Holocaust Education

I met a personal goal as 2012 ended -- I finished my master's degree through Cairn University. I had begun working on in in 2006 (don't judge!). I finished all the coursework in 2009, and only had my thesis to write (at Cairn, it's called an IDP - Instructional Design Project). But life was busy, and in 2010, I resigned from my job to attend photography school. I had high hopes of writing while in school; I soon realized that was a crazy goal! So the IDP kept getting pushed off, and with it went my desire to research for and subsequently write this massive paper.

BUT...I had many people pushing me along to finish it, and in May 2012, when I began working back at the university, I made it a goal to 'get it done'. So throughout the fall semester, I was on a personal quest to finish it. My topic was Holocaust Education, specifically the use of multimedia resources, and it was targeted toward teachers and helping them implement unique ways of teaching the Holocaust to their students.

I first became interested in studying the Holocaust in 8th grade, when my Language Arts teacher did a unit on stereotyping. It was followed by an introduction to the Holocaust, specifically to The Diary of Anne Frank, which is commonly taught during 7th or 8th grade. I don't know specifically what it was about the unit, but I remember being extremely interested in the topic. In the summer of 1998, I had the opportunity to travel with that teacher on a school trip to Russia. It was there that we met Miep Gies, who played a crucial role in hiding Anne Frank's family. Miep was also the one credited with finding Anne's diary, and later presented it to Otto Frank (Anne's father), when he found out about his daughter's passing. Miep later wrote a book about her experience, entitled Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family. Miep passed away in 2010, living to the age of 100. She experienced much and saw some of the major events in the history of our world.

A few years later, I visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. for the first time. It was incredibly sobering. I went back this past September and the moment I walked into the permanent exhibition, I was greeted by a large picture and a quote on the wall. I do not remember the exact quote, or even which picture was there, but I do remember the instant tears that welled up in my eyes. To think about the devastation of the lives of so many people brings me much sadness. I walked through the museum with a renewed passion for the topic.

While enrolled as an undergraduate student, I wrote lessons on the Holocaust, and was even able to teach a mini unit on the Holocaust in my student teaching experience. One of the most fascinating resources out there is the teaching trunk. Many Holocaust museums offer it as a tool for teachers, and free of charge. Teachers can - essentially - reserve a trunk and have it shipped to their school for a specified time. The trunk is customized for a certain grade level, but most trunks contain books (enough for an entire class), maps, pictures, videos, timelines, and survivors' biographies. I reserved a trunk for my unit while student teaching, and the kids loved it (I got the trunk from the FL Holocaust Museum; see their site for the details of what's typically included in a trunk).

At one time, I thought about going to school to get my Master's in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. I seriously looked at a program at a college in NJ. In not going through with that, I knew long ago that I wanted to write my thesis on this topic. It morphed into the specific topic as I thought about what I wanted to say and the part of its study that I enjoyed the most.

My thesis outlined pairing literature WITH multimedia resources, including videos, pictures, survivor stories, the teaching trunk, and others. I developed a 5-lesson unit that teachers could use to teach introductory material on the Holocaust. It was a long process, and I spent hours preparing the content. It was well worth it in the end. I am glad to have finished, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time on a subject that has become an interest of mine.

I am thankful for some of the leading Holocaust researchers - specifically Samuel Totten - who wrote me on numerous occasions as I had questions about teaching resources. I hope that schools continue to mandate Holocaust education. With many of the remaining survivors passing away, there need to be people committed to telling the stories and preserving the history.

I hope I can continue to explore the topic, and continue to read things that are written related to the topic. There are some dedicated people out there, writing books, resources, and teaching others about the events surrounding this period of our history. May those who have the opportunity to teach it be blessed for their dedication.

I included the following in one of the appendices of my paper:

Never forget...

I cannot forget. I will always remember.

I will remember that Auschwitz is not one but many places. I will remember
that Auschwitz happened. I will remember that there is no escape. And I ask
one thing of you– that you remember Auschwitz clearly.

Remember!

Auschwitz is not a camp or a museum or a memorial or a cemetery.
Auschwitz is an open grave that extends for miles beyond its walls and
fences and its official boundaries. And the remains of the dead are
everywhere.

Millions of men, women, and children were brutally murdered and lie dead
at Auschwitz. You cannot approach or enter without stepping over and upon
their bodies.

The air that you breathe there is their last. What grows there is sustained by
them. The Sola and the Vistula flow among them and over them and carry
them along. The rain there anoints them. The sun there cannot raise them
form their cold or take them out of darkness.

The nature of the beast…

Auschwitz changes things.

From time to time, my wife and daughter go for a walk around the block or
for a drive to the store. I know they’ll be back. But, watching my daughter
wave bye-bye as they disappear around the corner of the house or up the
street, I sometimes grieve for the murdered children of the Holocaust. They,
too, had turned and waved, secure in that simple gesture and certain of their
return.

(From: http://remember.org/educate/afterwrd.html)