THE HOLOCAUST ATROCITIES OF WAR 10 th Grade World History Jill Davis

Introduction The Holocaust is one of the greatest atrocities our world has ever seen. Although genocide, or widespread killing based on ethnicity, had happened since the beginning of history, none had been as large as this systematic killing. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party managed to capture and hold people they considered undesirable, mostly Jews, but also Gypsies, homosexuals, and the disabled, in concentration camps where an estimated 11 million people (6 million of whom were Jews) were killed.

Problem-Solving Question What social and political attitudes were prevalent in Nazi Germany that allowed for the Holocaust to happen? Would a similar event be able to happen in today’s cultural and political climate? Why or why not? What was the Holocaust? Why did Germans dislike Jews? What were concentration camps? Where were concentration camps located? What is genocide? What was life like in the camps? What took place in the camps? How were the camps stopped? What are the present day implications of the event and what is its legacy?

Standards W.43: Analyze the assumption of power by Adolf Hitler in Germany and the resulting acts of oppression and aggression of the Nazi regime. W.50: Write an opinion piece on the impact of the Holocaust on the Jewish populations in Europe and Israel. W.52: Describe the casualties of the war, with particular attention to the civilian and military losses in Russia, Germany, Britain, the United States, China, and Japan. W.54: Summarize the reasons for the establishment of the United Nations and the main ideas of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and their impact on the globalization of diplomacy and conflict and the balance of power.

Process Students must make sure to highlight important information on their graphic organizers. First, students will watch this BrainPop to gain a general understanding of the Holocaust.BrainPop Next, students will learn the motivations of the Nazis by reading on anti-Semitism here.here This detailed timeline will give students a nice outline of topics discussed in further detail later as well as the events that led up to the actual Holocaust. This Students will look at the geography of the camps using this interactive map which also includes the layout of Auschwitz, the most infamous extermination camp. this

Process Continued… Next, students will look at how the typical day is spent at a concentration camp here.here To better visualize how the camps affected the prisoners, students will read and look at pictures provided in this Life magazine article.this The accounts of U.S. Army soldiers who were some of the first to see and liberate a concentration camp will be read to better understand the shock and horror preparing students for the upcoming assignment.accounts Students will watch this video of a Holocaust survivor recounting her experience to personalize the event.this Finally, students will read short selections on the impact of the Holocaust today by looking through all of the side tabs under “Survival and Legacy.”Survival and Legacy

Final Product Imagine you are a military police officer in the U.S. Army. You and your unit have just come upon one of the first found concentration camps. Using your notes, write a police report to send to the U.S. generals describing what you have found. Remember, most Americans did not realize the Holocaust was even going on while fighting the war. You are one of the first to know the concentration camps exist and are in the first unit to actually witness the horrors. Use vivid descriptive words and visual details to accurately report your findings.

Final Product Be sure to include a description of the camp’s layout descriptions of the people being held in the concentration camps (background, ethnicity, etc.) explanations of devises used for the killings evidence of other inhumane acts German motivations for the acts explanation of the treatment of those being held at the camp vivid descriptions of what you see

Evaluation

Conclusion Using the problem-based lesson approach offers students a unique learning experience not available when teachers use more traditional teaching approaches such as pure lecturing. Students are able to have a more hands on learning experience than by just listening to the teacher speak. They are able to think more critically than they would using more traditional evaluation measures such as worksheets, and it is a more enjoyable experience than writing a traditional essay. In this lesson, students will gain a thorough understanding of when/where/why/how concentration camps were used by the Nazi regime. The MP report ties the information together in a unique way in which students will search for and use the information they have gained to produce the final product. They will have to think critically in order to connect events and organize them in a cohesive way. By interacting with the material of the past, they will gain more understanding of the past evils in our world to help keep them from occurring in the future.