Holocaust
Aim: What were the effects of the mass murder of Jews in Europe on the Middle-East and the world today?
Do Now: What 19th century belief/science led to genocide? Why?
Lesson Overview:
| Item | Approx Time |
| Do Now | 3-5 Min |
| Mini Lesson | 20-25 Min |
| Activity | 10-15 Min |
| Discussion | 5-7 Min |
Holocaust
Background
Humans have always expressed a need to understand natural phenomenon and to answer questions regarding their way of life and what happens once they die. These needs resulted in the development of a variety of religions and philosophies that can be found throughout the world today. Often, people of different religious backgrounds come into conflict. At times, this conflict has resulted in violations of different religious group's basic human rights.
Holocaust (1935-1945)
One of Adolf Hitler's main goals once taking control of Germany was the extermination of all European Jews. The Jewish population of Europe had often been persecuted due to their religious difference from the majority Christian population. However, the Holocaust would mark a turning point in that persecution. The Holocaust was the systematic murder of over 6 million Jews. Another 5 to 12 million Gypsies, homosexuals, African-European, and mentally ill people were also murdered.
Hitler began his program by first limiting the rights of Jews. Jews were restricted to a separate part of town, called a Ghetto, could no longer run businesses, nor could they marry outside of their race. As World War II progressed, Hitler began forcing them into concentration camps, where they were either immediately murdered, usually by poison gas, or used as slave labor until they died. Their bodies were disposed of through cremation in the concentration camp ovens. The Nazis also used Jews in horrific pseudo medical experiments. The treatment of the Jews by the Nazis in World War II was a motivating factor of the United Nations in writing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Classwork & Homework
Lesson PowerPoint: The Holocaust
Lesson Video:
Lesson Activity: Write a reflective paragraph regarding the Holocaust. What do you think about the Nazis and the Final Solution
Homework: Continue to work on Homework Packet #11