Contents
Foreword?Michael Berenbaum ?xi
Acknowledgments?xiii
Introduction?1
1.??Defining and Contextualizing the Holocaust With Young People?5
What Are We Talking About When We Talk About the Holocaust??6
Comparing Definitions of the Holocaust?6
Defining Jews and Judaism?10
Explaining How Nazi Racial Ideology Distorted Judaism?10
Helping (Non-Jewish) Students Understand Jews and Judaism?11
Exploring Layers of History?12
2.??The Paradox of Education?15
Building Weapons?16
The Einsatzgruppen?16
Nazi Doctors?18
The Wannsee Conference?20
The Nuremberg Trials?23
3.??At War With Misconceptions and Misinformation?26
Misconceptions Abound?27
For Want of Heroism: Rescue Mythology?27
Nationalistic Narratives?29
The Complexity of the Camps?30
Auschwitz Comma And: Going Beyond the Popular Narratives?31
4.??Gray Areas, Name Calling, and Human Complexity?34
Five Problematic Words?35
More Problematic Words?37
Oskar Schindler and Other Complicated People?37
Teaching Using Schindler?s List?39
5.??Half-Truths My Teacher Told Me?44
Misconceptions, Half-Truths, Errors, and Omissions?45
How Many People Actually Died??45
The Diary of a Young Girl?47
The Voyage of the St. Louis?50
6.??Avoiding Simple Answers to Complex Questions?54
?Why Didn?t They Just Leave???55
?Why Didn?t They Fight Back???57
?America Saved the Day Again?Am I Right???59
?But If You Disagreed With Hitler, Wouldn?t You Get Shot???61
?Why the Jews???62
?Why Didn?t Anybody Stand Up for the Jews???63
?Was the Holocaust the Worst Genocide of All Time???65
?When Did the Holocaust End???65
7.???Others??68
The Spectrum of ?Others??69
Teaching About Non-Jewish Victims of the Nazis?72
?Other? Genocides?73
8.??Images, Still and Moving?79
A Thousand Words?80
What Images We Choose?80
Photo Analysis?81
Survivor Testimony?83
9.??The Most Precious Resource?86
Time Constraints in Our Classes?87
The English Teacher?s Challenge?87
The History Teacher?s Challenge?89
Challenges in Other Curricular Areas?90
Planting Seeds?91
10.??Go There?93
Bring a Friend?95
Plan ? But Don?t Overplan?96
Working With Destinations in Advance?97
What to Do and See?97
Kids?99
Chaperones?100
Meal Planning?101
Travel Light?103
Communication?103
Funding?104
Other Considerations?106
11.??Denying the Impossible?108
Holocaust Denial?109
Many Faces of the Same Hatred?109
Vetting Sources and Avoiding Debate?111
The Tenth Stage of Genocide?112
12.??Humor and the Holocaust?116
Mocking the Sacred?117
Humor in Holocaust Cinema?118
Ill-Conceived Jokes?120
?It Kept Us Alive??120
13.??Teaching Brave and Free?123
Some Personal Advice?124
Establish a ?Genocide-Free Zone??124
Know Your Audience?125
From Past to Present?126
Glossary?129
References?135
Index?143
About the Author?151
