holocaust Curriculum (Grade 11)

http://www.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/multicultural/curriculum/holocaust/11thPrimarySourcesPart2.pdf

This course of study examines the Presdient Roosevelt's knowledge and response to the Holocaust.

Teaching the Holocaust

http://web.macam98.ac.il/~ochayo//kids/teachge.htm

This program deals with the teaching of the subject of the Holocaust - a chapter in the study of World War II - through the use of authentic stamps, drawings made by Holocaust children, pictures, and historical and literary texts.

Teaching the Holocaust

http://middleweb.com/INCASEholocaust.html

Here you can see e-mail discussion on teaching the Holocaust.

The Truth about Anne Frank (Grade 8-12)

http://remember.org/educate/frank.html

This site is an extensive twelve-week unit plan.

Related Lesson Plans:

(2) Anne Frank in the World, 1929 - 1945 (Grade 5-8, Grade 9-12)

http://www.uen.org/utahlink/lp_res/AnneFrank.html

3) Anne Frank: Writer from EDSITEment (Grades 6-8) http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=376

(4) Anne Frank from Web English Teacher http://www.webenglishteacher.com/frank.html

The World War II Holocaust by Henry J. Brajkovic (Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute)

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1980/6/80.06.01.x.html

The importance of teaching the Holocaust is to counter the propaganda by some individuals (including the American Nazi Party) who claim that the Holocaust never happened.

January 30, 1933 genocide Adolf Hitler oral history Shoah Nazi Party

Jews 'Final Solution' Ernst Roehm Gestapo Schutzstaffel Der Stürmer

Jan Karski antisemitism Hermann Wilhelm Goering Aryan Nuremberg Laws 'night of broken glass'

synagogue Poland ghetto Star of David Germany Kristallnacht

Wannsee Conference Auschwitz crematorium railway line Einsatzgruppen deportation

Babi Yar massacre slave labor camp transit camp concentration camp poison gas national socialism

Jewish resistance death march twin experiments Warsaw Ghetto Uprising World War II Oskar Schindler

'Dr' Josef Mengele Sobibor Mein Kampf Yiddish 'angel of death' Heinrich Himmler

Adolph Eichmann
extermination camp
Mordecai Anielewicz Kindertransport Aktion fascism

Roma (gypsies) homosexuals Joseph Goebbels handicapped persons Nuremberg Trials Varian Fry

Third Reich death camp survivor Juden Sonderkommando May 8, 1945

Created by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, 4/00. Updated, 01/06.