Providing educational information to teenagers sometimes requires facing extremely sensitive and difficult topics. An example is the systematic mass murder that took place during the Holocaust. A curriculum, written by Holocaust survivor, for teaching the Holocaust to high schoolers is available. The personal, introspective accounts of life during that time bring a deeper level of understanding than is true with an ordinary textbook.
Humanizing the Experience
This kind of approach avoids the problem of students learning about the Holocaust in statistical terms only. Each statistic represents an individual. A student learns the experience of individuals as these people lived through it. Their dignity and humanity are emphasized.
Persecuted Groups
While teaching the Holocaust to high schoolers, educators will speak of all the groups persecuted and marginalized. The Jewish population was the largest, numbering about 6 million murdered by members of the Nazi party. The Nazis also persecuted and killed homosexuals, disabled individuals, Romanians and several other groups.
Emphasizing the Reality
Teenagers tend to feel far removed from World War II and this period of genocide since it happened so long ago. This kind of curriculum makes it feel significantly more real and personal instead of only an important historic event. Some may have encountered the theory that the Holocaust never happened. Now they learn details provided by an actual Holocaust survivor.
With this being such a critical time in world history, it’s important for high schoolers to contemplate what happened and why. Teachers and other educators who are interested in this material may learn more about the ZACHOR Holocaust Curriculum at the website https://zachorlearn.org.
