大屠殺的歷史

In this 15 week course, students will examine the how and why of the Holocaust. Students will learn that the Holocaust was not inevitable, they will examine the difficult complex answers to complex questions, explore different perspectives and importantly, translate statistics into people. This class will use a wide array of sources- including primary sources, oral histories, diary entries and more. Students will be required to analyze and answer questions based on these sources.

Week One:  Early Nazi Germany
             First- a brief history of Anti-Semitism in Europe. 
             Students will examine the post - WWI Germany and what life was like for Germans after WWI. 
             Students will examine the Rise of Nazism and Adolf Hitler

Week Two: From Citizens to Outcasts
         Students will examine the use of Propaganda to turn Jewish people into  outcasts
         Students will examine the Laws imposed on Jews between the years of 1933-1939
         Students will examine the events of Kristallnacht- the "Night of Broken Glass."

Week Three: Why did they not leave?
      Students will examine the difficulty of immigration and emigration for Jews - including the sentiment from countries around the world.

Week Four: Some Were Neighbors
 This week student students will explore the actions and choices of ordinary people through pictures and oral histories.

Week Five: Life in the Ghettos
   This  week students will examine the next step of the Holocaust- moving Jews into Ghettos. Student will examine through the first- hand account of teenagers who lived in the ghettos just what life was like and what people did to survive. 

Week Six: Resistance
  Students will explore the different forms of resistance, Jewish and Non-Jewish that occurred in Germany and the surrounding areas. Particular attention will be paid to the The Warsaw Ghetto uprising, which was the largest uprising in the ghettos. Other acts of resistance will be examined including nonviolent resistance and spiritual resistance.

Week Seven: " The Final Solution:
   Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust- 2 million were murdered by the Einzatgruppen in mass shootings throughout Eastern Europe. This week students will examine  the change of the official policy of the Reich to genocide and the actions of the  Einzatgruppen 

Week Eight and Nine: Concentration Camps
  During these two weeks, life and death in the camps will be examined using survivor testimony.

Week Ten: Non-Jewish Victims of the Holocaust 
 Through survivor stories, Non- Jewish victims voices of the Holocaust will be examined. Victims include Jehovah's Witness, ROMA Sinti and the mentally and physically handicap.

Week Eleven: Rescue
  Although rescue was not the norm during the Holocaust, it did happen. In this week students will examine the brave and courageous acts of the few that risked their lives to save others. Students will also examine the Righteous Among the Living- how one gets that status and examine individual stories.

Week Twelve and Thirteen: Liberation 
   During these two weeks, students will examine the pain and happiness of liberation. Through survivor testimony and video archives, students will see that the "return to life" was beautiful but painful.

Week Thirteen- Fourteen: The Nuremberg Trials and the Hunt for Nazis
What happened to the perpetrators after the war? In these two weeks, we will examine the actions taken by the allies directly following the war to bring the Nazi leaders to account. Additionally, we will examine future efforts, including the arrest of Adolf Eichmann, to bring Nazis to justice.

Week Fifteen: Current Day Issues of the Holocaust and antisemitism
In the final week, students will examine the current day legacy of the Holocaust and the unfortunate continuation of antisemistm and Holocaust denial.